CenturyLink Paying FCC $550,000 Over Cramming
CenturyLink will pay $550,000, cease billing for most third parties and revamp the way it addresses customer complaints over unauthorized phone charges as part of an FCC Enforcement Bureau consent decree released Tuesday. The agency said the settlement ensures customers…
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"are not required to first contact the third-party company to be eligible to receive a refund" or required to pay a disputed fee before the matter is resolved. "Our policy is to discontinue, block and refund unauthorized third-party charges at a customer's request," CenturyLink emailed. After the FCC received complaints about unauthorized charges, the company agreed to discontinue billing for most third-party providers, "phased in after appropriate notice" to those providers, it said. Billing arrangements with its large strategic partners aren't affected.