Advantage Telecom
reviews and complaints

I was called by Advantage Telecommunications Corp who represented themselves as part of Verizon. They claimed that by using their service I would save money. My Verizon bill is the same, their service was never used but I received monthly billings with no usage charges. They agreed to terminate our "agreement" but turned my business over to a collection company. I intend to refer this to Maryland's State Attorney's office if they pursue this any further. This company is a sham!

I am irate. They are billing me for long distance service that I already pay Verizon a flat rate for ( which is a whole other complaint). They called and said that as of a certain date Verizon was no longer handling my billing for my long distance services on a single billing plan. Would my company like to have this all on one bill again? Of course my assistance thinking that this was just Verizon being dumb said yes. They also said that they were going to fax over the agreement for review-never received it. When I called to complain, they offered to let me listen to the 3rd party confirmation - unnecessary since we also record phone calls. Amazing that this company is allowed to use these tactics. No more - switched to Vonage today, I can manage everything online.

I received an e-mail several months ago that said something to the effect of "Thank you for your order of our telecommunications service..." I deleted it thinking it was just a scam to get more information, credit card number, etc. Two months later, there is a $20.71 charge on our local phone bill for this! We did not order the service. We plan on calling our phone company to see that they remove the charge...hopefully this will work!

This company has called me for years trying to get me, as office mgr of a small business, to "agree" to their supposed rate changes which is suppose to be less than what my current phone company charges me. They are relentless and will not listen. I tried explaining to the lady this morning that the monthly service charge she says I am currently being charged is incorrect and she said yes it was that once I gave the ok they would credit my account. I happen to have just received our phone bill and nowhere on there is a monthly service fee. We have been with our phone company since the early 70's and I call periodically to make sure I am getting the best rates available to me. So when I told this rep from Advantage that I was locked in a contract and couldn't change and even if I wanted to I wasn't going to agree to anything on the phone without see a legitimate contract of what they are wanting. She instantly got very defensive and rude and said that the FCC would be contacting me. I laughed and said for what, not agreeing to switch to a company I know nothing about which I think is a big scam? She continued on and I said have them call me and I will contact my phone carrier and let them know that this has happened again to not allow any 3rd party changes. She hung up.

We received a paper bill from this Advantage Telecommunications Corp. a few days ago. Today I called to find out who this company is and why we are receiving a bill. The answer was that the bill used to be included in our carrier's bill and that my husband had authorized this in 2011. Now they told me our carrier will not include them in the billing and so we are getting a separate bill. Before we do anything I will contact our carrier to see if this is true.

Interesting information - I just googled the company in hopes of finding out who they are and what they are up to. I have been receiving billing by mail for 3 months. I called upon receipt of the first bill, asked them to stop billing me and explained that I had no knowledge of the company or ever signing up for service. The rep 'Jennifer' shared that she would send over my Voice Verification Transcript agreeing to the service? OK...I asked for them to stop billing and explained that I don't arbitrarily pay bills that I haven't authorized. Well...I've received two more billings. So, I've contacted them again. Amazingly, I got Jennifer again. She tells me that it's now been turned over to their collections department. Huh?! so they start billing out of the wild blue yonder and if you don't pay, they turn it over to collections. great. I don't want a blemish on credit but have to wonder if the whole thing is a scare tactic for payment. After reading the above comments, I wonder if I would be well to just throw the junk in the trash and forget about it? Has anyone received paper billings from this outfit? Any thoughts are appreciated.

After reading all of these comments and complaints and after reviewing legal decisions against this company, I will consult with my attorney and my congressional representative to see what could be done to put this company out of business. Regrettably, I too have been scammed.

This is what I wrote to the BBB:

COMPLAINT:

I received an email today, 2/3/11, stating that I signed up for long distance services from Advanced Telecommunications Corp. The email states that the account was set up yesterday. I did not sign up, nor fill out a request form for info from the company. This email contains personal information including my name, BD, last 4 digits of my SSN, address, email, & a phone number I had growing up (which was never even listed in my name). I contacted the "Customer Service" department & was initially told they could "cancel" my account & give me a confirmation number. When I pressed the lady on how they received the info, she became rude & stated that I had to be the one that filled out the form. I told her I wanted to speak to a supervisor. She put me on hold, only to come back to tell me that there was not a supervisor available, & that they would have to call me back. I told her I would not give them any further personal information, as I was attempting to find out how they attained this info in the first place, & that I would hold for a supervisor. Finally, another lady came on the line & immediately started yelling at me & talking over me as I tried to tell her what information I was seeking. She did not listen to anything I had to say. At this point, I was very angry & told her that she needed to get someone on the phone that could give me some answers. She asked me, "So you're refusing a confirmation number." I told her that I would not need a confirmation number for a non-existent account, that I need to speak to someone that can tell me how their company obtained my personal information. I was placed on hold again. Another person, by the name of Sonya, came on the line, & told me that there was no way for them to get my information without "someone" going online and filling out their account request form. She stated that there is an IP address listed on the email that will give me the information I need to find out who it was that filled out this information. Tired of arguing with them, I politely took down the "Confirmation Number" that was confirming the "cancellation" of my account & told by her that I could look up the IP address on Google. I did just that, & found that the ISP is Comcast. I contacted Comcast, & they are unable to find out who is using that IP address. After doing some research, it is my thorough understanding that this act is common practice with this company.

The information included on the email:

Received from: welcome@myadvantageoffer.com
Billing Telephone Number: **********
Today's Date: 2/2/2011
Name: Danna F***
Address: 409 *******
L*******, Texas 75***
(Note--This phone number was NEVER associated with this address!)
Type: Residential
Email Address: pnut*****@yahoo.com
Birthdate: 4/13/1979
Last 4 Digits of SSN: ****
Received from IP Address: 24.2.10.4

I will be more than happy to submit a copy of the email for review purposes if needed.

SETTLEMENT REQUEST:

I am extremely bothered by the fact that a company that I did not sign up with has my personal information. Although they claim that they do not have this information, I would like to see solid, written evidence of this. I did not choose to share my information with this company, & would like to be 100% positive that not only do they no longer have the information, but that they will never again be able to access it.

This company should be shut down immediately! They are stealing people's personal information and exploiting it for profit. This is an internet scam at its worst!

****UPDDATE****

I will provide a copy of my complaint to the BBB, the FBI Internet Crimes Unit, & Yahoo once I have them completed. Also, any correspondence to or from Comcast.

Today, I received the exact same email. When I called the "Customer Service" department of Advanced Telecommunications, I was promptly greeted with a very nice young lady who was helpful. UNTIL I started questioning her on how the company received my personal information, as I DID NOT fill out any information online for this account, and tried explaining that the phone number they had listed was one I grew up with, and I have NEVER been attached to the account in any way. (It was my mother's home telephone account.) I pressed the lady for information, and she became very frustrated and extremely rude. I told her that since she could not give me the answers to my questions, that I wanted to speak to a supervisor. She then offered me a confirmation number for the "cancellation" of my account. I told her that there shouldn't even be a confirmation number for a cancellation, because there was not an account to establish in the first place. She put me on hold. When she came back, she stated that the supervisors were unavailable at the time, and that they would have to call me back. I explained to her that there was NO way that I would give them any more of my personal information, considering that they had basically stolen the information they already have, and that I would hold for a supervisor. She told me this was not an option. I told her she needed to make it an option, or they would be immediately be speaking to my attorney. She put me on hold again.

Finally, another lady came on the phone, and she IMMEDIATELY started yelling at me and talking over me, not even allowing me to explain what the issue was. I finally told her that if she could not stop yelling over me, that SHE could get someone else on the phone. This woman then says to me, "So you are refusing your confirmation number that cancels your account." OMG. I told her she needed to get someone else on the phone right away, as she was obviously not understanding that I want to know how the company obtained my information, and to cancel whatever account was opened as well. BOTH transactions at the same time. She sat on the phone for a solid minute of silence before she acknowledged me again. She promptly put me on hold, and I was transferred to a 3rd party.

This time, I could actually understand the woman when she spoke. Her name was Sonya. (Which I subsequently discovered that the president of the company's name is Sonya...coincidence?) She also proceeded to tell me that there was no way that they could obtain my information without someone going online and filling out the information. She said that I needed to search the IP address, and that I could then contact the ISP and find out to whom the internet account is registered. (She WAS right about that part) Herein lies the problem. I went ahead and canceled the account, and got a confirmation number from them. I then researched the IP address. The ISP is Comcast, out of Independence, Missouri. I then contacted Comcast. After speaking with them, I was told that they are unable to find out who is using that IP address, and that I should contact them via telephone (I was talking with their CS via chat).

I have also found that this company has had 60 complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau, and that they have BBB Rating "F". This company states on the BBB site that they have been in business since October 2004. Why is it taking so long to get them shut down? They are obviously bogus!

Here is my plan of action:
1. File complaint with BBB
2. Report scam to FBI Internet Crimes Unit
3. Report scam to Yahoo (as this is the site I received the email on)
4. Research this "myadvantageoffer.com" to find out if they should be reported as well, or if they are just an engine used to send out the emails.
5. Report scam to Comcast via telephone, as the company is using IP addresses listed to them to perform fraudulent schemes, or, possibly, stating that the information came from a Comcast IP address, when in actuality it did not at all.

Hopefully we can get some larger scale investigation going on with this company. If I have to, I will call my local news station and get an investigative reporter on this! It really bothers me that a company can obtain and use your personal information for so many years, and our government is seemingly doing nothing to resolve the issue! Another good idea might be to write to state reps and/or senators. I know a former state rep here in Texas...I'll find out if there's anything to be done about this through legislation, and if she can give me the name(s) of specific people to contact in regard to the matter!

I have also been scammed by USBI for over $90.00. I am currently still in disputed to get my money back. I received no confirmation letter until I called them to tell them to cancel it and told them I did not sign up for this.They then mailed me a confirmation letter which had my date of birth, and mothers maiden name wrong. I have sent them several e-mails and have never been sent one e-mail back. I also received no fake calling cards for 100 mins each month. This has been going on since May, 2010. I don't know how these people can keep scamming others out of their hard earned money. Why isn't the government shutting them down and arresting people for fraud. This scam seems to have been going on for years now.

I also recieved an email saying I had signed up for an unlimited calling plan that also included a calling card with 100 minutes. They had all my personal information, including home address and phone number and even the last 4 digits of my SS #. I was pretty freaked out by it as the date they claimed I signed up for it I was in Vegas on vacation. I immediately called the 1-800 number for customer service to cancell before they charge $16.88 monthly on my phone bill, but they were closed for the weekend, so I will be calling first thing monday morning. i did not sign up for anything, and already have total phone which includes long distance, so I would'nt have needed this service anyway. I will also be calling my phone company to warn them and anyone else I can report this scam to, including the FBI internet crimes unit, as this scam seems to have been going on for awhile.

I really would like to know how they got all my information, especially the last 4 of my SS#. That is very scarey.

Advantage Telecom are awful for "extra" charges we as a business are leaving their service. Lets just say they are not as nice when you are leaving them as they are when they are trying to get you into a contract. Very rude and disrupted our business. They also tried to bill us for faults on our lines! I would highly recommend staying away from this company.

I just made my 4th call to get this charge from Advantage Telecom off of my bill. They said it was going to the credit people for review and they couldn't tell me how long it would take. I told them I was not waiting any longer and would soon seek legal advise. They told me I would be charged for the next month after I cancelled, which I was, and it's still on my bill. The man, if you can call him that, told me I was stupid if I didn't take this switch because he'd save me $20 a month. I am paying $20 more than before. I would love to talk to that guy now. It wouldn't be pretty.
How can they do this to so many people?

Boy have I been dealing with this, today.I have seen the "Detail of USBI Charges" on my monthly phone bill for the last few months, with a different amount each month.I thought these were my neighbors charges (her grand kid calls collect a couple times a month) This months bill was different though, it was for my computer line, which has NEVER had a phone even hooked up to it...so I started checking, called USBI, they gave me the number to Advantage Telecom...who after a 15 minute wait finally got on the line, to "explain" to me that my daughter Melissa filled this out online last May and they "confirmed" it with Melissa on the phone...and after many choice words, they did let me listen too her "confirmation"...only problem is SHE DID NOT have my authorization, she DID NOT live here & she gave them the WRONG address.When I told them I wanted it cancelled, & wanted my money back NOW! I was told they needed PROOF of who I WAS! My "current address" (I've lived here 20+ years) They wanted all of this proof & my info faxed to their billing office "for review"Then the "person" gave me the WRONG fax number...after 6 tries, I called back...and they wanted to start all over...not on my time, I FINALLY got the "right" fax number but they didn't get my drivers lisc...they got a nasty letter, with my demand for my money back. I think I'm calling the FCC in the morning, and will keep contacting them (the FCC) until I get ALL of my money back, and this Advantage Telecom is either out of buisness (because I believe it is a SCAM) or they start doing things the right way...Lori

A salesman called me and said that even though I did not have and didn't need long distance they could cut my bill by about $5 if i added Advantage telecom to my service & there would be no charge for long distance unless I actually made a call.. When I get my bill. There is no changes in the charges for my phone but have been charged 16.06 for long distance services. I called Advantage and they tell me that will be my monthly charges form now on. I asked for the service to be discontinued they said it would take 5-10 days to put it into affect and i would get a small charge next month. I asked how much and they said it would be 16.06. I asked for a refund of the charges and they informed me that I had to listen to the recording, which they would send me in 3-5 days, then I would need to write a dispute to get my money back. I was not happy. I called my phone company and they were so nice. They took off the charges and put me back my service the way I was, no charge. If I get the other charges from advantage they said to call them and they would take that off also.

Yes, they got us on our phone bill, claiming we had authorized them to bill us for long distance. Where does someone report these problems?

Boy, do these comments sound familiar! We too are being charged monthly for USBI Advantage Telecom, LD and carrier cost fees totaling $20.71, for a service we did NOT request. I too have made the calls and their charging us again this month. They are going to get another call and we'll pay our bill minus the USBI fees.

I'm having the same problem and the company refuses to credit back the amount charged and insist I requested their service from my computer. I DID NOT! I don't know how they acquired my personal information but they need to be stopped.
I've called and sent e-mails but they refuse to listen and today they told me that the charge would NOT be removed from my QWest statement unless I sent them a written letter including my drivers license information - they must think I'm crazy to give them any more amunition for fraud! They can take me to court but I'm not succumbing to their spurious business practices!
Patti Fairbanks

I noticed the same on my Verizon bill.
Supposedly my wife sent them an email requesting a calling card. I was able to call them and have this canceled and, again, supposedly they will credit this back.