415-703-1366 / / C00-08-053
PUC supports ORA REPEAT DIALING
COMPLAINT AGAINST PACBELL
The California Public Utilities Commission has ordered Pacific Bell Telephone Company (PacBell) to remove Prompted Repeat Dialing service from customers' phone lines unless it obtains a customer's authorization. Today's decision affirms the complaint filed by the Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA) against PacBell and affirms that ORA has standing to bring a complaint before the Commission.
In its complaint, ORA alleged that in July 2000, PacBell instituted Prompted Repeat Dialing without notifying and obtaining permission from either its customers or the Commission.
Prompted Repeat Dialing is activated automatically when a customer dials a line that is busy. The busy signal is interrupted by a recording that offers to call back the dialed number for a 95-cent charge when the line becomes free.
Today's decision by the Commission finds that this service, imposed on customers who did not request it, inconvenienced them in the following ways:
It interferes with their fax and modem lines;
Customers perceive it as an unsolicited advertisement;
It defeats the expectations of customers who pay an extra monthly fee to have an unlisted number in order to avoid unsolicited advertisements on their phone lines.
In addition, this unsolicited advertising by PacBell violates PacBell’s own tariffs on terms of service to non-published customers.
"With Prompted Repeat Dialing, Pacific Bell laid the burden of removing the unwanted prompt on customers. This required at least one call to PacBell customer service, and the record shows that some customers made many more calls and expended considerable time and effort to get it removed," said Commissioner Wood.
"This case illustrates how ORA can represent the interests of ratepayers effectively by using the complaint process in addition to participating in ratemaking proceedings," Wood said.
ORA, an independent agency created by statute, is charged with representing the interests of California public utility customers in Commission proceedings.
###
PUC Supports ORA Repeat Dialing Complaint Against PacBell, Page 2 of 2