Telrite Corporation inreases long distance rates %700 for existing customers Covington, Georgia

I've been a customer with this company since 2004, the company was established in 2000. My long distance rate started at .02 per minute and over the years had increased to .04 no big deal right!

I received a letter stating that there would be a rate increase and thought to myself "whatelse is new". In tough economic times some companies are forced to raise prices to cover costs and we as consumers have to pay to maintain the level of service that we expect. This I understand! So I didn't contact Telrite to dispute the increase nor did I question what the new rate would be, and now realize that was a mistake.  I did not read the entire letter. (Mistake #1)

Apparently my not calling constituted my agreement with the new rate. So now when I received my long distance bill expecting to see a $25 charge, I was shocked to find a $230 bill instead. They increased my rate from .04 to .28 cents per minute flat rate.

I contacted customer service expecting to find that there was some mistake, and much to my disappointment I was only assured that the bill was correct and that "I should have called when I received the letter".

The letter should have came in a box with one of those spring loaded boxing gloves like Tom and Jerry cartoons, just to make sure that they got my attention.  I expect rate increases over the years, but this I feel to be a little out of line.  However the 2 representatives that I spoke with refused to adjust my bill.

So I did some detective work posing as a new customer looking to secure a long distance provider. I called telrite and supplied an address and phone number for a residence no more than 5 miles from my home.  I was quoted 7.7 cents per minute for in state long distance and 4.4 cents for out of state calls.

It seems that Telrite is only interested in ripping off their existing loyal customers who have developed a certain level of trust in their service over the last 5 years.

So be on the lookout; it's not just credit card companies that are trying to catch us off guard!! 

Just to provide a little background on myself, I have never paid a bill late in my life of 32 years! Nor have I defaulted on any debt! That being said, Telrite will get $230.62 from me over my cold, dead body.