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CPUC OPENS PROBE OF QWEST COMMUNICATIONS FOR ALLEGED SLAMMING, CRAMMING The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has opened an investigation of Qwest Communications (Qwest) on slamming and cramming charges. A staff review of Qwest's business operations found that the company had switched customers from one long distance provider to another without their approval and charged customers for services they never provided. The highest percentages of complaints registered against Qwest came from Spanish-speaking and Asian language speaking residential consumers. More than 40,000 complaints were filed against Qwest from January through May 2000. Qwest has used Letters of Agency or Authorization (LOA) to get a consumer's approval to switch long distance and/or local toll carriers. Valid LOAs must contain the signature of the person who is changing long distance service. Allegedly, Qwest did not obtain valid LOAs ; in some cases, CPUC staff found evidence that Qwest sales representatives forged customers' signatures, addresses and date of birth on LOAs, then submitted them for processing. The staff allegations found that Qwest did not take appropriate steps to verify LOA information nor to determine whether the customer sought to make any change in service provider. Further, Qwest did not confirm switches through an independent third-party company. Allegedly, third party verification tapes (TPV) sometimes contained recordings of individuals other than the consumers who had been approached to subscribe to a phone service. In one case, the voice on a TPV, according to a woman subscriber who listened to the recording, contained a stranger's voice, not that of her deceased husband. In other cases, TPVs were either mislabeled or were simply inaudible. Finally, the staff review found that consumers' phone bills contained charges from Qwest for services they had not authorized. From January 1999 through August 2000, Pacific Bell received 6,080 cramming complaints against Qwest. The total of 4,225 cramming complaints received in 1999 alone made Qwest first in cramming complaints compared with all other long distance providers operating in the state. The most common complaint involved unauthorized billings for Q.Home Plan and Q.World Plan at $7.95 and $3.00 a month respectively. Qwest has been sued for slamming in eight other states and has been charged with violations of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 by the Federal Communications Commission. Today's order opens a full-scale investigation and a formal proceeding into Qwest operations in California. A hearing will be set soon to begin formal proceedings against the company. ###
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