Protect Friends & Families of Incarcerated Individuals From Monopolizing PrePaid Phone Companies (Evercom, Correctional Billing) Unfair Deceptive Business Practices

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This is a petition to stop the monopolizing of phone company access to families and friends of jail and prison inmates and the unfair business practices of companies such as (for example and in particular) Evercom or also known as Correctional Billing (http://www.correctionalbilling.com) or T-Netix Collect Calls, owned by TZ Holdings, Inc.
These companies deceptively force the consumers into using their services for inmate calls by placing a block on the phone and only removing it upon payment of outrageous amounts in advance in order to talk to your loved ones who are in jail/prison. This petition is to demand that the innocent friends/family members who want to talk to people they love who are in jail/prison, can choose their phone carriers and not be blocked from phone access when they pay the bill as they are supposed to, and they should not be forced to use the services of one company alone without option, deceptively made to sign up by being billed through their phone companies without any prior understanding, agreement, contract, or explanation to the consumer, and over-charged an enormous amount of money that far exceeds the normal prices of telephone calls.

This petition is to demand a change in these practices, and regulation passed to protect the innocent friends and family members of incarcerated individuals.

423 Signatures

  • JA MURPHY
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • Friends/Family members are financially punished for a crime they did not commit just because they want to talk to someone they love who is incarcerated, its taking advantage of a situation and completely wrong
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • В
    • address, zip code
    • В
  • michelle orlowski
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • i also was forced into spending outrageous amounts of money in order to be able to speak to my boyfriend while he was incarcerated. It was terribly frustrating as it was not affordable but there was no alternative company and i was given no choice in the matter.
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Tx
  • connie jones
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • all this company does is continue to want money from you to talk to your loved one and when they get it they do not allow you to get what you have paid for they are nothing more than a company that takes advantage of us individuals and forget talking with a supervisor or manager as they are just as rude and unexperienced as there so called employees this needs to be invetstigated so it can help others
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • indiana
    • address, zip code
    • 46360
  • susan hardyway
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • employees are very rude and unprofessional...they never tell you the same thing twice and claim that they have told you things that they have not
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • kansas
  • VICKIE MAURCHIE
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • they suck! I just had to pay $58.00 in advance to remove a block and they still have not removed the block and I can't talk to my Son. I owe them nothing and they are not my carrier so why the hell am I forced to give them money?
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • IL
    • address, zip code
    • 61115
  • suzanne murawski
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • terrible service no human to talk with about blocked callls unreasonable charges from different sources with no coordinating esplanation
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • wisconsin
  • Judith C. Moore
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • Unfair practices. Never notified of carrier change. Was told by representative at Evercom that I need to call GTL and request credit balance to be refunded. I am sick of this. This is the third carrier since March.
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Florida
    • address, zip code
    • 2505 Turtledove Lane Bradenton, FL 34209
  • William D. Moore
  • veronica esparsen
  • MARTHA RAZO
  • Christine Ewing
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • I have had times when my bill gets paid that I still can't recieve a call from my son who is incarcerated in prison . Why does it take so long to get it back up from being blocked? If it was my long distance company it wouldn't be blocked at all. What else can I do to get this stopped?
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Montana
  • cori l watkins
  • Marilee Clark
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • I agree with the petition. Have experienced many dropped calls by this company.
  • Thelma Davis
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • Evercom is awful. A big ripoff
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Kentucky
  • M. S. Estridge
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • It is impossible to keep in touch with your loved one with the cost of calls being what they are and, the telephones inside of the jail are not maintained and quite often I pay for calls that are cut short or the reception is horrible.
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Massachusetts
    • address, zip code
    • 01095
  • Rita Johnson
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Texas
  • DAVID
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • these phone co. are really outrages with the pricing , charging way to high bills for collect calls
  • Dorothy A Cordes
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • Horriffic,Ripp Off, Un American!!!!!!!!!
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Georgia
    • address, zip code
    • 15010
  • Skyler Byrde
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • In the 2 weeks my friend was in jail, his friends and family will have paid more in phone bill fees than he will in fines. We don't even talk to him that often. This is not only a monopoly, but robbery as well, and should be illegal.
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • due to be released (yay)
    • address, zip code
    • 32751
  • sheree bulmer
  • Jennifer Antantis-Clark
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • Outrageous!!!! Someone needs to make a stand and stop these people from monopolizing the market. I have a 16 year old child incarcerated in a Juvenile Detention Center. It's truly a shame that I have to pay $3.00 a phone call, and prepay at that. Then to make an advanced payment is even more of a joke. They nail you with charges left and right. If you aren't made of money, you suffer. If you are a drug dealer, no problem. The whole jail system is a joke.
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Pennsylvania
    • address, zip code
    • 17 Calhoun Avenue, Pgh, PA 15210
  • Bobby F. BREWSTER
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • will not accept other prepaid phone cards i have and pay a universale fee to my phone company that other phone companys must honer according to fedral law
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • tennessee children services
    • address, zip code
    • 37031
  • brenda williams
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • on dec 04 07 I paid 66.95 for 12 calls I used the auto mated system everthing seemed ok then our calls were cut short didn't get full call on about three or more calls then when this money ended I called to get access to their web sight so I had to talk to a real person so they asked a lot of questions an asked for my debit card number so I did every thing I was told even gave my address off my check book I was suppose to pay 70 .00 this time for 12 call an then she said that it did not go thur an she could not unblock my phone that my address was wrong well this was a lie so then she said my card would still be charged 70. I said why I don't have any service so I ask for a supv.an she said the same thing but only she said maybe It will charged two 70.00 an will take 24 hrs to be put back on my cd.I was pissed then the next day I called my bank to check they did three 70.00 charges so I had a total of 210 .00 froze on my cd.I didn't tell them to do this they robes bank accounts . bad company
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Texas
  • Melissa Bartlett
  • Josh Bartlett
  • KIMBERLY GOSSER
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • INDIANA
    • address, zip code
    • 46516
  • barbara
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • I FEEL THAT WE ARE NOT GETTING THE CALLS WE ARE DUE WITH THE MONEY WE ARE PAYING @ 1.50 PER CALL.
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • VA
  • Schannon Stoudemire
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • sc
  • Tina Redick
  • angela hayes
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • start up cost, have gone out of business with my money stil pre-paid
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • california
    • address, zip code
    • 93536
  • porco
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • $14.30 for a 15 min call! This should be against the law! We can't pay these charges. Someone is getting very rich at our expense!!
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • VA
  • Rose
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • I have paid over $10.00/call plus $26.00per month in fees for a prepaid account that shuts off if there is a balance of less than $10.00, no customer service - the phone hangs up when you select that option, sometimes it doesn't accept a credit card payment for weeks unless it is over $50.00, I've paid more in phone calls than for my car payment to talk for 3 nights a week in 15 minute intervals. It is another way to exploit and punish the families and loved ones of incarcerated individuals.
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • NJ
  • PEARL FLOYD
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • CALL'S DISCONECTED
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • FLORIDA
    • address, zip code
    • 34475
  • MELISSA HARLESS
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • CALLS DISCONECTED
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • FLORIDA
    • address, zip code
    • 34475
  • SHERRY MAHLE
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • CALLS DISCONECTED THAT ARE CUT OFF FOR NO REASON
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • FLORIDA
    • address, zip code
    • 34475
  • Joy Morris
  • deondra smith
  • Tiffany Thornburg
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • The fees are outrageous, its costing me a fortune not only to pay for his lawyer and the fines and all that but i have to pay 20 freaking dollars for a 15 minute phone call thats highway robbery. You have to pay tax on every phone call when you already pay tax every month for your phone bill. Its completely ridiculous
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Nebraska
    • address, zip code
    • 80015
  • joyce gomm
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • why can't inmates use phone cards or reverse charges because of fees and taxes it cost me $11.00 plus per 10 minute call give us a break.
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • va bch,va
    • address, zip code
    • 3 mowery ave villas,nj.08251
  • Susan Lomeli
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • There is certainly a monopoly going in in Southern California.
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • California
    • address, zip code
    • 90621
  • Tracy
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • my son is incarcerated and our phone bills are outrageous
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • Arizona
    • address, zip code
    • 85353
  • Andrea Enos
  • Deborah Meza
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • California
  • janet williams
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • Way Too Expensive
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • NY
    • address, zip code
    • 10001
  • marianne williams
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • Use of only one credit card Number
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • NY
    • address, zip code
    • 11590
  • Jaquana Williams-Brewington
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • Left on hold for 1 hour and the fees are criminal
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • NY
    • address, zip code
    • 11550
  • Marcia Medina
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • California
    • address, zip code
    • PO Box 272 Napa Ca 94559
  • Schwanna
  • mary foster
    • Comments/Suggestion/Your Experience
    • the phone bills are way to high
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • new hampshire
    • address, zip code
    • 04039
  • ADRIANA
    • State of Loved Ones Incarceration?
    • NEVADA
    • address, zip code
    • 89070