Electric bill $200, collect call I didn't know was a collect call... argh

[Deja Q]

Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick.

Aren't these people supposed to say that they are calling collect?

5 years ago MCI pulled this stunt.

Today it's from OAN Services in Mexico; somebody from Mexico had collect-caled me. :wtf:

I am so sick right now...

bills keep piling up.

[kick-ass-bob]

1. So dispute the collect call.

Tell them you never authorized for a collect call.

We used to get calls all the time that were not ours and they always took them off.

Now we just have unlimited, so it doesn't matter any more.

[Deja Q]

2. Unlike MCI, this 3rd party company was quick to refund me...

It's only $5, but things keep getting worse and worse...

the electric company pinned the price to air conditioning and they might be right.

I wish Qwest offered a service to disallow collect calls or have those asswipes in government reinstate the bloody law that says the phone owner HAS TO BE MADE AWARE THAT IT'S A COLLECT CALL.

Insane.

[BlueIris]

3. I feel that. Sucks.

Hang in there. I have a feeling there's going to be GREAT entertainment on t.v. really, really soon.

[China_cat]

4. OAN services is a scam

company. You didn't necessarily make or take the call. They are also billing people for voicemail services they never signed up for, etc.

Call your local phone company and see if they have a procedure for removing third party charges. Ask them for the phone number of the people who put that charge on your bill.

Call OAN services and don't bother with the person you first get. Insist on a supervisor. Start out nice, ask them to explain the charge and then hit them with 'it never happened, you got the wrong person, please take this off my bill'. If they try to blow you off, threaten to report them to the FCC (and the FCC has a form on their webpage for doing so). If they hang up on you, call again and go through the whole thing again.

If you can't get any satisfaction from them, go back to your phone company and try again. If you don't get anything from them, tell them you want it noted on your account that you will pay the portion of your bill that is legitimate but you will not pay the OAN service which is fraudulent.

Then, if your local phone company gives you a problem about it, you file a suit in small claims court against them for the maximum your system allows. (Once you have the suit form filled out, you probably won't have to go through with it) This will keep your phone service, protect your credit rating and get rid of the fraudulent charges.

An OAN survivor.