900 Direct ripoff... this company is targeting the elderly Canoga Park California

My 89 year old father got a bill in the mail from this company for calls made on 9/19/04 between the hours of midnight and 7 am. My father called them to let them know he did not make these calls and no one in his home would have made these calls. (he lives with my 86 year old mother) The person he spoke with told him to call the phone company and have them put a 900 block on his phone and they(900 direct)would investigate from their end. They played a tape of someone for him....not anyone he knew or recognized.

My father called the phone company and had the block put on.

He was not aware that he should have done this previously. One would think that the block would come on your phone and you would have to ask to have it removed to make those kind of calls.

My father then gets a bill in the mail with a call sheet attached, stating he owes them 119.34 and will be sent to collection if he doesn't pay. He brought this letter and bill to me. I called the company and spoke with David and then Dante, they advised me that the call list had been provided by my father's phone company and proved that the calls came from his number. He is responsible for the bill and must pay. They also played the tape for me, if it sounds like anyone it would be the man on the phone talking with me. I explained repeatedly my father's age,that he would never make a call of this type, and that he was sound asleep at the time the calls were made. Further contact with the phone company revealed that someone could have tapped into the box on the outside of my father's home, there would be no way to prove it or find out who if that did happen. I explained to 900 direct during the call with them that I will be advising my father not to pay this bill as it is not his responsibility. They advised me they will take him to collections. My father who has never had bad credit in his life will now be stuck with a collection company hounding him and also 900 direct has again called him threatening collection and demanding payment.

There should be some way to stop them!!!

Cindy
Eugene, Oregon
U.S.A.