PUC Probes 2 Firms for Alleged ‘Slamming’

Two long-distance telephone companies have been ordered to stop adding customers in California during investigations of possible “slamming,” or signing up customers without permission, the state Public Utilities Commission said. L.D. Services Inc. of Santa Fe Springs is accused of slamming more than 20,000 customers, most of them Spanish-speaking. The company could not be reached for comment. PUC investigators have been examining L.D. Services since last November and have received complaints from hundreds of customers who said their service had been switched without their consent. State regulators last month blocked the company’s purchase by IXC Long Distance Inc. to await the results of the investigation. Brittan Communications International Corp. of Houston was also ordered to stop adding new customers. That company is accused of deceiving customers--including a 13-year-old boy--into signing up for a sweepstakes and using the consumer information and signatures to transfer long-distance service, the PUC said.