"Cramming" hits area phone customers
Story Created:
Feb 1, 2010 at 4:58 PM EST
Story Updated:
Feb 1, 2010 at 5:16 PM EST
NEWPORT, N.Y. (WKTV) - Newport Telephone, which serves many of the communities north of Utica, sent out a pink flyer with their latest phone bills warning people to read their bill closely.
The flyer talks about "cramming" - the mystery phone charges showing up on many people's bills. Cramming happens when a company adds a charge to your phone bill that you did not authorize and tries to cram it in between all of your other charges, so you won't notice that it's there.
They are "third party" charges, which are charges from anyone other than your phone company.
Newport Telephone officials said they have seen an increase in the number of cases, and customers like Gail Jay of The Town of Ohio are very appreciative of the warning.
"Well, I trust my telephone company," Jay said. "We've been customers for many, many years. We got internet through them, and they treat their customers fair."
What do you do if you have been crammed?
Contact the third party company that billed you and try to work with them. There will be a toll free number on the line item they billed you.
If they don't remove the charge, you can file complaints with the New York State Attorney General's office and the Federate Trade Commission.
In Newport Telephone's flyer included with their customer bills, it urges customers to call them with any questions.
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