I read on a website that the state of Michigan made over 18 million dollars in the last 2 years on the Michigan Dept. of Corrections phones. I guess there are a couple of prisons' in Michigan that are going to boycott the phones for the month of August to try and make a statement. 18 million dollars! I am so happy that I made a contribution! (whatever!!!!) It is completely insane that they get away with this, but then again, they can do what they want. It's like the cigarette companies. They can jack up their prices as much as they want because they know addicted people will pay the price.

It will be interesting to see if the boycott has any affect on the prisoners. Will the doc try to retaliate somehow? For the kind of money they would lose?

That's a good question. It scares me a little because all they have to do is say "ok, no phone calls then!" i mean, there are states out there that don't even allow phone calls at all right?? So, i don't know. Plus, I would hate to hear about my b/f doing anything that could cause him to be in there longer. As far as I know, the boycott isn't happening where he is, but who knows. I haven't talked to him in over a week! (maybe it is happening!LOL)

Well I'm not surprised! I've certainly contributed my share to this amount!!!!

When my son was at the County Jail, all his calls came from At&T. The craziest thing was sometimes he called and it was $6 a minute. Sometimes it was $3 a minute. Yet, there was no pattern I could find to determine what day of the week or time of day the calls were cheaper. The rates were random.

Thinking I was so smart, I called AT&T and asked, hey whats the deal...? Sometimes its one rate sometimes another. I would like to know when the rates are cheapest. They had no answers at all... Doesn't the FCC regulate phones anymore?

Shouldn't you be able to call and inquire as to what a particular rate is and get a straightforward answer? It's crazy!!!

Just my humble opinion...

What has your experience been?

Hugs,

Jodi

I have yet to comment on this subject because it really gets me going! I have had quite a few phone calls from my boyfriend who is in prison at Walpole, MA and I have never seen a phone bill like this before? How in the world can the DOC get away with charging these kind of rates? As if all of us are not dealing with enough having a loved one in prison? The last thing that we need is to be ripped-off by the DOC and/or the phone co? I am new to all of this and I am learning more and more every single day and I just keep trying to think of ways that these outrageous phone rates can be lowered? Who would be willing to listen to our side of the story and help to make some changes? I do believe that this is a sensitive situation because like some of you have already said, the DOC could just put a hault on telephone calls all together? Still the same, it is not fair?

Lyndsey when you find someone who is willing to listen to our side of the story PLEASE let me know!! So far nobody seems to care except the people at PTO!

If you'd like, all members who posted above please list what your currently paying for 1 collect call. (For example, 15 or 30 minutes.) Further, if you'd like you can pm myself a message or post here, the name of the prison you have someone at at the town you live in. I am pretty confident I can get you the CURRENT contracted rate that you should be getting charged. If it is not this current contracted rate and you are being overcharged, as was my case, you can and will get a refund.
I will keep a record of all states interstate and state contracts as I gather information for future reference!

I am expecting a phone bill soon and I will post the exact rate per minute as well as the total charge for the phone call as soon as I get the bill. Has anyone ever written to their local government about this issue? Maybe we should start a nationwide petition?

As soon as I post this, I'm going to go and try and found out a few things. Thanks to those of you who sent me your information...Hopefully I will assure you that your being billed the correct amount or that they owe you money!!

Can anyone post an update of how the boycott is going? Are any of YOU participating in the boycott? I know it would be very hard for me, but I'd try to do it...I think I coud last at least 2o days! LOL

Pamela,

I pay $8.62 per call. I live in Brimley, Michigan and my husband is in Muskegon, Michigan. This is charged by Correctional Billing Services...its under Evercom on the net. The calls are 12 minutes long.

Deb

A few years ago the almost 3,000 men at New Jersey State Prison boycotted the phone system for almost 6 mos. [after major changes were made to the system] but b/c the State of New Jersey's General Revenue reaps the profits [over $5 million/year in kickbacks for AT&T] from the prisoner phone system, the boycott was ineffective. These men, most who are doing long bids have long-term investment in changes to the prison system since most of them will spend the remainder of their life behind walls; those doing shorter bids are less likely to want to invest the time/energy/possible losses. Therefore prisoners at most of the other prisons in NJ did not follow suit w/the boycott.
Seveal states are beginning to make some changes to the prisoner phone systems--check out the CURE National Website [www.curenational.org] about their nationwide campaign concerning prisoner phone systems and costs.
You may also want to check out the post about Remote Call Forwarding [another thread in this forum] about a legal alternative method for reducing your phone call bills!

egs [aka Elaine]
AJFA

Pamela, I pay $17.30 per call from Lake Charles Alabama to Dothan, Alabama for 15 minutes! The Phone System is "Evercom" out of Tyler Texas!
I checked rates online and they said $2.15 connection and the .25 per minute there after -- well, not until they called and said, "your line is restricted, pay $304.13 and we'll unblock it" -- can you believe that!??? I don't have that dough! They tricked me!

I pay $17.34 for a 15 minute call from Dale (in Michigan) to me, in Texas... It is outrageous.
Jodygirl

Hey Precious... I had the same problem... I had a restriction put on my phone by evercom... they said I couldn't exceed $50 worth of phone calls in a 24 hour period. Also, the restriction wouldn't be taken off unitl I paid the $121.00 I owed..... even though I haven't gotten the bill yet. Sooo, good luck to ya.
jodygirl

Yeah that's how they do it, they trick everyone. As I said before I think it must be illegal somehow what they are doing to us!