I checked out my SBC phone bill online this afternoon just for precautionary kicks. And lo and behold I had a random charge for something called ILD Teleservices, Inc. for last month. $7.82, must have been something good. Hmm, odd, I think. The only thing I can recall possibly being charged for was for calling about static on the phone line. I was assured there would be no charge for the repair though so long as no SBC representative had to come into my house and they didn’t.

So, I called up the 1-800 number next to the name, waited on hold for about 5 minutes, then talked to someone who reported that it was a charge for using directory assistance. I explained that I had never used directory assistance. He took my word at it without any further questions and promised to refund the charge. Pretty painless, all things considered. I wonder how many thousands of these little charges go unchallanged every month though.