August 4, 2006
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper has filed suit against a telemarketer that tricked North Carolina seniors into paying too much for long distance phone service.
"These sneaky telemarketers misled seniors with promises of special discounts and then stuck them with inflated phone bills," Cooper said. "We are working to put a permanent stop to their calls and make sure they give seniors their money back."
Cooper filed suit in Wake County Superior Court against Buzz Telecom of Merrillville, Indiana alleging that the company used unfair and deceptive practices and violated the state's telemarketing laws.
He is asking the court to permanently ban Buzz and its employees from telemarketing in North Carolina and to cancel the company's contracts with North Carolina customers. Cooper also seeks refunds for consumers and civil penalties of $5,000 per violation.
According to the complaint, Buzz began pitching its long-distance telephone service to North Carolinians sometime in 2003 through telemarketing calls. Buzz telemarketers regularly failed to tell consumers that they were calling to switch them to a new phone service and often claimed to be with the consumer's local phone company.
The company particularly targeted senior citizens, promising a senior discount to consumers who answered yes to a series of questions designed to verify the consumer's enrollment in the new long distance service.
Instead, consumers wound up with phone bills that were double or triple what they had previously paid. Many of the seniors targeted by Buzz lived on fixed incomes and made few long distance calls. More than 30 consumers have complained about Buzz since 2004, mostly seniors, their children or caregivers.
Cooper's office first learned about Buzz' telemarketing tactics when a Tennessee woman called to complain that her elderly parents in Robbinsville, NC had seen their phone bill double to $58 a month. The couple recalled receiving a call from Buzz but had not wanted to switch their long distance service.
Cooper's office also received complaints from seniors in Clinton, Angier, Henderson, Troy, Ahoskie and Caswell and Wilkes counties, including some who were more than 90 years old. Consumers who discovered the charges from Buzz on their phone bills and called the company to cancel were told they would have to pay an additional fee of $19.95.
In a letter dated April 28, 2005, the Attorney General's Office told Buzz to stop telemarketing in North Carolina. The company then claimed that it had stopped making calls to North Carolinians, but consumers began complaining about calls from Buzz again in 2006 prompting Cooper to take legal action. Buzz has halted its telemarketing calls to North Carolina consumers while the suit goes forward.
