This is the phone company that I have been dealing w/that owns the phone systems where EJ is at....GOD I HATE THIS PLACE!! They block my phone line after so many days of him not calling. Hell it doesn't even have to be a couple days. He wrote me once after he was calling regularly & told me ALL of his #'s on his phone list wouldn't go through. When I FINALLY got through to this company...they said OF COURSE there was no block, but would be happy to re-do my line just in case. Well what do you know EJ happened to call that night & GOT THROUGH!!!
AT & T is the long distance carrier for this company, but whenver he doesn't call for a couple days I have to call this company because AT & T don't put the blocks on THEY DO!!


http://www.t-netix.com

i haven't been able to get blocks from my local carrier lifted yet, but i agree about t-netix's service. i sat on hold for 45 minutes trying to get through. no one ever picked up despite the reassurances of the voice prompt.! still no phone calls for me.

tia...I honestly don't know what this companies problem is!!
EJ got off of phone restriction this Aug. 1, he tried calling me & all his #'s were blocked again. I kind of had an idea that was the case so I called. After 2 days of trying to get through, I talked to a guy who right away said that he is going to re-program my line to take the block off! There should NOT have been a block to begin with, but that system as well as the phones there suck really bad!

I can't wait until EJ gets transferred at the end of the month, I won't have to deal w/that company anymore. In fact I am on the line right now on hold because I think they did it again!!

I own outside Connection, inc. and we have litigation going against T-netix because, what they are doing to you and thousands of other families is ILLEGAL. They are blocking MY company lines and that is totally against the law and there filed tariff!!!! Please let me know if you are willing to send me a short statement so my attorney can use them against T-netix with the FCC and state regulatory agencies!!!!

Brian Helps
Outside Connection, inc. President

Hi. I wasn't surprised to see this thread or the messages posted. I feel like I've been in prison since T-Netix has taken over the prison phone system here. I have never made a late payment on a telephone bill in the 30 years I've had my own service, but T-Netix constantly blocked me. My son has a serious medical condition and was in the infirmary for approximately 2 months while this was all going on. I asked them how they could legally do this and the gentlemen stated they could and to read their agreement which "clearly" states they can block anyone they want. I explained that I always pay my bill on time and he said well when you reach a certain amount we block you until you've paid the bill. I asked how could I pay the bill when I hadn't receivd it yet. It had only been 2 weeks or so since my last bill. To make a long story short, after numerous calls, emails to T-Netix and the governor a woman by the name of Helen McCoy (T-Netix rep) called me. When I explained what they were doing to me she had someone drive at 11:00 p.m. to the main office to take the block off my phone. She went above and beyond the call of duty. I started having problems again and spoke with her this week and she asked that I please notify her immediately of any problems I may have had. She asked me to describe as best I could word for word what I was told and who told it to me. I told her that many people here are fed up with T-Netix and she said please have them notify me. Here's her number. I know she'll help you as long as your phone bills are paid on time. 734-673-4071

Welcome Tricia and thank you for posting this for our members...If it's ok, I'd like to copy it and paste it in the Indiana forum, so it can reach members who might miss your information here.

I just went with a new phone company when I moved and I was suprised to find out AFTER I had the line established that this local company does not accept third billing. So now I too have T-Netix. I can only say, if this is what I have to look forward to, I'll copy this and send it to our governor and see if He'll do anything!

Great job on your persistance!! And I also hope all is well with your son and his health now!

Pamela

another welcome and thanks tricia !
let us know how your son is doing

I've been dealing with this comapny since Qwest went under fire - about the same time and for the same reasons as Worldcom. It costs about $20 for one 15 minute phone call from my husband.

vlcoffman posted this in another topic about this same company -

Here in Alabama we have been forced to use TNetix and they are aweful. I have found out this much information They block our phones in three ways.
1. if an inmate makes 25.00 worth of calls in a 24 hour time period- they block it for 24 hours
2. If an inmate makes 50.00 worth of calls in a week- a block is placed until their week frame is up.
3. If an inmate makes 150.00 in a month they block it until their month is up.
I have stayed on the phone placed on hold for up to three hours with only hanging up because no one every answered.

Guys, this is insane and I am ready to take some action! What can we do - who do we need to write, or whatever? Maybe a class action lawsuit? Who is getting the kickbacks from this company? It's$5.88 for the first minute, $0.88 for each additional minute plus a $4 connection fee - with every single phone call from Wayne.

Let's rock and roll and do something!

Thank you all for your warm welcome. I haven't figured out how to post to a paticular individual though. Am I missing something here, LOL.

Anyway, this is how I finally got Helen McCoy involved. I emailed T-Netix with a cc to the Governor of the State of Indiana. I knew when the Indiana DOC had signed the contract with T-Netix and I knew when the contract was up. I informed T-netix in the email (with cc to the governor) that their constant blocking of paying customers is losing money for the State of Indiana and when contract renewal comes up, I think the Governor might want to choose another company. I received a letter from the governor asking me to keep him apprised of any problems I'm having with them, which I have done. Every email sent to T-Netix is cc to the governor so that T-Netix can clearly see what I've done. Someone from T-Netix forwarded my email to Helen McCoy and she contacted me and got it all straightened out for a few months. I now have a pre-paid phone card for my son which is 25 cents a minute no connect fee. Indiana did finally lower the rates though for the collect calls. It's 1.75 to connect and 25 cents a minute which is much better than what I was paying. OK, so Helen set me up with Direct bill account. T-Netix bills twice a month. Only problem is I would get the bill 5 days before payment was due so I would call T-Netix and hold for hours waiting to make the payment with my credit card on the phone. If the payment wasn't received by the due date I would get the BLOCK. Now 2 weeks ago I was notified they have done away with direct billing by a supervisor. I asked o.k. now when my son starts making collect calls because his phone card doesn't work or there's no money left on it are you going to block me when my bill reaches a certain amount. The supervisor assured me that he entered in the computer "DO NOT BLOCK PRE-PAID OR COLLECT CALLS". Well last Friday night, I was blocked. I contacted Helen McCoy and she said she would take care of this. She took all the information down and said she's been receiving many complaints and wants me to let her know of any problems I have. The only way she can take care of them is by being notified. So please everyone contact Helen. She called me Thursday night at 9:00. I think she works round the clock. She gave me her cell phone number, her business number (no holding, she answers her own phone) and her email address.

I don't know about the rest of the states but the Governor is the only person the DOC answers to. Check out your states prison websites to see when they signed the contract with T-Netix and when it's time for contract renewal. It gives you some ammo to work with.

Hope this helps

Tricia

I guess I'm lucky to be in Missouri. My son calls once a week and talks for an hour and it only cost around 10 dollars or so

hi
I also have been battling with t-netix. i got this web site through an e mail from a CURE group. I have been in contact with t-netix and they have had my line blocked for 4 months and told me that there was not a block. Finally someone told me 2 months ago that they didnt even have the contract for the facility where my husband is, and gave me a number for telequip. Well to make a long story short,
t-netix is telling me it is telequip that handles direct billing and telequip is telling me it is t-netix. It has been 6 months since my husband has been able to call home. I have very seriously considered contacting the corparation commission. Tricia thank you for the information. there is a man with t- netix here that is trying ( i think) to help me get this straigtened out , but if he doesnt have an answer for me tomorrow i will contact her. Oh and by the way yes i know i spelled my name wrong, but cant figure out how to change it. LOL

oh no....Now I'm officially scared out of my mind!

Today was my first contact with T-Netix and I couldn't stay on hold my entire lunch break (at 9am) so I decided to hang up. Thankfully I get off with some time left at the end of the day to sit on hold (better plug in the wall phone!).

Can I expect them to charge me up front or will they send me regular billing?

FYI, AT&T owns the lines at the correctional facility (and no I don't want their long distance service!) but T-netix handles all their billing...funny since AT&T doesn't allow tpb (third party billing) on their bills, but they allow it to be done for them?

It's crazy...T-Netix, I just unblocked me line yesterday. They are the worst to deal with!

If it is this bad, has anyone looked further into a class action?

No, where just waiting for YOU to get your law degree and handle us pro-bono...LOL!


It is that bad and I know there are class action lawsuits, but with different organizations.

UGH! Well, I'm joining the ranks of the hold timers. If I don't get anyone within 30 minutes, I'm not holding on, I'm going straight to the FCC. There are Tariff regulations that they CANNNOT block and unblock at their own will...small print or not...I know that just from the phone company. I've never heard of this company before though, I'm used to CBS and Telnetics (not t-netix). This is nuts and if it truly makes me angry when I do (forget that, if I do) speak to someone...they're in trouble!

Well you're not gonna believe this *&!@. I spend less than 15 mintues on the phone with them (I told you they had 1/2 hour! :) ) and what do they tell me? Our systems our down...no sir, they are not, and I know this...I used that trick. Sure enough, the computers are working fine as he looks up my phone number and shows no block. Not only that BUT he tells me AT&T gave you the wrong information, we don't handle that prison, you might want to call Evercom.

YOU'RE KIDDING ME! All this while your computers are down? Hmmm...

Ps - Evercom IS correctional Billing Services

Done, and fast.

CBS told me I have a $50 payment point with the local phone company...no blocks on my line, I can get a call tonight if I want.

The only problem I see with this is that they have a contract to bill on my local phone provider...that's foreign to me...my local phone company does not allow that...I know this for a fact. So what's going to happen? Will my bills disapear. That could be pretty cool, but then again. They could cut me off a lot earlier if they see that the bills aren't getting paid because they're not on my local phone bill. Yikes!

Figured that one out too.

They took off my paypoint because my phone company doesn't allow third party billing. I can't recieve calls until I decide to give them $50 up front. It's not much, but it's more than I can afford right now.

I've spent long enough on this...I'm treating myself to something of the frozen, milky, peanut butter cup, creamy variety...and about 3 hours of lifetime movie network.

my problem is with both t-netix and att when sean was in county here a mile and a half away from my house i would except every call from him cause the message that would qoute the price at 3.05 connection and 8 cent a minutes i was cool with that id press 0 and the message says thanks for using t-netix well then came the bill from att omg it was 1700 dollars for 1100 mins when i was with pacbell 500 mins cost me only 55 bucks so where did i go wrong att says its cause they do not have a contract with t-netix that id have to be biled directly from tnetix which doesnt do direct billing i contacted att they wouldnt help for shit and im not paying it no way no how screw them i switched back to pac bell and now my charges are normal a whole 20 bucks for 90 something minutes well i cant talk to att anymore and there is noone with t-netix that will talk to me so warning to all stay away from ATT

UUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!! T-NETIX SUCKS BIG B!@#S!!!
They lie to you ALL the time!! Be sure to check with your LOCAL phone company whenever you think there is a block. I have MCI and they don't allow collect calls from ANY correctional facilities, so they say. But when my honey was in County Jail, I had to pre-pay with t-netix, and they would still block it!! But make note:WHEN THE WEATHER IS BAD, THE BLOCKS DON'T WORK!! :ha: So screw them!! T-netix knew me by 1st name!!!! And emailing them usully didn't help either. I have sat on hold for up to 2 1/2 hours before!! Yes, I REALLY wanted to har my honeys voice!! He usually would just call and say I Love You instead of his name, then hang up so I would know he was ok and thinking about me. Which was bout a hundred times a day :) But T-Netix is a very hard company to work with and just be sure to call your local company also if you're having problems.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Amir is usually able to purchase his minutes at the commisary so i send money and it is cheaper that way. When he is in the transfer center, he has to call collect. I have a prepaid account set up with cbs. I just have to make sure to keep a very close eye on the account and make sure it never goes to zero or negative. As long as i do this, no blocks. But it takes effort to remember to check the balance and to send the money quick collect. Not the best system, but at least I don't have the problems everyone else is facing.

Hi everyone I just really needed to vent about this Hand around our necks that we have to use called t-netixs. I really do not know what the answer is or who to turn to. As of right now there is not a block on my phone. (knock on wood) But there very well could be tomorrow.
I have had about six blocks placed on my phone with in the past year. Each and everyone has been over something that i did not know about. Or they changed their way of doing things. Once because i went over a 100.00 in one week. We did not know there was a limit. Lets see. Then there was the rate increase that happened in November and like the other person stated. The recording indicated the same old rate. So i went weeks going over the amount and it took 2 wewks and about 4 hours sitting on hold to fix the problem. They never informed anyone of the rate hike. Then there was my fav for the last time i was blocked. The computer does billing from monday to sunday. It "some how" ran a 7 day week into 12 days. so i went over the 100.00 well yeah cause it was billing me for 12 days in a row. I had to explain to the operater that she needed to pop out a date book and see that the 6th of the month to the 18th was not 7 days. After fighting with me. I found it is imposable to help from the operaters that are rude and snappy and judgmental. I demand to speak to a superviser,
One thing i did find out. They have a policy that you are to be informed that you are in danger of a block 48 hours before it happens. The operater told me this but said most of the time they do not bother.
My boyfriend and i use to talk more but now have it down to amount that we hope does not go over their 100.00 but everytime i think we are we arn't You have to watch the disconections They charge you for that.
T-netixs is a real mess to deal with. I have emailed them called and wrote to them to please send me a copy of their terms they are going by. Cause i NEVER got anyhing. I have never gotten them to call me back. I had one guy tell me after i waited on hold for 68 min(yes i times it) that he would call me back cause he had to go to lunch. I could not even go use the bathroom cause i had to sit and wait on hold. But he can go eat.
The question i have is who do we complain too? who will help? I will write who ever i need to or call, But i really have no idea who handles that.
My boyfriend has phone cards as well and we use them if need be. But they have problems too. My fear is we are stuck with them. Is there any help????????????? If so let me know

The more that each of us complains to the Public Service Commision in our state the sooner something will change. The Public Service Commision is in charge of all phone rates and services as well as other utilities.....

Deb

T-Netix sucks buckets. I got blocked for the first time the other day and nope, no warning ahead of time. It just so happened that very day I had gotten my confirmation from my phone company that my payment on my last bill had been processed, so apparently that's where the block came from... within a few days BellSouth had paid T-Netix and the block was lifted, was my guess. I also got disconnected for no reason for the first time last night. They charge $20 for a 15 minute phone call and they're just pitiful. My boyfriend's mother (who could pay ten times their limit in phone bills no problem) has had major headaches with them all along with their blocks and other stupid stuff.

The place to write to complain is the FCC, as well as the Public Service Commission... they already have a file full of complaints by my boyfriend's mother about T-Netix and prison phone systems in general. The FCC basically rules all about all phone systems in the country. I'd write the FCC, PSC and the governor's office in your state at the same time, really, if I were going to write a letter of complaint (which I probably still will).

The good news is I have got Tele-Net now and just waiting for the new number to start working from the prison. I strongly urge anyone to check into it... see what they can do for you in New Jersey, Glinda. Their representative golf_buddy is here on PTO and would likely be happy to answer any questions or concerns you have...

T-Netix will block you if you go over $100.00 in a week, which I think is stupid considering most of the time you have to pre-pay, or at least I did in my case. They charge outragous rates and get away with it. They do have a website where you can email them. Just keep emailing them constantly and ask to speak to someone in charge. They finally got back to me AFTER he was transferred and I still owed them like $200, do you think they will ever get it ---- no!!! They made about $2000 off of me, so screw them!!! You can also ask that a copy of your call activity be sent to you. I would keep records of EVERY call to compare it to. They had charged me for a bunch of calls when there was a block on my phone, so I had them send me a copy and there it was plain as day, charges to some other phone number besides mine. They had to give me a credit, which amazingly, they did so in a fast matter. Good luck with them!! But like I said, keep good records of your incoming calls so you have a leg to stand on!!
diane

I have a NEW bitch about this company...
they're scammers, straight up!
the first minute of every call costs 5$ and all the rest of the minutes cost 80 cents or soemthing like that.
i know it tells you not to use call features such as call waiting or the call will be disconnected, which is fine cause i have no call features AT ALL on my home phone. it's just a basic line i pay 20$ a month for.
well he calls me the other day, and after 2 minutes a recording comes on and says "you are using call features" and it hangs up on me!! i was just sitting there at the table talking, it isnt even a portable phone or anything!~ so of course he calls right back, but then im charged 5 bucks for the first minute again.
this conversation when through fine, but lo and behold the next time he calls im cut off after 3 minutes!

This place is TOTALLY scamming us!

Same thing happened to me Monday night, Cember (the disconnecting for no reason). B. says it happens occasionally when he's talking to home too. I think that's the DOC's monitoring system screwing up tho rather than T-Netix, tho no, it doesn't help that you get charged for that first minute again the second time by T-Netix. B. says with those disconnected calls T-Netix will usually give you credit for them if you call 'em.

You have to remember T-netixs has the phones in the prison but they ar not the ones monitoring them. That is the prison. So they may have heard something and thought it was something else. Not saying it is right but just so you do not think your doing something wrong. I was disconnected for saying "sex" once. They are a total scam. I pay 4.35 to connect then .59 for each min for 15 min. But correct watch your bill . They are good at getting more money out of u

I always used 3-way and call waiting during my calls, and never got disconnected. I would definately call them and let them know that this happened and see if they will help. It is doubtful, but then again, they did help me a little when I needed it. I wish I still remembered the guys name who always helped me. He was the only understanding person there!!
diane

The prison system in Pennsylvnaia uses T-Netix for inmate calling. They also instituted a prepaid calling card for t he inmates. Since they issued their rates to the inmates, the prices have increased dramatically twice in less than a year. I currently have a complaint before the Pennsylvania Utility Commission which is necessary before going to court. Many times the calls are terminated for no reason. They had tried to say that I'd used call forwarding but the company who carries the calls showed that no attempt was made to do anything illegal. These guys "donate" 49 percent of their revenue back to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.:pissed: