Legal Definitions - slamming

Slamming refers to the unlawful practice where a telecommunications company switches a customer's phone service, most commonly their long-distance carrier, to its own service without the customer's explicit consent or knowledge. This typically occurs in one of two ways: either through an entirely unauthorized transfer of service, or by misleading the customer into approving the change, often by embedding the authorization within unrelated documents or promotional materials.

• Example 1: Unauthorized Service Transfer

  Mr. Henderson has been a loyal customer of "GlobalConnect" for his long-distance calls for over a decade. One month, he receives a bill from a completely different company, "SwiftDial Telecom," for his long-distance charges. He has no recollection of ever contacting SwiftDial Telecom, signing up for their services, or authorizing any change to his long-distance provider.

  This situation illustrates slamming because SwiftDial Telecom has taken over Mr. Henderson's long-distance service without his permission or knowledge, directly switching his provider without any legitimate authorization from him.

• Example 2: Misleading Promotional Offer

  Ms. Chen visits a shopping mall and stops at a kiosk offering a "free gift card" in exchange for filling out a brief survey about her phone usage. She completes the form, provides her contact information, and signs at the bottom. Unbeknownst to her, buried in the fine print of the survey form is a clause authorizing the kiosk's sponsoring company, "BudgetCall Services," to become her new long-distance provider.

  This is an example of slamming because Ms. Chen was tricked into authorizing a service transfer. The authorization was cleverly disguised within a promotional offer for a free gift card, leading her to unknowingly switch her long-distance provider to BudgetCall Services.

• Example 3: Deceptive Telemarketing

  A telemarketer calls Mr. Davies, claiming to be from "Affordable Rates Inc." and offering a "free review" of his current phone bill to ensure he's getting the best deal. During the call, the representative asks Mr. Davies to confirm his address and then quickly reads a statement about "updating his account details," which actually includes a clause switching his long-distance service to Affordable Rates Inc. Mr. Davies, feeling rushed and not fully understanding the implications, says "yes" to confirm, and later discovers his long-distance service has been switched.

  This demonstrates slamming as Mr. Davies's long-distance service was transferred through deceptive telemarketing tactics. The representative used a misleading pretext (a "free review" and "account update") to obtain an authorization that was not clearly understood or genuinely consented to by Mr. Davies.