You, as a telephone customer, have many rights and responsibilities. Explanations of some of them are as follows:
Informal Complaints
If you have a problem with your telephone bill or service, contact New Knoxville Telephone Company first. You may call or send a letter to the company. The telephone number is 419-753-2457. The telephone number is also located elsewhere in this directory.
If your concern is not resolved after contacting a customer representative from New Knoxville Telephone, you may ask to speak with a supervisor. If your problem is still not resolved, contact the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s (PUCO) consumer call center for help. The call center staff will review rules with you, advise you of your rights, and if needed, will work with you and the company to try to solve your problem.
You may reach the PUCO at 1-800-686-7826 (toll free) or for TDD/TTY at 1-800-686-1570 (toll free) or 1-614-466-8180, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays, or visit www.PUCO.ohio.gov
Service Monitoring and Enforcement Dept.
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
180 E. Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215-3793
Formal Complaints
If you are not able to reach an agreement with the company through the PUCO’s informal complaint process, you have the right to file a formal complaint. You may obtain a formal complaint form from the call center representative, by writing to the PUCO or by accessing the PUCO’s web page.
If you are a residential customer, you may represent yourself in the formal complaint proceeding or hire an attorney to represent you. The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) represents residential utility customers in matters before the PUCO. OCC can be contacted toll free at 1-877-742-5622 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays, or visit www.pickocc.org.
In most instances, business customers must be represented by an attorney.
After you file a formal complaint form, the PUCO determines if reasonable grounds exist for proceeding with your complaint and will notify you as to its determination. If reasonable grounds are found to exist, you will be notified by mail of a date and time for a hearing, to take place at the PUCO offices in Columbus. The PUCO may set a prehearing conference with both the company and you (and your attorney if you have one) for one last attempt to resolve the matter before the scheduled hearing begins. However, if the case remains unresolved, once the hearing begins you will have the responsibility to prove the merits of the complaint. After the hearing is over, the PUCO will then review all the evidence presented at the hearing and make a decision on the case.
Paying for your Service
The phone company will send you a bill every month and allow you at least 14 days to pay it. If you do not pay your bill on time, the company may disconnect your service. Before disconnecting your service, the phone company must send you a disconnect notice at least seven days before the shut-off date.
If you cannot pay your entire bill, contact the phone company. You may be able to keep part of your service if you pay enough to cover the charges for basic phone service, or you may be able to work out a payment plan with the company to keep your service.
Be aware that payment to an unauthorized payment agent does not guarantee same day posting to your payment.
Should your service be disconnected, contact the company to find out what you need to do to have it restored.
You may have to pay a fee and/or a deposit to have your service reconnected.
Toll blocking, along with other blocking services, are available to help manage your bill. To learn more about blocking options such as blocks to 900 services, collect calls, third party calls, or pay-per-use features, contact your phone company. Some or all of these options are free of charge.
If you have a billing dispute, and you have made an informal or formal complaint to the PUCO, the company will not disconnect your service if you pay the undisputed portion of the bill. While the complaint is being investigated, you must pay all current undisputed amounts and continue discussion with the company to settle the complaint.
Privacy Options
Two options are available to prevent your phone number from displaying on a Caller ID device. Per call blocking is provided with your service at no additional charge. To use this, dial *67 from touchtone phones before each call you want blocked. Per line blocking, available for an additional charge, will block all your calls. Using this service, you may unblock individual calls by dialing *82. If you wish to have per line blocking, you should contact your local phone company and request it. Due to technical limitations, either service (per-call blocking or per-line blocking) may not be able to block the appearance of your phone number on caller ID devices when you dial an 800 number. The monthly rate for per line blocking will not exceed the monthly rate for a non-published number service. Further, there will be no additional monthly charge for per-line blocking to customers who subscribe to a non-published number service.
Basic Telephone Assistance
If you are having trouble paying your basic telephone service, New Knoxville Telephone provides federally subsidized plans related to installation of services. Please contact our office for details on Lifeline Assistance, Link Up and Service Connection Assistance.