§5724 Definitions

Summary

Defines the key words used for rules about purchases put on a phone bill. A "telephone-billed purchase" is a sale that happens only because a caller completed a call or made a follow-up dialing or touch-tone action. It does not include purchases under an existing agreement, local or long-distance phone services (or related services the FCC says are covered the same way), or items already covered by federal billing dispute rules. A "billing error" is any wrong or questionable charge on a phone bill, including charges you did not make or that are the wrong amount; charges you ask for more proof about; purchases you did not accept or that were not delivered as promised; charges for calls to 800 or other toll-free numbers; missed credits or payments; math or accounting mistakes; failure to send the bill to your last known address (unless you gave that address less than 20 days before the billing cycle ended); and other errors the Commission defines. "Commission" means the Federal Trade Commission. A "providing carrier" is the local or long-distance common carrier that supplies phone services (other than local exchange services) to a vendor for a disputed telephone-billed purchase. A "vendor" is anyone who offers goods or services by phone. A "customer" is anyone who buys or tries to buy in a telephone-billed purchase.