Mail May Nail Long-Distance Companies.

• Author: Day, Daniel M.
• Position: Brief Article

To all those long-distance companies that knowingly send bills for services clearly not authorized, welcome to mail fraud. Whether it's outright slamming -- unauthorized switching of and billing for long-distance services -- or billing for calls following customer termination of service, mail fraud is a legitimate potential avenue of prosecution.

According to Denver Postal Inspector Larry Halt, seemingly fraudulent bills that go through the mail (vs. e-mail, fax or other forms of transmission) would first undergo an "intent to defraud" test. While one or two complaints may carry little weight (e.g., "We made a mistake."), high volumes of complaints establish patterns that might be much more difficult to defend. Holt adds, however, that his department's investigation results are forwarded to the U.S. Attorney's office, which decides whether to prosecute. So, as with all things federal, there will be red tape.

The moral: Complain now, complain often and get others to jump aboard the bandwagon. General postal inspection. number: 303-313-5320.

PR YOUR WAY TO SATISFACTION

Another long-distance billing solution may lie with the offending company's public relations people. While customer service departments tend to loop you through often-unproductive and...