A QLT charge on your phone bill is a lease fee from QLT Consumer Lease Services, a New Jersey company that rents landline telephones to residential customers.1BBB. QLT Consumer Lease Services If it’s appearing on your bill, someone in the household has been leasing a home phone, often for many years. You can stop the charge by calling QLT at 1-800-555-8111, requesting a prepaid return mailer, and sending the equipment back.2QLT Consumer Lease Services. Frequently Asked Questions
What QLT Is and Why You’re Being Billed
QLT Consumer Lease Services leases refurbished corded and cordless phones, caller ID units, and answering systems to homes and businesses across the country.3QLT Consumer Lease Services. QLT Consumer Lease Services Home The business goes back to the era before the 1984 breakup of AT&T, when customers routinely rented their phones from the phone company instead of buying them. After the breakup, the leasing operation passed through Lucent Technologies and eventually to QLT.4Akron Beacon Journal. Adult Daughter Discovers Elderly Mother Paying to Lease Phone
When the FCC deregulated customer premises equipment in the early 1980s, consumers gained the right to buy their own phones rather than rent them.5Congressional Budget Office. The Changing Telephone Industry Many never switched. By 2012, QLT reported more than 300,000 leasing customers, most of them older and retired.6Deseret News. Seniors Paying Thousands to Lease Home Phones In many households, the charge has simply blended into a larger phone bill for decades without anyone questioning it.
The charge can show up two ways. It may appear as a “leased equipment” line on your monthly bill from your local phone carrier, or it may arrive as a separate bill from QLT directly, usually on a quarterly cycle.6Deseret News. Seniors Paying Thousands to Lease Home Phones
How Much the Charge Runs
Pricing depends on the type of phone. Reported rates have included $4.45 per month for a traditional rotary phone, $5.95 for a touchtone model, and $13.95 per month for a phone with caller ID and an answering system. Specialty designs ran higher, around $6.25 and up.6Deseret News. Seniors Paying Thousands to Lease Home Phones4Akron Beacon Journal. Adult Daughter Discovers Elderly Mother Paying to Lease Phone
The lease includes QLT’s “unconditional replacement policy,” under which the company repairs or replaces the leased phone at no extra charge, and a “Lease Rewards” program with discounts on prescription drugs, vision care, and hearing care.2QLT Consumer Lease Services. Frequently Asked Questions A basic phone sold at retail costs around $10, so leasing one at $5 or $6 a month works out to $60 to $75 a year for as long as the lease continues.
How to Cancel and Return the Phone
Call QLT at 1-800-555-8111, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, and ask for a prepaid return mailer. You can also start the process through the company’s website.2QLT Consumer Lease Services. Frequently Asked Questions Once you have the mailer, drop the equipment at any U.S. post office. After QLT receives it, remaining lease charges are prorated and a credit is issued for the unused portion of the billing period.7QLT Consumer Lease Services. QLT Brochure
A few things to know before you call:
- You cannot buy the leased phone. QLT does not offer a buyout, so the equipment has to go back.7QLT Consumer Lease Services. QLT Brochure
- If the account is on QLT’s Automatic Lease Payment Plan, stopping the charge requires written notice to QLT or to the financial institution handling the debit. A phone call alone may not stop the automatic withdrawals.8QLT Consumer Lease Services. Automatic Lease Payment Plan Terms and Conditions
- Federal law gives consumers the right to stop automatic fund transfers by giving timely notice to their bank or credit card company.8QLT Consumer Lease Services. Automatic Lease Payment Plan Terms and Conditions
- Billing errors must be reported within 30 days of the bill date.7QLT Consumer Lease Services. QLT Brochure
If the QLT line is on a bill from your local phone carrier rather than a standalone QLT bill, you can also contact the carrier to remove the third-party charge. Under the FCC’s Truth in Billing rules, wireline carriers must clearly separate third-party charges and provide toll-free numbers for disputes.9FCC. Understanding Your Telephone Bill
What About Past Payments
QLT does not appear to offer refunds for lease payments already made.7QLT Consumer Lease Services. QLT Brochure A prorated credit for the current billing period is issued once the equipment is returned, but older charges generally stay paid.
Before QLT took over the leasing business, AT&T and Lucent Technologies settled a class action over phone-lease overcharges for $350 million, though as of 2005 only about $8 million had actually been paid out to consumers.6Deseret News. Seniors Paying Thousands to Lease Home Phones That settlement does not involve QLT. No lawsuits have been reported against QLT itself over its billing practices.
Checking the Bill Going Forward
The FCC recommends reviewing a phone bill as carefully as a credit card statement and confirming that every listed company and service is one you recognize and authorized.9FCC. Understanding Your Telephone Bill A QLT charge usually shows up as “leased equipment” or under the QLT name. If you’re helping an older relative sort out their bills, that line is worth a specific look. In many of the cases that have made the news, families only discovered the lease when they sat down with a parent’s statements or settled an estate.