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From: syd@dsinc.dsi.com (Syd Weinstein)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Getting Blitzed by an AT&T Aggregrator
Message-ID: <16338@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 23 Jan 91 04:48:29 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 59, Message 12 of 14


[to telecom readers, this message is also being forwarded by
myself to reallen@attmail.com]

Well, tonight I got blitzed.  A series of persistent calls from one of
those computer outdial machines blitzed our exchange trying all of our
inbound numbers in order, including the modem lines.  The pitch, save
money on AT&T long distance from AT&T by a marketing group which
barely stayed over the line of misrepresentation of saying they were
AT&T.  If I wasn't a comp.dcom.telecom reader, I would have thought
they were AT&T.

The message did not identify the group, just gave a rather long speil
(I listened to it once to see if it ever gave a company name) then
asked for name, address, average monthly phone bill and telephone
number.

It was also persistent, if you didn't listen long enough to get to the
prompts for the info (ie the entire speil) it called you back.

I was not pleased that our entire bank of lines got hit, needless to
say in number order.

I am sure that AT&T operators got the bad end of this by people
telling them to stop calling.  Perhaps AT&T can force the aggregrators
to identify themselves as that more clearly.

It doesn't help AT&T's image any when this happens, it makes the
telemarketers look good.  At least those you can tell your bank of
lines and they skip them, they don't want to waste their time either.


Sydney S. Weinstein, CDP, CCP     Elm Coordinator
Datacomp Systems, Inc.            Voice: (215) 947-9900
syd@DSI.COM or dsinc!syd          FAX:   (215) 938-0235