PUC Orders $44.4-Million Refund From Pacific Bell
Pacific Bell telephone customers in Los Angeles and throughout the state will receive $44.4 million in refunds through a 2% credit applied to their bills from June 1 to Sept. 30, the California Public Utilities Commission ruled Friday.
The refund reflects decreased service costs for 1988 and 1989.
The credit resulted from a complaint filed by George Sawaya, a Pacific Bell customer in the El Dorado County town of Pollock Pines, who discovered that his phone service did not improve as the company had said it would when he ordered the extra-cost offering.
Separately, the PUC ordered Pacific Bell to refund another $7 million to 175,000 customers in rural areas statewide who paid for advanced touch-tone telephone service but could not benefit from the faster service it provides because of older equipment serving their neighborhoods.
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