 vonsenJust BecausePremium
join:2005-01-06 | reply to artisticcheese
Re: [Lingo] Complain here about 18% in new fees/ta said by artisticcheese:You understand that by listing those emails in clear text here you are automatically subscribing them to spam, right? Your point is a good one, but all of those email addresses, save two have been posted on the web in the past in clear text, usually by primus. So no harm done in this case. Primus also seems to block known/suspected spamming domains, including some large isp's. |
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| reply to Enonymous
Re: [Lingo] Complain here about 18% in new fees/tax!! said by Enonymous:
(in response that; you have to pay tax for communication that connects to a pots network)
who has to pay the taxes the subscriber or the VoIP provider?
pots you have phone service from your bell. (a bell you have a wire that is connected from your home to then bells phone switch) wear as is a communication service like email. VoIP you pay communication tax to your isp after that every communication service is like email or IM that is tax free.
in short i pay a VoIP provider for service like you can pay for AOL fore there LAN connection service then the VoIP like Vonage should pays level3 to connect to the post network so level3 should pay the tax.
Enonymous, I don't quite understand what you are saying. If the federal communications excise tax applies to VoIP, then the subscriber has the responsibility to pay it and the VoIP provider has the responsibility to collect it. I don't happen to pay any taxes in connection with my internet service, but it wouldn't matter even if I did. Nor would it matter what taxes are paid by Lingo or Level3. The IRS could claim the tax applies to the service I purchase from Lingo because Lingo provides me with "access to a local telephone system, and the privilege of telephonic quality communication with substantially all persons having telephone or radio telephone stations constitution a part of such local telephone system." |
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| reply to vonsen
Re: [Lingo] Complain here about 18% in new fees/ta This is interesting. I went to the Lingo site. Nothing has changed. It says:
Additional Charges:
$29.95 one-time activation fee
$.03 per minute for U.S. and Canada minutes out of plan
For Western Europe minutes out of plan and other International calls please use the International rate calculator to the left
$.75 per Directory assistance call
$4.95 per month for additional U.S. phone numbers
$10.00 per month for International phone numbers.
$5.00 per month for Canada phone numbers.
$9.95 US shipping fee. International shipping is currently not available.
NOT one item about the "Recovery Fee" or 3% FET. These folks are clearly dishonest... |
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1 edit | If you go into your account and click on your last invoice, which is a pdf file, look on your right a few inches down and you will see this inside of a box:
Due to changes in the
regulatory environment Lingo
service will be subject a 3%
Federal Excise Tax on
subscription and usage
charges. A Regulatory
Recovery Fee of $1.50 per
phone number will be applied
to recover regulatory-related
costs.
This proves that it is hidden from a person just signing up for the first time. |
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vonsenJust BecausePremium
join:2005-01-06 | reply to vonsen
That is damming. If lingo added the charges to the subscriber billing section but didn't bother to add it to the plan pricing that a potential new customer sees, it really looks like they are intent on hiding the surcharges. |
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| reply to vonsen
Re: [Lingo] Complain here about 18% in new fees/tax!! Precisely |
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| reply to vonsen
Re: [Lingo] Complain here about 18% in new fees/ta So, as I had a similar post/gripe regarding the Vonage taxes, the simple cut and dry answer for all to find an answer to is:
How do we find out what government agency is to receive the monies collected, and then how to audit that agency as to see if they are receiving the funds collected?
Once the proper path is identified, then the case becomes black and white:
A> If monies are being collected but not forwarded to the government agencey, the VOIP Co. has to answer where it is going, no?
B> If monies are being collected AND are being forwarded to the proper government entity, then the question would be how can that entity collect the 'false' taxes, if the VOIP is not a Telcom, etc. (as per references from these previous posts, and what law in effect has mandated that this be done?)
C> If only a few VOIP are doing this, and others are not, and indeed if there is some law mandating it should be done, why isn't it being enforced by the tax entities against the other VOIP's???
D> Someone should inquire of the non-charging VOIP's as to why they don't charge it, and if they are planning to.
I too, feel it is wrong. SOMEBODY has to know the answer, and if they do, it would be greatly appreciated to have. |
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2 edits | The funds are to be paid over semi-monthly to the IRS. There are specific forms for reporting these excise taxes (Form 720) that must be filed quarterly. The IRS will not disclose whether Lingo is doing this, because the information is considered private. As a public company, Primus files various documents with the SEC, including audited financial statements. On a quick look, its most recent 10Q quarterly report does not appear to report payment of any excise taxes. However, we might not see that anyway, because Primus would only be paying over taxes it collected.
The case is NEVER black and white. It is possible that Primus will collect the funds and hold them while it waits for a definitive ruling on whether the excise tax applies. It is possible that Primus will pay the funds over to the IRS under protest. I suppose the most telling question is whether Primus plans to begin filing a quarterly excise tax return.
You may be interested that the IRS has a specific set of regulations relating to what happens if a taxpayer (i.e., a Lingo subscriber) refuses to pay the tax. This issue arose when the excise tax was increased to fund the Vietnam War, and many people refused to pay it. The telephone company was prohibited from cutting off service for refusal to pay, but was required to report the refusal to the government, which then enforced the payment itself. Of course, it was a little easier to refuse payment when you had to write a check each month, but I suppose you could write Lingo and tell them you refuse to authorize charging your credit card that additional 3%. By the way, that comes to about 60 cents per month.
Among the notes to the financial statements in Primus's 10Q is the following:
"Regulatory considerations that affect or limit our business include (1) United States common carrier requirements not to discriminate unreasonably among customers and to charge just and reasonable rates; (2) general uncertainty regarding the future regulatory classification of and taxation of VOIP telephony; if regulators decide that VOIP is a regulated telecommunications service, our VOIP services may be subject to burdensome regulatory requirements and fees, we may be obligated to pay carriers additional interconnection fees and operating costs may increase; (3) general changes in access charges, universal service and regulatory fee payments would affect our cost of providing long distance services; and (4) general changes in access charges and contribution payments could adversely affect our cost of providing long distance, cellular, VOIP, local and other services." |
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vonsenJust BecausePremium
join:2005-01-06 | reply to vonsen
If you complained to lingo.. .. have you received a response yet? Other than a canned email? I know that a lot of wrote the executives over there and the silence so far is deafening. |
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| I don't expect any response from the lying cowards at Lingo. Unless there is some change in policy, once my referral credits are done so is Lingo. I am also holding referring any new customers until I have an answer about this misrepresented rate increase.
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Email Lingo about the misrepresented rate hike: customercare@lingo.com primuscare@primustel.com nhazard@primustel.com psingh@primustel.com |
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| reply to vonsen
Re: [Lingo] Complain here about 18% in new fees/ta If anything is clear, it is that Lingo did not have a proper communication plan in place. Talk about a stumble in the dark. I'm sure no one had a clue how to respond.
This whole thing was not thought out or planned well at all.
But, doesn't matter, I'm canceling their service after my credits for referrals...Just don't want to deal with these folks any longer.
After all of this, I just don't LIKE them; regardless if they are right or wrong.
The responses from Lingo lack customer interest (not my department, call someone else.)
It's sad...but it is what it is. |
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| reply to vonsen
I made the same decision, once my referral credits are done so is Lingo. My cancellation is based purely on ethics and Lingo does not seem to have any the way they tried to deceive their customers.
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Email Lingo about the misrepresented rate hike: customercare@lingo.com primuscare@primustel.com nhazard@primustel.com psingh@primustel.com |
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ceocio
join:2004-04-16
Columbus, OH | right..I feel sorry for the friends that I have referred to lingo. dang I've been sending lot of referrals to lingo, some are forum members here, some are my personal friends. I can only hope my friends are not blaming me now  . I told them that $19.99 was all they should expect to pay, as we were all told by lingo.. Now what am I gonna tell them? Lingo doesn't have to care about how its customers think of it, but we have to worry about our own credibility among friends, and I would reallly feel bad if my friends can't cancel lingo if they want to. I would suggest talking to your credit card company if lingo wouldn't let you cancel.. |
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vonsenJust BecausePremium
join:2005-01-06 | said by ceocio:right..I feel sorry for the friends that I have referred to lingo. dang I've been sending lot of referrals to lingo, some are forum members here, some are my personal friends. That sums up very well how I feel about lingo too.
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Email these Lingo executives about the misrepresented 18% rate hike: psingh@primustel.com,nhazard@primustel.com,tkloster@primustel.com,jdepodesta@primustel.com,t book@primustel.com,smcintyre@primustel.com,anayar@primustel.com,tlawson@primustel.com,mguirg is@primustel.com,jmelick@primustel.com,jrosenblatt@primustel.com,ghicks@primustel.com,mmagil l@primustel.com |
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| reply to vonsen
I'm going to cancel as well, I'll be damned if I'm going to pay the fee for cancellation. I will be calling them in the next day or so, has anyone already done this? |
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| reply to vonsen
Re: [Lingo] Complain here about 18% in new fees/tax!! Let me get this straight....Correct me if I'm wrong cause I just signed with Lingo this week.
A. Liars
B. Too Busy to speak to thier customers (If any are left)
C. Send Junk mail for Tech Support
D. Money Hoggers
E. They basically hack and crash their own systems.
F. Worse call quality I ever heared.
Had my phone sence Wed. and have yet to understand anyone talking to me. I could hear them better if they would just hang up and start shouting.
I'm glad I'm still within my 30 days. Think I'll also block them on my credit card. |
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| We can't help you with A. through F., but if you'd like some help improving the audio on your phone, many people on this forum will offer suggestions if you give us some details. Have you checked your internet connection, for example?
It might be better to raise the issue in a new thread. |
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 Bagoo
@micske01.fl.comcast. | reply to vonsen
BEWARE OF 1-888, 1-866 "TOLL FREE" numbers!
Here something to be aware of...Lingo charges for toll free calls!!!
I signed up with the $14.95 plan and used up my 500 minutes over the New Year. Now, I'm out-of-plan and paying $0.03 per minute even for toll free calls.
And then to add insult to injury...all the calls I made where to Lingo Customer Care number!!!!!!!!!!
I'm already going to upgrade to the $19.95 unlimited plan but I thought it's worth mentioning here for everyone, especially if you call a lot of toll free numbers. |
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vonsenJust BecausePremium
join:2005-01-06 | It's not a $19.95 plan, they've upped it to $23.60 (assuming one virtual number). Lots of threads, including this one, talk about this in more detail if you would weren't aware of the changes.
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Helllllllllllllllp, I think that the Broccoli is after me |
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