Transaction Clearing And "Gotcha Capitalism" Come To Oregon

I got my phone bill yesterday and noticed that it was quite a bit higher than usual.

As I read through the bill, I saw that I was being billed for a collect call from Indiana by a company called Transaction Clearing. I was out of the country when this call supposedly came through and I don't know anyone in Indiana. I never had or accepted such a call.

I immediately called Transaction Clearing on the number which appeared on my bill. After working my way through their message system I reached a message that told me that they were not accepting messages. I called Qwest, but they don't take calls like mine in the evening.

I called Qwest this morning and they patched me through to Transaction Clearing on another number. I got the same message machines, chose the English language option and got an operator who spoke very little English. I don't mind that she does not speak English as her first language, but I do mind that this worker has been put in a situation where she can't help the people who are calling.

The operator and I tried to work out my problem. She blocked my phone from receiving calls from the number in Indiana and was about to end the call when I raised the matter of the unfair charges. She then offered me a 75% discount, which I rejected. Why should I pay anything at all?

The operator then said she would check with her supervisor about cancelling the charges. This took less than 15 seconds, which makes me believe that there was no supervisor and no check-in. The charges were cancelled but will show up on my bill for two or three billing cycles. They clearly hope that I'll pay what I don't owe.

While I was on the phone I found Transaction Clearing's website. The website looks impressive but the text used has not been edited or spell-checked. And it is not clear from their website what Transaction Clearing really does. The impression or hint given is that they will take contracted-out billing, data processing and telecommunications charges and make a go of doing this work or collecting outstanding fees, but the website is vague on the details. I laughed a bit when I read on their website that "Our business philosophy is reflected in our ground level day-to-day hard work, diligent listening, and open and accurate communications. We provide our customers with the right solutions" as I struggled through getting my problem dealt with.

I reported the company to Oregon's Department of Justice (DOJ), sent a note to Qwest, sent the company an e-mail (no response yet) and sent them a hard-copy letter as well. They appear to be based in Texas.

"Gotcha capitalism" is the idea that more companies survive and thrive today by charging hidden or unfair fees. The concept was popularized by Bob Sullivan last year. You can read about his book here and hear a good interview with Sullivan here. What stops Sullivan from sounding like another Andy Rooney is the timeliness of his research and the help he can provide to others, even if he lacks a sophisticated economic and political analysis.

Companies using these sorts of fees and scams depend upon people not objecting or not having the means to either take companies on or go elsewhere. They victimize the poor, the elderly, the busy and the overworked. In a marketplace where most companies engage in such scams and profiteering the consumer will always be stuck.

Qwest and DOJ are not innocent bystanders here. Qwest wants the money and doesn't care if I'm getting scammed or not. While I was trying to fix the problem with Qwest and reach Transaction Clearing the Qwest operator was trying to sell me internet service. When I called DOJ I was on hold for much of my lunch break and I had to hang up without being able to talk to someone there. I had to access the DOJ complaint forms from the web. State cutbacks have made DOJ's job harder and the more we have to rely upon the web the deeper these cuts will go because the state is learning to live without state workers.

Companies like Transaction Clearing do what they do because they're in business to make money and because they can get away with bad billing practices. They're allowed to advertise on the internet and use Qwest for billing because a capitalist democracy holds their right to bilk us as a fundamental and sacred freedom. Qwest cooperates because they're part of that same system and have little or no meaningful oversight. An activist-oriented utilities and telecommunications commission would make such cooperation impossible. DOJ fails us when it comes to consumer protection because wealthy corporations and individuals in this state won't pony up their fair share of taxes.

We call this the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.