Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!netsys!vector!telecom-gateway From: edell%garnet.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.berkeley.edu (Richard Edell) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Divestiture, Business and the General Public Message-ID: Date: 22 Jun 89 22:32:13 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: Richard Edell Organization: University of California, Berkeley (student) Lines: 47 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 209, message 4 of 6 In article apple!zygot!john@decwrl. dec.com (John Higdon) writes: >In article , lars@salt.acc.com >(Lars J Poulsen) writes: >> I would like to see more regulation of the local telephone service, to >> include the following: >> (1) More readable phone bills. All mandatory charges, taxes etc included >> in the basic monthly price of service, and all optional components >> identified on separate line items. >I think one reason they are not included is that the telco doesn't want >you to think more money goes into their pocket than actually does. As >far as listing options, etc., Pac*Bell on each and every bill lists all >of the services that the subscriber pays for. For instance, it shows >each custom calling feature and the monthly charge as well as optional >"calling plans" (discounts that cost money). Pacific Bell only itemizes the monthly service charges for *residential* accounts. For instance: Measured Rate Service 4.25 Touch-Tone Service 1.70 (not actual ammounts) Business customers only get "Monthly Service (start date) thru (end date)" and some amount. Beginning this year Pacific Bell has been sending to every business account holder a "Customer Service Record". These reports are sent according to one of three schedules: 1) annually, which month depends on the last digit of the account number; 2) every month (!); and 3) no record. Each account defaults to schedule #1, then Pacific mails a postcard asking which schedule the business would like to be on in the future. In addition, a report is sent each time there is a change in the account records (service added/removed). These reports are not as simple as the a couple additional lines as is the case with residential service (business accouts are more complicated!) Before they began sending these reports is was a real hassle to find-out what you're paying for each month - you could ask for a "customer service report" (same name) but this would be screen images of what the account reps see (USOC codes only, no descriptions). A few years back I asked for, and got, an explanation for what "Monthly Service" included. Then by doing a simple audit of what services we were using I discovered that Pacific Bell and AT&T were charging for a key telephone system that was removed four years earlier when Pacific Telephone (the old pre-1984 CA) telco) sold my employer a new PBX. We got a refunds totalling $15,000! -Richard Edell (edell@garnet.berkeley.edu)