Telecom Telemarketer Sued for Deceptive Practices

North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper has filed suit against Buzz Telecom of Merrillville IN, charging that the company used unfair and deceptive practices in marketing long-distance telephone services to customers.

Cooper is asking the court to enjoin Buzz from telemarketing in North Carolina and to cancel the company’s contracts with North Carolina customers. Cooper is also seeking refunds for those consumers and civil penalties of $5,000 per violation.

According to the complaint, Buzz telemarketers failed to tell customers that they were encouraging them to move their accounts to a new phone company and in fact often impersonated the consumer’s existing phone company. Buzz started telemarketing voice services in North Carolina in 2003.

Cooper charged that the company particularly targeted seniors, promising them a discount for answering a series of eligibility questions. In fact, Cooper said, enrollees’ phone bills were often double or triple their previous costs.

Cooper’s office warned Buzz to stop telemarketing to North Carolinians in April 2005, but began received complaints about the company again in 2006.