Collect Calls From Intellicall ops svcs

There is something terribly wrong when our government ignores the public outcry of overcharges on collect calls placed through a pay telephone with Intellicall as the only provider who also charges obscene prices.

Intellicall, a company that is a part of ILD Teleservices or ILD Telecommunications, has been fleecing unsuspecting telephone users for years. A person has an emergency and needs to place a collect call. There is no printed information on the pay phone regarding charges, an automated operator handles the call and does not state what the minimum charge will be. The call is billed to the person receiving the collect call landline telephone and the call will be usually on the next statement.

I received two collect calls a couple of months ago and of course accepted them figuring it was an emergency... and yes it was. On the bottom of my next statement were charges from Intellicall OPS SVCS. Each call was for FIVE minutes, the cost of each was $39.95. The town where the call was place from is about 40 miles away. So my normal budgeted monthly AT&T bill went from $28.00 to over $108.00. It was a shocker and put a good size dent in my budget that I really couldn’t afford.

There are many stories like mine on the internet. Many have filed complaints to the FCC and nothing is being done. Since telephone deregulation, telecommunication companies can charge anything they want and get away with this blatant robbery.

After reading some of the many complaints on collect calls regarding refunds or adjustments I decide not to call for an adjustment. The reason was due to one comment I read that customer service did adjust the bill but then blocked the telephone from receiving any more collect calls. The company has total control, you don’t have any reasonable options. I don’t think most people would ignore a collect call knowing it could be an emergency and if it were they would still accept the call even though it was outrageously over priced. A very costly price to help someone in need. ILD Telecommunications and Intellicall’s greed is overwhelming.

I did file a complaint with the FCC and also emailed Senator Rockefeller and Senator Barbara Boxer who are Subcommittees members on Communications, Technology and the Internet. It will be interesting to see their responses.

I do have to give some credit to the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet. They investigated and issued a report this month on what is called “cramming” which places unauthorized, misleading or deceptive charges on your telephone bill. The FCC is proposing new regulations regarding third party billing and unauthorized billing. This is a start but I wonder if it really will change anything. According to a Fox News report on July 13, 2011, AT&T, Qwest and Verizon earned more than $650 million over the last five years through scamming. The last five years more than 500,000 customers contacted these phone companies to complain. Some bills were adjusted but I’m sure the phone companies involved didn’t go out of their way to investigate why these charges were appearing. Sort of a “lets hide our heads in the sand and maybe it will go away” attitude.

You can purchase a PrePaid Phone card for as little as $7.00 for 100 minutes so maybe this is the way to go for families. Of course it’s not going to help if you get a call from a friend or relative who have an emergency. You’ll just have to suck it up and hope the call doesn’t wipe out your budget.

The websites below will give you more insight as to what’s going in the world of Intellicall billing...

1. INTELLICALL OPS SVCS Complaints - Extreme Charges
2. Consumer complaints about ILD Teleservices
3. A $26 Collect Call!!! Thanks Intellicall Operator Services « Moody Mommy
4. ILD Telecommunications @ Pissed Consumer
5. Rip-off Report | Intellical Operator Services | Complaint Review: 592633

If you have been a victim of this company, please consider filing a complaint with the FCC and also contacting your state Senator in Washington DC. If enough people are heard they just may finally realize that we are mad and changes need to be made to the unfair and outrageous prices Intellicall and other collect pay phone companies charge.