Q: I bought two phones and a family plan from a Sprint store in Monroeville. It was a special buy-one, get-one-free deal. The phones were great. You could take pictures and listen to music, and that's why we decided to pay the extra money. Plus, there was a rebate of $70 that made it all affordable. The trouble started as soon as we signed our contract. The store didn't have two of those phones in stock. We were told to come back in four days. We returned, still no phone. We were finally told we'd have to take a lesser phone, but by then the rebate offer was over. I just don't feel that is right and I can't get the rebate I was promised now.

ALYSHA SULEY

Penn Hills

A: You had more than your fair share of problems with this deal, Alysha. This is a case where it's important to know with whom you are dealing. In this case, the Sprint store with which you were dealing in Monroeville was not an official Sprint store, but a third-party retailer. The store has permission to sell Sprint products, but it is not owned and operated by Sprint.

That's good news for you. If the third-party retailer doesn't give you satisfaction, you can always take your problem to Sprint. When Sprint heard that you were not able to take advantage of a company rebate through no fault of your own, Sprint gave you a $70 credit on your bill.

Although you were willing to settle for a lesser phone, Sprint said your second phone should have the same bells and whistles that your first phone had. The problem with getting a second phone was that it had been discontinued, so instead of a lesser phone, Sprint says you'll just have to accept a better phone or at least one with even more bells and whistles. The moral here is if you can't get satisfaction at the store level, especially a third-party retailer, you might have more luck with the parent company.

Q: What is this "federal line charge" on my bill? It's $5.50 I can't figure out why I am paying. I called my phone company and was told it was a federal charge. The phone company has to charge it and I have to pay it. I want to know why.

BOB KASCHAK

Pleasant Hills

A: The information the phone company gave you was wrong, Bob. It happens all the time and no wonder. It is called a "federal" line charge, but it's not a federal charge.

The federal line charge or the subscriber line charge is a fee that the federal government allows the local company to charge, but the government does not require the local company to charge it.

According to the Federal Communications Commission, it's a fee that you pay to your local phone company to cover some of the costs of the telephone lines that connect you to the telephone network. The money does not go to the government, but to the local phone company.

The government regulates this charge and puts a limit on it. The FCC doesn't allow phone companies to charge more than $6.50 per line, but it doesn't require local phone companies to charge anything at all.

The correct answer to your question would be it is a federally allowed charge, but not a federally mandated charge.

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