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  • Report:  #406773

Complaint Review: KoolTel America - Los Angeles California

Reported By:
- Johnson City, Tennessee,
Submitted:
Updated:

KoolTel America
11301 W. Olympic Blvd #314 Los Angeles, 90064 California, U.S.A.
Phone:
1 888-898-0850
Web:
N/A
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good? What's this?
On December 29th 2008, I received my 7 page phone bill from Embarq. On the first page, the total amount due was immediately spotted as way above the usual amount for their service.

After looking through all 7 pages, I saw (on page 5) a section titled: "Third Party Providers." - OAN Services Inc. OAN had billed my account for something called,"Kooltel America MO fee on Dec 18" for the amount of $22.95

OAN was called at 1-800-713-9078 and upon stating my complaint about this charge that I knew nothing about, I was told to contact Kooltel and I did so.

I was quite difficult understanding the Kooltel operator due to her accent and after denying I had any part in whatever an "MO fee" represented, I said that under no circumstances would I pay the bogus charge.

Then I got the usual "OK, we will make an exception in your case and credit your account. It will take one or two billing cycles." I exploded with something like; "NO! - It won't take any billing cycles. You get on your keyboard and type in whatever and execute immediate credit with a few key strokes." We all know how this works and it does it at the speed of light.

I continued - "This is not an option. If you fail to comply, I will arrange to have an agent from the U.S. Marshall's service come to your office and whip a subpena on you." "This conversation is over and call is terminated."

A complaint was filed with the FTC and a reference number assigned by the FTC.

Embarq will be paid the current billing minus the $22.95 scam by OAN-Kooltel. And if embarq hits me with a past due or outstanding balance statement, I will cancell their services - telephone and DSL. I'm not going to be played for a Chump by anyone, anytime. The regulatory agencies are lame and the consumer is the Chump.

A riot is an ugly thing. But, I think it's about time we had one!

Jim

Johnson City, Tennessee

U.S.A.



2 Updates & Rebuttals

23oius287a

St. John's,
New Foundland,
Canada
Poor Consumerism?

#2UPDATE Employee

Mon, July 27, 2009

You seem like someone who enjoys getting angry at customer service and abusing them. In my line of business I get about two of you a day and usually because they're acting so angry and irrational they get less or little accomplished and end up spending more time on their issue than they should be. Most people who sign up for these services do so using 3rd party affiliates. This is web banners and pop-ups. Most are unaware of signing up for it because in a lot of cases they see free and don't read what they're actually paying for. Most people who cancel are pretty aware that they did it by accident and call in after getting either an email from the company or a phone message. Gentleman like yourself do more harm to yourselves in getting assistance than aid. The reason why it takes billing cycles to issue a refund isn't due to the business ethic of this company its because of the business practices of the LEC (phone company). Phone companies issue their bills once per month so when a refund is issued through the phone company we have to wait for your next phone bill issue date before you can see that refund. The reason they say 1-2 months a lot of the time is because if its too close to your phone bill's issue date than it won't make it on to your most recent phone bill. Demanding immediate payment for this charge is absolutely impossible under any systems. You seem to be pretty unaware of how electronic transfers work and you seem to be a pretty poor Internet consumer. Your phone company also has no responsibility for the charge on your phone bill. Third party billing is a service that all phone companies offer. It allows people to make secure transactions online without using a credit card. It can get a little sloppy but it is by no means an illegal or unethical process on behalf of your phone company. As a consumer you can request a third party block on charges on your phone bill. This prevents companies from "scamming" you after you've accidentally signed up for some services. I would suggest reading materials before signing up for some services. Since starting working for this company they've improved their customer service tools and allowed for more information. There are people who legitimately get scammed and are victims of someone abusing this system and I get to see this every day. But then there are people where all information submitted is correct, the customer has been sent and received notifications, and customers have months of charges that they decided not to contact us about previously. They clamor that they didn't sign up for these services when its pretty obvious they clicked on some pop-up, signed up for the services and forgot about it. There is something about corporate responsibility but you also have to have consumer responsibility. Reading over information before signing up for services is pretty critical to being a consumer. You wouldn't skip the terms and services of a life insurance policy so why do it or online purchases?


Susan

Dallas,
Texas,
U.S.A.
How to clear up this charge.

#3UPDATE Employee

Fri, January 16, 2009

Please call 888-898-0850 and talk with a customer service representative of KoolTel America. Be sure to write down their name and the confirmation number of the transaction they will issue to first stop the account and secondly to credit you the charges that were on your Embarq bill. Then, send an email to [email protected] In the subject line put the account number and name And in your email, confirm your conversation with the service rep. That should stop the charges. I just went thru this with one of my Embarq clients. Thanks!

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