COMM 101, Assignment 1: The “Extra” Costs associated with Phone Bills.
In 2005, an article written by Ben Kage, was published regarding the inherent dangers of phone bills, and the costs associated with them. A study completed by “The Gartner Group”, a company based on technological research, revealed the stat that 80% of U.S Businesses are overcharged on their phone bills. Many large phone companies include hidden costs, or add extra services to a user’s phone bill, causing the amount due to increase each month. Many users simply “brush off” the extra fee that appears, however, they never pause to see what the charge is really for. Private firms and consultants are now hired by large corporations to check their phone bills for the “extra” costs, or “accidental” errors made by their phone company. In 2005, Frank Stockzko saved a call center over $100,000 from phone bill induced charges while hired as a private consultant. When the phone company was asked about these extra costs their reason was “accidental” errors occurred in their billing system. However, many other companies received the same excuse from the billing company.
With these hidden, and “accidental” costs arise several ethical issues with the phone company being used. Can the phone company be trusted to provide the user with an accurate statement on their phone usage? Will the user be overcharged? And finally, is the user receiving the best service for their money, or should they look elsewhere? From this article it is evident that phone users should be wary of their company, and be diligent to check that the company is performing in an ethical manner each month.
http://www.naturalnews.com/015625_phone_bill_telecommunications.html
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