I've been doing utility bill auditing for a couple years now but want to expand into telecom. What are the most common billing errors you see with AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast? My client here in Sacramento has a $15K monthly telecom bill and I suspect there's money to be found. Any specific line items or tariff codes I should focus on first?
Getting Started with Telecom Auditing - What to Look For?
Jennifer, great question! In Phoenix I see tons of errors with long distance charges that should be included in bundled plans. Also check for equipment charges on devices that were returned - carriers are terrible about crediting those back. Look for mysterious "regulatory recovery fees" that get added multiple times.
The biggest goldmine I've found is unused circuits and lines. Companies move offices or downsize but nobody cancels the old service. Found $3,200/month in charges for T1 lines at a building my client vacated 8 months earlier. Also watch for "premium" internet speeds that were temporary promotions but never rolled back.
Beth nailed it on the unused circuits. Here in Dallas I recovered $47K for a client who had duplicate fiber connections to the same location. IT guy ordered backup circuit, forgot about primary, been paying for both for 3 years. Marcus tip: always get a site survey diagram from the client showing what's actually connected.
Watch out for "migration" charges too. When carriers upgrade your service they often bill transition fees that should be waived. Comcast Business hit one of my Seattle clients for $800 in installation fees when they moved from 50Mbps to 100Mbps - pure profit grab since it's just a software change on their end.
This is all gold, thanks everyone! Question about contracts - do you find most telecom errors are related to contract violations by the carrier? Or more just sloppy billing practices?
Mix of both Jennifer. Carriers love to auto-renew contracts at higher rates hoping nobody notices. But I'd say 60% is just pure billing department incompetence. They have so many legacy systems that don't talk to each other properly.
One more tip from Salt Lake City - check those "federal subscriber line charges" carefully. I've seen them applied incorrectly to business lines that should be exempt. Small dollars per line but adds up fast with multi-location clients. Easy money if you catch it.