Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: Don H Kemp Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: *TONE-BLOCK* Message-ID: <5159@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 13 Mar 90 23:23:27 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 61 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 172, Message 10 of 10 From article <4628@accuvax.nwu.edu>, by john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon): > Tom Lowe writes: [Tale of woe about ill-educated service reps deleted] > [Moderator's Note: Smart consultants earn a good part of their living by > cutting a deal with their clients where they audit the phone bill for > a period of several months past. Then they take a percentage of whatever ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (Sleezy Practice) > they save their client. Incorrect billing by local telcos due to changes > in equipment and service never recorded correctly is a scandal. Legend has it that this kind of "consulting" was at one time very common in the trucking industry. The "consultant" would tell the client that they would cut the client's phone bill by a large percentage, by finding billing errors and "optimizing the network". They would take, as their fee, up to half of the savings, sometimes for as much as five year's worth. They would then take a quick look for errors, and if there wern't enough savings to provide a large enough fee, they'd start ripping out WATS and 800 lines. They would then block LD calls on local lines. Sure enough, the phone bills would drop dramatically. The "consultant" would get their fee, and go on his way. Of course, when the truckers customers couldn't reach the company, and the dispatchers couldn't get an outside line, and revenues started dropping. I agree that billing errors are rampant, especially where equipment was transferred from the Bell Operating Company to AT&T at divisiture. We have found cases where the client was being billed for equipment that had been removed (or ordered removed) even before '83. And we still see cases where the Telco is charging for CPE that AT&T is also charging for. Our policy, and that of most reputable consultants, is that any savings or refunds that we find are the client's. We feel that we can make a reasonable profit on our hourly fees alone. Our clients seem to agree, at least they keep calling back :-). Don H Kemp "Always listen to experts. They'll B B & K Associates, Inc. tell you what can't be done, and Rutland, VT why. Then do it." uunet!uvm-gen!teletech!dhk Lazarus Long [Moderator's Note: Indeed, it was a much more common approach years ago then now; but even then, the ethical consultants signed a contract with the client saying they would divide the 'savings' in two parts: the telco billing errors in one group and the service configuration/ judgment calls in another. They agreed to discuss both categories with the client. Obviously, the billing errors were reported and corrected. Regards the other, the client agreed in the contract that if he chose to implement the recommendations of the consultant at any time in the near future -- say the next year -- he was liable for that portion of the fees the consultant would have earned had the changes been made at the time of the consultation. PT]