Attorney General's News Release
March 2, 2006
Nixon sues long distance company over bogus bills and harassing phone calls
Jefferson City, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon is going to court to stop a company he says puts bogus charges on consumers' phone bills, then calls some of them dozens of times a day to collect the money. A lawsuit filed today in St. Clair County Circuit Court says OCMC Inc.of Carmel, Ind., violates state and federal consumer protection laws by placing the bogus charges, refusing to explain them and harassing consumers with repeated collection calls. OCMC does business as Opticom and also as One Call Communications Inc.
Nixon's lawsuit cites nearly 50 consumers who filed complaints with the Attorney General against OCMC for long-distance and collect-call charges. In some cases, the charges were placed on the phone bills of consumers who were not home at the time of the calls.
Consumers were billed anywhere from $10 to $537, Nixon said. When they called to get an explanation of the charges, they say OCMC refused and threatened to harass them with collections calls if they didn't pay. Some consumers say they got a call from the company every five minutes for more than an hour. Others say they got calls from OCMC every 15 minutes from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on a daily basis, amounting to more than 40 calls in a single day.
"This company is out of control and needs to be stopped," Nixon said. "These consumers are at wit's end with a company that bills them for a nonexistent service, refuses to explain the charges, then hounds them ceaselessly, hoping they'll pay anyway."
Nixon's lawsuit asks that the court order OCMC to pay full refunds to consumers who paid bogus charges, penalties to the state of $1,000 per violation of the law, and the state's legal and investigative costs in this case.
Consumers who have problems with OCMC are encouraged to submit a complaint at the Attorney General's Web site, www.ago.mo.gov, or by calling the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222.
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 the Press Secretary.
E-mail Phone: 573-751-8844 Fax: 573-751-5818