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ZPDI: What Can Consumers Do?

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?

Odd though it may seem, ZPDI is operating within the law. Congress removed most consumer protections from telephone service with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Only Congress can restore those protections.

Is that likely to happen? Not without an awful lot of smoke from consumers, who have a hard time being heard when Congress is dealing with a big-bucks industry like telecommunications.

In mid-2000, we heard from Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), who sent us a letter from one of his constituents, Carol B. of Warrington, PA. Mrs. B. wrote:

Dear Sen. Santorum: I recently called your office about the outrageous phone bill that I received from a company called Zero Plus Dialing. As you can see, it cost me $8.90 for a collect call from my son who was driving to Florida. I had sked him to call me and let me know that everything was all right. I had expected the cost to be high, but this is outright extortion. Too many times, deregulation means the right to gouge the public. There should be some limit or -- at the very least -- some indication of the cost of the call before the person accepts the charges, although I probably would have accepted the charges in order to find out the status of my son. It seems to me that Congress has a responsibility to balance the interest of both business and the public. Too often the public interest part of the equaion is ignored.

Mrs. B. nailed it pretty well we thought and we were about to write back and say so when we received a zinger from the good senator's office, asking why we had not yet done anything to resolve Mrs. B's problem. We then wrote to Sen. Santorum asking what he was going to do about it. We're still watching for his response.

What can you do?

A good start is doing as Mrs. B did -- writing to your Congressional representatives. Unless you live in Washington, D.C., your state has two Senators and your have a Representative from your district in the House. Use the box below to get the mailing address of your Congressional representatives, then write to them telling them in simple, unemotional language what happened to you, what happened to others (you can direct them to our site) and what you think should be done.

If you send us a copy of your letter, we'll keep you up to date on any further developments. You can email it to consumer@consumeraffairs.com or send a written copy to us at the address below.

ConsumerAffairs.com
PO Box 3233
Oakton VA 22124