Custom TeleConnect

I got a phone call from my boyfriend who was incarcerated. They never once told me how much the phone call was going to be, but they asked me to put in my information. I gave it and my phone call with him was very brief, maybe 5 minutes. I checked my card and I was charged $20.14, but they said something about I was going to be charged 38 ** dollars and the 20 dollars would be accredited to my account. This should be a crime. How can you just charge someone without them knowing? They offered me a 40% discount, which would make it 22 dollars, but that's still crazy 22 dollars for 5 minutes. I even had one operator tell me he refused to give me the discount because I told him I'm not paying this. This is absurd and I'm not sure if it's even legal.

A charge was posted to my account for $50.55 on February 4, 2012 from Custom Teleconnect. I never got a call on that day, nor accepted any call from Florida. I am not even sure how they got my credit card number to even bill to my account. I see this company has done this many times and has many fraudulent acts, and I would like this company investigated.

My husband had a roadside emergency. He went to a payphone, but it wouldn't accept his coins so he eventually called collect. The auto voice asked me for my credit card number and I gave it, thinking it would eventually tell me the cost and ask me to push a button to accept such cost. But that didn't happen. A two minute cost me 20+ bucks. It's unconscionable that the FCC allows this company to continue to victimize people in emergency situations or for that matter, any situation. The only posted rate this company has is for their coin cost, which is rigged to not work. FCC should be held just as accountable as this fraudulent company!

This is an outrage! My son got stranded about a mile from home, and it was pouring rain. He didn't have change, so he called me collect from a pay phone for a ride. The call lasted only a couple of minutes, if that. To my horror, I was billed over $20.00 on my debit card. I expected a collect call to cost maybe 5 or 6 dollars. But over $20 for a local call is ridiculous. I am retired and on a fixed income and that $20.00 hurt! I was 3 days from my next automatic deposit. It's lucky I didn't get my account overdrawn, which would have incurred an awful fee from my bank. My son paid me back, but he was stunned about the fee. He would have walked home in the rain if he'd known what this company was up to. Why does the utility commission allow this?

I was in Orlando, Florida when my cell phone died. I used the pay phone using my credit card. When I looked at my statement, I had four pending charges of $28.16 each. When I called, they told me that the pending will drop when the actual calculated time of each call was calculated. Three days later, I checked my account and I was charged for three of the calls at $33.97 each. Each call was less than a minute, because no one answered the call. When I called, they told me that this person and that company had to get paid. But since the calls were so extremely short, they took 40% off $101.91 for three calls that totaled less than one minute.

Stranded in North Dakota, I used a pay phone that showed long distance call of four minutes for $1. I attempted several times to use a credit card which wouldn't go through. One week later, I see a charge for $28.16 on my card statement. Even if the card hadn't gone through, it was about a four and a half minutes of call.

The customer service specialist informed me that it was the pay phone owner's issue and that the FCC does not require them to disclose the actual fees. When asked about the posted cost, he replied that it was only for coin calls. This is a very disturbing company. If the phone or recording shows CTI or Custom TeleConnect, avoid it!

On a hot day, my son-in-law was stranded without a car or money. He called collect to arrange for a ride. He then had to make a second collect call to see if someone would be able to pick him up. Both calls lasted less than a minute. I could not accept the calls without using my debit card.

The next day I went online to check my bank balance and was shocked to see that I was charged over $20 per call. I was at no time informed that the charges would be that high.

My brother called me collect from the phone number listed on Franklin street in Sacramento on June 24, 2011. There was a recorded message asking for a credit card to accept the collect call. I entered my card number and accepted the call and spoke with my brother for exactly 2 minutes and 38 seconds and hung up the phone. The next day I checked my bank account online to stub my checkbook for the charges. I had been charged $20.14 for the call. Since the call had been an emergency I chalked it up to a learning experience.

However, while checking my bank account on June 28th for a different charge I noticed that Custom Teleconnect was now charging me $32.42 for the same 2:38 call on June 24th. It is now June 29, 2011 and the $32.42 charge is still "pending" on my bank account and my attempts to contact the company have been fruitless. Just recorded messages.

I got a call from Larned Hospital (Kansas) and was billed exactly 21 minutes, and I ended up incurring a $47.43 phone bill. The company that handled the billing was ZPDI, and when I called them to ask about the charges, I was told I needed to call 1-866-739-8953, the number for Custom TeleConnect's customer service.

Well, $50 is a lot of money. Those **.

My husband had locked his cell phone and keys in the car so he called me through collect on a pay phone. All I heard was his name and collect call so I accepted it. Then, a recording came on and said that it needed valid credit card to take the call. I did, of course, because I did not know what was wrong. We could not have talked for a minute or less and I was charged over $20.00. That is a total rip-off scam.

I was bill $31.74 for a four minute collect call from a pay phone from a person I did not know. I was not forewarned of the cost of the call beforehand nor was I allowed to hear the name of the caller. I either accepted or not. I am on a fixed income as I have been unemployed for 19 months and my unemployment benefits just ran out. I just got off the phone with a representative of this so called business and he could only authorize a $10 credit. Because of this additional charge on my regular phone bill, I will not be able to afford one of my medications this month and will have to cut the pills in half in order to get through the month.

This is outrageous and someone needs to do something about this business. I see that there are many complaints from consumers so when is something going to be done about it? Who will stand up for us unsuspecting phone owners? They should be required to acknowledge the charges before the recipient accepts the charges. Totally highway robbery and is probably against some FCC regulation. I hope someone who is in the position to do so will take this by the horns and get it fixed.

My wife called from a pay phone in an emergency and not knowing any other way to call collect (since she grew up outside the US). She called *11 as was listed on the phone. I received a call on my cell phone and had no choice but to accept the call, although I was not informed of the costs at all. I found the next day that my debit card had been charged $20.14 for a call that lasted less than 1 minute. The following day, there was another charge of $26.24, even though no other calls had been made or accepted. The day after, the first charge of $20.14 was gone, and the $26.24 remains. This is ridiculous, predatory behavior. This company is charging people whatever they please without disclosing any rates or charges.

I have a charge on my home telephone bill for a "collect" call 3 minutes that comes to a total of $25.23. Every time I try to call and dispute the charge, I get extension 806-687*9921 and they can't take my call; please leave a message and they'll call me back. Sorry that person's voicemail is full, then I get a dial tone. This call was made on September 16, 2010 at 3:48 pm. I don't get off of work until 4:00 pm and it takes me about an hour to get home.

Since I'm the only one using my home phone, there is no way this "collect" call was ever accepted. I am calling my regular carrier to let them know the charge is disputed and will not pay it. Someone really needs to look into this company's scam from what I read. Anything you can do to help me and put a stop to their business practices would be greatly appreciated.

On September 6, 2010, my daughter accepted a call from a relative in a hospital in Mississippi. After realizing what she had done, I hung up the phone in about two minutes. I received my bill and it showed three calls at 3, 3, and 4 minutes for a total of $90.66. When I called Custom Teleconnect, the representative said she could only remove the first two calls at 3 minutes because they were the least time. Even though I explained that the last call for 4 minutes was not accepted, she said I had to dispute it with my phone carrier. Two calls for 3 minutes each at $30.47 for a total of $60.94 is pure robbery. This company and any like it should be required to state cost of call before it is accepted and not allowed in places like hospitals and other places where people are at a disadvantage.

I received my bill with 9 collect calls from a phone number that was a made in Missouri from a pay phone. 8 of those call at 3 minutes was charged $27.15 for each and a 42 minute call at $77.85. With all the taxes and misc. charges they billed me a total of $376.50.

When I called to let this company know that I never received these calls nor do I except collect calls which were made in a span of 3 days at all hours of the night, they refused to delete this charges off my bill they created for me. I explained that it would help if I knew someone in Missouri. I have never even step ground in Missouri and this is a bogus bill and charges. The worker of the company could not even tell me who called or who accepted the call. This is a fraud bill and unacceptable. I reported this to my main phone company. It has caused me to add more charges on monthly bases for blockage of any collect calls. This will protect me from this company and there fraud bills.

I was locked out of my house this week, without a cell phone, or my wallet. I drove around searching for a payphone (not an easy task these days). I finally found one at Safeway. My coins did not work, they just kept falling through so I used my credit card (which I know by heart). I made 3 calls for help without even talking to anyone (only left messages). I checked my account today and was utterly shocked to find a $69 charge on my card! Are you kidding me? 23 dollars a call?! I agree with what others have said here. This company should not be allowed to be in business. They are preying on people's misfortunes. After all, who uses payphones anymore, unless it's for an emergency? What a racket. I am filing a complaint against them and will also talk to Safeway about discontinuing using them as their payphone service provider.

On September 28, 2010, I accepted a collect call from a family member in Santa Clara County Court House, CA for $20.14. Two days later, I saw on my bank statement that another charge has been placed on my account for $27.40. My family member was at home with us, so I know this is an illegal charge and I know that no one else in that city would call me. Is there anything I can do to have these charges reverse off my account? This situation has caused my account to go into default because I know after that outrageous charge of $20.14 was taken from my account, I only had $1.19 left in my account. This has placed me in a financial bind. I'm afraid that I'll have to close my account and open another account. Truly, this has caused a great inconvenience to my financial situation and has jeopardized my bank account, as well as my family's welfare. I need help please with any info you can give me. Thank you.

I live in central New Jersey. On Saturday 9/18, I received a collect call from NYC. I had to process it through this company who asked for a card number. I only have a debit card and this call was an emergency. The call lasted maybe 2 minutes. $20.14 was debited from my B of A account. Today I viewed my statement and another $28.45 was debited from my account on 9/21. I did not receive nor make any collect calls on that date. I have viewed many sites online that complain about this fraudulent company. I now have to cancel my debit card for fear that they will continue to eat away the money I have. Please help!

My wife was supposed to meet me to pick me up. I used a payphone. I tried my credit card, and the recording said they could not use my credit card and the phone call did not go through. Today, checking my debit card balance, I see a charge for $20 from this company! How can the FCC license these people? There was no listing on the payphone that the charge would be $20, and how can they charge me when the call was not completed? This company and his administrators are predators! I will be lodging a complaint with my local government to have Custom TeleConnect's ability to place their payphones in our city yanked.

I have tried to get some questions answered and no one will respond to my e-mails or phone messages. This company is trying to charge my credit card to the amount of $65. I wish to have this harassment stopped.

I cannot load my prepaid card with money to safely remain there that I use for my bills and I am in fear of losing money to a company that I owe nothing to.

As most of the complaints against the company state, I needed to make a collect call in an emergency situation. The receiver was only told they had a collect call and would need to use a credit card to accept it. Considering the unusual nature of the call, the receiver had no other option except to comply. The call was made on a phone with an advertisement stating five minutes for $1. Two days later, we noticed a $20 charge to the account. That was enough to make us very upset. Then two days later, the $20 charge was gone and replaced with a $26.00 charge. Today, I called the company and was told a)there was a recording letting the receiver know of the charges and whether they could use a credit card or not, b)the charges were in part due to the owner of the said phone, and c) the initial $20 charge was merely a verification charge insuring the card actually worked.

I asked the first rep if she was sure there was a recording. That if I went back and used that same phone and there wasn't a recording letting the receiver know of options then either the rep was mistaken, lying or there was something else going on. She put me on hold and came back with "Sir, we cannot control what the owners of the phone does or doesn't allow. It is up to the caller to call the operator to determine the exact amount of the charge." This went on for a few minutes.

Since she had just put me on hold to top confer with someone, I asked the rep to speak with her supervisor. Surprise surprise, there was no available to assist me. No one in charge at all, just the phone reps to run the "small call center. "

I called back and spoke to a male caller (again no names provided) who basically ran me down the same path except this time, I was able to get him to admit that he didn't agree with the charges and policy in place. But again, I received no refund or suggestion that one of any amount would be forthcoming.

Custom TeleConnect is obviously a well greased money making machine. Their reps continue to tell me that the FCC doesn't require anyone at any stage to divulge fees or calling rates and that it is the up to the consumer to search that information out.

Scam? I don't know. But what I do know is that they could care less about customer service. They don't have any customers, only uninformed hostages. And the fact that the company is based out of Las Vegas speaks volumes!

Yesterday, my wife gave me a call from a local pay phone (because her cell phone wasn't working) to see where I was since we were meeting each other. All I heard was I was receiving a collect call from someone, with no mention of the charges it would incur. I answered, we spoke for less than three minutes and then I got off the phone. When I got home, I checked my bank account and saw a $20.60 pending charge from this company. So I asked her if she knew why it was so much. She was very confused and said it was only supposed to be 50 cents a minute for local phone calls, which doesn't explain this at all.

Seriously? 20 ** dollars for less than three-minute phone call? I've read the other comments, so I'm beginning to see that this is a trend and supposedly, they argue that it's some kind of surcharge. That, unsurprisingly, was money I needed and certainly nothing I would have accepted if it had bothered to tell me what I was going to be charged!

I was traveling from Ohio to Georgia. My car broke down and I needed to call someone for help. I used a pay phone at a gas station with my debit card. This few minute call cost me $64.20. This is asinine by any means. When I tried to find a number to call the company, I could not find one. With this high cost and the money spent to fix my car, I have incurred 175 bucks in overdraft fees at my bank. The phone states credit card and collect calls $1 per minute. I was not on the phone one hour. It was more like 10-15 minutes. I have learned my lesson. The next time I am traveling and break down, I will just stick out my thumb and take my chances, at least then I know I stand a real good chance of being raped.

I was billed for over $200 for "collect" calls. The status of these was never informed to me about nor was I asked if I was going to accept these charges. The calls came through just like regular calls wherein the caller would be responsible for charges not the receiver. Surely this must be illegal and against FCC, FTC, etc. rules. I was charged for over $200 on my phone bill and after many calls and much time I was told that the phone company would ask Custom TeleConnect to bill me directly. I wish!

i just called 3 minutes and the company charge me $20.00. i check my account and the company CUSTOM TELECONNECT charge me for 3 minutes $20.00. in the public telephone the connection showed 4 minutes for 1 dll.

I received my telephone bill from verizon, I noticed it was unusually high. After looking it over I saw a charge from Custom Teleconnect (which I never heard of before had to look up information the Internet) for 3 mins charging me $24.32 plus $7.42 in additional fees. Well I was totally upset so I called this company and told them I would call Better Business Bureau if these charges were not dropped. I do not accept collect calls on my phone and know for sure I did not accept this. Normally when a collect call comes in the operator states "you have a collect call from ____, will you accept? Nothing of this nature happened I believe this company fradualently just puts calls through or something of that nature. I have no record of receiving a call that the number camer from. I'm now in the process of calling my telephone company to report this issue.

On March 28, 2010, I received two collect calls. One call was 3 minutes for $28.15 and one call was 6 minutes for $32.05. Other charges were for regulatory compliance fee of $2.99, bill statement fee of $2.99, carrier cost recover fee of $2.49, universal service fund of $8.49, and carrier cost recover fee of $2.5; all totaled $79.66. I was told by the representative at Custom Teleconnect that these were the fees charged by the Johnson County Jail in Buffalo, Wyoming and not by Custom Teleconnect. These rates were never revealed up front and other calls from this jail have been for roughly $1.00 per minute. From the same phone number, my invoice showed a total of 108 minutes for $119.82.

I called over a period of 3 business days, trying to contact someone! I called regarding collect charges billed to my home telephone number. I inquired about why charges was so high. $38.89 for (approximately) 6-min local call? I asked if this was disclosed upfront and told on payphone! Not required to tell party accepting charges by law? I was offered $7.69 off.

What became even more upsetting was when the agent advised if I sent a complaint letter. They could not process a credit? This is clearly a scam, and charging such outrageous fees in today's economy is ridiculous.

I did not have my two quarters to make a phone call. I read that you can use the debit card and be charged $0.50. I used it three times for less than three minutes each call. I was billed $27.54, $20.00, and $13.77. I wasn't aware of those charges until I was going over my banking account. Currently, we are going through difficult financial hardships. I'm trying to save money to buy reduced groceries and we are back to square one.

We have been receiving collect calls from an inmate at an California Correctional Facility. There has been countless calls made to my home from this individual. My family and I have made it a point to just let the call go to voice mail, so we don't have to incur the charges. Of the 10 calls that are presently on our bill, I have accepted one only to let the individual know not to call my house and because the automated voice explained that the maximum charge for the call would total $3.00. That one call actually totaled 21.75.

The other nine calls that went to voice mail were still billed to our telephone number at 20.60 per call, even though we never accepted the calls. There is also an option to have the inmate calls blocked by dialing 7 on the phone and then calling 877-650-4249. But when you call the number, it says they are experience usually high call volume and can not take the call. This has been repeated every time we've called. They've offered to reduce the bill from $207.17 to $79.49. The call that was supposed to be $3.00 and ended up being $21.75. I don't feel I should have to pay, so why would I have to pay a reduced bill. The $207.75 is on our current bill and we are terrified at thought of what our upcoming bill has store for us knowing he called and gone to voice mail in excess of 5 times daily on most days.

I was in Highland, CA and used the pay phone on an emergency call. I entered my credit card number and a couple of times the call did not go through until the last call. I was surprised when I checked online that my bank account was overdraft because I was charged a total of $103.01 for a call that did not even last for 5 minutes! I called the Custom Teleconnect and complained about it and the representative told me that I had three calls and they were charged $27.67 each.

Even if I really connected 3 calls, the rate is ridiculously high and there was no information on the rates whatsoever during the call or neither were they posted on the phone booth! I asked the representative how I can lodge a complaint about it and he said that the amount was pegged by the owners of the telephone and not them, so they cannot do anything about it. He just asked for my email address so that he can email me the details of the owners of the phone whom I can complain about. That is, if he ever emails me about it. I was overcharged for around $100 and the bank overdraft is also around $100. Plus, the time spent in running after them and bad bank account record.

A charge was put on my mother's phone bill by Custom Teleconnect. This was listed as a collect call from Portland, Oregon. The call was placed on the evening of 12-31-09. The charge was $31.51. Not only does she not even know anyone from there, she wasn't even home. She was at a New Year's Eve party at the church when this call was posted. She called our phone company, Windstream, and explained and they told her that the FCC prohibits them from getting involved with fraudulent charges and that she would have to call Custom Teleconnect to resolve the issue.

I then called Windstream and they told me the same thing and gave me Custom Teleconnect's phone number. Then I called this company. They said that someone at this house had to have accepted the call. I explained that no one else was there and after going round and round with them. They said that they would credit her account in one to two billing cycles. I believe that this company is scamming people. And I don't believe the FCC prohibits phone companies from protecting their customers from being scammed. How sad that these companies are getting away with scamming our senior citizens? They're on fixed incomes and shouldn't have this kind of aggravation. This incident was a deliberate scam and this company needs to be investigated.

This company placed bogus charges on my phone bill, almost $200 for alleged collect calls "zero-plus" dialing, which I have never used. In fact, this phone is just an outgoing message for a church and I have placed less than 10 calls, mostly local, in the last year. The phone serves as my DSL connection. In fact, I was probably not at home when many of the alleged collect calls arrived.

I have never in my life accepted a collect call from anyone for any reason. AT& T will not process the charges so I am safe, but I want to see these criminals charged and convicted for their crimes. I called both At& T, who took care of things quickly, and Custom Teleconnect who refused to give me any information and just repeated over and over that I had to call 611 (Google will bring up many other cases of their fraud). AT&T said that was nonsense.

I suspect this fraud has affected enough people for class action. I caught this in time so will suffer no ill effects. But my phone would have been cut off, losing my internet as well, had I not noticed and contacted AT&T right away. My interest in this action is not for monetary gains, but to see fraudsters punished. I have worked with Wells Fargo Bank in a previous case resulting in shutting down bank accounts used by fraudsters. You can count on my cooperation in any action taken against these criminals.

The lower control arm and steering knuckle broke on my boyfriends truck. He called me collect from a pay phone, which was automated saying it was a collect call from Doug; "to accept this call enter a debit or credit card #; or to ignore hangup." I knew something was wrong for him to be calling me in the first place. I entered in my debit card #. Our call was connected. Doug told his truck broke down and where he was. I was very familiar with the area, so there was no need for directions. We hung up. I left to pick him up.

One day later, I was making a small deposit after hours at my l banks ATM machine. I was shocked at the balance knowing the only thing it could have been was that call. Yet, still, I could not believe it. I came home and checked online my bank statement. Ii was the call! Before I could even get to the bank the next morning, it had cleared. This was not a long distance call, nor was it a toll call. There was absolutely no animated voice giving any notification of per minute charges either: especially $10.00 a minute or 16.5 cents a second. It was a $31.54 charge for a "3" minute phone call.

This company charged me 22.00 for my son to call outside a local family dollar to say come get me. There is no phone numnber listed and I am very upset. I am speaking with an attorney concerning this issue.

$26.00 charge to my card.

I received an emergency collect call from a family member that was in route from Atlanta, GA on 11-25-09 @11:01PM. I was not informed of the charges, just the name of the party that was calling.I was charged for 3min, although I'm not sure if we even spoke that long. The reason for the pay phone was there was no cell service in Tifton GA.

I received my At&T bill to discover I was charged a base fee of 22.82 w/surcharges & other fees the total for a 3min collect call from one state away was 30.11 That comes out to $10.00 a min. After reading the other complaints I see I'm not the only one. This company needs to be investigated for predatory practices in my opinion. I have filed a complaint with the FCC.

How can this be allowed?

I used my credit card. I looked at my credit card statement and it had a charge of $20.60. I called Custom Tele Connect and was told that the $20.00 would be credited to my account.

However, I just finished speaking to another representative, Cynthia, who stated that the company charges $20. She also stated that the rates are not listed on the telephone, you have to dial 0 to find out the amount. I did call 0 that day, however an operator did not answer the phone.

I have long distance collect calls on my phone bill that I did not authorize or know about. They are said to be operator connected calls. They said that I need to pay them and they will not be taken off my bill.

I cannot afford to pay these and they are not mine nor did I authorize them. I am financial difficulties that may result in losing our home and our business. Now I will loose our phone privledges also because of this.

On 7-8 July 2008 I made several phone calls from pay phones in the lobby of the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego. I paid by credit card, and was billed disproportionately. Upon inquiring from Custom Teleconnect Inc. (CTI) who billed me, they wrote: For each call you were charged $1.15 per minute, a $6.50 operator surcharge, $1.50 property imposed fee and a $9.30 Non subscriber fee. In other words, in addition to the $1.15 per minute charge which would be paid by coin, a surcharge of $17.30 for each call!

It appears to me that a consumer should be made aware of any situation in which the difference in the form of payment would result in even a minimal cost increase. However, when there is a potential of increasing the cost ten-fold or fifteen-fold, it would certainly be incumbent on any merchant to notify the customer before such charges are incurred. This should be even more obvious in the case at hand, since the norm in the US and in most of the world is that the cost of merchandise and services is the same whether the payment is made in cash or with a credit card.

Nevertheless, there is no indication on or near those public pay phones of any differences between coin payments and credit card payments, nor was there a recorded notification of such before (or after) the credit card number was punched into the phone. Of course, no such problem would exist if coin payments were made, since then the caller is instructed to enter the required amount prior to making the call and would, of course, refuse payment if $17.30 were added to the cost. Indeed, since CTI does not feel compelled to notify customers of such charges in advance, one might wonder why they drew the line at only $17.30. Althoug CTI refused to divulge the owner of the pay phones, the hotel indicated that it was AT&T. AT&T informed me that since they did not bill me, they cannot help me.

A six-fold increase in the cost of phone calls.

On 1/28/07 I received 2 collect telephone calls from phone booths, in my area, to my home telephone. Both of these calls were a pre recorded voice stating that I had a collect call from (insert name). I immediately hung up the phone, without listening to the full recorded message. I never accepted either call but was billed $23.32 for 6 minutes on my phone bill & told I would have to pay or my credit rating would be affected.

Of course I have no intention of paying for 2 toll (ZPDI) charges that were never accepted. Custom Teleconnect has offered to credit my account (with my local provider, Cox) within 2 to 3 billing cycles. I don't trust the Company, it is a scam & should not be allowed but, deregulation has rendered the consumer bigger headaches. I filed complaints with the FCC (both local & Nat'l). I placed a block on my home phone number, through my local carrier, (free) so I cannot receive the calls through a 900 number provider. I have also called a supervisor at my local provider to dispute the excessive charges & flag my account awaiting the credit. I now will send my billing to Custom Teleconnect for all the time and aggrevation incured from the erroneous billing.

One of my employees used a pay phone to call me to let me know he was stranded with a flat tire. to except call i had to give my check card no. The 4 calls were 13.44,12.55,11.66,10.00. I wasn"t given any rate until it showed up on my bank statment. this is verry exspenseve for a50 cent local call.

Collect Call Ripoff

Custom TeleConnect billed by ZPDI to Verizon

Billed for $29.79 for only a 9 minute phone call from an airport in the USA. I spent and hour on the phone mostly on hold trying to dispute it. I was offered an "adjustment" of only $11. Price of call was never posted or disclosed. Company representatives I talked to tried to blame the practice on our Government and Deregulation laws. I blame it on greed and deception on phone companies.

I need to make a consumer aware of the outrages charges when making a collect call. It happens to me when I called my brother from a public phone outside the hospital to make a collect call for 3 minutes to his house 4 miles a way. The Charges came to $22.30 for 3 minutes. I called the company made the charges and they said it was legitimate charges. It was outrages charges the company name is Custom Teleconnect. I hope you can put that on the news. This is a crime for a company to charge around $7.43 / minutes, what is going on here. The company name is Custom Teleconnect, they are based on Antonio TX

We recieved our phone bill the other day and after we had paid it we were quite disturbed to discover a list of charges billed to us by Zero Plus Dialing,Inc. on behalf of Custom Teleconnect. The bill was nearly $77.00 for only 16 minutes worth of calls. The kicker was that nobody was at home to accept these collect calls that were made from a payphone in Panama City, Fl. A call to ZPDI got us nowhere, except for the knowledge that they are not the ones who set the $4.80 a minute rates, they just collect them, which, in my opinion, makes them no better than Custom Teleconnect. Only after threatening ZPDI with lawyers did they offer up Custom Teleconnect as the real crook behind this scam.

For some strange reason, however, the 800 number we recieved from ZPDI did not work (who would have figured that?) and we had to resort to tracking them down on the internet (it was so hard) and the website we found had a customer service page but lo and behold it was not working. So we located a local Las Vegas number and called it and were we surprised to found out that it was just an answering service and could not answer any questions pertaining to Custom Teleconnect. The little girl at ZPDI has already told me that Custom Teleconnect will not refund my money, so if that is going to be the case then Custom Teleconnect is going to catch as much hell as I can possibly dish out. ZPDI can expect the same treatment.