Telephone Update

The check has arrived! The Rowley's let me know Cox did in fact cover the cost of those fraudulent collect calls that showed up on their bill. $173 worth! If you check the earlier post, you'll see the story. After seeing what they went through, I called my phone company and put a block on all collect calls. It made me think .. when was the last time I received a collect call? I don't think I ever have. Also, after our story aired Steve Schorr emailed to say ... Cox is, by law, forced to put those charges on a customer's bill from third party companies. They simply have to pass them along, even if they seem fraudulent. Again .. if you notice something unusual, or suspect calls have been fraudulently applied to your bill, call your phone company and let them know. Write down the name of the person you speak with and call them back to make sure it's taken care of.

A Few Reminders .....

If you saw our story on the “Phony Phone Calls”, you know you can prevent this type of thing from happening to you. If you didn’t see the story, click here. Any phone provider, (Cox, Embarq) can block third party billed calls from being applied to your account. (Third party calls are collect calls, calls from correctional facilities, many 900/976 numbers, etc.) After you place a block on your account, these types of calls won’t come through. These calls are billed by a third party, and your phone company has to put them on the bill. I just had this block placed on my own home phone. It’s free with Cox, Embarq charges 50 cents a month for a collect call block.