[VoiceOps] Need help with an 800 number that's been stolen from under us

[Mary Lou Carey]

That sounds much like  "slamming" to me (aka changing a consumer's telephone
company without permission). If your provider is out of business, you should
be able to port the number to a new provider without a problem. I would
contact the provider of your choice and tell them you want to port the
number over to them. If they run into any problems doing that, then call the
FCC and file a complaint. Below is the link on slamming and when you open
that page there is a link for complaints in the related topics section on
the right.

 

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/slamming

 

Good luck with getting it fixed,  

 

 

Mary Lou Carey

BackUP Telecom Consulting

marylou at backuptelecom.com 

Office: 615-791-9969 x 2001

 

 

 

From: voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org [mailto:voiceops-bounces at voiceops.org]
On Behalf Of Darren Schreiber
Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2012 8:31 PM
To: VoiceOps at voiceops.org
Subject: [VoiceOps] Need help with an 800 number that's been stolen from
under us

 

Hi folks,

                We have an interesting situation going on here.

 

                We had an 888 number through a company named iCall (who, in
turn, was using Global Crossing for actual routing of the calls). That 888
number suddenly started going to a disconnect recording stating that the
number was an out-of-service number at "CallSource." Sure enough, the
RespOrg for this number had changed to CallSource.

 

                We believe we are the rightful owners of this number as we
purchased it through iCall's carrier division and have owned the number for
over a year. However, when we contacted the CallSource firm the guy on the
line, Todd Geller, who says he is the CEO and owner of the company, claimed
to have sourced 10,000 toll-free numbers from 8MS (CSF Corporation) and this
was one of them. He claimed he was happy to "give it back" but needed to
confirm it was really ours. He then demanded something in writing on company
letterhead showing proof of ownership, stating that two people had requested
the number back (us and iCall). We're not sure what to provide him, all we
have is screenshots of our billing system through iCall and business cards
from the company who uses the number showing they, infact, use it.

 

                Anyway, I feel like I am being a bit scammed because at one
point during the conversation with Todd he stated he would be happy to sell
me the number back for just 9.9 cents/minute. [sigh]

 

                So we are unsure how to legally win back this number and
what to do about it. We can show our account in good standing on the iCall
website with this number still in our inventory. iCall is a registered CLEC
out of Texas and has a RespOrg of their own which is still valid. The number
was held and routed via Global Crossing, though.

 

                We also know, from Todd's account, that he has no active
customers utilizing the number at this time and, again, he said he just
wants this situation resolved and over with and doesn't want to deal with it
anymore.

 

                If you have any insight or know anyone who can assist with
this mess, please let me know. I've never heard of this issue before and am
a bit baffled that an upstanding citizen wouldn't just realize this was a
clerical or administrative error of some sort and release the number back to
their rightful owner, but I think this guy is playing games, though I can't
tell, as he appears nice enough on the phone.

 

                Specifically, if you have a contact at CSF Corporation who
is higher up, I'd be appreciative.

 

                I have also heard of NASC'ing the number back. If you're
familiar with this process, please feel free to email me off-list.

 

Thanks,

                Darren Schreiber

 

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