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Home > Consumer Information > Slamming: What is it?
"Slamming" - What is it?
"Slamming" is the illegal act of changing a consumer's phone service - local or long distance service - without their prior consent. The FCC's (Federal Communications
Commission) new slamming liability rules were set in place to protect the consumer and penalize the telephone companies for their illegal actions.
Your Rights:
You are entitled to file a complaint with the appropriate state agency or with the FCC.
If you discover that you have been slammed, and you have NOT paid the phone bill in question from the carrier who slammed you:
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You are not liable for the damages for up to 30 days after being slammed. This includes
not paying your authorized phone company (the company you actually chose to provide service) nor the company who slammed you.
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You are liable for charges for service beyond 30 days to your authorized company. However,
you should only pay the current rates your authorized phone company is offering, not the slammer's rates.
If you discover your have been slammed but HAVE paid your phone bill:
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The slamming company is liable for 150% of the bill you send them. The slamming company
must pay this amount to your authorized phone company.
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From this amount, you will be reimbursed by your authorized phone company for 50% of the charges you paid to the slammer.
These FCC rules were put in place to protect the consumer and take the profit out of slamming.
If your authorized phone company has been charged without your consent:
Contact the slamming company and tell them they must fix the problem and that you have not paid. Be sure to state that you are not liable for the first 30 days of service.
Inform your authorized phone company of the slam and ask them to change your phone service back to it's original phone plan. Also tell them to remove all "change of carrier charges" (charges for switching companies) from your bill.
For futher information contact the FCC's Consumer Center at 1-888-CALLFCC (voice) or 1-888-TELLFCC (TTY).
This information is provided by the Federal Communications Commission.
Related Articles:
How to Avoid an Expensive Second Phone Line
How to Lower Your Phone Bill
Choosing a Long Distance Phone Service
Related Products:
Long Distance Plans
Local Dial Tone Services - Bundled Service
Dial Around Long Distance
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