Customer hit with $3 fee for 7 cent call

From my colleague Lora Pabst:

A Minnetonka woman who rarely uses her long-distance phone service noticed a charge of 7 cents for a minute-long phone call on her bill. But that one call also brought $3.29 in fees. Her provider told her the long-distance company is allowed to tack them on.

Whistleblower asked the state Public Utilities Commission about land-line fees that are often overlooked by customers. Providers only have to notify the commission how much they're going to charge.

The charges for carrier cost recovery, in-state access and carrier universal service that the customer saw on her bill are each less than $2, but she also had to pay sales tax.