Has Anybody Here Been Scammed By A Company Called Zero Plus Dialing Inc?......

[global1]

My friends 87 y/o uncle has had his AT&T telephone bill automatically debit his bank account and has had monthly bills as in the range of $275 to $300. From the reading of the bill he has been receiving collect calls at odd hours of the day and getting stuck with a charge of $38.00 for each. They are all three minutes in length. When one calls back the number that the call was generated from - it picks up and drops immediately. These calls are all 3 minutes in length and from that it appears that the minimum charge for a call is in 3 minute increments. I'm thinking the uncle answers the phone - no one answers - he hangs up - it is a collect call and he is charged.

Has anybody had any experience with this company? Have you been successful in getting refunds? Is there anything on a legal basis that can be done? Three other companies were also listed on his bill. They were: Legacy LD Intl Inc.; Custom Teleconnect; and Intellicall Operator Sus, Inc. There were also suspicious charges listed under these companies as well.

I think these companies prey on the elderly and fleece them of their money. I'm thinking this is all a result of deregulation that companies like this are able to function - and function just barely under the law - and are allowed to get away with it.

I'm wanting to know if there are any Congressmen or Senators that are looking into these telephone scams and trying to put these companies out of business. We don't know where to turn to see if we can get some of this man's money back. He's going to have to go into a nursing home now and needs the money.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. Call your Congressman's office .......

The staff there will point you in the proper direction.

The vile scum. I hope you hammer them.

Good luck....................

[Th1onein]

2. They are ripping off EVERYBODY!

Look here: http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?submit22=Search+All+The+Latest+Rip-Off+Reports+Now!&q1=ALL&q2=&q3=&q4=&q5=zero+plus+dialing&q6=&q7=&searchtype=0

[global1]

4. Yeah They Are Ripping Off A Lot Of People - We See A Lot Of Complaints But.....

it doesn't look like anybody is doing anything to stop this or help those who have been scammed. Any suggestions?

[jazzjunkysue]

3. It can't be billed collect without authorization. Talk to ATT. They have to

clear those charges and investigate and shut it down.

[KewlKat]

5. We had something similar

I can't remember the companies now, but there were three. I phoned my phone company and had a block put on ALL 3rd party billing so they couldn't get any more nor could anyone else. I also complained to them (phone co) that NOONE should be allowed to charge, 3rd party, without their customers consent. The phone co told me their hands were tied. I then phoned the companies on the bill (and they answered) and tried nice then resorted to nasty and informed them if I received no credit I would sue. I also told them I was notifying our AG. It took 3 months but we did get refunds through our phone company from all of them. I still had to pay the damn phone bills until we got the credits. We have no idea how they pegged us.

[INdemo]

6. File a complaint with the FTC with all the details and chances are that

company will be forced to credit your bill.. Call the FTC and a representative will help you..I dont think you will have a problem forcing that company to credit your bill.Working with my phone carrier and the FTC it took me about 2 hours total and my bill was credited..Now what you will need to do is put a carrier freeze on your service so this won't happen again..
Call the Fed Trade Commission ..You will resolve this issue..

I forgot to mention this is called "slamming" and you can dispute the charges and this gives you time to resolve the issue...You have probably already done this but Have you called your bank and blocked these charges against your card?