I have a loved one who is incarcerated in Florida for a non violent crime. His sentance was for only a year, and is scheduled for release in August. When he was in his county jail, I discovered that I had to set up a phone account through Correctional Billing to be able to recieve calls from him. I did so and was told that I would have to spend at least $50.00 with them to even set up an account. I did so, after asking about their rates. I was told that they charged one dollar per minute! Well, I thought that was a high rate, but as I wanted to speak with him, I paid it.
But instead of getting 50 minutes of phone time, I was allowed to speak with my loved one for a total of twenty minutes, and then the company gave me a first time account bonus of an additional 2 minutes, but I soon receieved a bill for those 2 minutes as well. The bill was $19.98! I was flabergasted!
I understand that it is important for correctional facilities to maintain security and so forth. But these phone companies for jails and prisons are charging outrageous rates and taking advantage of a sect of the citizenship who have loved ones who are already paying their debts to society. What about the loved ones who have to pay these bills to even speak with their loved ones? Most of the time these families are already in a lower income bracket, and with the absence of a family member, probably suffering even more financial hardships. It is greed in the most vulgar form for these companies to take advantage of an already bad situation. They do not have to charge so much at all. I spoke with my local phone company, and discovered that collect calling rates are much lower! How awful of Correctional Billing!
And don't get me started about their customer service! Horrible! The people who answer their phones are rude, and I was even laughed at when I voiced my complaint. I was treated like I had done a crime, and deserved to be taken advantage of! Can't we do smoethng? Is there not a way of getting these companies to back off with their high rates?
Donna
Clarksville, Tennessee
U.S.A.
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