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As we understand it, Talk America started out in life as AOL Talk, then became Talk America, then an independent company catchily called Talk America Holdings Inc. It was then taken over by Cavalier Telephone.
Whatever it is, it seems to have some of the same problems as its onetime parent, AOL. Namely, it's hard to cancel, tough to work out billing disputes, difficult to get customer service and really tricky keeping up with all the fees and surcharges.
Here are a few of the more recent complaints ...
Evelyn of Joliet IL (12/26/06)
On November 27, 2006 my account was doubled-debited for the same invoice. Since that time I have sent 10 faxes, made 15 calls to customer service and no results. Each time I talk with someone they give me a different answer. It is now the 27th of December and I have yet to get anyone to acknowledge that they have received my faxes, let alone put the money back into my account.
One manager told me that I should write a letter to the president and ask him for more staff because he could not dig through 250 faxes to locate and resolve my problem. In addition, each time I call, I spend at least 5 minutes waiting to speak to someone. Then, the customer service representatives put me on hold, without telling me, and I have waited for as long as 20 minutes for a manager to pick up the call. I have also had scheduling problems. The service technician came to install the line; told me it was working only to find out that it was not working. The service technician then told me that it was my fault because I should have checked the line myself. I have over $75.00 in overdraft charges as result of Talk America not putting money back into my account; and that figure is getting bigger.
Kathryn of Westland MI (08/25/06)
I cancelled my telephone servie, in its entirety, on 5/16/05. I spoke with a service representative when that cancellation did not take effect on July 27th. I was told that my final bill was 21.13. I made an immediate on line payment. Subsequently I received a collection notice and another bill for 26.98.
Becky of Clinton Township MI (08/14/06)
My husband and I have been trying to cancel our Talk America phone line for over a month. The first time I called, the service rep told me it would be shut off in 12 days. It still has not been shut off and it has been a month since that phone call. I tried to call again last week and the service rep, Julian-19493, told me it would be shut off that night. Four days later my phone is still on.
Paul of Conyers GA (08/01/06)
I called Talk America on 6/27/06 and requested my service be cancelled (because it was taking them too long to transfer service from BellSouth and I wasn't recieving any incoming calls). I was told it would take 3 - 5 days. I called back mid July because I still had service. I spoke to another agent who informed me service would be cut off very shortly and that I would not be responsible for any service after 6/27/06. I did not make outgoing calls, but did receive some inbound calls on that phone #. I recieved my next bill 7/31/06 for the period ending 8/21/06) and instead of being billed for about 5 days - the bill was for the entire month.
I called customer service again on 7:00 a.m. 8/01/06 and spoke to an agent who was able to pull up comments from my previous calls. She informed me that since I had usage (I received some incoming calls) up until 7/20/06 that I would be billed up to that time period. When I told her that I was informed the last time I called that I would not be billed after 6/27/06 she stated that I rec'd the wrong information. When I asked to speak with a supervisor, I was told none were available. ... I called back at 8:00 a.m. and spoke with agent 19443 who said I was responsible for charges until the service was discontinued. I told her their inability to disconnect my service (now over a month after the cancellation was requested) was not my problem. The only resolution was she would send it to their auditing department.
Carol of Kennesaw GA (07/07/06)
I had been a Talk America customer for over five years with no complaint until May 2006. There was a great deal of static on the line and an echo. I had dial-up internet service and this interference prohibted me from getting online to pay bills and order supplies for our business. I contacted Talk America by phone for 11 days to no avail. I was simply told to be patient.
So, on May 24th I switched to Bellsouth. They gave me a new telephone number, because I couldn't wait the extra 10 days it might take to switch and keep my old number. Everything is fine with my phone service now, but it is July and Talk America still hasn't disconnected my old phone number. They are still billing me for it and sending me late notices. I have attempted to call them 27 times this week, and I am disconnected by the customer service computer when I ask to speak to a representative. Not to mention, two weeks after I switched to Bellsouth, a repair technician showed up at my door saying he was with Talk America and was here to solve my repair issue. That made a total of 25 days after my initial call was made before a tech came out. I have never had a more unpleasant experience with customer service than I have had with Talk America.
Yolanda of Stone Mountain GA (05/12/06)
Talk America is a rip off. I paid my bill on time every month. Then we had a storm and my service went off. I called them numerous times to get someone to fix my phone. Finally they said i would have to hire someone at the company for $80 an hour to come and fix some internal error. I cancelled my service and went with another company. They then put my account in collections. When i called, i was told i would get a credit for the months i paid. When i called back, they told me they would take my account out of collections and take off the fee but will not issue me a credit.
Sarah of Lutherville MD (03/10/06)
When I switched my local service to Talk America it was because the Unlimited Plan was $24.95 per month. When I received my March 2006 bill they charged me $34.95 per month. When I called to say that they had not notified me in advance of the upcoming rate increase and that I wanted the credit for $10, and then I would cancel my service they said No credit would be issued. They said the rates were on their website. I told them I receive a paper bill, not an electronic bill. They said, no credit would be issued.
What if they had just decided to bill me $395 per month. A company must be required to notify customers in advance of upcoming rate increases so we have the option to cancel service before the new rate takes affect. I canceled my service effective 3/7/06 and requested a pro-rated bill for 3/7/06-3/21/06. They told me they only pro-rate the Plan charge and not the surcharges and taxes. I would have to pay all surcharges and all the taxes on the bill and then request a refund on the overpayment of taxes which would take at least 60 days. They said they do not pro-rate the surcharges.
Craig of Grand Rapids MI (03/06/06)
We went without proper service for 2 months. I could make outgoing calls, but could not receive incoming calls or access voicemail. When I attempted to contact customer service, I could never get through to anyone. Then I switched phone service. Once that happened I got SLAMMED by Talk America, who switched my service back to them without my authorization. Their customer service staff is the biggest bunch of incompetents I have ever dealt with. Now it will be another 2 weeks before my service is switched back to my preferred provide, which IS NOT Talk America.
Christina of Bedford NY (02/28/06)
I tried for weeks to get thru and cancel talk america on my bussiiness line. Some thing that should have been done and was done by verizon on the 28th of Dec. 2005. They continued to bill me. On Feb. Am. Ex. bill they even put in two billing cycles on the same bill. I finally got thru today when I found their phone menu had chaned draamatically. I finally spoke to a manager, Brent, who was so rude turning every question I had, straight forward questions, into a circle of nothing said, nothing acomplished, double talk in which he stated i was still being billed the same amount because I didn't cancel my home number long distance with Talk America. Suddenly the charges were the same for one number and exchange or two numbers with two different exchanges. How do you cope with that. How dare he!! You have to think that he knew exactly what he was saying and was instructed by his boses to handle this in this manner.
No one is as stupid as he was sounding.
When my blood pressure had risen dangerously high, I stated that I guess I would need to settle this on national television, which made him query the reason or how would that help and I simply put the phone down. I went to the computer and here I find hundreds of people having expirenced the same fraud with this company every where.
Bayla of Tinton Falls NJ (02/27/06)
I'm angered and frustrated by phone companies, such as Talk America, who blatantly tack on more and more fees, until these extra/nonsensical fees are almost as much as the cost of the plan itself. I signed up with Talk America's Talk 200 Plan -- which, at the time, seemed the most reasonable choice, given the minimal usage of my home phone.
This was a bundled local and long distance package. My bills started out at approximately $26.95 (+ taxes and fees), for a total of approximately $42 per month. This same service is now over $66.00 per month -- and my usuage has not changed!! The culprit? Nearly $30, yes $30 in surcharges ($21.43) and taxes ($8.43). This is plain extortion! How much should one have to pay just to have a working phone (a necessity, no longer a luxury) How do we stop this madness that is rampant throughout the industry??
Steve of Burbank CA (12/26/05)
I had signed up several years ago with Talk America for my long-distance service when they were part of the AOL family, and my credit card was automatically billed each month. Over the course of 18 months, they insidiously inserted slowly escalating administrative fees and unexplainable surcharges into my account. These multiple fees finally caught my attention when our monthly bill soared out of control. When contacted, Talk America would provide NO INFORMATION and their reps only kept repeating that the fees were posted to the website and it was MY fault for not going to their site often enough.
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