|
|
Paul of Enfield, CT (8/29/05)
Received a collect call from our son traveling abroad. We accepted the call and spoke briefly - 5 minutes according to the bill. On our local phone bill, a charge appeared by ZPDI for $43.92 for this call! We were not informed of these rates when asked whether to accept the call or not, the call was automated.
Our local phone company indicated they could not adjust the bill and would hit us with late charges if didn't pay them. I contacted ZPDI, spoke with Damion who indicated the 5 minutes was the minimum charge and since we didn't ask what the rates were when we accepted the call we weren't told. He seemed to think we spoke with an operator, but we didn't. We were given the option to push one button if we accepted and another if we didn't, there was no live operator.
Damion offered to drop the charge $17.57, to $26.35 and said that was all he could do. I have no issue with Damion, just with ZPDI and the way this is done. These rates are outrageous and the consumer is not aware of what the charges will be if they accept a call.
We've ended up paying the bill but I wish to go on record against this type of consumer rip off.
Charles of Norman, OK (8/28/05)
I received my SBC bill and found a charge from ZPDI for $40.40. The collect call was from my son in Wyoming for 8 minutes. I feel this is extremely excessive.
How can the FCC allow such things to happen?
Bambi of Milwaukie, OR (8/22/05)
My children called me from a hotel about 2 hours away from our home. The
first collect call at 9:15 pm I refused because I did not understand who was
calling. At 9:44 pm my kids called again and I accepted the call unaware of
the long distance charges. We spoke for 4 minutes and hung up. They called
again at 9:48 for another short call. I was billed for 2 minutes on that
call.
The total bill was $58.80 plus Federal Excise at $1.76. The first call that
was not accepted was $18.70, 4-minute call was $21.40 and the other 2-minute
call was $18.70. I called the company to dispute the charges; was put on
hold; then my call went into an answering machine where I left my name and
number, but never got a call back.
Randy of Buhl, ID (8/5/05):
After receiving our July phone bill from our local carrier Qwest, we noticed
it was much higher than usual. We had two, three-minute collect calls, at
$17.93 each, from Jackpot Nevada to our home in Buhl, Idaho on July 4th
2005. Plus there was an additional charge of $3.66 on July 8th for "UNIV
SERV FUND". We called Qwest and they said “we just do the billing” so
please call ZPDI.
When we called ZPDI we explained no one was home on that day, but our
answering machine did have two calls on it reflecting an automated collect
call, which hung up when no live person came on the line. At the time we
didn’t think anything of it. ZPDI stated that someone had to have accepted
the charges or they would never have been billed. They said they would put
the account into dispute.
I decided to research the disputed phone numbers and by doing a reverse
search on the phone number I found out the call originated from a payphone
in Jackpot, NV. I was also able to find two numbers for "Custom
Teleconnect", both numbers were disabled.
I called ZPDI and told Aaron, the person who answered my call, that I needed
more information about the charge on our bill, as I was filling a BBB
complaint against the company. After being put on hold several times Aaron
said we would be credited for the full amount but it might not show up on
our phone bill for the next billing cycle or two.
Damages: We will see if the credit actually appears. In the meantime we will
contact Qwest as well as the Attorney General’s Office
Lisa of Olive Branch MS writes (6/18/01):
I received a collect call from my mother who was at the hospital with my dad. She dialed the phone in the room per the instructions on the front of the phone. If she had been aware of the charges that would be received she would not have called in that manner. I just recieved my phone bill and the call was 17 minutes and the charges were $35.06. That is $2.06 per minute. This is an outrage. I called ZPDI's customer service number and the charges were reduced after much complaining, but $0.90 per minute is still a bit steep. Not seeing any alternative I will pay the bill.
John of Rolla, MO, writes: (7/1/01)
On June 5th, my wife's sister had to go to the hospital in Redondo Beach CA for some sudden tests, forgot her wallet and therefore decided to phone us collect. Never having had any previous bad experiences accepting the charges for a collect call we agreed to accept the charges. We were shocked when we received our Sprint bill with a collect call that lasted 38 minutes and cost a total of $93.26 plus $2.80 tax! We were shocked and upset, called the 1-888-509-0734 number on our bill. The bill states that these ZPDI charges are billed on behalf of "OPTICOM," and that there is no connection between Sprint and ZPDI. What a rip-off!
I finally got a hold of someone at this number and they told me that as a consumer, it is my responsibility to ask what the rate is before I agree to accept collect call charges. I guess he was right. But that's not the point. How can someone legally charge $2.50 a minute for a collect call when you can make that call normally for about 7 cents? This is ridiculous and my wife and I, along with my sister in law who placed the call are all very upset with this. The jerk on the phone finally agreed to reduce my bill by 33% but that's not good enough. It's still a ripoff. If I don't pay my Sprint bill, I'll lose my local service and I can't afford to do that. I'm paying this stupid thing. We'll see if I ever get the 33% credit he promised me. He said it would show up in month or two. I think someone needs to do something about this. If you would like me to write to anyone else about this, please let me know.
Shirley of Alton IL (6/27/01):
I used a payphone in a grocery store. I was never made aware of surcharges and billing procedures while using my calling card. Then I received a billing from my telephone company. 3 calls estimated 4 min each cost $68.29. I did call the ZPDI, Inc. and was given a credit of $24.72. I feel this is an unjust charge for consumers. Something should be done about outrageous procedures.
John of Hubbard, OH, writes:
My daughter was in Cancun, MX for spring break. We sent her with AT&T calling cards so to avoid expensive phone bills. She called home several times with no problems, however on the last day she was there, her calling card would not work.
She contacted an operator and they told her that the cards wouldn't work in MX. She was connected collect. However, when my phone rang there was no one on the phone so I hung up; a few minutes later it rang again and this time it was my daughter.
She started talking and told me that the phone card didn't work so I asked her how she called and she said collect. I replied, no you didn't because no one ask me to accept the charges and she said, well she tried to but you couldn't hear her so she hung up and called back and told me to just go ahead and talk.
I would not have accepted the charges had the operator asked me. I would have called her using an AT&T card, which by the way does work in Mexico. We disputed the bill and had Ameritech remove it from our bill.
Today I received an answer from ZPDI, "In reference to the above account number, bill date, and disputed amount, Zero Plus Dialing Inc. cannot issue credit due to the follow: Collect call(s) placed with operator assistance require acceptance of the call prior to processing. Also, to the best of our knowledge, this carrier did not experience any problems which would have resulted in the improper billing of collect calls."
I think ZPDI had better start monitoring there operators and see that they are either improperly trained, or they are ripping people off. I was billed $20.63 for a few minutes and I will not pay it.
Michael of West Orange, NJ:
My dear friend's 18-year-old daughter called from Cancun and was told that her telephone card would not work so she called collect. No one on either side was told of the charges. Well, Zero Plus charged $42.00 on top of two calls costing $90.00 more for a total of 10 minutes.
I called the toll-free number given for Zero Plus on the Bell Atlantic bill and no one answers. I am still waiting for Zero Plus to pick up the phone.
Leon of Union Grove, WI, writes:
We received our phone bill from Ameritech and to our astonishment was a bill from ZPDI for collect calls from our son from Mexico for 11 collect calls for a total of 88 minutes for $738 and miscellaneous charges of $53.51 for Southwest Intelecom. which amounts to $791.51 or roughly $9.00 a minute which is totally outrageous!
Jean-Sebastien of Santa Clara, CA, writes:
My wife recently went on a one week trip to Mexico, in the Cancun area. On the first occasion she tried to contact me from a phone booth, she was unable to use the our MCI calling card and the 1-800 MCI # wouldn't work from the booth. She also didn't have a prepaid card so she ended up doing a collect call back home. Obviously I accepted the charges and we spoke for 5 minutes before the line got cut. Then another 5 minutes. Cut again. Then 25 minutes and cut again. My Pacbell bill shows these 3 calls as having been charged (by ZPDI) respectively at $42.25, $42.25 and $114.50.
I would like to know who's ripping me off here and whether it's a well known scam for which I have some recourse.
Charles of Greenwood, SC, writes:
I received my phone bill today and I was shocked to discover that I had been charged a total of 197.60 for 4 collect calls that we had received from our daughter. The total minutes used was 112 minutes. I went in on your internet site and read all the numerous complaints already filed. What action can people take against this company? The lady we talked to at the company said we should have asked how much a minute we would be charged. How can you do that when everything is automated and who would have imagined that someone could charge almost $2 a minute?
I received my monthly local telephone bill from GTE and on it was a charge from ZPDI for a collect call from Las Vegas (dated Mar.17, 7:42p.m.), for one minute with a charge for 4.54 plus tax. We never accepted a collect call from anyone in Las Vegas and do not know anyone who lives in Las Vegas or anyone who may have been visiting Las Vegas during that time.
I called ZPDI (on Apr.24) to report as much and they told me they would have to look into this matter and that they would be sending a letter within 5-10 working days. I received a letter from ZPDI on May 1, 2000. It simply said that they investigated the matter and that they could not issue a credit due to the following: "Collect call (s) placed with operator assistance require acceptance of the call prior to processing. Also, to the best of our knowledge, this carrier did not experience any problems which would have resulted in the improper billing of collect calls."
I feel I must pay this because I do not want my telephone service to be interrupted, but I am doing so reluctantly. I feel that ZPDI has a license to rip off people (with the help of my local service, because they just include it in our monthly bill). These charges just appear on our bills, out of nowhere it seems, and it doesn't even matter if we dispute that no such call ever happened.
I know this is a very small amount (4.54 plus tax), but next time it could, very well, just be 45.40, or 450.40. When does it stop and how can we stop it? This has caused me more emotional damage than economic or physical, because I just can't get it off of my mind. I don't like to be ripped off and I don't like the fact that I am completely helpless in stopping it.
Marvin of Akron, OH, writes:
I have two incidents with ZPDI/Opticom. The first: My daughter was on a school field trip and the teacher dialed collect from a phone in Breezewood Pa. My daughter had a calling card but teacher placed the call because she had broken out in hives and needed medicine.
We accepted the call, which lasted only one minute, on 10/29/99. We were billed for a three-minute call for $18.51. I protested the amount and of course I lost the protest. I paid that bill.
This past month the infamous ZPDI appeared on my bill for a collect call from Sugargrove Pa. When I called to say I have no knowledge of this call and if they could provide me details regarding they started an inquiry which only resulted in the reply as follows:
Dear Customer: Thank you for your inquiry regarding your telephone bill. The following is our explanation of the results of our investigation. In reference to the above account number, bill date, and disputed amount, Zero Plus Dialing Inc. cannot issue a credit due to the following: Collect Call(s) placed with operator assistance require acceptance of the call prior to processing. Also, to the best of our knowledge, the carrier did not experience any problems which would have resulted in the improper billing of collect calls. We hope this adequately addresses your questions. Thank you for your inquiry. Unsigned
How can these people be allowed to steal like this? I am extremly upset. I think of them stealing from me everytime I see a phone.
David of Williamson, NY, writes:
My parents wer on a trip to Louisianna from New York. They stopped at a motel in Bowling Green, KY for the night on 12/18/1999. They called me at home, collect, to let me know that they were all right. They did this at 7:26pm on 12/18/1999. I just received my phone bill and find that I was billed by Zero Plus Dialing Inc.
The only long distance call on my bill was for this phone call yet the total long distance charges were $25.49 for an 11 minute call. That is over $2.18/minute.
Here is the breakdown. The call was $24.07, the NY tax was .68, and the Fed tax was .74. I have read other complaints against this company and would like to find out what is being done about it.
Tamara of Guyton, GA, writes:
My fiance works in South Carolina and needs to call me collect to let me know when to pick him up. When I got my phone bill the collect call charges were astronomical.
These people are charging $4 a minute and don't tell you their rates when the person makes the call or accepts it. I have over $100 in collect calls alone on my phone bill this month.
Collect calls are always expensive. Why not get a calling card as part of your long-distance plan. You can give the number to your relatives and they can call you much more cheaply. Or, if you must use the "collect" method, have the person call and give you their number. Then you can call them back at your much lower direct-dialed rate.
Angela of Orlando writes:
On a recent trip to meet my mother halfway between our homes in different states to spend the weekend with her so she could see her new grandson, I needed to call home to let my husband know we were OK. I followed the instructions on the phone in the hotel room to make a collect call. I called 4 times in the 3 days we were there. One month later I received my phone bill, I was in shock to see that my 4 calls totalling 16 minutes cost me $92.02.
Four different calls -- four different rates. The lowest costing $4.65 a minute and the highest costing $9.65 a MINUTE!! Can you believe this? 16 minutes to let my husband know that my 4 kids and myself were OK and enjoying a visit with nana cost me almost my whole week paycheck! THIS IS ROBBERY!
Pat of Brier, WA, writes:
My husband was in Irwin, Idaho when he called me from a phone booth to the Seattle area because his phone card would not work in that booth so he had to call me collect. The operator did not tell him what the charges would be, and he had made collect calls in the past that were not expensive. We got a charge from ZPDI through our Verizon bill for $35.02 for an 11 minute phone call. I called ZPDI thinking it was a billing error, found out that was the charge. After several minutes of complaining, the operator finally said they could make a $14.01 adjustment in the bill, telling me that was the best they could do and the credit would come through in 2 to 3 billing cycles. That still makes it almost $2.00 a minute (if I get that promised credit!).
Why wouldn't the phone card work in that booth? Why does it take several months to get a refund, when the original call was billed 24 days after the call? Do they hope that I will forget about it, or spend time calling them again in three months if it does not come through? I hate having to take time to fight to get companies to treat consumers fairly, and have them thumb their nose at me, hiding behind consumer-unfriendly regulations and laws. Life is hectic enough without having to deal with headaches like this! Please pass the aspirin ... and keep up the great work with your newsletter to let us know who the rascals and the good guys are!
|
|
July 5 2008
|
FREE CONSUMER NEWSLETTERS
The Daily Consumer
Afternoons M-F
Sign up now!
Consumer News & Alerts
Every Sunday
Sign up now!
Knowledge is free.
Knowledge is power.
|
|
|
