European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 05, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday january 5, 1995 the stars and stripes r Page 3 fighting phone Bills takes toll family finally gets Tele Kom to connect on dispute i. " we really Don t have a new policy. We be always been willing to Compromise with customers when they received unusually High Bills Ulrich Lissek Tele Kom spokesman services. By Jon Connor and de reams staff writers the Gray family in Gellhausen Germany got some Good news last August when Tele Kom the giant Ger Man Telephone company let them off the Hook for a disputed $986 phone Bill. Of my gosh what happened Amber Gray re called saying when she found out the Bill eventually was knocked Down to about $131 in usage and Hookup fees. The family received the Bill for service during a 17 Day period last january at their apartment in the Cole Man Village housing area. The initial Bill had been about five times More than they had expected she said. Americans and germans alike have been complaining recently about what they say is overfilling by Tele Kom. Many say they have no Choice but to accept the errors if they want to maintain phone service. It s easier to pay something than to fight Amber Gray said. The Grays however did decide to fight to overturn their Bill. But it took months and was far from easy they said. They searched for help in the Frankfurt Hanau and Darmstadt military communities. Finally Amber and her husband sgt. Robert Gray were advised to hire a German attorney which they did. Along the Way the Grays were questioned about their marital Fidelity by one woman working at the Hanau Legal Center As a possible explanation for excessive Telephone Calls. They vere also advised to pay the Bill Gray said. At one Point the Grays were informed that Tele Kom was threatening to sue if they did t pay the Bill. As part of a company initiated test Tele Kom began turning the Grays Telephone off and on in three week periods to Monitor outgoing Calls. In August with no explanation Tele Kom notified the Grays that their Bill six Simonella Homes added to Asbestos list the families opted to stay while contractors completed the work she added. Asbestos is a group of minerals made up of tiny fibres that have been linked to several diseases including asbestosis and lung cancer. Prior to the 1970s, it was commonly used in insulation floor cover ing roofing ceiling tiles fireproofing sound absorption and hair dryers. About 170 swipe samples of dust particles were taken in the Homes and sent to labs in Europe and the United states. Workers collect the dust Sample from numerous areas throughout the houses to Analyse the contamination lev Els. Only two Homes that were occupied were considered to have High Levels of contamination. Even those Levels were considered Low risk the report said. As a precaution officials issued letters of possible Asbestos exposure to be included in the medical records of those currently living in the affected Homes Burfeind said. Those people will be placed in a medical monitoring program. A similar letter was sent to former occupants so they could also be monitored. Studies into Asbestos have shown that one in ten thousand people who arc exposed to two Hundred parts per cubic centimetre develop some Type of carcinogenic cancer As a result said  Barnett Nas is Gonella s com manding office we Are looking at an exposure level of 0.25 parts per cubic centimetre but Best we err on the Side of caution bar Nett said. We want to make sure that we closely Monitor anyone who could have had possible exposure to Asbestos Materi  j. Had been reduced. The action is in line with recent German Media re ports that Tele Kom now is willing to Compromise on some customer complaints of overcharging. Not entirely True said Tele Kom spokesman Ulrich Lissek. We really Don t have a new policy Lissek said we be always been willing to Compromise with customers when they received unusually High Bills. If a customer normally has a phone Bill Between 80 and 100 Marks and suddenly gets one for 1,000 Markst and claims something is wrong we assume something went wrong and reduce the charge to 100 Marks. But if someone claims his Bill is 50 or 70 Marks More than usual we won t see that As unusual. People occasionally phone More than they expected. We Are not infallible. We have to Send out 450 Mil lion Bills a year. Last year we had 600,000 complaints but Only half of them had to do with supposed Over  criticism of the phone company began in december after the International Herald Tribune disclosed that German police were tracking the gang reportedly was running up huge Bills by routing the Telephone sex Calls from Germany via the Caribbean or South America. Twenty people have been arrested in the scam including two Tele Kom employees. We lost double digit millions but the claim that much of that loss was at the expense of our customer Sis false Lissek said. On wednesday Cologne s chief District attorney Jurgen Frohlich told the stars and stripes that the re cent flood of complaints about unusually High Tele phone Bills May be connected to the phone sex scam. After extensive research by our specialist Here Frohlich said i cannot exclude the possibility that Tele Kom customers have been cheated on their Bills. But i Don t have any solid evidence  some customers such As spec. Phally Lambert and Michelle Medina both of Schweinfurt Are not con Vinced that Tele Kom is willing to Compromise on Billing discrepancies Lambert said she has a self monitoring phone but received a Tele Kom Bill dec. 9 for about $290 about $130 More than she expected. Lambert said she paid the Bill in order to retain serv ice. You can t prove that you did t talk that Long Lambert said. Yet they Tele Kom can t prove  Medina an army family member said she believes Tele Kom has been overcharging her family about $30 a month for two years. If you Don t pay the Bill they Tele Kom will Send you a Pink note and a letter to the commander of the service member alerting him of the indebtedness she said. Commanders she said can pressure  pay up. A a gang that had tapped. Into Tele Kom lines to sell High priced Telephone sex _ the army has to look Good Medina said. Who pays my husband Palumbo Mediterranean Bureau Simonella Sicily Navy officials recently added six houses to the list of on base Homes contaminated by Asbestos insulation according to Nas Simonella. Since december Navy officials have spent about $100,000 for testing and clean up and expect to spend As much As $150,000, the report said. We want to take a very cautious approach to the problem said it. Cmdr. William Kennaly assistant Public works officer at Simonella. The work in t cheap but safety is  on dec. 9, workers discovered Asbestos insulation in Java tar Heater at an on base residence. An initial inspection of All 120 Homes in the Nas i housing area showed that 61 of them contained the same Type of heating unit with Asbestos insulation. But Only the Home where the Asbestos was first discovered had to be evacuated because of High Levels of contamination the report said. The Asbestos material was used to wrap the mechanism that transfers the heat to the water a spokesman said. The Asbestos insulation was wrapped and sealed but the Seal had broken in 13 Homes. Only six of those Homes including the one evacuated were occupied. Officials sealed off the Utility rooms which in most cases arc near the Back of the houses and have separate entrances. The six families were Given the option of moving out of their Homes while contracted workers removed the Asbestos and cleaned the rooms said it. Barbara Burfeind Simonella Public affairs officer. Replacements arrive soldiers of the 25th inf div Light based in Hawaii descend from a chartered 747 at the Airport in port a Prince Haiti Early wednesday. The soldiers Are replacing troops who were heading Home after a 3vi-month stint in the Caribbean nation. . Forces helped restore haitian president can Bertrand Aristide to office