Articles About Long Distance

Your Long Distance Bill
Understand Your Long Distance Bill
Cramming 101: What is Bill Cramming?

If you're like most people, you usually just pay your phone bill each month without looking very closely at the detailed charges. Not understanding what you are paying for could make you a prime candidate for cramming, slamming or any number of other fraudulent billing practices.

In many cases, the confusing terms and difficult to understand charges are to blame for many consumers' lax attitudes toward their telephone bills. It's simply too time consuming to figure out each and every term. However, knowing the following terms will help you decipher your phone bill and allow you to better understand which charges on your bill are legal and which are not. Listed below are some common terms, legal taxes and charges that might appear on you phone bill. Note that not all of these charges will appear on all bills.

Federal Universal Service Charge or USF: This fee is put into the Universal Service Fund, which helps make telephone service available to everyone, including low-income customers, customers in high cost rural areas and to serve customers with disabilities. More recently this fund has been used to wire schools, libraries and hospitals for access to the Internet.

Local Number Portability Line Charge: A Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-approved charge that pays for the administrative costs incurred by your local phone company in allowing you to switch long distance carriers.

Federal Excise Tax: This tax, currently at 3% for both local and long distance, appears on all land line and wireless bills. Money from the tax goes to the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Originally instituted as a temporary tax to help finance the Spanish-American war, the telecommunication industry has been working on repealing it.

Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charge (PICC):Long distance companies pay these charges to local telephone companies for access to their local phone networks. The FCC regulates the price but does not require that long distance companies pass the charges on to customers. As a result, some long distance companies pass this cost directly onto their customers while others include it in the per-minute charges.

Subscriber Line Charge ( SLC ):A charge similar to the PICC, the SLC is billed to you by your local phone company instead of your long distance carrier. This charge may appear as "FCC Charge for Network Access," "Federal Line Cost Charge," "Interstate Access Charge," "Federal Access Charge," "Interstate Single Line Charge," "Customer Line Charge" or "FCC-Approved Customer Line Charge."

State Charges
State Excise Tax: The rate and purpose of this tax varies from state to state.

Public Utilities Tax: This is a state tax, typically used to fund a public utilities commission for public education and dispute resolution between consumers and utilities.

State Universal Service Charge: This tax, imposed by some states, supplements the funds generated by the Federal Universal Service Charge.

Telecommunications Access System Act Surcharge: Sometimes called the Relay Service Charge, this tax helps fund relay centers to connect hearing- and speech- impaired to each other through TTY and TYY machines. Local & County Charges

Municipal Tax: This charge is imposed by state, local and municipal governments on goods and services. It may also appear as a "gross receipts" tax in some states.

911 Charge: This charge is imposed by local governments to help pay for emergency services such as fire and rescue.

Want more definitions? Be sure to check out our glossary!

Are there still charges on your bill that you do not recognize? Send your question in an email to Feedback@SmartPrice.com and we'll do our best to help you.

Now that you're armed with the information you need to make sure you're saving as much as possible, you can start saving on long distance today!

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If you've ever looked at your phone bill, wondered what the heck all those charges were, and then paid them anyway, you're a good target for cramming. Consumer confusion over telephone bills turns thousands of consumers into cramming victims each year. In fact, cramming is one of the fastest growing customer complaints filed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

What is cramming?

Cramming is the illegal practice of placing unauthorized, misleading or deceptive charges on consumers' telephone bills. Often, illegal charges are buried in the phone bill or masked by official sounding names and are easily overlooked by even the most wary consumers.

How do I know if I have been crammed?

The only way to avoid getting crammed is to regularly inspect your telephone bill. Look at your phone bill for charges and services that you did not request or charges defined on your bill in very general terms, such as:

• Service Fee,
• Service Charge,
• Expanded Calling Features,
• Voice Mail and
• Membership.
  

These types of charges may be associated with legitimate services, but you're only responsible for them if you have actually authorized the services.

How can I keep from being crammed?

The following list contains the FCC's top recommendations on how to prevent becoming a crammer's next victim.

1. Review your phone bill carefully every month. Read each line and be sure you recognize the names of all the telephone companies listed. Check to see that their rates are in line with what you were quoted originally. Also look carefully to ensure there are no charges for calls you did not place or services you did not authorize.
2. If a description of a service on your bill is unclear, call the phone company that charged you for the service and ask them to explain the charge and service to you.
3. Before you sign up for any kind of local phone, long distance or Internet service, read all of the forms and promotional information available. Don't overlook the fine print at the bottom and on the back of the literature.
4. Finally, use your power as a consumer to get the best deal possible. If you think you are being charged incorrectly, start shopping for a better service provider.

What do I do if I think I've been crammed?

If you are a cramming victim, there are a few things you can do. First, call the company that charged you for unauthorized services or fees, and ask them to explain the charges. Request an adjustment for those charges that you did not authorize. Second, call and report the illegal charges to your local phone company and ask them to explain how to remove those charges from your bill. If all else fails, you can file a written complaint with the FCC - however, most complaints are resolved prior to reaching this point. The FCC has the power to levy fines on the offending company.

Complaints about telephone-related issues must be filed in writing to the FCC. Send your complaint to:

FCC
Common Carrier Bureau
Consumer Complaints
Mail Stop Code 1600A2
Washington, D.C. 20554

If you've been crammed or are unhappy with your long distance company for any reason, it's probably time to think about switching your service to a different company. There are so many companies to choose from, it doesn't make sense to stay with one if you're unhappy with their prices or service.

You can start right here to find the best long distance company and plan for your needs. Just tell us a little about your long distance calling habits and SmartPrice.com will show you the best long distance plan for your needs! We'll even help you switch right here, online.

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