Friday, December 21, 2007

Florida Public Service Commission Issues Consumer Warning on Prepaid Phone Cards

In another move against the prepaid phone card business, the Florida Public Service Commission issued a consumer warning on phone cards. The report urges buyers to beware of many prepaid phone cards which have been found to be misleading consumers and acting in ways against that of Florida public statures. These problems include:

- Some of the phone cards didn't work at all
- Some of the phone card companies were not registered with the Public Service Commission as required
- Extra unadvertised surcharges and card limitations were not always disclosed
- Access numbers for some cards' networks were continuously busy
- Some phone cards advertised no connection fees, yet charged disconnection fees, misleading consumers
- Advertised per-minute rate on some cards applied only one call. Additional calls were charged at a significantly higher rate. Also, advertised rates, in some cases, applied only to limited areas, which was not disclosed

Florida has become one of the most active states in the battle against prepaid phone cards and their questionable practices (following the Florida Attorney General warning earlier this year).

See the full article here at Florida Today

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