*Pages 1--2 from Microsoft Word - 40985* NEWS Federal Communications Commission 445 12 th Street, S. W. Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D. C. Circ 1974). News Media Information 202 / 418- 0500 Internet: http:// www. fcc. gov TTY: 1- 888- 835- 5322 For Immediate Release: News Media Contact: August 5, 2004 Rosemary Kimball at (202) 418- 0511 e- mail: rosemary. kimball@ fcc. gov THE FCC TAKING THE PROFIT OUT OF SLAMMING Washington, DC – The FCC has long recognized slamming as a significant consumer concern and in 2001, the Commission implemented a strategy to take the profit out of slamming. The FCC’s regulations prohibit “slamming,” the illegal practice of changing a consumer’s telephone service without permission, and provide consumers an efficient mechanism to recover losses incurred when slammed. When the Commission found that consumers needed relief from slamming, it adopted comprehensive rules to provide effective remedies. It created a slamming-specific remedy for consumers, engaged in an aggressive outreach campaign to educate consumers about slamming, their rights and recourse, and in partnership with the states, implemented an aggressive anti- slamming enforcement regime. The Commission slamming rules empower the states to enforce the Commission’s slamming rules for their residents and, to date, 37 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have chosen to do so. The FCC created a “slamming team” committed to resolving the complaints arising out of the remaining 13 states and dedicated to ensuring that the slamming rules are followed by telephone companies so that consumers get reimbursements when rules have been violated. Since 2001, when the slamming rules became effective, the FCC has received more than 23,900 complaints and resolved 21,400. The complaints are resolved, largely, by the Commission: 1) referring them to our partners in the states with the authority to enforce our rules; 2) working with consumers to develop case- specific facts; and 3) issuing orders, to date, resolving more than 5,000 consumer complaints and providing more than $500,000 in credits and refunds to victims of slamming. In addition to the money recovered for individual consumers, over the past decade the FCC has been aggressively pursuing companies engaged in the practice of slamming customers, taking slamming enforcement actions totaling nearly $30 million.. The most recent slamming enforcement actions are at: http:// www. fcc. gov/ eb/ tcd/ slam. html. 1 If you think you’ve been slammed: Call the slamming company and tell them that you want the problem fixed. If you have not paid, tell them that you will not pay for the first 30 days of service. Call the authorized company (local or long distance) to inform them of the slam. Tell them that you want to be reinstated to the same calling plan you had before the slam. You can also file a complaint with the FCC or with the appropriate agency in the states that have chosen to enforce the slamming rules themselves. For more information on the FCC’s slamming rules and how to file a complaint, click on http:// www. fcc. gov/ cgb/ consumerfacts/ slamming. html To receive information on this and other FCC consumer topics through the Commission’s electronic subscriber service, click on www. fcc. gov/ cgb/ emailservice. html. - FCC - 2