Much of Pembroke Telephone’s business is governed by federal, state and local regulations. These regulations are in place to protect consumers, ensure that subscribers fully understand their rights and the services that may be available to them.
Remember that ONLY Pembroke Telephone’s subscribers are covered by many of these regulations. Other service providers may not be, and thus those people using their services will not receive the protections. Some of these regulations and services may be difficult to understand, or you may have questions about taking advantage of some of them. Please contact Pembroke Telephone and our Customer Service professionals will be glad to provide further explanation.
Georgia residential consumers who want to reduce the number of unwanted telemarketing calls from telephone solicitors trying to get you to purchase, rent or invest in property, goods or services (except as provided for in the exemptions) are encouraged to register with the free Federal Do Not Call Registry. The Registry covers both intrastate and interstate telemarketing calls.
Consumers are placed on the Georgia Do Not Call List free of charge simply by registering their phone numbers with the Federal Do Not Call Registry. Your phone number will remain on the Registry for five years. You must re-enter your phone number on the Registry at the end of five years and you may remove your telephone number from the Registry at any time.
You may register your phone number with the Federal Registry online at www.donotcall.gov or by telephone by calling toll-free, 1-888-382-1222, TTY 1-866-290-4236 from the telephone number you wish to register. Inclusion of your telephone number on the Federal Registry will be effective three months following your registration. You may also register your wireless phone number on the Registry.
While being on the Do Not Call Registry may significantly reduce the number of unwanted solicitations you receive, it will not prevent calls from businesses with which you have an established relationship. An established relationship exists if you have purchased, leased or rented goods or services from the business within 18 months preceding the call, or if you have submitted an application or made an inquiry to the business within the three months preceding the call; calls for which you have given prior written consent; calls by recognized charitable, religious or tax-exempt non-profit organizations; and calls by political pollsters or candidates for public office.
Federal law requires telemarketers to synchronize their call lists with the phone numbers that are on the Registry every three months. If you receive telemarketing calls after you have registered your telephone number and it has been in the Registry for three months, you can file a complaint at www.donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222. You will have to know the business's name or phone number to file a "Do Not Call" complaint.
The Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs is responsible for enforcing the Georgia Do Not Call law, not the Georgia Public Service Commission or your local telephone company. Before calling the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs, please try to identify the telephone solicitor by obtaining either the name of the business or the phone number from which the call was made.
Lifeline is a government program that makes monthly telephone service more affordable for eligible households. Lifeline provides up to a $9.25 monthly credit on qualified residential subscriber telephone bills in Pembroke Telephone’s service area.
You must present proof of eligibility when applying for Lifeline, and you must recertify your eligibility annually. There can be only one Lifeline discount per household and the discount is non-transferable. Violations in the eligibility terms may result in loss of benefits or prosecution.
To be eligible for Lifeline, you or someone in your household must meet certain guidelines. Those eligibility guidelines include:
- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)
- National School Lunch Program’s free lunch program
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
- Food Stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – SNAP)
- Medicaid
- Senior citizen low-income discount plan offered by the local gas or power company
- Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA)/Section 8
- Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
- Household income at or below 135 percent of the local poverty level. That threshold is currently $31,118 for a family of four ($15,080 for a single person).
Your household may receive Lifeline from only one telephone service provider no matter how many people in your household may be eligible for the service. For the purpose of Lifeline, a household is an individual or any group of individuals who live together at the same address and share income or expenses. You may lose your Lifeline benefit and may be prosecuted by the United States government if you violate the one-per-household rule or otherwise make false statements to receive Lifeline. For more information and terms, please contact Pembroke Telephone’s Customer Service. You may also download a copy of our Lifeline Assistance brochure.
Equal access enables you to choose the long distance company best suited to your calling needs. Through whichever company you choose, you simply dial "1+ " and the called party's area code and telephone number to complete the call. You do not always have to use the services of your preferred '1+' long distance carrier. You can also use the services of other long distance carriers by dialing 1+ 0+ 1+ 0+ the three digit code of the long distance carrier you wish to use. Then dial 1+ the area code + the phone number for a direct dialed call or 0+ the area code + the phone number for a credit card, collect or billed to a third number call. The call you have placed will be carried by the long distance company you have chosen.
If you change your service in a way that will affect billing, such as a number change or address change, you must also notify your long distance carrier if you are being billed directly by that carrier.
The Federal Communications Commission requires all telephone companies to maintain common-sense billing principles to ensure that consumers are provided with basic information they need to make informed choices among telecommunications services and providers. First, consumer telephone bills must be clearly organized, clearly identify the service provider, and highlight any new providers. Second, bills must contain full and non-misleading descriptions of charges that appear therein. Third, bills must contain clear and conspicuous disclosure of any information the consumer may need to make inquiries about, or contest charges, on the bill. These requirements are intended to protect consumers against inaccurate and unfair billing practices. More specifically, the principles adopted herein will enhance consumers’ ability to detect cramming and slamming. For more information on Truth in Billing, please visit www.fcc.gov.
Did you know that many Georgians who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have speech disabilities can now enjoy the convenience of communicating with family, friends or business contacts by telephone? They can, thanks to the Georgia Relay. Here’s how the Georgia Relay works: A person who is deaf, hard of hearing, or may have a speech loss types his/her conversation using a text telephone (TDD/TTY). A specially trained Communications Assistant (CA) relays the message by reading the text message to the hearing person at the other end. The CA then relays the hearing person’s spoken words by typing them back to the TDD/TTY user.
Hearing callers who wish to reach people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled may simply dial 7-1-1 or dial 1-800-255-0135. Text telephone users may also dial 7-1-1 or dial 1-800-255-0056. There is no charge for dialing 7-1-1, and all options available to Georgia Relay users through existing 800 numbers are available to 7-1-1 users. If you are experiencing trouble dialing 7-1-1 to reach the Georgia Relay, please call your local telephone company or Georgia Relay Customer Service.
Relay service is also available over the Internet. People who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled can simply go to www.hamiltonrelay.com to connect to a CA.
All services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and enable people to place relay calls between Georgia and other locations anywhere in the United States and internationally to English and Spanish speaking persons. By law, each conversation is handled with the strictest confidentiality. There is no charge to access Georgia Relay. To learn more about Georgia Relay, visit the website at www.GeorgiaRelay.org.
Please note that 7-1-1 is only to be used to reach the GeorgiaRelay. For EMERGENCIES you should continue to use 9-1-1. In an emergency, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency service TTY number directly, without using the relay. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that 9-1-1 centers have TTYs and be prepared to handle emergency calls placed in this manner.
