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From: seals@uncecs.edu (Larry W. Seals)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: MCI as Slamming King
Message-ID: <12547@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 24 Sep 90 18:16:32 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 675, Message 4 of 9


An MCI rep called my missus while I was out and about and asked if we
were interested in switching to their service to which she replied
with an emphatic NO!  The rep continued with my wife getting more
irate by the second.  She finally told this person that we had AT&T
and were more than happy with the service (we do very little out of
state calling, even less in-state LD) and got off the line.  Upon
arriving home she told me the story and I related to her the info I
have gleaned here (thank you very much :-) ) about slamming.  We
called AT&T (glory be! They had a live person manning the 800 number
at 8:30pm EST) and explained the situation.

The AT&T rep verified that MCI could change our LD carrier without our
consent and that we should contact our local telco.  We called
Southern Bell the next morning and had our account flagged so that no
changes could be made without written permission.

Nuff said.  Or so I thought.  When September's bill came in, it
appeared that MCI had somehow beaten us to the punch :-( but AT&T (or
Southern Bell) had switched us back (credit issued for a 6 day period
in August) and had covered the switch back charge.

So, whatever anyone else says, I'm sticking to AT&T for no other
reason than the quality of the service (their rep even apologized for
the MCI phone call!) and the promptness of their staff.