The Observation Deck

Check your phone bills carefully. On the front page of the bill, left side under billing summary, you may find a charge for around $6.50 from a company called Value Link or Value Link Plus. This company has been reported to the State Attorney General's office and has several complaints there already. It is a charge for dial up internet access that in every case so far wasn't ordered. SBC has to include the charge because the FTC requires them to do so.

If you know a senior citizen or a business owner, bring this to their attention please.

The consumer has to call Value Link, request a refund and then follow up for the next several months to make sure this has been done.

If you find this, please add your name to the growing file of consumer complaints at the consumer complaint office of the Ohio Attorney General's office.

SBC has to include the charge because the FTC requires them to do so.

The FTC requires SBC to charge customers for a service they haven't ordered?

What's going on at the FTC?

'The FTC requires SBC to bill customers fraudulently?'

Susan, somewhere underneath this sentence in your report is a tale worth drilling down to get.

Steve,

I've had that same conversation with both SBC and the Ohio Attorney General's office. When the telecommunications industry was deregulated, evidently a law was passed that allows smaller communication companies to piggyback on the bill of a larger company. Somehow this is helping to level the marketplace. I completely agree with you. I have made the point over and over that at the very least the smaller company should have to provide some type of evidence that the consumer has actually ordered the service, but alas this is not the case. Perhaps you have better sources of info than I do. Have at it!! Until then, watch your bill.

Suzanne

More information available in today's PD. Business section front page bottom. Please take the time to look at your personal phone bills, your small business phone bills, and your parent's phone bills. Senior citizens are the most vulnerable to this practice of cramming and are most likely to just pay the bill.

Of course, you can also cut your ties with SBC altogether and look into Voice-Over-Internet
I have been with one of the heavily-advertised services for over a year and couldn't be more pleased with the service or the price (I won't give them a free plug here, but you can't avoid their TV ads).
SBC, I am pleased and proud to say, does not get a dime from me!

Joan, would you provide the info on the service if we ask nicely!
I don't watch much TV and when I do, I use my DVR and skip by commercials. I know there are a ton of Voice Over Internet services and I wouldn't want to blow it.

My assumption with VOI services, though, is that if power goes out, you lose your phone which would be bad in an emergency. How does 911 know where you call from if from VOI line? I ask this as I have a young child (and soon two) and I think of things like this when sitters are at the home and may call but not know the address (heck, we pick them up!) and usually 911 can simply say, "Okay, we know where you are located. Help is on the way."

Maybe I worry too much! I think of this with folks who do cell-phone only, too. A LOT of my friends have gotten rid of landlines completely.

Anyway, thanks Suzanne for the heads up! Will check it.

OK. If the folks in charge want to edit it, so be it.
I use Vonage in conjunction with Cox Cable. The downside is that yes, a power outage means your phone is out, but like many people, I also have a cell phone, so that's not an issue.
You do have to register your phone to get 911 service, it's not automatic. Again, the cell phone provides that service as well.
I realize its not a solution for everyone. If you ONLY have a landline, with no cell phone, or if you don't use cable as your internet provider, VOIP may not be the best choice. But since many people in Lakewood DO fit that profile, it's worth investigating.
Also note that Vonage is not the only VOIP provider. AT&T and possibly even Cox offer the service.

My assumption with VOI services, though, is that if power goes out, you lose your phone which would be bad in an emergency

But, if your land lines are all cordless (as seems to be an everincreasing case) you lose them anyway.

Jeff

We also use Vonage and it is wonderful as Joan stated. Not to mention the lower cost and advanced features.

As far as concerns with service interruptions and/or power failures, Vonage allows you to automatically roll incoming calls to any number in the event that there is a service interruption. We have our set to roll to the cell phone, so if we have no Internet - everything is forwarded there.

Peace,
~Charyn