nanog mailing list archives
RE: Level3 tries cell-phone style billing scam on customers
From: "Frank Bulk - iNAME" <frnkblk () iname com>
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 09:12:10 -0500
At least they didn't label it a fuel surcharge. =) Frank -----Original Message----- From: Patrick Giagnocavo [mailto:patrick () zill net] Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2008 10:47 AM To: nanog () nanog org Subject: Level3 tries cell-phone style billing scam on customers Today I looked at my most recent bill from Level3. They are now assessing a 2.5% surcharge, which is listed as "Taxes" on the bandwidth bill I have. In the state of PA, telecoms services are explicitly not taxable. When you call Level3 billing, they admit in their recorded message it is not a tax at all, but a surcharge, and if you want to dispute it you are supposed to quote back their own contract terms to them via email (i.e. you cannot reach a human). I would expect this kind of scamminess from Verizon's cell-phone billing, but a contract is a contract and I can see no provision for arbitrarily tacking on fees, illegally labeling them as "taxes" and then putting the onus on you to prove that they can't charge you. Anyone else seeing this same behavior from Level3? (It seems that the larger a telecom company gets, the more they want to act like a scum-sucking ILEC.) --Patrick
Current thread:
- RE: Level3 tries cell-phone style billing scam on customers Frank Bulk - iNAME (Aug 02)
- RE: Level3 tries cell-phone style billing scam on customers Tomas L. Byrnes (Aug 02)
- Re: Level3 tries cell-phone style billing scam on customers Jeff MacDonald (Aug 02)
- Re: Level3 tries cell-phone style billing scam on customers Patrick W. Gilmore (Aug 02)
- Re: Level3 tries cell-phone style billing scam on customers Jeff MacDonald (Aug 02)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Level3 tries cell-phone style billing scam on customers Jay R. Ashworth (Aug 05)
- RE: Level3 tries cell-phone style billing scam on customers Tomas L. Byrnes (Aug 02)