Bad connection: customers tire of long 'deals.' (San Francisco Bay Area, California)

Earl Lowe, owner of Northgate Automotive in San Rafael, is sick and tired of the long-distance marketing blitz.

A few months ago, Lowe got a call from someone claiming to represent AT&T. The man said he could save Northgate Automotive some money by consolidating its long-distance and local telephone bills.

Lowe agreed, and the next month he got a phone bill from a company he had never heard of. Northgate Automotive had been slammed.

With long-distance carriers engaged in a pitched battle for business, customers like Earl Lowe are under fire from an unrelenting barrage of claims, counterclaims, confusing offers and even slamming, the unauthorized or illegal switching of service from one carrier to another.

"I get calls at least twice a week," Lowe said. "It's really annoying." …