RuralAlaska2021OTZTelephoneCooperative

Customer Information Things You Need To Know

Once a billing review is completed and the charges are judged to be yours, failure to pay the outstanding balance may result in collection action being taken by the provider of the 900 service, the long distance carrier or your local Telephone Company. If collec- tion action is taken, the collection agency will be advised that the amount is in dispute. You will also be notified that collection action is being taken. If the dispute is sub- sequently resolved, that fact will be reported to all who received the initial report that the account was delinquent. If your local Telephone Company or the long distance carrier company, as a billing entity, fails to follow the billing and collection pro- cedures prescribed by #308.7 of the Federal Trade Commission rule implementing the Federal Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act, we are obligated to forfeit any disputed amount up to $50 per transaction. The FCC also requires disclosures to tele- phone subscribers, which are as follows: Your local exchange and long distance service cannot be disconnected or inter- rupted as a result of your failure to pay charges for interstate pay-per-call service, charges for interstate 900 pay-per-call services provided under a presubscription or comparable arrangement or charges you have disputed for interstate tariffed collect information services. You may obtain blocking of access to 900 pay-per-call services where it is technically feasible. Requests for blocking and requests for unblocking will be subject to a reason- able one-time fee. Our tariffs include the applicable terms and conditions. You have a right not to be billed for pay- per-call services not offered in compliance with Federal laws and regulations estab- lished under Titles II or III of the Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act. Your access to 900 pay-per-call services may be involuntarily blocked for failure to pay legitimate pay-per-call charges.

This action will be taken within two billing periods. If you send the notice to the long dis- tance carrier, there may be up to an additional fifteen days to complete the billing review. The long distance carrier will notify the pro- vider of the service of the disposition of the billing error investigation and the reasons for that disposition. Your local Telephone Company will notify you in writing, normally with your billing statement, of the date when payment is due on the amount determined not to be in error. Payment must be made in the normal course of billing or as otherwise provided, by not less than ten days after the request for payment is made. Once your local Telephone Company and the long distance carrier have complied with FTC rule #308.7 (d) regarding a claim you make of a billing error, your local Telephone Company has no further responsibility under that rule to reevaluate the claim if you continue to make substantially the same allegation. You will not be charged for a billing review.

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