Telecommunications and utilities are both top concerns for Illinois residents, according to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s annual top 10 list of consumer complaints. In 2014, the Attorney General’s office fielded 2,162 telecommunications-related complaints from consumers (No. 3 on the list), and 566 utility-related complaints (No. 10). Attorney General Madigan’s…...
Our Valentine to AT&T: Have a heart, don’t kill our landlines
Thank you to the 1,600+ people who signed CUB’s Valentine to AT&T. Our hearts ache alright–not for AT&T, but for the millions of Illinoisans who depend on traditional home phone service as their most reliable and affordable telecom option. AT&T has stated clearly that it wants to end their phone…...
Don’t cut that cord yet: Why we still need landlines
The Illinois Telecommunications Act—important legislation that protects your rights and keeps telephone rates low—is up for review in 2015. We are gearing up for a big legislative battle as we expect companies like AT&T and Frontier to attempt to completely deregulate local phone service. If Big Telecom has its way, companies would be free from the…...
CUB Action Network members say NO to Big Telecom
Consumer advocates expect Big Telecom to mount a new push to eliminate important consumer protections on home phone service in Illinois–and CUB Action Network members have something to say about it. The Illinois Telecommunications Act—important legislation that protects your rights and keeps telephone landline rates low—is up for review in 2015. In…...
Goodbye to affordable landline service?
While you’re heading to the polls today, CUB is gearing up for a key legislative battle this spring. The Illinois Telecommunications Act—important legislation that protects your rights and keeps telephone landline rates low—is scheduled to be rewritten in 2015. Millions of Illinois households, including many of our most vulnerable citizens, depend…...
$105 million settlement another win against one nasty cellphone scam
CUB’s consumer advocates were happy to read the headlines this morning: AT&T will pay $105 million to settle claims that its customers were hit with unauthorized third-party charges. Federal regulators, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and the nation’s other attorneys general say its the largest settlement in history involving cramming–when…...
Keep those annoying telemarketers in line!
Ever been bothered by obnoxious telemarketing calls? (I don’t know how it happens, but it seems like telemarketers have a sixth sense for knowing when you’ve sat down for family dinner!) Now’s your chance to act: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) introduced the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) in 1995 to prevent abusive telemarketing…...
3 things that stink about cellphones
A recent CUB Facebook poll asked people what was most annoying about their cellphones. Guess what aggravation took top honors? 1) High Bills: According to CTIA data, consumers with smartphones–such as an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry–use an average of about 800 MB of data per month. That’s far less than the standard 2…...
