scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,130 
|
Post by scrapnnana on Jun 17, 2023 22:26:20 GMT
I don’t usually post here, but I need to know if anyone else has gotten a bill for unauthorized long distance service from a company called Long Distance America. It appears to be tied to our landline, but they did not add charges to our actual provider, and I talked to the actual provider, who sees nothing for our landline number. This doesn’t quite fit the “slamming” or “cramming” scams. The bill shows the bill/service starts June 9th. No one in our household signed up for this. If this has happened to you, what did you do to resolve it? The FCC website says to contact the questionable company before lodging a complaint. We don’t use our landline for long distance, just our cell phones, which don’t charge for long distance, and they are a different company than our landline service. The bill definitely shows our landline phone number. I assume we’ve been scammed, but it’s just bizarre. We don’t answer unknown calls. I have not said, “Yes,” to any unknown caller, or anything else. Nor has my DH.
Any help, experiences, or thoughts on this would be appreciated. It’s really upsetting and frustrating to be billed for something we never agreed to. It’s not a huge charge, but I’m not paying for something that is fraudulent.
|
|
samantha25
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,894
|
Post by samantha25 on Jun 17, 2023 22:35:16 GMT
Bill is probably fake. Why would you have to pay it, if it's not from your provider? I get fake bills via email all the time, especially for computer services.
|
|
|
|
Post by revirdsuba99 on Jun 17, 2023 23:22:44 GMT
I get emails all the time with 'here is you invoice' click to pay..
Also 'thanks for you order'
I say ignore, probably a fake bill/spam..
|
|
|
|
Post by katlady on Jun 17, 2023 23:29:32 GMT
Google search came up with this. They have been scamming people as far back as 2009 according to one review. They don’t even have an internet website. I would contact your landline company and see if they can block these charges. www.pissedconsumer.com/long-distance-america/RT-F.html#reviewsETA - It sounds like they get people to sign up via the telephone. |
|
scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,130
|
Post by scrapnnana on Jun 18, 2023 1:31:27 GMT
Google search came up with this. They have been scamming people as far back as 2009 according to one review. They don’t even have an internet website. I would contact your landline company and see if they can block these charges. www.pissedconsumer.com/long-distance-america/RT-F.html#reviewsETA - It sounds like they get people to sign up via the telephone. Thanks, although they couldn’t have gotten us to sign up via telephone, since we don’t answer our landline if we don’t know the number. The charges weren’t added to our landline bill — our provider said they don’t see any charges from them. The bill from LDA just lists our landline number on the bill they sent by snail mail directly to our home address. I also noticed in internet searches that they don’t seem to have a website, at least they don’t have one that is easily discoverable. They do have a website for paying the bill, but no other site that I can find. I have never heard of fake bills being sent by snail mail…..by email, yes, as the others who responded suggested, but not snail mail. I guess I am fortunate that this is my first. I will forward it to the FCC, since there seems to be no obvious way to contact LDA. |
|
|
|
Post by elaine on Jun 18, 2023 1:53:00 GMT
Google search came up with this. They have been scamming people as far back as 2009 according to one review. They don’t even have an internet website. I would contact your landline company and see if they can block these charges. www.pissedconsumer.com/long-distance-america/RT-F.html#reviewsETA - It sounds like they get people to sign up via the telephone. Thanks, although they couldn’t have gotten us to sign up via telephone, since we don’t answer our landline if we don’t know the number. The charges weren’t added to our landline bill — our provider said they don’t see any charges from them. The bill from LDA just lists our landline number on the bill they sent by snail mail directly to our home address. I also noticed in internet searches that they don’t seem to have a website, at least they don’t have one that is easily discoverable. They do have a website for paying the bill, but no other site that I can find. I have never heard of fake bills being sent by snail mail…..by email, yes, as the others who responded suggested, but not snail mail. I guess I am fortunate that this is my first. I will forward it to the FCC, since there seems to be no obvious way to contact LDA. I’ve been getting fake bills via snail mail for at least a decade - probably longer. I would shred and forget. |
|
|
|
Post by librarylady on Jun 18, 2023 1:53:58 GMT
Ignore the bill.
If they threaten to turn you in on a credit report--ignore it.
Write up a dispute letter for the credit report people if they try that. If your credit is good with only this one "ding" on it, the lenders will ignore it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Jun 18, 2023 1:58:54 GMT
Are long distance phone charges even still a thing??
|
|
scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,130
|
Post by scrapnnana on Jun 18, 2023 12:52:58 GMT
Are long distance phone charges even still a thing?? I wondered the same thing! |
|
|
|
Post by mollycoddle on Jun 18, 2023 13:26:46 GMT
I would ignore it.
|
|
snyder
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,941
Location: Colorado
|
Post by snyder on Jun 18, 2023 14:01:28 GMT
Are long distance phone charges even still a thing?? Rare, but yes. Especially with the "older" generation that only have landlines. Also they say, lower income people do not have cells, and rely on the landline as it is cheaper. |
|
|
|
Post by femalebusiness on Jun 18, 2023 15:51:45 GMT
Ignore. If you were to contact and talk to them or pay even one small charge you would be hooked. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zee on Jun 18, 2023 18:22:58 GMT
Are long distance phone charges even still a thing?? Rare, but yes. Especially with the "older" generation that only have landlines. Also they say, lower income people do not have cells, and rely on the landline as it is cheaper. I have yet to meet any lower income person that doesn't have a cell but has a landline. They generally use a pay as you go phone. When you rent, you might find yourself moving a lot as the rent seems to be increased every year. Even our homeless patients have cell phones (not sure how often they run out of charge, but they have them with them in their rooms). Maybe that only applies to elderly low income with more secure housing where getting a land line hooked up isn't such a hardship. |
|
scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,130
|
Post by scrapnnana on Jun 18, 2023 19:38:43 GMT
We are older, but cost isn’t the issue. We keep a landline because we were living near DC when 9/11 happened. DH worked in DC. The cell towers were overwhelmed. DH had to wait in line 3 hours to be able to use a pay phone to let me know he was okay. If the cell towers ever go down or are overwhelmed again, the landlines are more likely to still work.
DH won’t even consider giving it up.
Thanks to all of you for your thoughts. I had originally been debating trying to contact them, since the FCC said that should be done before filing a report with the FCC, but I won’t even consider that now. I will probably send a copy of the scam bill to the FCC, though. Not sure anything will happen on their end. They probably get bombarded with this kind of crap.
|
|
scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,130
|
Post by scrapnnana on Sept 15, 2023 14:43:36 GMT
Update: the bills kept coming. I called them, using the same phone number/line that they are billing for.
They claim we were customers back in 2016 (we disagree), and that their computer system “malfunctioned” and “reactivated” old accounts. They told me to ignore future bills while they try to fix the system. Two more bills have come since then, the most recent was a day or two ago. So I called again. I got the same song and dance, except this time, the customer service person actually tried to stop them. She requested a credit for the current amount owed, and said to contact them if we get another bill. I’m not holding my breath.
We think it has to be a scam in some way. We think they just are sending bills out to see if they can get gullible people to pay. It’s not a huge charge each month, only about $15, but some people, especially older people, might just pay it without questioning it. If enough people pay it, they could be making a fair amount of money. If my theory is right, then eventually, others here may have it happen to them, too.
|
|
samantha25
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,894
|
Post by samantha25 on Sept 15, 2023 14:52:23 GMT
Don't open the mail and put return to sender. If enough are returned, maybe they'll quit sending.. IDK. I wouldn't engage.
|
|
|
|
Post by compeateropeator on Sept 15, 2023 14:53:28 GMT
Are long distance phone charges even still a thing?? I believe so, depending on the service that you have for your landline. I have a landline, in addition to my cell, for various reasons. Because of the plan I pay for I do not have long distant charges, I can call anywhere. My parents, however, also have a landline where their plan does not include long distance calls, so for those they typically use my Mother’s cellphone (my father refuses to have a cellphone 😄). |
|
|
|
Post by revirdsuba99 on Sept 15, 2023 14:59:25 GMT
They are not likely to stop. They know you will respond. Ignore them...
|
|
|
|
Post by femalebusiness on Sept 15, 2023 15:25:08 GMT
If you keep responding in a while you will be back here saying you got scammed for money or an account was scammed. Stop responding. It is a scam. Do not call and try to straighten it out. Because you respond they will also put you on a sucker list. You know you do not owe that money so just stop playing their game.
|
|
