Featured link: What To Do About Phone Cramming: Call the Shots (Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/10/1998)Your local phone bill can contain charges from many businesses besides just your local phone company and your pre-subscribed long distance carriers. There can be charges from pay-per-call services, collect calls, "dial-around" services, and even charges that have nothing to do with phone service. In large part, this is a result of the deregulation of the telecommunications industry, and the right of third parties to have their charges appear on your local phone bill. These charges can appear even if you have 900/976 blocking.
To complicate matters further, such charges are often routed through an independent billing company that transmits billing information to the appropriate local phone company. Until recently, phone companies had blindly accepted these charges, but finally, at least one has responded to this issue (see article list).
Consumers can reduce the probability of these spurious charges by being added to the blocking database of each of the companies listed in the table below.
The best way to get added to the blocking database is to use the fax number listed. You should fax a signed request to add your phone number to their blocking database. If an auto-block number is listed, you can initiate blocking by calling from the phone to be blocked 24 hours a day.
You can also call the toll-free voice numbers during the hours indicated, but this increases the chance that the wrong phone number will be entered into the database, and you're likely to find yourself spending a long time getting through to a live customer service rep.
billing company | hours (ET) | voice | auto-block | fax |
---|---|---|---|---|
American Telnet | 8 am - 8 pm M-F | 800-460-0307 | 800-204-2569 | |
Enhanced Service Billing Inc. (ESBI)
(division of Billing Concepts) |
888-302-3724 | 210-949-7100 | ||
Info Access Inc. | 800-568-3197(?) | |||
Integretel | 8 am - 1 am M-F | 800-736-7500 | 800-425-6256 | 408-362-2791 |
International Telemedia (ITA) | 8 am - 9:30 pm M-F 9 am - 5 pm Sat |
800-866-8889 | ||
Long Distance Billing Co | 800-748-4309 | |||
National Billing Exchange (NBE) | 8 am - 9 pm M-F | 800-879-4297 | 407-894-6224 | |
OAN Specialized Products/Services | 8 am - 9 pm M-F | 800-947-5084 | 818-678-4679 | |
Pilgrim Telephone | 8 am - 12 mid M-F | 800-382-5500 | ||
Telecom Operator Services (USP&C) | 8:30 am - 8:30 pm M-F | 800-449-1058 | 816-965-2630 | |
US Billing Inc. (USBI)
(division of Billing Concepts) | 8 am - 11 pm M-F | 800-460-0556 | ||
Vartec (dial-around long distance) | 800-583-0670 | 888-230-7617 | ||
VR$ 900 Billing Services | call Integretel | call Integretel | 408-362-2874 | |
Zero Plus Dialing Inc. (ZPDI)
(division of Billing Concepts) |
9 am - 7 pm M-F | 888-511-0734 | 210-949-7464 |
Last, but not least, talk to your local phone company about being added to the billed number screening as well as 900/976 blocking. And while you're at it, don't forget to ask for a PIC freeze to prevent your long distance service from being switched to a different phone company.
Here are links to some media articles on this issue:
Comments to mantel@hotmail.com
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