SLAMMING COMPLAINTS TOP AG LIST; CONSUMERS OFTEN TARGETED AT FAIRS

It's more difficult for long-distance telephone providers to "slam" or "cram" their customers these days, but complaints about slamming, cramming and billing charges topped the list of consumer complaints made to the Missouri Attorney General's office last year.

Complaints about telephone slamming and cramming increased so much that it was the single-most common complaint at the Attorney General's Office during 1998, said Scott Holste, a spokesman for the attorney general's office.

Because there were so many complaints -- a total of 2,918 -- Nixon and 28 other attorneys general, have asked the Federal Trade Commission to create enhanced safeguards to protect consumers from deceptive telephone practices.

Holste said the increase in slamming complaints highlights a growing problem with companies who rope in consumers through deceit and then reap profits without the consumer's knowledge.

Slamming is the deceptive and illegal practice of a long-distance provider switching a customer's service without the customer's permission. Cramming adds additional services to a customer's bill without permission.

The attorney generals are asking the FTC to improve its "pay-per-call" rules, by including the right for callers to dispute charges on phone bills without fear of service disconnections and the right to know exactly what is charged on the phone bills.

"Telephones are an integral and indispensable part of our everyday lives," said Nixon. "This makes phone users an easy target for unscrupulous and deceptive billing practices, especially on the part of the pay-per-call industry."

The attorneys general also recommended changes in the pay-per-call rule that would:

-- Establish billing error rights so that consumers can contest irregular charges on their phone bill without the threat of service disconnection.

-- Develop and publish procedures for pursuing billing error complaints.

-- Require valid, written agreements with consumers before billing them for non-phone services.

-- Require pay-per-call services to use an audible tone to warn consumers when their free phone time is about to end.

"Dial Around" services, offered by a number of long distance companies (10-10-321, 10-10-345, and others) have no effect on slamming. You know who you will be billed from, depending on the last three numbers dialed.

The number of cramming complaints throughout the United States are increasing as more consumers complain about being billed for unordered or unwanted phone services such as 800 and 900 phone numbers, voice mail and calling cards.

Cramming, slamming and other billing complaints accounted for more than 10 percent of the 26,213 complaints received by the Missouri Attorney General's office in 1998.

Nixon said consumers usually get slammed or crammed when they enter contests and sweepstakes at fairs and festivals.

The entry blanks may double as an authorization form to switch and, or add phone services. Other ways consumers are slammed or crammed include signing "bogus" checks received through the mall and responding to prize offers and cash solicited by mail.

Some scam artists even forge consumers' signatures to illegally switch or add services, said Nixon.

Nixon's offices recovered more than $195,500 in penalties and restitution last year from three out-of-state companies accused of slamming and cramming customers.

One Florida company paid $45,000 to the state and more than $88,000 in refunds to 6,322 Missourians. The Florida company had used "hard-to-read" type on contest entry forms to tell consumers they were "switching or adding" to their telephone service.

Two Texas companies paid more than $60,000 ($35,000 and 27,500 respectively) to the state for using contest entry forms in cramming and slamming practices.

Slamming complaints have been dropping in Missouri, say Holste, and Southwestern Bell officials because the phone company has established a practice of automatically notifying customers when long-distance provider changes are submitted.

"There's a downward trend on slamming," said Lisa Wilder, Southwestern Bell area vice president for external affairs. "But, there's still work to be done to eliminate slamming."

Southwestern Bell sends an automated message to residential customers whose service provider is changed. Customers then have the option of dialing a toll-free number to speak with a customer-service representative if they have questions about the change.

The service has been activated throughout Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma following a successful pilot project in Texas. Southwestern Bell does billing for a number of long-distance providers in a five-state area and must be notified by long-distance providers of any changes.

The company says it has interceded on behalf of almost 558,000 slamming victims during the past two years, including 58,000 in Missouri. The company reports that cramming accounts for about 10,000 complaints a month in the five-state area.

In a number of cases where switches have been made, the customers sometimes pay a phone bill or two before noticing the change. The new Southwestern Bell service makes the consumer immediately aware of a provider change.

"The new, automatic notification system empowers customers to protect their choice of providers," said Corynne Davis of the company. "We believe that customers have the right to choose their providers and to have their choices respected."

The notification system runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. four days a week. Notification attempts begin the day after change orders are received.

"We're making significant progress on slamming, but these statistics show there is still much work to be done," said Wilder.

In Illinois, telephone customers have extra protection from companies switching their long-distance carriers or billing them for unwanted services, thanks to anti-slamming and anti-cramming legislation signed in mid-1998 by then Gov. Jim Edgar.

The new law requires customers to be notified within 10 days if a new service is added or a company switched. It also forbids the use of sweepstakes in conjunction with soliciting changes to a customer's telephone service.

The law gives the Illinois Commerce Commission more power to investigate complaints and order fines or refunds. Violators are subject to fines up to $1,000 to be paid into the Public Utility Fund. The ICC also has the ability to revoke a carrier's authorization to do business in Illinois.