ZPDI Excessive billing for collect calls accepted on behalf of Inmate Communication San Diego California

We received a phone call from a friend who was for a few hours in the local police station. We listened to the message and there was nothing about the cost of the phone call and we then accepted the collect call after listening to the entire message. We talked 3 minutes the first call and 11 minutes the following call. A couple weeks later we recieved our Verizon bill and saw charges from ZPDI stating they were billing on behalf of Inmate Communication.
3 min collect call 24.99
11 min collect call 24.99
with all the taxes the two phone calls for 14 minutes totalled $53.77 !!!!

I called ZPDI and was told there was nothing to be done about the charges and I accepted them. I filed a complaint with the BBB in San Diego. I called Verizon and they agreed this is outrageous and said they would forgive the charges.

Our friend was only there for a few hours but I can imagine if these calls were ongoing for the poor relatives and friends. I also can imagine that the Redondo Beach police station gets some type of cut of these fees!

Tyger
Redondo Beach, California
U.S.A.