refuses to make public their financial records so it can be assessed how much their profit is, and how much of that profit goes to charities. (They're not non-profit; they are a for-profit company and since they're privately owned, they don't *legally* have to release financial data).
I have chosen to use a much cheaper long distance company (3 cents per minute, any time; no monthly fee, no taxes/fees) and save at least 75% off of what I'd pay to Working Assets. This way, I can give a far larger amount to charities *directly* than WA would give. If the company I use can offer rates so much cheaper than WA, this implies that WA's profits are huge, far larger than what they donate to charities.
Until WA makes public the relevant financial records, I will regard them as a small group of private citizens who discovered a great way to increase their personal wealth: get well-intentioned people to buy your product by promising to give some small amount of money to charities on their behalf. Charge enough so that your profit is huge.
They're not breaking laws - they're just manipulating perceptions. The worst thing, however, is that they are taking money which could be going to charities and putting it in their own pocket. In other words, they're stealing from the people who need it the most, with their misrepresentations and manipulations. I say STEAL because many of their customers would be able to give more to charities if they used a cheaper option; they don't because many don't realize WA is a for-profit company, and because WA refuses to publish what their annual profit is, as well as what percentage of their profit is donated to charities.
http://www.earthtones.com is a far better option than Working Assets if you want a long distance company hooked up to your telephone.
From their "About Us" webpage:
Earth Tones is the only communications company to donate 100% of its profits to environmental organizations. We offer high-quality long distance telephone service, wireless service and internet access to help you keep in touch with the important people in your life.
Earth Tones was founded by a coalition of non-profit organizations in 1993. Over a decade later we continue to be completely owned and operated by non-profit groups, allowing us to deliver 100% of our profits to environmental causes. Our mission is to provide high-quality communications services and great customer service while giving you tools to help protect the planet. Every wireless customer we have, each long distance call our land-line customers make, and each internet subscriber who is on our service means money going directly to grassroots organizations working to protect our air, water and wilderness.
In addition to delivering our profits to environmental causes, we also send regular Green Alerts to our customers. These monthly updates provide information on pressing environmental issues and give you easy ways to get involved and have your voice heard. Long distance customers even receive toll-free numbers to call Congress and other decision-makers for free. As an internet or wireless customer you can receive the Green Alert via e-mail and, through our website, have constant access to up-to-the-minute environmental campaigns that need your help.
Finally, we strive to make all of our services as gentle on the planet as possible. Our bills come on 100% recycled paper and electronic, tree-free billing is strongly encouraged. We use recycled wireless handsets and will recycled your old wireless phone for you!
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