Attorney General's News Release

May 18, 1998

Florida phone "crammer" to pay more than $88,000 in refunds to Missourians

Jefferson City, Mo. — Coral Communications, a Florida business sued by Attorney General Jay Nixon for "cramming" phone customers, will pay $45,000 to the state and more than $88,000 in refunds to 6,322 Missouri consumers, Nixon announced today. The company also will have to pay $50,000 and post an annual $1 million bond if it wants to do any more business in Missouri.

"This is major victory for consumers against the practices of cramming and slamming," Nixon said. "We will continue our aggressive strategy against crammers and slammers so that consumers won't have unwanted and unauthorized surprises on their phone bills."

Coral Communications was one of five businesses sued by Nixon in March for cramming or slamming.

• Cramming occurs when charges for unordered and unwanted services such as voice mail, paging and 800 numbers show up on a consumer's phone bill.
• Slamming occurs when a consumer's long-distance service is switched without the consumer's knowledge or consent.

Both practices have resulted in hundreds of complaints to the Attorney General's Office, Nixon said.

Nixon said Coral Communications used an entry form for contests to win either cash or a vehicle to obtain the signatures of consumers. The entry form used a typeface about 1/16" high to tell consumers they are switching or adding to their service, Nixon said. Coral then used the signatures as authorization to begin billing for services such as a long distance calling card and voice mail.

"Consumers didn't find out they'd been crammed or slammed until they received their phone bills and saw charges for services they knew they didn't order," Nixon said.

Under the terms of the judgment approved today in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Coral Communications and its president, Michael Tinari, will:

• Remove all their contest registration boxes from Missouri within 30 days.
• Pay $45,000 to the state of Missouri. Reimburse all Missouri consumers who file complaints regarding unauthorized charges from Coral.
• Pay $50,000 to the state and post an annual $1 million bond to do business in Missouri again.

The latest information obtained by Nixon's offices indicates Coral had crammed 6,322 victims in Missouri with charges of $88,232. Consumers who were crammed by Coral Communications but who have not yet filed a complaint with the Attorney General's Office should call the Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-392-8222.

Nixon gave several tips for consumers to avoid or correct unwanted phone service charges:

Always read your phone bill carefully. If there are charges you don't understand, call your local phone company for an explanation.

If you are being billed for a service you did not order, ask the phone company to remove the charge.

Avoid entering contests that require you to put your signature on the entry form. If you do enter such contests, read the fine print carefully to make certain you are not authorizing any unwanted phone service.

If you receive a telemarketing solicitation for phone service, listen carefully to instructions at the beginning of the call. Be careful not to answer "yes" to anything that might inadvertently authorize an unwanted phone service.

Contact the Attorney General's Office at 800-392-8222 or the Federal Communications Commission to file a complaint. Complaints to the FCC should be sent to FCC, Consumer Protection Branch, Mail Stop 1600A2, Washington, DC 20006.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818