Lawsuit Accuses PacBell of Hidden Fees

A San Francisco lawyer has filed a suit accusing Pacific Bell of unfairly disguising its practice of charging business voicemail customers a fee each time they retrieve a message from the phone company’s service. In a lawsuit seeking class-action status filed this month in San Francisco Superior Court, attorney Terry Gross claims PacBell advertises a fixed monthly fee for the service without disclosing additional calling charges. He says the additional charges are mixed in with the customer’s other local calls, making them hard to notice. The lawsuit seeks refunds and a halt to the company’s alleged improper advertising. PacBell, which has 500,000 business customers with voicemail, denied that it misled customers and said it discloses all charges.