I can’t believe this topic!
I have been fighting for months over this whole taxes and surcharge issue. I swear, I am going to blow it up like Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, but I have to take this another direction. I never thought I would see what I have seen over the last week!
When you sign a contract with a carrier don’t you expect to pay that same price for the entire term of the contract? Well, carriers have added surcharges and taxes that are not really taxes to your bill over and over again. This week I learned just how far a carrier will go to screw the customer!
I am not going to name the carrier just yet, because I am hoping they will see the error of their ways when customers start breaching their contracts and leaving them high and dry. I already have four customers that are ready to start a class action suit.
Let me start with a little background. Most of you know that my agency is based in Chicago. We have some pretty weird local calling areas. I have yet to see anywhere in the country that works like ours. Basically, we have three local calling zones. Our lines are very cheap and we charge for every call you make. If you make a call in Band A it is a call that is roughly between 0-8 miles. Band B is roughly 8-15 miles and Band C (sometimes called local toll) is 15 miles to the end of the LATA.
A few years ago most vendors went to an expanded price for unlimited local. AT&T called unlimited local Bands A and B. They charged Band C as a long distance call. So, the CLECs started including Band C in their “unlimited” calling area to compete with AT&T. Everyone offered unlimited calling and included all three bands to compete. It was written into every contract.
Recently, a major national CLEC decided to cap local calling at 19 miles. They basically changed the terms of their contract to every customer in the Chicago area. Suddenly, Band C changed from 15 miles to the end of the LATA to 15-19 miles. I have a customer in the Western Suburbs that makes a lot of calls to downtown Chicago that received a local calling bill of $1000.00. These were calls that were previously included in their contract and suddenly were not included anymore. These calls were 20 miles in distance.
They questioned the bill with the carrier and were told that section……of their bill states that they could make this change. While legal is it the right thing to do? They had their lawyers look into it and realized they could screw the customers and make more money. Customers contacted their lawyers and were told that it is legal and they are on the hook for the charges.
I currently have four customers that called it a breach of contract and switched to other carriers. The vendor sent them to collections. Now I am out commissions because the customers refused to pay. Is this right? I will withhold the name of the carrier if they do the right thing. If they do not do the right thing I will call them out in a future blog. They know who they are and need to fix this ASAP. Please don’t make me call you out!