Attorney General investigates complaints against phone company

The Iowa Attorney General’s office is investigating complaints against the “New Access” long-distance telephone company. A-G spokesman Bill Roach says their office has received a number of calls about the company.He says people are complaining that the callers misrepresent who they are by saying they work with Qwest or the local phone company when they do not. Roach says the bills from the company aren’t adding up.He says people say their bills are much higher than what they were promised, and he says they appear to target older people. Roach says they’re treating these complaints as examples of “slamming.”He says slamming is when someone changes your phone company without your consent. Roach says slamming violators face penalties of up to 10-thousand dollars. Roach says they’re working with the company to try and get them to cooperate with the investigation. He says anyone with complaints should call the A-G’s Consumer Protection Division.