Group Aims To Help Cut Residents' Phone Bills

The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) will celebrate “Money Smart Week” with a five-day, six-stop cost-cutting tour to help Chicago-area consumers save hundreds of dollars a year by removing the unnecessary services and bloated calling plans that inflate their phone bills.

CUB’s campaign aligns with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s “Money Smart Week,” April 21 through 28, which aims to help consumers better manage their finances.

Cleaning up the phone bill can be a family’s first step to cleaning up their finances. In fact, a CUB study has estimated that Illinois callers could be overpaying by more than $1 billion a year—but most could enjoy big savings by making a few simple changes on their phone bills.

CUB has shown phone customers how to save millions of dollars through an award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org, and free clinics that give tips on how to slash local and long-distance bills. CUB’s “Money Smart Week” clinics are:

Time: 10 a.m.,

Date: Friday, April 27 

Location: 1606 Three Oaks Rd, 

Note: Please register by calling the library at 847-639-4210 or go to                   www.cary.il.il.us 

“When it comes to your phone bill, knowledge is power,” CUB Executive Director David Kolata said. “Armed with a little information from CUB’s experts, consumers can cut their bills by an average of $200 a year. It’s savings without sacrifice.”

Consumers frequently complain that they can’t get reliable information from the phone company, which often just throws them a sales pitch for a more expensive plan. At CUB’s clinics, however, participants will receive helpful tips about:

* The low-cost Consumer’s Choice local-calling plans, designed by CUB under a legal settlement with AT&T. The plans are under a state-mandated price freeze through at least June of 2013 and have been saving Illinois consumers an average of about $200 a year.

*Illinois’ best long-distance plans, including how to get an automatic $10 credit negotiated by CUB. That amounts to more than five hours of free calls.

*Line-Backer, a costly—and optional—AT&T service that most people don’t need.

Attendees should bring their phone bills for a free analysis by CUB experts.

CUB is Illinois’ leading nonprofit utility watchdog organization. Created by the Illinois

Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $10 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds over the years.

For more information, call CUB’s Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556 or go to CUB’s award-winning website, www.CitizensUtilityBoard.org.

Source: Citizens Utility Board