Customers find extra charges on phone bill

~ Cape Girardeu resident claims she didn't sign up for an Internet deal that showed up on her SBC statement.

An Internet business offering free coupons and savings online is eliciting complaints from people surprised by extra charges on their telephone bills.

In the mail with last month's phone bill from SBC, Patti Miinch of Cape Girardeau found a bill for an additional $13 charge from a company called Email Discount Network. She immediately questioned the charges.

"We don't use a land-line for long distance so our bill is very consistent," Miinch said. "When I looked it over, I saw that there was an additional page for an 'Email Discount Network Setup fee.'"

Amy Santos, a supervisor for the company, said Email Discount Network is a Web site that provides users with an e-mail service and also gives them access to coupons and online savings.

On the Web site, users are invited to register for Email Discount Network's services. To activate the service there is a one-time set-up fee of $12.95, an amount the Web site states should appear on the user's next local telephone company bill in the miscellaneous charges section.

"The only way to be charged for Email Discount Network is by filling out the online form," Santos said.

But Miinch and her husband deny ever filling out an online form.

"We were at work the day the company claimed we had registered," she said, "and then we went out of town. There is no way we could have signed up for this."

The charges appeared on Miinch's Southwestern Bell Company phone bill.

"SBC can be the billing agent for a long distance or Internet company's behalf under a contractual arrangement," said Marsha Haskell, SBC regional director. "Sometimes companies don't have the capability of billing, so they contract with our company, which already has billing mechanisms in place."

Haskell said charges can appear on a phone bill in a number of forms, and the origin of the charge can be unclear.

"Internet cramming" occurs when people unintentionally incur charges by clicking on pop-up ads or e-mails or by downloading entertainment content through an Internet session.

"SBC companies are committed to helping consumers recognize and protect themselves from deceptive marketing and Internet cramming," Haskell said. "We take cramming and deceptive marketing complaints very seriously and continue to do everything we can to support our customers."

Miinch said she called Email Discount Network's customer service number after seeing the additional fee on her phone bill.

"I was told by the lady who answered the phone that they would remove the tax but not the nonrefundable setup fee," Miinch said.

Miinch said the customer service representative agreed to remove the charge after she threatened to call Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon's office.

Miinch said she called Nixon's office anyway.

Jim Gardner, a spokesman for Nixon, said other state residents have complained about the Email Discount Network.

"I can say that the concerns we've had have all been resolved," Gardner said. "The company did provide the consumers with a refund. As a consumer advocate, it is our goal to make sure the consumer didn't get a service they didn't agree to," Gardner said.

Gardner and Haskell said consumers should be careful when providing information over the Internet.

"One of the most important aspects of this is to read the fine print," Gardner said. "If it's too good to be true, it probably is. And when you get your monthly statement, be sure to look it over closely."

Haskell said an SBC customer with any concerns about an unknown charge on a bill should call the company.

jfreeze@semissourian.com