SBC Pacific Bell Under Scrutiny
The state Public Utilities Commission announced Thursday that it has launched an investigation into claims that SBC Pacific Bell overcharged customers for high-speed Internet access and billed some customers for Internet service they never ordered.
Since 1999, the PUC has received more than 750 complaints against California’s largest phone company. SBC Pacific Bell is a subsidiary of Texas-based SBC Communications Inc., which provides high-speed Internet access via digital subscriber line technology, or DSL, to more than 1.3 million people in 13 states--about 60% of whom are in California.
According to consumer complaints reviewed by the PUC, SBC Pacific Bell also charged customers for Internet services after they had been terminated, billed customers twice for the same service and charged customers for more than the advertised cost of some services and products.
John Britton, a spokesman for SBC Pacific Bell, said that many of the complaints originated when a sister company, Advanced Solutions Inc., took over the company’s DSL service in 2000. During the transition, some customers were incorrectly billed.
“We’re disappointed that the committee is reaching back many months to investigate complaints that we believe, for the most part, have been corrected,” Britton said.
The PUC, which ordered the investigation last month, is also looking into claims that SBC Pacific Bell failed to report consumer billing complaints.
Under the state’s public utilities code, SBC Pacific Bell must disclose the number of billing complaints it receives each month. According to quarterly reports reviewed by the PUC, the company did not disclose any complaints against its DSL unit last year.
SBC Pacific Bell made about $24 million in billing adjustments last year, the quarterly reports noted.
The phone company has until Feb. 22 to provide the PUC with all records of California billing complaints since 1999.
SBC Pacific Bell, which has asked the PUC to approve its expansion into the state’s long-distance market, has informed the commission that it will be filing revised reports, Britton said.
“We’re committed to making sure we follow all the rules and regulations and get it right,” he said.
The PUC investigation follows a series of complaints against the phone company’s Internet service.
Last month, the Utility Consumers’ Action Network, a San Diego-based consumer group, filed a similar complaint with the PUC, alleging the company overbilled customers for DSL services. The group also filed a lawsuit in December against the company in San Diego Superior Court, claiming the phone company charged customers for Prodigy Internet services they never ordered.
The announcement of the PUC investigation came near the end of the trading day. Shares of SBC Communications were up 61 cents to $35.10 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
