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From: JAJZ801@calstate.bitnet
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Don't Pay For Slamming
Message-ID: <15598@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 22 Dec 90 18:53:14 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 897, Message 7 of 10


 
>> Strictly speaking, you must pay for calls you
>> place. This is required by tariff. But you also have the right to sue
>> the carrier for tampering / interfering with your existing service.
>> After all, they caused you to get disconnected from your long distance
>> carrier of choice, did they not?   PAT]

>You forgot the :-).  Didn't you?  No?  You can't be serious about
>suggesting that we clog the already overburdened courts with a lawsuit
>of such little importance.
 
  The other problems with a suit is the amounts are rather trivial,
suitable mostly for small claims court (are regulated operations
immune from suits in that venue ?) where you generally can get
compensation only for actual losses plus costs (usually minimal - your
lost time in resolving and correcting the matter, mostly). In this
case, the financially most agrieved 'person' is the carrier who was
removed from your 1+ service. They would be the most likely one to sue
but of course that's unlikely since they all participate in the
borderline marketing activities to one degree or another.  They would
*all* get tarred by the discovery process and publicity if it were
taken to court.
 
  Therefore, the most likely legal solution is a class-action suit by the
people who have been slammed, where some of the other issues of fraudulent
marketing can be raised and the court can be used in an efficient manner
collectively, rather than individually.
 
Jeff Sicherman