|
ZPDI illustrates what happens when Congress is so busy trying to please warring lobbyists that it overlooks the consumer.
A little history: More than 70 years ago, Congress passed the Communications Act of 1934, which established a very orderly system that regulated telephone service, broadcasting and other public-service utilities. Everyone paid pretty much the same price and everyone got pretty much the same reliable, relatively inexpensive service.
It wasn't until 1996 that Congress once again stirred itself and, after decades of furious lobbying, passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which basically deregulated telephone service, cable TV and broadcasting as far as consumers are concerned, leaving in place just enough regulation to protect the big players who employ all those lobbyists.
ZPDI is a creature of the new "market-driven" telecom universe -- you know, the one that's brought you rising cable rates, bankrupt DSL providers and, oh yes, all the new local phone service competitors. (See ZPDI: Behind the Screen)
What can you do?
- Fight back. We have reports from consumers who've done it and won.
- Write your Congressional representatives. Unless you live in Washington, D.C., you are represented by two Senators and one Member of Congress. To get their addresses, type your Zip code in the box above. More on this topic.
- Complain loudly, publicly and bitterly to ZPDI's "partners." ZPDI is a billing agent for companies and institutions that own the telephones in hotels, hospitals and prisons and for payphones located in stores, airports, schools and on street corners. The owners of the phones are getting a big cut and you should let them know you don't like it.
Here are a few sample complaints. You'll find many more in the categories listed to the right.
Roland of Dallas GA (05/03/08)
Being charged for collect call that were not accepted. 2 minutes for 12.95and 10 minutes for 22.00
$150.90 worth of calls that were not accepted
Michelle of Montrose PA (04/15/08)
several collect calls were on Frontier phone bill amounting to $634.08 these calls were never accepted.
I called Frontier and ZPDI
Vicki of Hayward CA (04/13/08)
I received a charge of $10.22 on my AT&T long distance bill from this company. I never made any calls thru this company. They are saing I am being billed on behalf of Legacy Ld Intl Inc and I have never heard of this company either. I don't know anyone overseas. I am not going to pay them and plan on contacting AT&T tomorrow (Monday).
h
David of Weston MO (04/08/08)
Was billed on my LEC bill for 3 collect calls, which came in after office hours, when no one was present to accept the call. Two of the calls apparantly came from collect only phones in the county jail. Other call could have come from state pen. Calls were from 3-4 min each, and cost $17-$22. Calling location only 10 miles from receiving location.
3 calls billed at 57.68, plus junk charges of $7.10 = $64.78. Contested.
Ann of Milford MI (04/03/08)
A member of my family called me collect from jail. He had no notification as to how much the calls were. When the calls came in, my children (both under the age of 18) accepted some of the calls. Although the operator said a rate sheet was available, when you are in this situation, you are not thinking clearly. All the calls were accepted. As a result, I received my phone bill, and have charges amounting to $229.79 for these collect calls. The price ranges from $1.09 per minute to $8.46 per minute.
How can this company get away with it. I have written to the company that outsources this service, and have also written to ZPDI. I am writing to my representatives, and to my State Attorney General to get this company checked into. How dare they take advantage of such a vulnerable situation.
I cannot pay this bill at this time. We (my family) are experiencing bad times in Michigan. I hope that this doesn't affect my credit rating.
Linda of Novelty MO (04/02/08)
We have a pic freeze on our phone line, with Sprint as our long distance provider. I still receive bills from Sprint and for the last 5 months have had a $14.95 charge on our local phone bill for Zero Plus Dialing. I have disputed this charge with ZPDI, and the first 2 months they have not been able to find any records that our phone number was in their system. The 3rd month it shows up, and my local phone company credited the charges on the phone bill. Month number 4, same call was placed to my local phone company and they said they do not do billing for this company and were still investigating how the charges was placed on my bill.
Apparently, I was not the only person who had these charges. Month 5 and my local phone company has stated they will give me credit one more time, they informed me that they found out that it was not a long distance choice and therefore they were able to put their services on my phone line and the pic freeze would not stop it, it was a billing charge. So once again I called ZPDI and threatened them with the Missouri Utilities Commission and the FCC, I told them that this was placed on my line without permission from my husbland or I, and that it needed to be cancelled and all charges removed. This time it shows up in the system, and Nicole said she would cancel the service (still don't know what the service is) and that I needed to call her back with my billing dates to credit the bill. If it hasn't been cancelled and I haven't received the credit, I will contact my congressman and ask for his assistance. This company needs consumers' like us to complain to their utilities commission and / or the FCC. A federal investigation for fraudulent charges needs to be conducted, and a law suit on behalf of all the people they have ripped off.
This has affected my reputation with my local phone company, because I refuse to pay for these charges. It was not put on my phone by me or my husband, and I will not have a company SLAMMING my phone line. I previously worked for Verizon as a customer service representative and I know full well how these companies can harm the consumers credit as well as their ability to get future phone service. These companies MUST be stopped and pay restitution to all those they have harmed.
Haroon of Needles CA (03/17/08)
My wife called about a call on our bill. She first spoke with Luther who said that the call was a collect call from San Diego, CA. My wife explained that there is no way that this call could have been placed to our number because we are both at work at this time. She then called back and spoke with a Noelle who also stated that the call was placed collect to us from San Diego, CA. When my wife started to question how a collect call from San Diego, CA had a (323) area code, he switched up and said it came out of Los Angeles, CA when our bill states that the call was from San Diego, CA. We feel that the company just stuck a bill they could not trace on the first phone they thought would not look into the matter.
The consequences are that I am no longer working because of illness and my wife is the sole support of our household and we have to watch every penny. I want this $35.06 plus tax taken off my bill. Plus I want this company to know that they cannot get away with this type of billing to innocent people.
Connie of Creswell OR (03/11/08)
My husband called the toll free to me at my hotel and zero plus dialing is billing me for those toll free calls. I have had these charges removed off my telephone bill and this company is to bill me directly. The hotel never stated we would be billed for using the toll free number. I am being billed $328.44 for 114 minutes of calls. When I call the company they want to give me a credit of $134.00. I am refusing to pay because I used a toll free number and was never advised it would be $2.61 a minute to receive a call. Toll free numbers should only be toll free with no charges. I have contacted the company regarding this fraudulent charge and asked to speak to a supervisor who refused to do anything regarding this issue. He did give me an address to complain to Customer Service. I have filed a complaint with the FCC and The FTC to see if this can be resolved. ZPDI wants to place the blame with the hotel and not their company.
I am worried this will go on my creidt report and ruin my good credit standing.
Iain of San Jose CA (03/07/08)
Custom Teleconnect through Zero Plus Dialing Inc and AT&T charged exorbitant rates for a collect call without disclosing the rate to either party.
I am in the position of paying far more than a fair price and far more than I would have been prepared to pay had the rates been disclosed. Further, I can no longer afford to accept any collect calls which may put my family at risk since they can no longer summon aid.
Sara of Oakland Park FL (03/07/08)
On 2-19-08, I received a message on my ATT provided voicemail that began with an automated operator saying that a collect caller was on the line and should I wish to decline the charges, simply hang up. The caller then began to talk and left a lengthy message. When I received my ATT bill, on 2-28-08, ZPDI charged me $25.47 for this four minute call. I disputed the charges with Custom Teleconnect (listed on my ATT bill) and they were downright rude. The representative, Cynthia, told me that the automated service requires you to push a button to accept a call and that since the call was four minutes it probably did take place.
I phoned ZPDI directly and they said the same thing, even after I assured them that I did not accept the charges and that their system had to be flawed to allow a collect call to be connected to voicemail. They were also rude and refused to credit the call. I called ATT next. ATT basically said that there was nothing they could do. ATT has the authority to charge me and hold me accountable for a third party charge but takes no responsibility when the charge is erroneous. This does not make sense. I spent more than 40 minutes disputing these charges with the three carriers involved and I let everyone involved know that I have no intention of paying the charge. I received two more collect calls, under the exact same circumstances, on 3-06-08 and I have already been told by both ZPDI as well as ATT that there is nothing that they can do about charges that do not yet appear on my bill. Does this mean that I am expected to go through this whole dispute process all over again when my next statement arrives?
Clendora of Champaign IL (03/03/08)
I received 2 collect phone calls from my nephew in Memphis,TN, who was calling from a pay phone. I was billed $60.34 for 7 minutes of total call time. He called from TN. This is ridiculous, and I don't feel like I should have to pay that much for a collect call. This is a rip-off, and the company should be put out of business.
Salina of Anahuac, TX (01/28/08)
They have charged me for collect calls that I know I did not receive. The total came to $84.60, some of which have no minutes beside them. They have charged me $8.38 for no minutes and then for a 3 minute call they charged me $27.52, that's $9.17 for one minute. Another call cost $44.08 for 12 minutes and two other calls totaling $5.00 for zero minutes.
People should not have to pay for something they have never done.
Leslie of Hialeah FL (01/14/08)
They're charging me for some calls that I never accepted or received from Cuba.
My phone service company (AT&T) is charging me $170.00 for these calls.
William of Mckinleyville CA (12/20/07)
I was charged $28.03 for a 4 minute collect call on 11/20/2007. No one was at our home between 11/18/2007 and 11/27/2007. The company says they require voice verification to accept a collect call. This is not possible because no one was at the house during that period to accept the alleged call. It took over an hour to finally get someone to issue a credit after being told that a credit was not possible. This company was just able to attach a charge to my local telephone companys bill. They wasted much of my time and were unpleasant to deal with and for a fraudulent charge. I feel my local at&t company is also to blame by allowing such a claim for a bogus collect call charge by Zero Plus to be attached to their billing.
Sabrina of Vero Beach FL (11/26/07)
I continuously received collect calls from a cellular phone for over a week. The connection was unclear, and we were unable to hear the name of the caller. After over a week, I accepted one call, but received no answer. I immediately hung up, and disconnected the communication. I just received my phone bill, and was charged $180.14 for 6 calls totaling about 1.5 hours. I called the customer service number listed on my phone bill and I was given the run around. After doing some research on-line, I realized that this fraudulent company has been operating freely for quite some time. I am outraged and shocked that this is going on. How do I stop this non-sense and prevent any further action?
I am unable to afford such a phone bill. I will continue to dispute it until resolved. My local phone company advised me that my service will be interrupted if not paid or resolved.
Tommie of N. Highlands CA (10/24/07)
I have Zero Plus Dialing and accepted collect calls and was charged a bogus charge called "non-subscriber charge" for $1.50. I asked them to credit the charge off, and they said "No."
The charge is on my AT&T monthly statement; if I don't pay the charge, my service will be shut off.
Crescent of Manchester CT (08/25/07)
My brother was stuck on the highway in NY. He used a pay phone to make a collect call. My next phone bill has a charge from a company called ZPDI for 35.88. It was a six minute phone call.
Sharon of Ludlow VT (07/07/07)
I received my phone bill from my phone provider. On this bill was a 3-minute collect call for $34.97!
Ronald of Sandusky OH (05/06/07)
I have had $17.80 put on my telephone bill three times. I have called twice to advise them that I did not order this service, whatever it is, and I want my account credited and no more charges added to my account. My telephone bill is deducted from my checking account every month so they are getting paid and will not stop or return my money.
Robert of Eatontown NJ (03/03/07)
I opened my telephone bill today and what a surprise. My brother-law who is disabled made an operator dialed call to my house from Las Vegas. His call was for 18 minutes not hours, the charge $65.47, not a bad deal for them. I called spoke with 2 people the last being a supervisor but I have my doubts. They offered to reduce by $18.30.
Monte of Denton, TX (02/19/07)
At 6:41am my wife was received a phone call asking if she would accept charges from the police department. Since I travel for a living and our son had just left to drive some sixty miles to college, she accepted the call. Only after accepting the charges did she find out that the call was from a prisoner trying to call a bail bondsman.
Had the original caller asked her if she was a bonds company or that this was the reason for the call she would have never accepted the call. I believe I am justified in requesting the $14.01 charge be removed from my bill.
Martha of Denver CO (02/19/07)
I accepted collect calls from a relative on December 23, 2006 and December 25, 2006 for a total of 44 minutes talking time, I was charged $163.56. This comes out to $3.72 per minute. When I accepted the calls, I was not told or given the option to request the rate per minute I would be charged. The only message I received when his phone call came thru was to accept or deny the phone call. I have been on the phone with Zero Plus Dialing and spent a total of over 7 hours talking to different agents about this. I call everyday since I received my bill in January 2007. My complaints go on deaf ears and they insist that I was told before I accepted the calls that I was notified of the rates, but this is not true.
I am in the process of losing my home. I am trying desperately to save it and Zero Plus Dialing is not helping me by charging me an outrageous amount of money for 44 min of calls. The recent supervisor Bridget Badge #625 hung up on me without even listening. I guess they are getting tired of hearing from me.
Ken of Tehachapi CA (02/01/07)
Up until this month, my average phone bill ran $115.00 per month. I am now in receipt of a phone bill exceeding $1,600.00 for the month. On December 21st, a friend of our daughter admitted himself to a rehabilitation center for drug addiction. Of course, our daughter wanted to be supportive to her friend, so she was excited when she began to receive contact from him. The phone calls were collect calls made to our residence and were prefaced with a statement that "We have a collect call from John, do you accept?, If so, please press any number."
Never, were we made aware of the cost of these calls. On January 29th, without disclosure and notification, our telephone service was interrupted and we were told that we had reached our limit of toll calls and their price limits. My daughter was unaware of the enormous fees associated with these calls and she (nor any sensible person) would not have authorized the collect call if the phone company would have advised her of the actual fee charged. Would anyone accept a collect call if they told you the fee was $10.00 dollar per minute? I have just received a $1,600.00 phone bill with charges in the amount of $1,400.00 derived from collect calls made from a payphone.
This is appalling! The only explanation from Zero Plus Dialing was that if we wanted the fees disclosed, we should have asked when the call came. Note, these are automated collect calls, so no real person is available to discuss this matter.
Lisa of Detroit MI (01/25/07)
An additional charge, in the amount of $16.24, appeared on my telephone bill for a call made from Drayton Pl, Michigan to my telephone. In looking over my December telephone bill, there were no calls made or accepted by me or my husband on December 18 from or to Drayton Pl, Michigan. This is a bogus charge. I will fight this charge and this group.
Arlene of Port Monmouth NJ (01/23/07)
On Nov 13, 2006 my two business lines were moved from a company account to a Zero Plus account. I never authorized any such activity.
As a result, my business calls were billed by USBI on my Verizon local bill at a rate of .73 per 3 minute minimum, rather than a rate of .05 per minute. As Verizon passes through this charge I am responsible for paying this out of pocket.
Josefina of Perris CA (12/17/06)
I received two short collect calls from my husband on November 13, 2006. I accepted the calls and spoke no more than 5 minutes for each call. According to the bill we spoke for a total of 10 minutes. On our local Verizon bill, a charge of $64.77 appeared by ZPDI for these calls! I couldn’t believe this, I was outraged over these ridiculous charges. At no time was I informed of the rates before accepting the call. I contacted ZPDI, and spoke with one of their representatives and was told that there was nothing that could be done. The rep told me the best she could do was subtract $15.00 from my charges. I have ended up paying the bill but I wanted to record my complaint.
Thomas of Santa Rosa CA (12/16/06)
On my December phone bill I had two charges of $20.75. There was no clear explanation for the charges. I called Zero Plus, Inc. immediately to challenge the charges and "Margie" told me I had accepted two collect calls. I told her that I and my wife absolutely do not EVER accept collect calls from anyone. Margie insisted that someone in our house did accept the calls. Margie finally agreed to credit my account but it might take two to three billings to correct this charge. My wife and I are retirees and I am disabled living on a fixed income. It is frustrating that I have to keep vigilant guard on my phone bill.
Orvan of Chattanooga TN (11/18/06)
This is the 4th time I've discovered this company has added a long distance billing charge to my phone bill. I called about a year ago and they told me they would credit my account. They only partially gave me credit!!!!!! I am so angry that someone can add to my bill without my approval. They gave me a name of a person in maryland and ask if I knew them. I did not. Even if I did and had not given that person authorization to use my phone account... this was not a collect call, but added billing from someone I don't even know! What is going on here. I've been on line and apparently this is BIG business. I'm not the only one complaining!!!! If needed, I can try to find my bill from a year or so ago when they had billed my account 3-months in a row for $14.95 and I finally caught up with it.
I cannot afford these bills and do not plan to pay them.
John of Hollywood, CA (11/04/06)
There are charges totaling $26.73 on my ATT local/long distance bill dated October 28, 2006 that are not mine.
Aaliyah of Youngstown OH (10/25/06)
I Received my bill in July I noticed a $20.58 3rd party charge from Zero Plus Dialing Inc. I paid this bill without thinking twice. In August I received a $60.23 3rd party charge from Zero Plus Dialing Inc. I contacted my local carrier(AT&T) to complain about it. They said they could do nothing and that I would have to deal with ZPDI. My son paid this bill even though no such call was placed by me or anyone in my house. In September I received a $111.25 3rd party charge from ZPDI. I do not intend on paying this bill because I believe the ZPDI company is a fraud.
I have been scammed out of at least 80 dollars and I would like my money back. Calls handled by ZPDI are billed through the local telephone company on the subscriber's monthly bill. If the consumer doesn't pay, the consequence is that his or her local telephone service is cut off.
Sabrina of Downey, CA (10/23/06)
I received my phone bill in July and noticed a $29.08 3rd party charge on the bill. No such call was placed by me or anyone in my house.
I have left message after message, with no response or results. My husband paid it this month of October 2006 because he was afraid it would go on my TRW.
Kerry of Lake Havasu City AZ (09/11/06)
My husband works out of town and his was unable to get through to our home on his cell phone. He drove to a pay phone at a gas station.
He called the operator and she said he would have to make a collect call, which he did. 19 minutes we spoke. I received a bill for $41.85.
J. of Gainesville, FL (09/04/06)
I received a $26.95 phone bill for a 3-minute collect call from a fax machine.
Kate of Scottsdale, AZ (08/19/06)
I saw a collect charge on my Cox phone bill for $ $5.33. I called my local Cox billing number and complained about it. They said they could do nothing and that I would have to deal with ZPDI.
Well, I've now seen all the problems people have in dealing witn ZPDI. Cox just simply washes there hands of any dealings about this. I will then just cancel my home phone and use my cell phone. If I ever have any calls from ZPDI on my cell phone, I'll cancel that too and just use my email.
I told Cox, I would never pay for this charge nor any additional charges incurred because of this call.
Karen of Kaukauna WI (08/10/06)
I received my phone bill from my local carrier (AT&T) and indluded in my bill were phone charges from ZPDI. For 19 minutes I was charged $166.81! My daughter called collect from Puertvalla, Mexico because she lost her credit card and ran out of calling card minutes. I tried to call ZPDI but the phone number listed on my bill and the one AT&T gave me were both disfuntional. The call always led to being disconnected. I paid AT&T their part of the bill but did not pay ZPDI's portion yet.
Trish of Marietta GA (07/28/06)
I called to inquire about some collect, yet local, charges on my bill. The person I spoke to, Judith, was very helpful, and explained that I should have my local provider place a full block on all collect and 3rd party calls. She said some calls may still come through, but most will be blocked. She was very helpful.
Erika of Azusa, CA (05/27/06)
I received a charge on my Verizon bill for a collect call from a number I did not recognize, and a collect call I never accepted. The billing party is from ZPDI.
The obvious conclusion is that this call was either placed at a pay phone owned by Verizon and contracted with ZPDI, or the number is truly a bogus number.
Harry of Prescott Valley AZ (05/23/06)
We had charges on our phone bill from this company dated 5/14/06. There were two charges totaling $45.70. We were in Mexico at that time. We will not pay for these calls. We have tried unsuccessfully to phone but never get an answer only a recording and then music.
James of Oak Creek WI (05/22/06)
I was stuck at O'Hare airport,I made a three minute collect call home to my wife.Somwhere along the way I had lost my calling card.For a three minute call they charged my phone bill $ 20.75. I don't understand why my phone company puts it on my phone bill.Why doesn't this company say what it will cost? I am very upset over this. This company has complaints a mile long on the internet.They do this at airports, motels, hotels, hospitals, and also prisons.I was on the phone waiting over an hour before I could even talk to a live person, thats when I got Jessica, she then turned me over to Kay. I got a lecture from her as to how collect calls work.This was my first collect call I ever received,and it will be my last. I feel they are ripping everybody off.
Doris of Denton TX (05/03/06)
On March 14, 2006, I accepted a collect call from my husband. To my shock I received a bill from ZPDI DIRECT in the amount of $42.33, for a call that lasted 8 minutes. On 03/30/06 I talked to Pedro ID#013 (ZPDI)who told me that he would make an adjustment and I would have to pay $20.04. I made my payment just to find out that $7.69 showed past due on the next month bill. It was not made clear to me that the $20.04 did not include the taxes and other fees. Follow-up phone calls to ZPDI were unsuccessful.
It is outrageous that the long distance companies are not regulated and can charge such high fees. The consumer is not protected at all. My husband was in an area where there was only one pay phone and his cell phone was not working. He did not have a choice but to use that phone to make a collect call. Who would have ever thought to be charged such a high rate!? Something needs to be done to regulate the long distance companies.
Tania of Berkeley CA (03/10/06)
I just saw in my local telephone company's bill that an added page for Zero Plus Dialing Inc has a 14 minute collect call that cost $30! That's over $2/minute and I was not informed of the charges when I accepted the call. I was simply asked "will you accept the call or not". When I called the company, they said that's no mistake, that's what they charge, period. I feel like I've been robbed. Are other people feeling the same way?
|
