Integretel.
The name's a pariah to me.
Especially if you actually read your phone bill.
Not according to Integretel, of course. Consider: "Founded in 1988, Integretel addressed a significant billing and
collections need by creating a Service Bureau business model focused
entirely on telecommunications billing. Integretel established a full
compliment of billing and collection agreements with Local Exchange
Carriers (LECs) including each “baby bell” and approximately 1,400
smaller, independent LECs. Integretel has been operating from its San
Jose, California headquarters since the company’s inception and has
processed over $6 billion in client transactions."
They are the best representation of what when wrong with telephone deregulation.
They are a third-party biller.
You know, the one responsible for making sure your telephone bill carries the charges from outfits like Enhanced Long Distance, or Solo Communications, or OAN.
The ones whose charges can not be refused by the phone companies.
By law.
So don't go crying to Verizon.
Or Qwest.
Or any of the other surviving phone companies.
Because there is nothing they can do about it.
Except offer you a global block on such things.
But you have to ask for it.
If you don't ask, Integretel--or others, but Integretel is my best example--will continue to slag your phone bill with voicemail bill after voicemail bill, from now until doomsday.
Which might be in 2012.
Still, that's a couple years off.
Could get expensive.
Talk to Integretel reps, and they make sure you know that *you* are the one responsible for the goofball charges.
They'll even read you back the name of the website that slapped you.
The site that uses Integretel to affix the charges to your phone bill.
It'll be something innocuous:
FunGameLandWorld.
SurveyMeisterBeener.
Yep.
You got the charges when someone used your computer and hit a survey site, or a free-games site, or a travelquest site.
Couple of exchanges of personal information later (your phone number, a name) and boom.
Your phone account has just been tapped for an "enhanced setup fee" or a new monthly "enhanced voicemail account" charge.
Odds are, the person on your computer never saw the 6-point type disclaimer that said they were signing up for the voicemail account or long distance services by playing the game or interacting with the survey.
It is usually buried far, far, far down on the screen.
And they--Integretel--are very happy to have the charges removed.
The process takes one or two billing cycles.
And that's what makes Integretel so special.
They take the whole two billing cycles.
Which is actually THREE cycles, thanks to the way phone companies bill.
So when you short-pay your phone bill, paying only the legitimate charges (as if you really wanted the Enhanced Voicemail fromFunGameLandWorld) and notifying Verizon (in my case--what, like I could make this stuff up??) that the charges are being disputed, your next bill--AND the one after that--accumulate late fees.
From Verizon.
Who puts a disclaimer on the bill that says one is not obligated to pay disputed charges.
No wonder people are cutting their land lines.
Don't laugh, Mr. and Ms. "I-Cut-My-Landline-Two-Years-Ago."
Just wait until this kind of deregulation hits the cable industry.
And this crap starts hitting your cable bill.
The telephone portion of the cable bill.