PT-1 Long Distance (formerly PT-1 Communications)--other people's stories
I have removed all the personal identities information in the following
stories for the protection of those who e-mailed me the stories.
Stories are arranged in reverse chronological order. BTW, you can
reach PT-1 Long Distance at
http://www.pt-1.com or 1-888-660-5377. I have also created
a page on how to deal with PT-1 if you've been
victimized.
Have a story to email me?
Story 14
I have never used PT-1 Communications, so you can imagine my surprise
when I received a bill for over $600 demanding payment. They had my name
& address correct, but a phone number that I did have over 12 years ago!
I found out that a woman from a neighboring town has the phone number
now, and called to tell the company this. They told me to throw the bill
away and not to worry.
Now, 2 months later, I receive a letter from a collection agency in New
York telling me to pay. I called the collection agency, but they said
there was nothing they could do about it. They wouldn't even tell me a
number or address for the company. They just said it was in Flushing, New
York. I had to call information to get the number. I have tried to call
repeatedly, but just getting a busy signal. I live in Michigan, so these
long distance calls are adding up.
I don't want my credit ruined for someone else's problem..............Help!
Story 13
I was also relieved to find this website, knowing that I was not the
only one with this problem. I had used the 101-6868 service for
quite a while, making calls to South-Africa, more than eighteen months
ago. When I switched my service to MCI, I also discovered a
wonderful way, much cheaper, to call abroad, called V.I.P Communications
Inc. I have NEVER again used 101-6868.
Earlier this year, in May, 2003, I received a phone call from a collection
agency called Phase 2, for a bill of $84.73. After receiving no
proof that these calls were made, I regardlessly decided to pay the bill.
I have been in the US for 4 years only, managed to get myself an
excellent credit record, and would like to keep it that way. I was
prepared to pay the bill, just to be safe. In September 2003 I
received a phone call from another collection agency, called Allied
Interstate for $54.63. They had no knowledge of the previous amount
that was paid, and frankly couldn't care. By now, I had discovered
your web site, and when speaking to a representative from
the collection agency, got exactly the same answers as some of your
stories are saying. They cannot give me a contact number or any
details for PT1 Communications. I found an address and telephone
number through the yellow pages as follows: (213) 687-4600; 312E 1st St
#200, Los Angeles, CA, but the number is constantly busy. I will
file a consumer complaint from the link on the web site, but otherwise,
I'm not sure how this needs to be resolved.
Story 12
I did a little digging around and found out that the State Of Tennessee
has revoked PT-1 Long Distance's authority to conduct business as a
public utility in the State of Tennessee for non-payment of regulatory
fees. Geez, it would seem not only PT-1 is screwing with the
consumers, but also the goverment!
Story 11
I found your website yesterday after I also received a bill from a
collection agency on behalf of PT1 Communications for $98.87. I have
never heard of PT1 communications and never used their services. The
collection notice claims that all invoices mailed to my address have
gone unanswered, but I have never received a bill from this company in
the past. Today, I received a call from the debt collection agency
saying that I had made calls using the 1016868 number in July and August
of last year. This is the first that I have heard about it.
I tried calling PT1 customer service today and they said that the
department that handles these matters is not open and they will call me
back during the week. I have already used the form from your website
to report them to the FTC.
Do you have any advice on how to deal with these people?
Thanks for your website. I appreciate it.
Story 10
I saw your website and wanted to share my problems...
Just the other day (May 2003) I received a bill from a collection agency
saying that I owed $264 from an unpaid bill from PT1 Communications.
Turns out it is also from using 1016868 and from a phone number that has been
disconnected (or at least not in my name) since 1999. I did at one
time use 1016868 to call abroad, but I definitely never racked up that
large of a bill. Additionally, I thought that these "dial
around" numbers big thing was that the charges will appear on your
local phone bill--no separate bill to pay. How funny that I have
had two new phone numbers in the same city in the last four years, and
I know that I don't have outstanding debts with the local phone
company. This is total fraud; please use the website link to tell
the FTC about this, and fry these people!
Story 9
I found your PT1 Communications website and feel much better...
because until I found your site I was REALLY annoyed! I
received a bill from a collections agency stating I owed PT1
Communications $294.22...I've never even heard of PT1.
I phoned the collections agency and was told they were my long
distance provider for a few months in the fall of 2002.
Funny, I was using MCI. I asked to be put in-touch with
PT1 directly and the collections agency said they weren't able
to do so because they 'don't have PT1's contact information.'
Hmmm...fishy, right? So since this call I've been digging
around and found nothing on PT1 except your site. How can a
'major communications company' not even be listed in 411,
let alone on the web? Exactly. This is probably a scam
where they anonymously send out bills to people hoping they won't
be questoined...and now my perfect credit is going to be flawed.
Boy, I'm gonna make some noise now!
Story 8
Hi ... I've had the same problems with PT1 Communications as others
(described on your web site). This problem seems rampant. I
received a bill from a collection agency that claims that I used 10-16-868
to make a phone call. They claim the phone call was made from a
former phone number that I used to have. I moved out of that
location over a year and a half ago, yet they claim the phone call was
made within the last 8 months. I've never even heard of PT1
Communications nor the phone number 10-16-868. The
collection agency said they couldn't give me a phone number to call PT1 to
resolve the issue, because PT1 did not give out their phone number.
So I tried to locate them on the web, and the first link that popped up on the
search engine was your web site. Go figure. I found no links for the
company itself. Personally, I'm not even convinced they exist.
Whatever they're doing, they're doing it a lot, and this is a big scam that
needs to be stopped. I'm sure you'll be getting more reports of this
on your web site as more and more people try to find out who the heck PT1
Communications is and why they owe this company some ridiculous amount of
money.
Story 7
I live in a house with four other guys. We have used 101-6868 for the
past 3 years out of pure laziness to sign up for a regular long distance
carrier and to avoid the fees associated with getting one. On average
there are approximately 50 calls where we use 1016868, however about 40
are usually calls that are unanswered. Despite this, my roommates
continued to use the service. Each month, the bill would be passed from
person to person, and they would check off what calls were theirs. Every
month, we would end up with about 10 unclaimed calls. For the past few
months I have been suspicious of the service being corrupted due to phone
calls that could not be explained:
For example:
Numbers that were similar to phone number we had once called would appear
with long talk times.
Numbers of persons we were sure we had not called for months.
Numbers that were on regions of the United States that none of us had any
correlation to.
Numbers that appeared when all of us were on vacation for a long period of
time (summer vacation or winter break).
Just this last phone bill, I decided to call a few numbers and ask the
person who answered if they knew anybody that lived in my city. I also
searched the internet yellow pages by number for names I could recognize.
I found no leads to an of the mysterious numbers, and decided to search
"1016868 fraud" on Google. Your website was first on the list.
I have decided to call 1016868 or Verizon to see if they can block
the calls from our phone. All of my roommates now have cell phon
es, and although I am tempted to see if bills will continue to come in with
1016868 numbers attached, I am almost positive there is no way I can
dispute them when they do come.
Story 6
Hello: First of all I was glad to read your web page because I thought it
was a scam too. It is currently January 2003. Two months ago
in November of 2002 I received a bill from PT 1 Communications claiming
I owed them $15.60 from September of the year before. Isn't there
some kind of statue of limitations on this, I believe it is 364
days? Anyway, they didn't have my full name, nor my full
address. Also I have checked their web site and it says that
calls placed with them would appear on your regular phone bill.
There was never a charge. I never used them. So I call PT 1
and they can't give me the calling details unless I give them my full name
and address. I don't think so. So I get another call today
and I told them if they put me into collection, I will sue them. Do
you have any advise?
Story 5
I've been using Pt 101-6868 since I read that article in Money Mag.
And I thought the rate was okay. As I was looking closely at my bill
today, I found out that they charge me erroneously. The 1st call was
listed at 7:06PM and supposedly I spoke for 12 min. then the 2nd
call was listed at 7:07PM, calling the same phone number, supposedly I
spoke for 14 minutes. Thus, i was charged 15 min. and 14 min.
within a minute interval.
Now, I'm wondering, how many of this happened? How many of this I paid?
Moral: list exact time and date/phone# you call using 101-6868.
Story 4
I just found your website where talked about your issues with PT1
Communications. I wanted to share my issues with them as well.
First of all, I have no idea who PT1 Communications is. However, I
am in the communications industry, and I intend to seek them out, and fry
them. Just about a month ago, I received a phone call from a collections
agency stating that I had an outstanding bill of $4115.48 with PT1
Communications. This is utterly rediculious. I have not been
able to find PT1 Communciations yet, and if you have any contact information
for them, I would greatly appreciate it if you send me that information.
As it happens, the date in which I was billed for this ammount,
I too didn't have a phone line. I assume this is a scam and I haven't
quite figured it out, but I intend to.
I do not use 10-10 number. I don't use telecom companies I don't
know intimately. This is my business and I know who I work with.
I will send you updates on my progress as I get any. I will be
sending my complaints to the public utilities commission in the state in
which this company resides as well as a complaint to the BBB and the attorney
general's office. This *IS* a scam.
Let me know if you have any information on how to get in touch with these
people. You are more than welcome to post my message, however I
would ask that you keep my email address private.
Story 3
I just received a bill from PT-1 for $9.49. The bill sites a number
that I had at least 8 years ago. We have never used their
service. Other items on the bill that are suspicious:
- PT-1 asked for resolution by 7/16/01. The item was postmarked
7/13/01 and received on 7/16/01.
- The bill only has my wife's first name on it. They obviously
don't know our sir name.
I am going to call them and if they don't take it off immediately, I am
going to file a complain with the Consumer Protection Agency. I
think what these people are doing is sending bills for a small amount that
most people pay without thinking. The others have such a difficult
time with it, they end up paying it anyway. The few that persevere
they feel don't amount to enough to cause problems. I, for one,
plan on causing problems. If you would like to make a complaint
against the company, please use the following form:
https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
[Thanks for the link!]
If we all start making complaints, perhaps the agency will look into it.
Story 2
I have also been dealing with a PT1 bill that I have NOTHING to do with.
I have been charged for phone calls made to TURKEY around 3 months after the
time I had disconnected my phone service in NY.
PT1 says that my old
phone number has been reassigned to someone else who is using it to make these
1016868 calls. They (PT1) have no means to track down the actual person
making the phone calls, they can only charge the phone number assigned to
that person (in this case my old phone number)!
I have been talking to PT1 multiple times and they were understanding
however could not take any actions!!! Finally they said "it would all
be taken care of", however, recently I received a letter from a
collecting agency. I have had with these people, this country should
have no tolerance for this kind of business. I agree, let's get them
out of business!
Sincerely,
A very upset non-customer.
Story 1
I'm on hold right now trying to get about $1,000 of charges removed from a
collection agency account that was established for my old phone number.
I moved out of Georgia in 1999 and I am now getting collection notices for
my old phone # from 2001. I was able to get Bell South to fax me proof
that I had ended service, so we'll see if I can get this resolved!
Email me your
consumer experience, opinion or review. I will then post it and
share it.
Or
Share your experience by signing my guestbook.
Back to Real Consumer Experience
[
Home
]
[
Comments
]
tien@csua.berkeley.edu