Carl Wood is not going to be a popular guy with cell phone companies. The California Public Utilities Commission member`s proposed Telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights would give consumers 45 days to cancel a new cell phone contract if the service turned out to be inadequate in their neighborhood.
Wood has put his finger on one of the most common consumer cell phone complaints: finding out after signing a one- or two-year contract the the chosen carrier has lousy coverage in one`s neighborhood.
"We wanted out of the contract due to the fact that Verizon wasn`t meeting their contract. And, we were told no, it would cost us $300 to cancel before the contract was up and too bad for us," Verizon Wireless customer Robert of Whittier, CA, said in a complaint to ConsumerAffairs.com.
"The local service doesn`t work. You pay for phone service but the phone is always saying NO SERVICE or WAITING FOR SERVICE," said Cingular customer Jenny of Centralia, IL.
Wood has been pushing his proposal for three years and says he is hoping for a 5-0 vote to adopt most of its provisions this fall.
"These rules will become the national standard that other states will use," said Wood at a San Francisco news conference. "Once we take action, other states will follow with similar rules."
Cell phone carriers are up in arms. They say the regulations are unnecessary and will force them to raise rates or cut back on service.
"We are a well-functioning industry," Verizon Wireless spokesman Ken Muche told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Our approach is to have no rules."
Wood`s plan details fundamental consumer rights that all communications service providers must respect, as well as a set of consumer protection rules all carriers must follow to protect those rights.
The consumer protection safeguards detailed in the Bill of Rights include such issues as: carrier disclosure marketing practices service initiation and changes and services deposits to establish or reestablish service billing billing disputes late-payment penalties, backbilling and prorating tariff changes, contract changes, transfers, withdrawals and notices service termination privacy PUC Consumer Affairs Branch requests for information and Emergency 911 service.
The proceeding will remain open through September to consider whether the Commission should implement a telecommunications consumer education program, and if so, how it should be structured; whether to curtail the Commission-sanctioned limitation of liability; and whether additional rules are needed requiring that communications directed at consumers be in languages other than English.
