What can I do if my long distance provider was changed without my knowledge or permission?

If your long distance service was changed without your authorization, that’s called slamming. You do NOT have to pay for the calls for up to 30 days after the unauthorized change. You must pay any charges for service beyond 30 days to your authorized carrier, but at that company’s rates, not the rates of the unauthorized carrier.

If you have paid your telephone bill and then discover that you were “slammed,” the carrier who slammed you must pay your authorized carrier 150 percent of the charges it received from you. Your authorized carrier will then reimburse you 50 percent of the charges that you paid the unauthorized carrier.

If your long distance company has been changed without your permission Call the unauthorized company and tell them that you won’t pay for the first 30 days of service. Call your authorized company to inform them of the unauthorized change. Tell them that you want to be reinstated to the calling plan you had before the unauthorized change. Tell them that you want the charges for changing carriers removed from your bill. Also file a complaint with the CPUC Consumer Affairs Branch.

The Commission's Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights instituted a multilingual Consumer Education Initiative, stepped up our enforcement activities, and expanded our toll-free hotline for consumer complaints against wireless and other carriers. For more information on telecommunications issues, please visit our Consumer Education Center.