Phone Bill Woes...Need Some Advice

[Henro]

PBurns,

I think junkman is confused this time (sorry, had to say that for some reason... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) because he just offered advice, and it was I who had asked the original question. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks for everyone's help. My friend is out of town this week but I expect he (we) will be filing those complaints upon his return.

 

[PBMAX]

My bad fellows thats what happens when you are swapping back and forth between so many open. docs... Maybe I should get my boss to pay me to surf.../forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The thing that made me go to a phone card though was a similar situation between to LD co's back then caused by the slamming. Just fortutnatly for me is was only a couple hundred bucks...Just irks me to here the've done it yet again.

Thanks to some good at vice from one of my Chiefs. He pointed out that it would cost much more to persue it. Given I would be away at sea alot and mucho headache. Spending more money making more LD calls from over seas to deal with it. So I paid up and locked down my phone and got myself and wife a calling card. let slam that.../forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Again best of LUCK....

 

[k8ny]

Henro,
I believe Bird and Junkman have some good advice. Your best avenue for redress is the State Public Utility Commission which has authority over the local phone companies ( I know this because I spent 5 years working for a Bell Tel Co and they fear State PUC's).
Junkman's advice of 'prove it' is sound. The responsibility is on them and let them do the follow up on the selected Long Distance carrier of choice.
As a warning to all the folks who read this: If you have not selected an International Calling Plan from your long distance provider expect to pay in the range of $2.00 to $10.00 per minute depending on where you call. I was nailed for $4.11 per minute to Ireland (11 minute call was $45.21) for a call that I made last year while using Sprint. Of course, they would not delete or even discount that charge.

 

[Junkman]

The only International calls that are going to be made from my home is when I pass on..... then my wife is going to call the Devil and tell him that I am on the way. Until then, anyone that wants to communicate with me that isn't in the Northern Hemisphere, will have to do it by e mail. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MidMichigan]

Just my two cents worth but if you can't get the problem resolved why not try contacting your local newspaper or TV news station. Here I have seen where the guy that writes the newspaper editorial column has started asking question when the problem can't be resolved and they will get the problem corrected I think the company's don't want the bad publicity. Also the news channel I watch has a newsman that does investigative reporting and will try and get problems for people corrected. Again I don't think the companys want there names showing up on the 6 o'clock news when they are looking bad. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
Lisa

 

[Henro]

Well here is the latest... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

My friend has filed formal complaints with the FCC and the PA Public Utility Commission.

I suggested he might want to advise Verizon that he was doing this, with the hope that they might then negotiate a resolution. My friend is willing to pay more than he should just to put this behind him. He would pay $500 (25%) easily, even though that is three times what he should have been charged, and might even pay half of the bill (I would not, but I am not him).

We did not know where to send a letter advising Verison that the complaints were being filed. I called Verizon...and planned to included a copy of the Verizon "notice letter" with the complaints filed with the FCC and PUC.

We did end up including that letter in the packets sent to the FCC and PUC, with the following note at the top:

I intended to send the following letter to Verizon, in hope that someone at Verizon would review the situation and offer a resolution. Unfortunately the three people I talked with at Verizon on March 30th could not provide a department, person or address to send it to.

I initially dialed 1800-660-2215. The first Verizon Rep. I spoke with, transferred me to the Customer Service Department. The Customer Service Rep advised me that they had no address I could use, and transferred me to the Toll Billing Department. The Verizon Toll Billing person apologized for not being to be of any help, and said there was no way to send a letter to Verizon that she new of, and no one further that she could think to transfer me to.

So I am including the letter here for your reference and to further document the fact that Verizon has no interest in resolving issues like mine.

 

[slowrev]

Henro,
Yes the phone companies are in turmoil and the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing any more. The causes are deregulation, mergers, and layoffs. The deregulation of the phone industry only benefited the Telcos , long distance carriers and cellular providers, the consumers are beginning to pay the price for all of this confusion/deregulation. I have been deeply involved in the The telephone industry since the early 70's.

 

[OkeeDon]

I haven't bothered to look up the details, but heard a report last week that the Florida legislature, which passed a telcom deregulation bill last year in the hopes that it would benefit consumers, has now determined that they were duped by the telcom industry. The original sponsor of last year's bill is introducing new legislation that would repeal last year's bill. The telcom industry is going a little nuts over it.

Like I said, I haven't looked up the details, but is apparently has something to do with lowered costs that the legislature anticipated going to consumers were passed on to business long distance customers instead, and consumers' bills will rise instead of fall.

 

[Bird]

Bill, I had a problem with GTE service many years ago and couldn't find an address to a copy of the complaint I was sending elsewhere, so I just mailed a copy to the address to which I mailed the bill and payments. And very shortly after that, a fellow called who claimed to be a regional manager, gave me his direct office phone number and his home phone number, had a service technician at my house the next day, and I never had another problem.

 

[dmccarty]

Henro,

You should be congratulated for helping your friend to this level.

I have helped nonnatives a few times over things like this over
the years. Thankfully, they did not have problems like your
friend. But nonnatives can be easy targets...

Glad to hear its moving forward. It will be interesting to see
what happens.

Later,
Dan McCarty

 

[jayhawkRoy]

If all else fails, send to Mr Ivan Seidenberg, President & CEO. Address is 1095 Avenue of the Americas, Floor 39, New York New York 10036. His email is ivan@verizon.com. If you have to, I would mail a certified letter, return receipt requested, to him and send him the letter by email also.

I assume his email is screened by an admin person, but if the local/regional folks can't help you, you can't lose by mailing directly to the top guy. You might even get a response from them!

 

[Henro]

JayhawkRoy,

Thanks for the pointer to the top dawg!

Before this is over we may just do that! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Henro]

And the saga continued... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

My friend got a letter copied from the FCC that was sent to Verizon directing them to do some (within 30 days) things like Identify dates "precise dates" when things happened. It also directed them to provide a sighed compy of "letter of Agency" whatever that is. And if no "letter of agency" was use to describe in detail "the specific procedures used that resulted in the change of each Complainant's telephone service." Written transcrips of audio tapes were required and so on. That letter was dated May 7.

A day or two after receivein the FCC letter someone from Verizon called my friend, and it sounded like they would be willing to settle for the amount AT&T would have charged, but he was not sure he understood correctly so he asked that person to send a letter to him. She said she would.

My friend was copied a letter dated May 12 sent from a law firm representing Verizon to the PA Public Utilities Commision rejecting all his claims and demanding that the PUC direct my friend to pay the bill in full. This letter arrived yesterday. Oh boy, more grief!

Today my friend received a letter from that same law firm that had sent the letter to the PA PUC on the 12th. The new letter was dated May 14. It basically said that they would reduce the charges from $x,xxx.xx to $xx.xx if he agreed.

My wife is out of town and I am invited over to my friends for dinner tonight. You can bet he, his wife and I will be raising a toast or THREE to TBN and its memebers. We could not have come to this point without you help!

THANK YOU! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I edited out the exact numbers as I did not realize that a non-disclosure agreement was part of the deal, and since my friend would naturally not violate such an agreement, he certainly did not tell me any details...So I figured I better remove what numbers I wrote, just in case I got it right... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[kevincook]

Excellent results....sometimes you have to play hard ball.

Hopefully mdbarb will eventually have results similar to this also.

Kevin

 

[JayC]

That's GREAT news! Congratulations! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> Hopefully mdbarb will eventually have results similar to this also. </font>

I honestly could not help but think the same thing...

Wishing the best for you mdbarb...

 

[k8ny]

Congrats and glad to see the Bells are still flexible as I thought they would be.