Floridians will receive enhanced protection from third-party billing under an agreement reached between Embarq and the state of Florida, Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced.
Embarq, once part of Sprint, provides local telephone and Internet service in parts of Florida and 17 other states.
Under the initiative, the company has developed an early warning system to identify third-party companies that may attempt to place unauthorized charges on phone bills, a potentially deceptive practice known as cramming, enabling Embarq to further protect its customers from the illegal practice.
The agreement follows the recent nationwide settlement with Email Discount Network (EDN), a company that charged more than 250,000 consumers nationwide a monthly fee for shopping coupons and discounts the company advertised on the internet.
Every effort businesses make to protect consumers from questionable tactics is welcomed by my office, said Attorney General McCollum. I appreciate the level of responsibility being shown by this company as it works to prevent third parties from taking advantage of its customers.
The settlement states that Embarq will require billing and collection clearinghouses and merchants to forward all consumer complaints referencing cramming to the phone company. If 40 complaints within the 18-state Embarq region reference the same company over a month-long period an average of less than three complaints per state Embarq will take action against the company to protect telephone consumers.
These actions may include the requirement that the company accused of cramming send out written notices to all new Florida subscribers notifying them of their service subscription; the date the charges will begin to appear on their Embarq bill; the amount of the charges, and how the consumer may cancel the service subscription.
If cramming continues, Embarq may cease doing business with the merchant.
The case involving Embarq was initiated last September when the Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit against EDN, alleging that the companys websites failed to clearly disclose that the shopping coupons and discounts the company advertised on the internet were not free. Additionally, it was not made clear that customers who submitted personal information to the company would be charged unless they contacted EDN to cancel the charges.
In conjunction with the EDN lawsuit, the Attorney Generals Office and the Office of Public Counsel filed a joint petition before the Florida Public Service Commission against Embarq, Verizon and BellSouth seeking to protect Florida consumers from these deceptive practices.
The agreement with Embarq will substantially increase the level of protection afforded the companys Florida customers against cramming, which occurs when unauthorized charges from third parties appear on phone bills. Attorney General McCollum also cautioned consumers to examine their bills carefully because extra charges are often difficult to distinguish and consumers who are victimized by this practice are often unaware the extra charges are being placed on their phone bills.
