[nutmeg]

Gordon said she believes the majority of people leasing are elderly and may not realize they are paying thousands of dollars for a telephone.

My mother was renting at least three phones from what was SNET (Southern New England Telephone) at the time several years ago. It has now morphed into SBC or some company.

I didn't realize she was renting the phones until I had to help her with her bills / checking account a few years ago and saw the charges on her bills. I finally put a stop to it and returned all three phones... and it was somewhat of a hassle, too. Geesh, I wonder to this day how much $$ she paid over the years to "rent" those old phones...

[NautiNurse]

F&F covered this story a little while ago. They also mentioned Lucent made it a tad difficult to return the phone, eventually Lucent agreed to pay for return shipping.

[dighton]

I encountered much the same while helping a friend tidy up her mess of bills^*. What she assumed was a fee for inside wiring or some such thing, was in fact the lease on some ancient phone, long since removed (though not returned) and forgotten.

^*See Augean stables.