Long Distance Phone Services: How to Complain about Long Distance Service

Having a problem with long distance service or billing?  Here's how to file complaints with your long distance company and with state and federal officials.  Make sure to save all contracts, "terms of service" agreements, bills, receipts, owner's manuals, etc, to support your claim.

Complaining to your long distance company

When you have a complaint, start by asking your long distance company to resolve the problem.  Your monthly phone bill should have contact information for your long distance phone company listed somewhere, and will generally be in the form of a 1-800 number. 

Contact information for several major long distance companies is listed below.

The Federal Citizen Information Center web site also lists corporate contact information for dozens of firms, including many (but not all) telecommunications companies. 

• AT&T
• Phone: 1-800-222-0300
• Customer Center
• Contact Info
• Email complaint
• Mailing Address:
  AT&T
  P.O. Box 72031
  Atlanta, GA 30359
• MCI
• Phone: 1-800-444-3333
• Consumer Customer Service
• Contact Info
• Email complaint
• Mailing Address
  MCI
  P.O. Box 4600
  Iowa City, IA 52244-4600
• Sprint
• Phone: 1-800-877-4646
• Customer Center
• Email complaint
• Mailing Address:
  Sprint Long Distance
  1603 LBJ Freeway
  Dallas, TX 75234
• Verizon
• Phone:  Verizon has various customer service numbers based upon your state; go to their Web site to access the correct number.
• Online Help by State: Contact the appropriate online help center for your state.
• E-Mail complaint
• Mailing Address:
  Verizon has various customer service address based upon your state; go to their Web site to access the correct address.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

If you have a complaint regarding your long distance service and you do not receive satisfactory resolution from the company, you can file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.  The FCC does not handle contractual disputes or violations of state deceptive advertising laws (file these complaints with state attorneys general).  The FCC forwards electronic and mail complaints to the service provider and directs the company to respond back to the Commission and the consumer within 30 days.

In order to file the complaint, consumers must submit:

• their contact information
• the names of all companies involved in the dispute
• the names of company representatives contacted
• the dates of correspondence with the company

Consumers are also encouraged to maintain documentation of the billing or service problem.

The FCC accepts complaints by mail, telephone, fax, email and on its online complaint page.

• Mailing Address:
  Federal Communications Commission
  Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
  Consumer Complaints
  445 12th Street, SW
  Washington, D.C. 20554

• PHONE:
  Toll Free: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)
  TTY: 1-888-TELL- FCC (1-888-835-5322)

• FAX: Toll-Free: 1-866-418-0232

State Public Utility Commission (PUC)

Each state has a government agency, generally called a "public utility commission" (PUC), "public service commission" (PSC) or "corporation commission" that oversees telephone companies. To locate your state's PUC on the web, visit the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and find your state on the interactive map or dropdown menu. PUC web sites will typically provide contact info and/or online methods of filing a complaint.

Filing complaints with state attorneys general offices and local consumer protection agencies.

State attorneys general and consumer protection offices will often handle complaints about fraud and contract disputes.  Some provide mediation services.

Based on consumer complaints, state attorneys general have filed lawsuits against phone companies, resulting in refunds to consumers and agreements by some companies to reform certain practices.

Find your Attorney General and your local consumer protection agency:

Better Business Bureaus

Better Business Bureaus (BBBs) are nonprofit organizations supported by business members. The BBB will take consumer complaints and attempt to resolve them.