WorldXChange Complaints Received for Solomon Islands ISP Service Fees

June 23, 2003

Npros.com began receiving complaints this week from individuals who found long distance service charges on their bills to the Solomon Islands (Solomon, Is) from WorldXChange.com.

WorldXChange now appears to be doing business as Acceris Partners at the same address formerly used by WorldXChange in San Diego. We called the customer service number (1 866 365 8700), where the first thing a caller hears is a lengthy disclaimer about the long distance charges to the Solomon Islands.

The disclaimer states that WorldXChange is merely the long distance provider for another (unnamed) company. It states that in order for these charges to appear on the customer's bill, an auto-dialer must have been dowloaded that includes a printed disclaimer advising the customer that they will be charged $6.00 per minute for access to online services.

We waited through the the disclaimer and spoke directly with a customer service representative, and asked for the name of the company for which WorldXChange was charging customers. We were given the name "Solomon Data Transport", and a domain name, www.solomondatatransport.com.

The customer service representative told us that there was a copy of the disclaimer on the page that was the same as the disclaimer in the software that had to be installed before the autodialer would place the call.

A few years ago, there was a computer virus that installed a long distance auto-dialer and also masked the sound of the modem as it dropped connection and redialed the new number. WorldXChange claims that this software, which essentially performs the same function by dropping and redialing to a long distance ISP, must be installed and the terms accepted before it functions, but there is no way for a user to know if in fact they installed this software or if it was installed without their knowledge.

The question becomes why would WorldXChange provide long distance service to a company that is obviously preying on unsuspecting invidivuals? It is unlikely that anyone, having read a disclaimer, would agree to $6.00 a minute in phone charges for online access.

The answer to that question became clearer when we checked the domain registration for solomondatatransport.com:

Registrant:
Acceris Partners (1)
9775 Businesspark Ave.
San Diego, California 92131
United States

Registered through: Go Daddy Software (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: SOLOMONDATATRANSPORT.COM
Created on: 20-May-03
Expires on: 20-May-05
Last Updated on: 29-May-03

Administrative Contact:
Nobriga, Elizabeth elizabeth.nobriga@accerispartners.com
Acceris Partners
9775 Businesspark Ave. (2)
San Diego, California 92131
United States
8585475700 Fax -- 8585666523
Technical Contact:
Nobriga, Elizabeth elizabeth.nobriga@accerispartners.com
Acceris Partners
9775 Businesspark Ave.
San Diego, California 92131
United States
8585475700 Fax -- 8585666523

Domain servers in listed order: (3)
NAMES.WORLDXCHANGE.COM
NS1.WXC.NET


From the domain registration, the following is very clear:

(1) Acceris Partners, the new name for WorldXChange, is the registrant of the SolomonDataTransport.com domain name.

(2) Acceris Partners provides all technical and administrative contact for this domain.

(3) Acceris Partners hosts this domain on their own servers.

What can be inferred from this is that Accerris Partners aka WorldXChange, while claiming no relationship other than as long distance service for this company, in fact registered this domain on May 3, 2003, and hosts and controls this domain completely.

Npros.com recommends you contact a computer professional for assistance in removing the dialer from your computer. Contact your phone company and request removal of the charges.

You may also file a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission:

Consumer Affairs Branch
505 Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94102-3298
Phone: 1-800-649-7570 or 1-415-703-1170
Fax: 1-415-703-1158

Email: consumer-affairs@cpuc.ca.gov

Links to Additional Information on WorldXChange:

http://webpagers.net/scum/cts.html