Slamming

Slamming is the illegal practice of having your telephone service switched to a different carrier without your permission. If you receive your telephone bill from a company other than your selected carrier, you may have been slammed.

How slamming occurs

Under state and federal law, you choose a long distance provider in one of two ways: First, by signing a "letter of authorization" with your newly selected carrier; or second, by agreeing verbally (usually over the phone) to switch to another carrier. If a carrier wants to use this second option, it must use a "third party verifier" to record that you have actually consented to change your telephone service. Slamming occurs if a carrier does not completely follow one of these two processes.

What to do if you've been slammed

If your long distance service has been slammed, call your local telephone company and tell them that you did not authorize a change to your long distance carrier. Ask them to reconnect you to your original long distance carrier and to remove any charges from your bill associated with the unauthorized carrier.

To file a complaint, contact the Minnesota Office of Attorney General at (651) 296-3353 or consumer.ag@state.mn.us

Cramming

Cramming refers to being billed for telephone services you did not order, such as call waiting or caller ID.

How to prevent cramming

State law prohibits a carrier from billing you for an optional telephone service that you did not consent to receive. The easiest way to stop cramming is to prevent it. Request that your carrier provide you with a written list of the rates they intend to charge you. By law, all carriers must provide you with a list of the charges they assess on customers, if a customer requests it. Companies must also disclose this information once the customer has initially decided to switch to the company's service, whether or not the customer has asked for the information.

If your cramming dispute has not been resolved, you may contact the Minnesota Office of Attorney General at (651) 296-3353 or consumer.ag@state.mn.us.

To view a carrier's tariffs, which are a listing of the carrier's prices, terms and conditions, you may contact the Minnesota Department of Commerce at 651-296-6913 or telecom.commerce@state.mn.us . Many carriers also post their tariffs on their company websites. Check our Local Carrier List pages for a link to your phone company web site.