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From: contact!ndallen@uunet.uu.net (Nigel Allen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Unauthorized Disconnection
Message-ID: <9734@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 12 Jul 90 00:08:40 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 484, Message 6 of 8


drears@pica.army.mil (Dennis G. Rears) had his telephone disconnected
prematurely, and wishes to complain.
 
I don't have my list of state public utility commission addresses
handy, but anyone can get the address of their commission from the
state government switchboard. Some telephone directories have a
section in the introductory pages dealing specifically with
complaints, which may give both the address of a senior manager of the
telephone company who handles complaints, and the state regulatory
agency as well.
 
There are two ways to approach a regulatory complaint: you can argue
that the telephone company didn't follow established policy, in which
case the complaint can be resolved at a relatively low level, or you
can argue that the telephone company's policies are incorrect and
should be changed.  If you choose to file a heavy policy-change
complaint with the public utilities commission, you may want to obtain
a copy of the commission's rules of procedure, which may set out
different rules for handling informal complaints and formal
applications, and file it as a formal application.
 
Telephone companies are often wholly or partially exempt from
liability for their errors by state law or by regulatory enactments.
Nonetheless, the telephone company may be willing to compensate you
for your out-of-pocket expenses, even though it may not be legally
required.
  
If your work requires you to be on call to receive phone calls, or if
you had a sick child at home, or if you had some other reason why the
unauthorized disconnection was particularly inconvenient or dangerous,
you should mention this as well.