BSG Fights Cramming with Consumer Billing Website
Billing & OSS World
By B/OSS, BSG Fights Cramming with Consumer Billing Website - Billing & OSS World
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Billing Services Group (BSG) has teamed with a coalition of industry leaders to help consumers understand charges on their phone bills and protect them from “cramming."
Each year, millions of consumers choose to have charges for a variety of third-party services placed directly on their landline phone bill. While industry leaders have implemented checks and balances to help ensure that consumers are only billed for services they authorize, a small number of “unscrupulous actors" – as the coalition puts it – may attempt to carry out "cramming," the act of placing charges on consumers' phone bills for services they did not request or authorize. Since March 2011, the coalition has offered CheckYourHomePhoneBill.org as a resource to help consumers learn how to protect themselves from cramming.
Now comes a new website, KnowYourPhoneBill.org, with a more user-friendly interface, additional interactive tools, and more links to other helpful information sites. Consumers can sign-up to receive e-mail updates and news. An interactive quiz allows consumers to test their knowledge about cramming and their phone bill.
"Our best defense against cramming is diligence," said Gregory Carter, CEO of BSG. "We are committed to working with others across the industry to help ensure consumers are protected from cramming, while also ensuring consumers are able to continue to receive the wide variety of services they value at competitive rates."
BSG has implemented several measures in the interest of protecting consumers. These measures include a multi-layered, 100-step, due-diligence process for evaluating and monitoring its merchants, continual monitoring of consumer complaints, and telephone and online customer support agents to help resolve any consumer concerns. The company also requires all of its merchants to provide consumers with the terms and conditions for each purchase, and that each customer provides personal information that enables them to be authenticated for online purchases.
Other coalition members include IDology, LexisNexis, Infutor and AccuData Technologies.
