Class Claims GIs Are Gouged for Calls From German Airport

[douglas9]

WACO, Texas (CN) - The company with the pay-phone concession in the secured military area at a German airport used by U.S. troops in transit to and from combat zones rigged the phones to charge a minimum of $41 per call, even for a call that lasts just a few seconds, an Army sergeant and his wife say in a federal class action.
Sgt. Richard Corder claims BBG Communications and its affiliate BBG Global AG target U.S. troops on their way to or from Iraq and Afghanistan, who are unlikely to have cash or any other method to call home.
Corder says BBG programmed the phones to accept only cash, credit and debit cards, and does not warn of the exorbitant fees it charges.

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The complaint states: "Since 2007 tens if not hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops have been at the Leipzig, Germany airport where U.S. troop flights refuel, many of them overcharged for phone calls, even though they are United States military personnel both going to and coming back from military combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and this is their only opportunity to contact their relatives. The defendants operate or provide services for a bank of a significant number of pay telephones located in the secured military lounge area at that airport. Because this is a secured military area, it can only be accessed by military personnel. BBG has rigged the phones so that troops who use the phones are charged $41 at a minimum for calls, even if the call only lasts a matter of seconds. This scheme has allowed the Galicot family that owns BBG to pocket millions of dollars from our troops. The troops want their money back.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/10/19/40739.htm