John Meyer thought setting up his phone at the beginning of the year would be a simple process.
After calling Qwest Communications International, the senior expected to get a roughly $20 phone bill for the basic service — which was all he asked for.
But about a month later, his bill came to more than $30, which included an extra fee for a custom choice package that had “caller ID,” “last-call direct,” “30-number speed dialing” and other features.
“I told (the sales representative) that all I wanted was a regular phone line,” Meyer said. “Why would students want all those features and something so expensive? It’s not like I’m running a stock brokerage. I don’t even have a caller ID box.”
Several students have experienced problems similar to Meyer’s. A few say they have been billed for services they did not request and some say they have had trouble with Qwest’s customer service. Difficulties with canceling and installing services have ranked high on the list of student complaints.
In the last year, many of the same complaints about the phone company have been reported to the Oregon Public Utility Commission, PUC Spokesman Bob Valdez said.
One of the biggest issues, Valdez said, is that it appears Qwest sales representatives do not tell customers that a basic package exists and instead push more expensive service packages with special features.
“It is ongoing,” he said. “We have had a lot of those complaints in our consumer section about people getting charged for Qwest services they did not want or approve. This is a problem not confined to students — it appears to be statewide.”
Qwest spokeswoman Barbara Faulhaber said Qwest sales consultants do not have to specifically state the price of a basic line, but employees are required to offer the basic service option.
She added that Qwest employees are prohibited from giving people services they don’t request and should cancel unwanted services immediately.
“Typically we ask what their needs are and try to match those needs,” she said. ” Representatives should walk them through it and ensure they’re getting exactly what they wanted.”
Jan Margosian, Oregon Department of Justice spokeswoman, said the department is investigating 573 Qwest consumer complaints. Many of those have included allegations that Qwest employees “crammed” — added services to customer accounts without approval or misrepresented its services.
“We have a large investigation concerning Qwest and many different aspects of its operations,” she said.
The state’s Unlawful Trade Practices Act prohibits “false or misleading representation.” The Department of Justice can ask a court to fine Qwest up to $25,000 per violation of basic consumer protection laws. In April, Qwest paid more than $75,000 to the state to settle other alleged violations.
Meyer’s mother has since filed a complaint with PUC, which was passed on to the Department of Justice. It took her two hour-long phone calls with Qwest to cancel the unwanted services and get a refund, he said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they just do that to everyone — try to give you as much as they can and see if you notice,” Meyer said. “My advice to other people is to make sure their bill is reasonable and that they got only what they asked for.”
Lorraine-Michelle Faust also experienced problems with the phone company this year. Like Meyer, the senior journalism major ordered a basic line. But a week later she realized her service included features she was unaware of.
“A friend told me they left a message on my voice mail — I said ‘I don’t have voice mail,’” Faust said. “They said ‘Yes, you do.’ So I called and found out I did. I just wanted a dial tone.”
But Faust’s difficulties became even greater when she called to fix the problem. The Qwest sales representative told Faust that her address did not exist in the computers and the phone line she had belonged to a business, she said. The representative told her that until she had a “real” address, she could not have her own phone line.
“I’m getting someone else’s calls,” she said. “It’s really frustrating. I have no idea what to do.”
She added that many corporations such as Qwest have national headquarters that she believes do not provide efficient local customer service. She’s had several customer service problems with Qwest in the past.
“I wanted to boycott them, but I didn’t have the choice,” she said.
But in the last year, Qwest has made some strides in improving customer service. In response to several complaints about Qwest’s sales practices, PUC worked with the phone company in June to develop a six-month plan to answer customer-service calls faster. Valdez said the commission guessed that longer sales pitches were slowing down response times.
Qwest was also one of the phone companies in compliance with an agreement in Marion County Circuit Court in April — which demanded that long-distance service providers throughout the country cease misleading business practices.
In a press release that same month, Oregon’s Attorney General Hardy Myers warned consumers to read phone bills carefully and to check for unauthorized charges or changes.
Margosian said students who have experienced any problems with Qwest services or believe they’ve been wrongly billed are encouraged to file a complaint with the Oregon Department of Justice online at www.doj.state.or.us, or call its toll free hotline at (877) 877-9392.