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From: dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com (David Tamkin)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: MCI Around Town Surcharge
Message-ID: <12534@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 24 Sep 90 03:58:56 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 674, Message 2 of 11


A surnameless Tim from Caltech wrote in volume 10, issue 670:

| (I use [Around Town] even from my own home to avoid outrageously high
| PacBell intra-lata long distance charges.  I can't dial 10xxx because
| PacBell blocks that for intra-lata calls.  The absence of a surcharge
| on the 950-1022 calls was a convenient work-around.)

It might not be Pac*Bell blocking your attempts at intra-LATA 10XXX
dialing.  It might be MCI rejecting them.  I can dial one of my lines
from the other with 10XXX via US Sprint or Telecom*USA, but not via
AT&T nor MCI.  If my telco were setting the policy, then either all
four carriers would connect the call or none would.  As long as there
is no surcharge, though, 950-1022 will do; too bad AT&T has no such
alternative dial-up.

I've also heard that MCI's Around Town (for 25c, not for free, but
still not 80c) applies only for intra-LATA calls now; originally, at
least so I _thought_, it was for any calls placed from near your home
base, regardless of where in North America the call terminated.  One
of the other things I dislike about MCI Long Distance (in addition to
slamming and to their promising to make corrections and updates and
then never putting them in) is getting five conflicting answers from
every three customer service reps to a straightforward question.


David Tamkin  Box 7002  Des Plaines IL  60018-7002  708 518 6769  312 693 0591
MCI Mail: 426-1818  GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN  CIS: 73720,1570   dattier@ddsw1.mcs.com