A Google search using the words "BBG" and "phone" quickly leads to many complaints concerning the malicious and fraudulent business practices of the company BBG Communications of San Diego, CA. This business, while nominally a telecommunications company, is according to my experience and that of many others, much more a business whose expertise is crime, fraud, and deception.
The business operates as follows: Vulnerable and unsuspecting travelers insert credit or debit cards into pay phones at international airports with the expectation that they will be charged a rather high yet not entirely unreasonable rate for the calls they are making. (The phones do not display the cost of calls.) The caller later learns that he or she has been billed by BBG Communications at roughly 1000 times the rate of typical international calling plan rates. Calls to BBG customer service (619-661-6661) lead to hearing scripted nonsense from one of many BBG representatives hired to mollify highly irate callers. (Your call may have cost $20 per minute because it used our satellite service, spoken with total disregard of the fact that virtually every international call at $0.02 per minute uses satellite service.)
Most stories I read online about BBG describe callers fighting a long battle with BBG's customer service and eventually receiving a refund for the hundreds of dollars they were charged for a short call at an airport pay phone. The writer usually expresses relief and satisfaction about receiving the refund. However, in my opinion, such stories miss the most essential point about BBG: BBG Communications is in the business of crime. This company needs to be permanently shut down, *all* of the victims of their past crimes need to be compensated, and the criminals of this company need to be tried, prosecuted, and incarcerated.
Here's how I spent my day yesterday. It took a lot of time, but I suggest that anyone who is scammed by this despicable company do the same. Anyone who needs the motivation to do all of this work can easily find it by reading online what the many other victims of BBG Communications have to say.
1. Report BBG to the IRS (irs. Gov) using form 3949-A for suspected tax fraud. Any company whose business is robbing unsuspecting travelers at pay phones is almost certainly cheating the IRS out of millions of dollars.
2. Report BBG to the FBI using the FBI online form for suspected crime (fbi. Gov). The FBI's online site lists gross lack of normal, fair, free, and open competition as an earmark of organized crime. What I've seen of BBG surely fits the bill.
3. Report BBG to the FCC. Details at ffc. Gov.
4. Report BBG to the Better Business Bureau.
5. Report BBG to the California State Attorney General's Office.
6. Call BBG customer support at (619) 661-6661, announce that you have done all of the above, and then hang up. Repeat at least five times.
7. Email [email protected] saying you have done all of the above. Send this letter at least twenty times. Repeat the next day.
BBG has managed to thrive in the business of crime because they know they can buy off individuals one at a time and make them go away. Their crime will end only when those they scam go on the offensive, report the company to all relevant authorities, and say that getting my $200 or $400 or $600 back is not *nearly* sufficient punishment for the misery this company has inflicted upon countless travelers.
0 comments