Pac Bell Rings In New Era for 900 Service : Telecommunications: Phone customers are offered their first money-back guarantee.

Consumers will get their first money-back guarantee on fraud-plagued 900 and 976 telephone information services under a new Pacific Bell policy announced Monday.

Users of pay-per-call information and conversation services prefixed by 900 or 976 will, for the first time, be eligible for refunds if they are not satisfied with the quality of service under the new policy.

The California Public Utilities Commission earlier this year ruled that long-distance companies entering the intra-California 900 market later this year must offer refunds, and Pacific Bell decided to offer them as well in order to “maintain a good business image” for its services, according to Pacific Bell spokesman Mike Runzler.

The refund system is the latest and most far-reaching step so far in efforts to clean up the scam-prone pay-per-call industry. While the Pacific Bell refunds will apply to local calls, federal legislation to protect users of 900 numbers served by long-distance carriers such as American Telephone & Telegraph and MCI is awaiting debate in Washington.

The pay-per-call business burgeoned nationwide in the 1980s into a $900-million industry offering everything from pornographic conversation to stock quotes and financial advice for between 20 cents to $50 per call. But the industry has been increasingly plagued by fraud and rip-offs.

Until now, customers could get refunds on a one-time-only basis from Pacific Bell if they did not know they would be charged when they called, or if someone called using their phone without permission.

Now, Pacific Bell, which provides billing for most 900 and 976 numbers, will not bill for calls if it deems as justified a customer’s complaints of false or misleading advertising or poor service, spokesman Runzler said.

“We’re trying to entice consumers with a money-back guarantee. The type of service they expect should be first rate. We don’t want to see schlocky or sleazy stuff,” he said.

In October, Pacific Bell won a court battle to pull the plug on dial-a-porn companies operating under the 900-303 prefix designated for “adult” services. Parents had complained for years that children could easily dial the numbers,listen to indecent messages and run up high phone bills.

Pacific Bell is the only “Baby Bell” regional phone company to offer 900 services. All other 900 calls are served by long-distance carriers, according to Runzler.

Consumers have complained that numbers advertised as providing access to credit cards or loans or jobs often only lead to other 900 numbers or offer no value for the money they charge. The Federal Communications Commission is investigating a number of complaints.

Anthony Leo, a representative of Bureau One, a company that helps entrepreneurs set up 900 numbers, said he didn’t believe that the refunds would have a big impact on his business. But he wondered how Pacific Bell would determine standards of service.

“If someone calls up a horoscope line that tells them they’re going to meet somebody interesting today and they don’t, can they ask for a refund?” he wondered.

Consumer groups welcomed the refund policy, but some expressed concern that users of the services might not be aware that the refunds are available.

John Gamboa, executive director of Latino Issues Forum, said Pacific Bell has not done a good job of educating Spanish-speaking customers about many services available, including special low-cost basic telephone service or the ability of customers to block pornographic 900 calls.

Ken McEldowney, executive director of San Francisco-based Consumer Action, said that “because of public scrutiny, a lot of 900 numbers that advertised on TV have switched to (advertising in) the Spanish-language press and sweepstakes done through direct mail.”

After rapid growth in the late 1980s, the 900-number information service business has “cooled off a lot,” said Steve Reynolds, a telecommunications analyst with Link Resources, a market research firm.

Largely because of poor-quality service and customer complaints, the industry may shrink slightly next year, he said. Several years ago, Link predicted that the 900-number business would see $1.2 billion in sales by next year, but Reynolds now believes that it will be less than $900 million.

He said he expected both Pacific Bell and long-distance carriers to shift their emphasis from entertainment and consumer-oriented services to business-to-business pay-per-call services that could be less prone to fraud.