I tried using them
(LiveVoip) but my credit card company would NOT authorize them! I have always been grateful of
their authorization policy.
Although I won't "plug"
their name, they've been my first (and best) plastic funds provider
(member since 1981).
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 18:36
Subject: [Asterisk-biz] LiveVOIP:
Deceptive Billing Practices
Hello.
I have been a LiveVOIP customer since November
2004 and have used them for all of my US/Canada calling and some of my
international calling. I have been relatively happy with their call
quality, but, as I explain below, their billing practices are deceptive at
best.
Since I became a customer, I have received a few invoices from
time to time that specified "domestic minutes" (that always matched for the
number of "NA & 800 minutes" in the online CDR multiplied by their
per-minute rate of $0.012) and a separate line entry for "international
minutes".
Now, for the international minutes, I was never able to see
the per-call charges anywhere. On their online CDR, you can see the number
called and the duration (but *not* the per-minute rate nor the call
charge). I, of course, assumed that the rate I would be charged would be
the rate advertised on their website (http://www.livevoip.com/LiveVoipRatesNov.xls.pdf).
Noticing
the invoiced amount to be a little higher that expected in May, I pressed
LiveVOIP to send me CDRs including the charges for the international calls.
They quickly sent me all the CDRs since I became a customer. Surprisingly,
every single international call was charged at a different rate that what
is advertised on their site. For example:
UAE -
Dubai +9714 Advertised: 0.2026 Billed: 0.31428
Tanzania - Dar
es Salaam +25522 Advertised: 0.134 Billed: 0.311952
Pakistan -
Karachi +9221 Advertised: 0.1616 Billed: 0.26772
As you can
see, the differences are not small - they are greater than 100% higher in
some cases.
I wrote to LiveVOIP and was told their TOS specifically
says that the rate on the billing is correct and supersedes any advertised
rate. Now, right away, IMHO, this is deceptive and
fraudulent.
However, in my book, I would have accepted it if they at
least had a real-time billing portal where I could see the charges of the
calls I made yesterday to be able to monitor if their rates have changed or
not. On the contrary, with their billing system, you would only ever know
if the rates have changed if you took the initiative to ask them for your
detailed CDRs.
My repeated requests for a refund on the overcharged
amount resulted in my account being suspended, without a clarification on
what the actual international rates are.
Now, the amounts I have
been overcharged are minor, since my usage is not significant. However, I
thought I should send this to the list to warn anybody who is considering
using LiveVOIP for international calling.
Although their rates for the
US/Canada are somewhat fixed and billed correctly, I will still advise my
friends and associates to avoid using a company that has such deceptive
practices.
Nabeel
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