McCaskill Grills Phone Company Execs Over Hidden Fees

July 13, 2011 -- U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today grilled phone company executives over their practice of regularly charging customers hidden fees on their monthly phone bills.

McCaskill used a Senate hearing to blast the practice of "cramming," in which service providers, mobile carriers and third parties bury hidden charges in consumers' bills for services the customers did not use or did not even request.

McCaskill highlighted the case of O'Reilly Auto Parts, a major employer based in Springfield, Mo. Over the past several years, O'Reilly has been forced to hire additional staff members dedicated solely to examining the company's phone charges to root out and contest hidden charges. The company estimates that it has spent tens of thousands of dollars to identify such fees.

"Whether the consumer is an individual or corporation, we view the practice of cramming as unethical and fraudulent," wrote Jeanene Ashler, Director of Telecommunications for O'Reilly, in a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• mccaskill
• politics
• cramming

[RiotHouseLP]

I'm not sure on what this whole story is about. However it is good too see that someone is looking into hidden fee charges.  I've had quite a few myself ust from owning a phone.

[C4Lmember]

Claire's right! Private companies shouldn't be profitting from providing a service that people are willing to purchase. How dare they!

The govt is entitled to take however much money THEY see fit, from MY labor, and spend it on whatever projects they want, whether it's something I agree with or not.

Sounds like AT&T is taking money from us that the govt wants to take from us; and we know the govt doesn't like competition when it comes to stealing what isn't theirs.

Ron Paul 2012

[wackytobeme]

Not unlike our elected public servants that cram things into to bills and legislation that the people of Missouri do not use or do not even request. A government who hires people for the sole purpose of extracting more money through taxes and fees for really idiotic stuff (ie grants and such) Thing is, we can find a different phone company or even refuse to pay over billing, try to do that with the government. What a hypocrite.

[forrcrash]

According to a study published Friday by experts who can tell just by looking at you, you have got to be aware that you're a f-ing idiot. You know that, right? the report read in part, going on to stress that you really ought to see what everyone else sees when they look at your stupid face. There's really no way you couldn't know, but then again, you're such a giant dumbass that anything's possible." The report concluded that, seriously, if you don't realize it, you'd better get a f-ing clue.

[andrewbary]

HARDCORE!!! Go Claire!

[BHarris25]

How about going after all the cell companies slowly moving toward no more unlimited internet plans, sprint is the last hold out since verizon is changing. That and rediculous prices for tiny amounts of data called text messages.