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ZPDI: You Can Fight Back

ZPDI • Feds Settle with BSG/ZPDI/Billing Concepts • Disputed Collect Calls • Expensive Collect Calls • Calling Card Calls • Hotel Room Calls • Scam Calls from Mexico • "Regular Carrier Unavailable" • Calls through Opticom --- • Congressional Action Needed to Stop ZPDI • You can fight back • ZPDI: What Can Consumers Do? • Consumer complaints about ZPDI and WXT Communications • Who's Behind ZPDI?

Rod of Wilmington DE writes (4/5/01):
I have had three dealings with "Zero Plus Dialing" over the years. After repeatedly phoning them, they twice dropped the charges to the standard Bell rates, and once dropped the charge completely. So extreme persistence does have results, if you are willing to expend the time and aggravation.

Last month, my mother-in-law placed four calls to family members from the hospital, where she later died of cancer. ZPDI charged her home phone $118.79, on behalf of "US Long Distance". The hospital (owned by Tenet) received a "Property/Provider Surcharge" or kickback of $9.88 on each call. After two complaints (from me and from the hospital, which discontinued its dealings with "US Long Distance"), ZPDI reduced the $118.79 to $20.41, which was the standard Bell South toll rate for these calls.

My wife made a collect call home from a motel, where she was stuck by a winter storm. This one-minute call was billed for $25 by ZPDI, on behalf of "Opticom". After phoning ZPDI, Opticom mailed me their rate sheet. After phoning Opticom twice, the charge was dropped completely.

I was once stuck at an airport, and used a pay phone that was labelled "Bell Atlantic" to call home using my Bell Atlantic calling card. No one answered the first three calls, but I got through the fourth time. Four calls were billed by ZPDI for some other company who had bought the pay phones from Bell, but never removed the Bell Atlantic labels. It turns out that their billing computer cannot even tell whether anyone answered, and simply starts billing after the phone has rung about 20 seconds, assuming someone would have answered by then.

So I was billed for 4 calls, even though only one was picked up. Anyway, after complaining twice, the $70 bill was reduced to $2.50, which would have been Bell's charge for the one call that was completed.

When you phone ZPDI, they will first offer you about 30% off, hoping that you will accept it. If you remain adamant that you never agreed to these rates and will not pay them, they will eventually offer to charge you the standard Bell rates, which are roughly 1/6 of the initial bill. That is their actual cost. If the remaining amount is below about $10, they may completely drop the charge.

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