I received my Verizon land line telephone bill in the mail and noticed it was about $20 dollars higher than it usually is. I looked through the bill and saw that a company named, "The Billing Resource (the clearinghouse agent for OSP Communications)" had forwarded a bill to Verizon for a collect call from a number in "Fallbrook CA". The call was allegedly 12 minutes long and was in the amount of 17.87 (plus taxes 19.30).
I immediately knew it was some kind of scam since I know absolutely no one in Fallbrook, CA. I, along with any family and friends I have, DO NOT make or accept collect calls. We all have cell phones with the same provider and have free minutes.
First thing I did was look up this company on Google and got nothing but scam, and complaints for the first couple pages. So it confirmed what I suspected.
On my Verizon bill, they provide a number to call this "The Billing Resource" company for questions. I decided that I wouldn't do that. What if they were expecting me to call to and save my number? So I call Verizon directly and tell them the situation. At first, the rep tells me that I must have accepted a call blah blah blah, and to call that number they provided for that company. When I make it clear to her that I did not accept the call, and that I would not risk calling that number, she apparently did some research and realized it was indeed a scam.
She called the number on a conference call with me on the line. Fax machine/modem line. That is when she immediately said she would call the company for me on a conference call with me. She called and we had to wait a good 15 minutes but finally got through to someone. She did all the talking and as soon as the rep for this other company heard it was VERIZON calling, they immediately said, "Sorry, it was a mistake on our part. It's been refunded." She almost hung up on us, but my Verizon rep got a confirmation number, and her name before she hurriedly hung up as if she was scared or something.
It was almost too easy. Even the Verizon rep was surprised how easy it was. She said she was expecting to argue! Anyway, while we were on the line with this person from OSP, she said that this fax machine was not a fax machine, but a pay phone. My Verizon rep told me that, THAT is false. Payphones DO in fact ring, and they flat out lied to us.
So now, I have a "claim" on the amount. My Verizon rep told me to pay my bill in the normal amount (excluding the $19.30 for the collect call). She said that since she has this person saying it was their mistake, and has a name and confirmation number, it will be EXTREMELY hard for them to deny refunding my money. She said that while it will show up as "past due" on my bill. It will not affect anything at all since it is on a "claim". She says I can basically relax, and not worry about it anymore and that they will take care of it.
Sorry for such a long complaint, but I would really like to help out anyone out there who has this happen to them.
My advice to you would be, NOT to call OSP Communications directly. Call your telephone company. Make sure you tell them that you will not risk having your number saved onto their database, and that THEY (as your phone company) should help. Tell your phone company rep that you've read MANY complaints about scams from this company, and that you want THEM to deal with it. I guarantee that if your phone rep calls OSP Communications, it will be resolved in a matter of seconds. If you call, who knows. If for any reason at all, your phone rep does not want to help, ask to be transferred to the "scam department". While they might not even have a "scam department", they'll be forced to transfer you to a higher authority, maybe a supervisor. That would be even better.
Hope you never have to deal with these people (OSP Communications), but if you do, hopefully some of this will help.
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