Consumer Protection Frequently Asked Questions
Who is BSG?
What are all of those acronyms that appear on my phone bill?
How does BSG select its merchant partners?
How does BSG intend to protect you from unauthorized charges?
How can I identify the name of the service provider/merchant that charged me for these services?
What is the USF charge?
How can I stop these charges from appearing on my local phone bill?
How long does it take to receive a refund on my local phone bill?
Why do service providers/merchants choose to process their charges through a third party billing clearinghouse?
Who is BSG?
Business Services:
For over 20 years, Billing Services Group (BSG) has been focused on payment solutions that maximize the value of the local telephone bill. Today, BSG offers a powerful suite of services for merchants, online stores and telecommunications companies. Our business services include LEC phone clearing, billing and settlement solutions, Bill2Phone™ payment service, toll clearing services, a Wi-Fi wholesale settlement solution, VoiceLog Third Party Verification, full service credit card merchant acquisition and integrated financial risk management.
Consumer Services:
Our third party billing and our Bill2Phone payment solutions are utilized by merchants and telecommunications to enable you as a consumer to purchase telecom services, digital goods, content and subscriptions and bill them to your home phone bill. We are part of a long-established industry that provides a great service to millions of satisfied customers nationwide.
Visit Bill2Phone.com for more information.
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What are all of those acronyms that appear on my phone bill?
They are all transaction types or services provided by BSG. BSG handles third party billing and Bill2Phone payments for a variety of telecommunications companies and online stores. BSG’s third party billing services are processed under different billing transaction types (ESBI, OAN, HBS [Bill2Phone], Enabill, USBI and ZPDI) depending on the type of product or service you buy. You can trust that they are all part of BSG’s suite of services.
Merchant website:
These transaction types appear on the merchant’s website when you purchase a product or signed up for services and in the terms and conditions. The billing transaction type also appears on a confirmation page on the merchant’s website when you make your purchase.
Your bill:
Finally, these transaction types are provided as a bill page in your phone bill. Look for the names ESBI,OAN, HBS (Bill2Phone), Enabill, USBI and ZPDI at the top of the bill page. The phone companies also provided the BSG Billview.com customer service number to call for that transaction type, and also information on the purchase and merchant.
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How does BSG select its merchant partners?
Authentication on every purchase
At BSG, we require our merchant partners and online stores to provide you with the terms and conditions of your purchase, and authenticate every charge. We have a rigorous process in place to certify that the merchants’ customers have received and agreed to the terms and conditions of the purchase or subscription before we will process the transaction through our system.
Merchant review
Additionally, before BSG accepts a merchant we conduct a comprehensive due diligence process and certify that they are following best practices in consumer protection and payment processing. This process includes extensive product review, background checks, and site visits to the merchant’s location.
Ongoing Merchant monitoring
At BSG, we go to great lengths to ensure we are doing business only with reputable merchants. We continually monitor the number of end user inquiries and complaints each service provider receives each month, and will terminate the provider should their performance and best practices fall short of our standards. If phone customers have issues, we want to hear about them.
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What should I do if I have a question or problem?
We welcome you to visit our phone customer service center at www.billview.com should you have questions regarding a charge from one of our merchants under the billing codes ENABILL, ESBI, HBS, OAN, USBI and ZPDI. Our call center support is also available to help consumers. Please click on the code to locate the phone numbers and call center hours.
The mere placement of a third party charge on a phone bill is not cramming; third party billing is a reputable industry handling billions of authorized transactions each year. In cases where a charge appears on your phone bill that you don’t recognize or remember authorizing, we are happy to research the transaction for you.
Our goal is to protect consumers from unauthorized charges and have implemented a number of consumer protection measures including the industry’s first and only comprehensive due diligence and performance monitoring program.
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How does BSG intend to protect you from unauthorized charges?
BSG has created and implemented the industry’s first and only comprehensive due diligence and performance monitoring program intended to protect you from unauthorized charges. Based on this fundamental concern, BSG has led the industry by implementing a number of consumer protection measures which occur before, after and throughout the duration of the contract in which BSG forwards charges to the local telephone company for billing.
BSG completes a rigorous due diligence process of all potential service providers and the services they intend to offer to consumers before any charges are forwarded to the local telephone company. BSG “pre-screens” each service provider before it accepts them as customers. For example, BSG will obtain background checks of all the officers of potential service-provider customers and hires an outside vendor to perform an on-site inspection of the facility where the services will be provided.
Once the company has been thoroughly researched, BSG will allow the potential service provider to send in their first file. BSG will then test the file and will only submit it for billing if the service provider provides written or verbal documentation that demonstrates that the charges are valid. Once the service provider is allowed to start billing, BSG monitors the number of call center, regulatory, and local telephone company inquiries associated with each service provider on a monthly basis. If the number of inquiries exceeds any of BSG’s preset thresholds, then BSG will test the service provider to assist in identifying any performance issues.
What is the USF charge?
The Universal Service Fund (USF) is used to provide discounted telecommunications services to schools, libraries, and low income consumers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ruled that all carriers who provide telecommunications or cellular services to the public are required to contribute to the Universal Service Fund, and these costs may be passed back to the customers. These charges may be reflected on the bill on a call-by-call basis or on a summary of several calls.
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How can I identify the name of the service provider/merchant that charged me for these services?
The name of the service provider is indicated on your local telephone bill. It will usually indicate “Billed on behalf of” on the bill page in which the charge is listed.
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How can I stop these charges from appearing on my local phone bill?
You may contact the service provider and request that they cancel your service.
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How long does it take to receive a refund on my local phone bill?
BSG submits credits to the local telephone company the day after they are added into our system. Due to the variation of each consumer’s billing cycle, it usually takes one to two billing cycles for the credit to appear on your local telephone company statement.
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Why do service providers/merchants choose to process their charges through a third party billing clearinghouse?
Due to the cost associated with maintaining an independent billing agreement with the local telephone company, many service providers/merchants choose to outsource to a third party vendor such as BSG. This enables the service provider to keep the cost of their services low, which benefits you, as the consumer.
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