Could your phone company steal YOUR toll free number?
That may sound ridiculous but a lot of people don’t even realize that if they got their toll free number directly from their phone company, some phone companies might claim that it’s THEIR number NOT YOURS and refuse to release it or in some cases even yank it back even after it’s taken away.
That’s exactly what happened to LaRick Calhoun recently. He got an 800 number from Onebox (J2 Global (NASDAQ: JCOM), also the parent company of Efax) and used and has advertised it since October 2007. When he decided he wanted to transfer it away however, he was suddenly surprised by the fine print at Onebox.
Not only did Onebox claim that he owed them additional fees, but just a couple hours ago they yanked the number back after we transferred it away. The interesting part is that they filled out the form to transfer it back in an employee’s name with their own address! So not only are they demanding additional fees, but now they’re telling the SMS who manages the national database that it’s THEIR number in order to yank it back.
The SMS form to yank a number requires them to specify their documentation and they say “Signed Customer LOA attached” but the LOA is their own address and the name of one of their employees and isn’t even signed by that employee, it’s just a squiggle. Take a look at forms they submitted to the SMS for yourself, (Onebox 800 number forms) and the webpage we found that mentions Susan Isherwood.
The image ABOVE is from the transfer form they used to yank it back last night and image to the LEFT is the page that comes up when you search for the “customer name” on the form. They’re both linked to the original webpage or document.
In reality, a large company like AT&T wouldn’t and couldn’t do this type of thing, but smaller companies get away with a lot more things than a large company could. Large companies make mistakes sometimes, but they don’t get vindictive toward their customer if they want to leave.
I’m showing this to illustrate how even a reasonably good service can really screw you if you don’t get your number from an independent service and transfer it in to them. I tend to be very customer oriented and work hard to empower and protect end users. That’s built into our business plan. But I don’t want to present just one side. Onebox is more than welcome to present their side if they have any explanation. I’ll link to it or add it here. I’d also really like to hear from other customers or other people in the 800 number world too. I think this is an important issue for a lot of people and I’ll update this with the final outcome as it unfolds.
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Bill Quimby (209 comments.) says:
July 15, 2008 at 8:51 am
I’m traveling today 7/15 so I probably won’t get to yank it back today, but I will tomorrow if the customer returns another signed form and copy of his phone bill.
If Onebox returns the number today, I’ll remove the pdf form from the website. Otherwise I will take it back tomorrow and consider whether it’s appropriate to send word about this situation to other people internally at J2 or the SMS from there.