THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 30, 1996 TAG: 9603300240
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
MCI Communications Corp. plans to refund $44 million to customers nationwide for overcharges in its collect-call services, Virginia regulators said.
Ken Schrad, spokesman for the State Corporation Commission, said the company blamed a computer error for the overbilling and said the problem has existed for three years.
``We made the initial inquiries to MCI, and those inquiries led MCI to find an error in their software,'' he said.
MCI told the commission that most of the problems involved the carrier's 1-800-Collect service, said Schrad.
Phone calls to MCI headquarters in Washington, D.C., were not returned.
MCI met with commission officials Wednesday to explain the company's plans for refunds to customers, Schrad said.
The commission approached MCI after a reporter from Richmond television station WRIC questioned a billing he received after calls he made for a price-comparison story, Schrad said.
The reporter said he made three to four collect phone calls on different carriers and found that MCI billed him for four minutes for a three-minute call. He asked the commission to investigate.
MCI reported earnings for 1995 of $1.07 billion, up 20 percent over 1994's $887 million. The company also reported a 20 percent revenue increase from 1-800-Collect and calling card services in 1995. by CNB