One-time credits and refunds

A successful telecom audit will not only reduce ongoing monthly expenses but also produce one-time refunds and credits such as the following:

- Refunds of overcharges. A customer is always entitled to a full refund if the phone company has erroneously billed the customer. The refund should always include the taxes paid, and sometimes the carrier will also refund interest.

- Bonuses. Many carriers will give bonus credits to customers who sign term agreements. One of the most common bonuses is a credit in the 13th month of a 24-month term agreement with a long-distance carrier.

- Installation credits. Many carriers will reimburse any expense a customer pays to have the carrier’s service installed. For example, a customer who signs up for new frame relay service will have to buy routers. Once the frame relay service is up and running, the carrier will put a credit on the customer’s account to reimburse that customer for the router purchase.

- Promotions. From time to time, such as once a quarter, carriers give away promotional credits. A typical promotion will be something like waived local loop charges for 6 months. During the course of a telecom audit, the auditor should ask all the carriers (especially the long-distance carriers) to give the customer the next promotion. The carriers are most likely to give new promotions when the customer is negotiating a new term contract.

- Courtesy credits. Most customer service representatives are able to credit customer accounts to satisfy minor discrepancies. For example, if a carrier cannot speedily implement a new rate plan on a mobile phone, it may give a $50 one-time courtesy credit as a good faith gesture. It does not hurt to ask for courtesy credits, especially if the carrier owes you a favor.