FCC To Fine Texas Company for Switching Long Distance Companies Without Permission
The FCC plans to fine Roman LD, an Irving, Texas, telephone company, $5.9 million for allegedly switching consumers’ long distance telephone services without their authorization, the agency said Thursday. The company is also accused of misrepresenting the company’s identity during…
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telemarketing calls, fabricating authorization recordings purportedly as proof of consumers’ authorizations, and transferring control of the company without Commission approval, an agency press release said. “Consumers should be able to trust that they will not be billed for phone services they did not authorize or agree to,” Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc said in the release. The company did not comment. The bureau reviewed more than 100 complaints from consumers, which were filed at the commission, the Better Business Bureau, state regulatory agencies, and with the company, the release said. Consumers complained that Roman switched their long distance service providers without their authorization, the bureau said. In some cases, consumers complained company telemarketers pretended to be employed by the consumer’s own telephone carrier, the release said. On at least two occasions, Roman was accused of falsifying an audio recording of the authorization to make it appear that the consumer had agreed to the carrier change, the release said.