I found this article: http://tinyurl.com/3dlo7w posted on the Department of Communications bulletin board.
This article informs clients and readers of scam calls from the 809 area code. The area code is a legitimate area code for the Dominican Republic. The long distance phone scam causes consumers to inadvertently acquire high charges on their phone bills. The scammed consumer receives a message telling them to call a phone number with an 809, 284, or 876 area code in order to collect a prize, find out information about a sick relative, etc. The caller assumes they are calling a typical three-digit U.S. area code, but they are actually connected to a phone number outside of the U.S. and they are charged international call rates. The consumer does not find out they have been charged high international call rates until they receive their bill. AT&T offers tips and information on what to do if you believe you've been scammed in the press release.
AT&T did make efforts to inform their clients and other readers of this phone scam. So many services compete with others; with this knowledge do you think AT&T could have done more to inform their clients (such as sending out a free text message to their clients)? Do you think their informational press release affects their consumer satisfaction, or do you even think they notice? Does this have the potential to affect customer loyalty for AT&T in the long run? Any other thoughts?
3 comments:
Do you know when this was posted on the AT&T website and what other measures they have taken to inform their customers about the scam? I ask because I have seen emails and there was even a flyer posted on the board in the Communications building about this scam months ago. I think that if this was released in a timely manner then it would definately help increase customer satisfaction. I assume that consumers want to use a phone carrier that they feel safe using and that they have faith that if a problem arises that they will rectify the situation. I think that posting this press release was enough. Most people ignore those types of emails and chain letters or they may have just been more aware of the calls they recieve (those who have some form of caller ID). So I think that using extra resources (to send out mailers, send out notice with the phone bill, or sending text messages) would not have paid off when you compare it to the customers that would actually switch carriers because of the scare.
I was not aware of this scam. However, if they sent out emails, and posted flyers, or the different avenues they used to inform customers of the scam, than that was good enough. On the other side though, a text message sent out, should have been part of there solution. What's the harm in using extra resources! Nevertheless, it was a scam and scams causes scares, and scared customers, will switch carriers if it is feasible for them.
This question may seem simple minded, but to dial a telephone number outside of the US, a caller has to dial a country code first. The US country code is 1. A US phone number is typically 11 digits long including the 1 digit country code, 3 digit area code, 3 digit prefix, and 4 digit customer identifier. If I received a message that asked me to dial a number with more than 11 digits, or that didn't start with 1, I doubt I would call it. How has this been happening to so many people or do they have a way around conventional means?
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