Phone Charges for Soldiers Outrageous!

Rip-offs.  Everyone has experienced it.  You get angry and want your money back.  But, what if the rip-off happened while you were serving your country?  Especially when it is an American company dealing out the rip-off?  People would be even angrier.  Well exactly that happened.

Msnbc.com published an article recently about American troops being ripped-off.  In this article, American troops experienced one of the worst rip-offs possible.   While on stops and hold-overs in Leipzig, Germany, pay phones sit there readily to be used by the soldiers.  Soldiers call their loved ones as much as they can so when they have the chance to call, they do.  The soldiers expect the call to be a little pricy, but they had no idea what they were in for.  One soldier was charged $41 for a three second call home.  No one expected that price.  Now these men and women are suing this company for these charges. 

The worst part is that these phone charges come from a United States Company, called BBG Communications.   BBG Communications is home-based in San Diego, California.  Unfortunately, the United States troops are not the only complaints they have had.  According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, there have been complaints from people using the payphones at train stations, airports, and other locations.  These complaints are based on the fact that there is no information about how high these fees are.  Bloomberg BusinessWeek says that these fees can range from $10/minute up to $25/minute.  Also, you must use a credit or debit card.  Prepaid cards cannot be used.  When NBC News asked the largest phone company in Germany about the fees they charge on calls to the United States, the three second call would cost about $10, which is a huge difference from the $41 charged by the American-based company.

While other people are also suffering from these fees, I think the troops are suffering the most. While serving their country on deployments, American troops want nothing more than to talk to their loved ones.  They want to be with their families instead of where they are and these fees are hurting these soldiers who are risking their lives for our country.  They are willing to fight for us, but are charged horrendous amounts when trying to phone home on the payphones where their transportation landed. 

These victims should not have to deal with these fees and I hope our country will realize the problem of this when these lawsuits are taken to action.  So far there have been two lawsuits about this company, and I hope this company will change its ways and inform the people, or cease to exist.