The most familiar definition of "cramming' is the practice of waiting too long to prepare for an exam and then trying to squeeze a few weeks worth of study into a short period. That costs some sleep and, perhaps, a letter grade or two. A more insidious definition is the fraudulent addition of unauthorized charges to a phone bill. That's far more expensive. U.S. consumers are billed for about $2 billion in bogus fees a year. The Federal Communications Commission and a powerful U.S. senator hope to eliminate the practice. Their efforts deserve support.
"Cramming" now affects about 15 to 20 million U.S. households a year, according to an FCC study. The unauthorized fees generally appear as third-party charges on customers' statements under a variety of terms, i.e. "minute use fee," "member fee," "activation," etc. The big phone companies are complicit in the practice. They collect millions - just about all of it profit - from the third-party entities, which pay a fee for appearing on their bills.
The amounts involved generally are small and descriptions of the charges are buried in phone bills that are difficult to decipher despite consumer and government efforts to make them easier to understand. As a result many consumers pay the extra amount, unaware that they're being scammed.
Without pressure to reform, the big companies are unlikely to change current practice. The FCC and Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., are ready to provide that pressure.
The former has proposed new rules that will require phone service providers to inform customers if they provide a way to block third-party charges and how to activate it if they do. The proposal also would require all third-party charges to be listed in a separate section of the bill. That's far preferable to having them buried in the midst of more standard charges. The rules should be adopted.
Sen. Rockefeller clearly supports the effort. "I plan to introduce legislation that will put a stop to this," he said at the end of a Commerce committee hearing on "cramming." It won't be a wasted legislative effort. Anything that reduces or eliminates the 300 million third-party charges put on phone customers bills annually is sure to win favor.
It will take time for new regulations or laws about phone bills to take effect. In the meantime, consumers - especially those with landline phones since they are more likely to be victimized by the scam - can help prevent fraud. They should inquire about third-party blocking services and question mysterious charges on bills. The effort will be worthwhile. Over time, paying small but bogus fees can add up to a lot of money. Better to keep it in your pocket than to give it away.