Telcoweb Problems Defined
 

To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Telcoweb announcement


Attn: All Resellers, Webmasters and Account Representatives



This update is to inform all accounts and representatives of the current status of operations, payroll and news about the US market. Be sure to read through the message in its entirety before contacting a support staff member with any additional questions.



Since the case with the FTC was finalized, we have been working to get all operations back up and running in the manner we are known for before the case started. As many you know, the case with the FTC had limited our ability to conduct our day to day operations due to the details put forth by the TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) enforced during the months we were in court.



Our primary focus has been to process all outstanding payroll for our accounts and pay out for minutes earned through the end of June. Since the TRO was lifted we proceeded to go forth and collect all funds for our $3.99 1-900 owed to us which was frozen by the FTC. When we finally got our statements after the freeze, we discovered that despite sending millions of minutes our account actually shows a rather large negative balance and no funds have been forthcoming. The way the billing cycle works in the USA is very complex , we are paid 90 days behind but all charges including customer support / transport and chargebacks are applied real-time. The bottom line is we are several cycles in front of any dialer company using 3rd party billing at this price point the figures simply melt down. Anyone who has been in this business longer than a year will know that using this method of billing was simply the last option left after MCI closed its doors , it was an experiment at best - we chose $3.99 as we thought it was a fair price to the consumer whilst allowing revenue to provide an outpayment to webmasters. Other dialer companies came along side us paying out 80 and 90 cents to you all for USA minutes using the same billing company that we use. If you would like to see what a $3.99 1-900 minute is worth on month 10 please review the statement below. When you look through the statement below, notice how this statement doesn't show a high chargeback rate but a combination of all charges and the way they are applied and what is due to us.









4/5 SUBMISSIONS
IGT REJECTED BILLING


407-****
$91,375.76
-$1,759.59


454-****
$0.00
$0.00


454-****
$0.00
$0.00


454-****
$526.68
$0.00


786-****
$881.79
-$39.90


896-****
$502.74
-$31.92


976-****
$0.00
$0.00


TOTALS
$93,286.97
-$1,831.41







SUBMISSIONS - REJ
$91,455.56








TELCO HOLDBACK
-$7,316.44



PROCESSING FEE
-$7,316.44



RESERVE FUNDING
-$7,316.44



TOTAL
-$21,949.32








RUNNING TOTAL
$69,506.24









TELCO UNBILLABLE



407-****
-$6,591.48



454-****
$0.00



454-****
$0.00



454-****
-$135.66



786-****
-$219.45



896-****
-$55.86



976-****
$0.00



TOTAL
-$7,002.45








RUNNING TOTAL
$62,503.79









TELCO CHARGEBACKS



407-****
-$19,442.43



454-****
$0.00



454-****
$0.00



454-****
-$115.71



786-****
-$418.95



896-****
-$239.40



976-****
$0.00



TOTAL
-$20,216.49








RUNNING TOTAL
$42,287.30


































CALL CENTER REFUNDS



407-****
-$32,424.68



454-****
$0.00



454-****
$0.00



454-****
-$167.58



786-****
-$201.10



896-****
-$235.41



976-****
$0.00



TOTAL
-$33,028.77








RUNNING TOTAL
$9,258.53








TELCO BILLING FEE
-$1,400.51



TELCO RECOURSE
-$4,315.04
NON-SPECIFIC


TELCO UNBILLABLE
-$77.50
NON-SPECIFIC


TELCO WRITE OFF
-$198.96
NON-SPECIFIC


IGT INQUIRIES
-$2,438.48



IGT CHARGEBACKS
$0.00
NON-SPECIFIC


IGT VOUCHERS
$0.00
SO BELL C/B'S


AT&T NUMBER FEE
-$600.00
JULY
6

MCI NUMBER FEE
-$120.00
JULY
8

TRANSPORT $.315
-$9,132.80
MAY EST 80,679
ACTUAL 109,672

TRANSPORT $.315
-$440.84
6/29-6/30
1399.49

TRANSPORT $.315
-$923.94
7/1-7/5
2933.13

TELCO BILLING FEE
$0.00
CREDIT
NON SPECIFIC

TOTAL
-$19,648.07








REMITTANCE DUE
-$10,389.54



BALANCE
-$383,486.46




-$393,876.00










~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

US Route/Market over the past 10 months.



To give you a better understanding of the US market, the following will go over the changes in the US since last year. Almost a year ago AT&T pulled out of the 1-900 industry and started the path of the collapse in the US market as we know it today. They shut down all operations and terminated all staff in the support department within 30 days. AT&T kept all money in escrow earned by dialers until they finished reviewing all charges and costs. Because the US law works on the side of the consumer, they are able to hold all funds for 12 months which is the time limit a consumer is allowed to dispute the bill and receive credit for their 1-900 charges. This sent all the dialer companies into a frenzy looking for an alternate solution.



The next option that appeared in the market was MCI. They came into the picture offering a solution but had never taken on the amount of traffic or business before. They had limited experience with dialers and within 2 billing cycles opted out of the industry leaving everyone scrambling for another solution for 1-900 in the US.



We decided not to use MCI based on the fact that if AT&T, the industry leader, couldn't handle it MCI never had a chance. We went with a third party billing company that had the ability to use the AT&T numbers and equipment and handle all the accounting and support. Luckily this kept us out of any problems when MCI pulled out and caused havoc for payout. This was a decision that we made with the thought that this option would keep us away from another possible disaster within the industry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Current Standing in the US



This brings us to where we are today. Since we were the first company to use the 3rd party billing company we have the longest history with them and can already see the trend of where it is going to go. After the time, costs and effort we put forth to clear our name in the US and have our funds released, we found out that there is nothing to collect. We've carefully monitored the statements to see if the trend within the bell curve would take a turn in our favor, but so far it is a slow change with not much result.



We decided to begin payroll processing by sending out all international payout splitting all money owed into 2 payments. To date over 500 wires and payments have gone out with the rest to follow within the next 7-10 business days. The first payment covers March 1 - May 15 and the second covers May 16 - June 30. We are paying out in groups and have already started processing payments. It is a timely operation to ensure that all international collectibles are in and payments are going out as they are coming in.



We are reviewing all statements and trying to collect whatever we can for the US minutes. Once any news or funds come in from the US, it will go out. By posting this statement, we hope there is a better understanding of the US payout and we want you to be fully aware of what is the situation now. In the meantime we are working on a billing solution for the USA that pays.



As any information becomes available, we will post again. If you have any questions, do not reply to this message. Contact your reseller who will gladly assist you.





Regards



Telcoweb Support.

yeah I love paying $3.99 per minute...fucking great one...and you wonder why with your stupidity the FTC want to arse fuck you....

Kman - Hit me up on icq bro. I got sump'n fo yo arse.


$$$

im not using dialers anymore man =-/

wasn't referring to dialers bro - drop me a line

you must be doing very well to be having such a high loss - is this the Jesus dialer I am reading about here?

where can I be signing up for this? I will be wealthiest man in all of Latvia and Nina will be my wife!

Krone,

You know nothing about the case and you're being a complete ignorant idiot.

Phone sex has been charging $3.99 per minute for years.

A) The names Krome
B) $3.99 is a fucking rip offf and I do not care if people have been charging it for years.
C) Could you call me an ignorant idiot to my face?

A) Gotcha
B) You may think it's a rip off, but the price is clearly stated so the surfer knows who he or she is getting into.

I guess those "3 day trials" are scams too since they state in the fine print that you will be charged a recurring charge of $39.99 right?

C) You're ignorant, what can I say? Stating that the FTC should go after them just because they charge $3.99 per minute is pretty absurd.

If the FTC really thought $3.99 per minute was a scam, pretty soon the "trial membership" paysite model would be next.

Thankfully, what the FTC really wanted to go after Telcoweb was because of an email spam scam that has been going out that one of Telcoweb's webmasters was sending out and not actually Telcoweb.

The FTC realized this, and lifted the TRO.