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From: Dave_JOHNSTON%01%SRJC@odie.santarosa.edu
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Slammed by AT&T
Message-ID: <74666@bu.edu.bu.edu>
Date: 13 Feb 91 05:31:00 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 114, Message 3 of 10


 
I hate to bring up slamming again.  I think Pat squelched the topic
some time ago after it started getting crazy, but I have a story that
some of you might be interested in.
 
I came to this job almost a year ago and found our telecom in great
need of help.  We were using MCI and Pac Bell/ATT WATS and not very
efficiently either.  A Utility Rate Consortium of which we are a
member reached an agreement with Metromedia/ITT for 8.75 cents per
minute anywhere within the US.  While we don't have huge amounts of
LD, it did save us several hundred dollars a month.  So we signed up
and Pac Bell switched our service in August.
 
We had some initial problems with their billing because they claimed
their software couldn't handle our special rate.  The Metromedia/ITT
employee who made the deal lost their job, BTW.  They finally
determined they could apply manual credits to resolve their software
deficiencies.
 
Well, all went well until January 20th or so when I received a
marketing call from AT&T.  The salesperson told me we had over $600 on
our last AT&T bill and weren't on any of the calling plans.  I
questioned her about the numbers in question, thinking it was one of
our off-site locations who aren't on the Metromedia/ITT contract.
However, she informed me that the number in question was our MAIN
outgoing group.
 
I called Pac Bell and spoke with our rep.  She told me that for some
reason AT&T had requested our PIC be changed on 12/31/90.  She also
told me the record showed the request came from CESAR (the automated
system used by LD companies to place LEC orders) but that it didn't
show a AT&T contact person's name.
 
I called the rep at AT&T back, explaining the situation.  She
researched it further.  I went through two more people at AT&T and one
more at Pac Bell and they all agreed that they couldn't imagine how
this could have happened.  Their only thoughts were that is must have
come from an outside marketing organization.
 
I called AT&T again and very slowly and carefully explained to the
original AT&T rep that I expected full credit for the difference
between their MTS rate and my normal 8.75 cent rate. She said that
they couldn't do it.  I pushed to speak with a supervisor and reached
an agreement with her that AT&T will credit us the difference from the
date of change until the date Pac Bell changed us back, plus pay the
$5 per line for both changes.
 
I have yet to actually see the credit, but apparently AT&T is
sensitive to slamming, particularly after their legal hassles with
MCI.  I hope this gives others the courage to stand up for your rights
and make LD companies who slam pay for it.
 

Dave Johnston                         Santa Rosa Junior College
johnston@odie.SantaRosa.edu           Santa Rosa, CA.
Supervisor, Campus Data/Telecom       +1 707 527 4853