Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!bu.edu!telecom-request From: wallace@hpdtldw.ctgsc.hp.com (David E. Wallace) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Calling an Out-of-Area 800 Number Message-ID: Date: 10 Mar 91 07:49:00 GMT Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 90 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 194, Message 1 of 6 In response to my request about calling a limited service 800 number, the Moderator replied: > [Moderator's Note: There is no legal (that is, per tariff authority) > way to do it. The people with limited service 800 numbers quite > frankly *do not want or appreciate* your call on their 800 line; that > is why they have it specifically limited. What you are free to do is > look up their regular number and call them on that instead. PAT] Sigh. I was afraid of that. This is a perfectly reasonable thing to do if the business in question *has* a regular number listed. In both of the cases in question, my first move was to call XXX-555-1212 and ask for the regular number. The only number listed was the 800 number, which I couldn't call, being out of the area. Granted, both occasions were slightly unusual. The first case was when I wanted to call the NY State Income Tax folks with an urgent tax question shortly before April 15th. They had provided an 800 tax-information number that apparently only covered NY State (and perhaps adjacent areas). It didn't seem to have occurred to them that one might be a NY resident in 1981 but a California resident in 1982, when I was actually filing. It's been long enough ago that I don't remember all the details, but I do remember it being a major hassle. Perhaps things have improved since then. The second occasion was more recent, when I was sending several packages from NY to my home in Hayward, CA via UPS. I needed to know some details about how the delivery would be made. The NY UPS office told me I would have to call the Oakland, CA office to find out. The only number I could get from information was 800-222-8333, which didn't work from NY. I have just verified with information that this is the only number they have listed. Note: after writing the above, I re-checked the Oakland phone book and found that there *is* a regular number listed there, under a separate heading. UNITED PARCEL SERVICE has the 800 number above, United Parcel Service (at the same address) is listed as 415-568-0200. It appears that this may be a Directory Assistance problem with the listing. Nevertheless, calling from NY without a Oakland directory at hand, it certainly looked like an "impossible 800 number" problem. I invite the Moderator, and anyone else who is sufficiently motivated, to call 415-555-1212 and see if you can get the regular number from them. While I hesitate to suggest that hundreds of people also call UPS to verify that the 800 number is in fact not valid in their area, the Moderator, at least, might wish to do so. (Now that I suspect the nature of the problem, I will probably let UPS know that their directory listing is screwed up, but I'll wait a few days so that others can verify the problem. It's been screwed up for over a year now, a few more days won't hurt much.) In both of these cases, I had a legitimate business reason to call the number in question. I doubt very much if the people at either number would have minded my call just because I was physically outside the area they had anticipated when they set up the number. They may not have wanted to *pay* for the call, but that is a different question. In both cases, I would have been willing (not happy, just willing) to pay operator-assisted rates if I could have just completed the call. In the tax case, I would have been willing to pay person-to-person rates if that would have helped. In both cases, I spent more than an hour of my time (much more in the tax case) on a problem that could have been resolved with a five-minute phone call to the number in question. I suspect that many limited service 800 numbers are restricted by the owner's willingness to pay, not willingness to talk. Given this, the lack of a viable work-around is a bug, not a feature. I had hoped for a better answer, but it seems for now that if all I've got is an out-of-area 800 number, I am S.O.L. Dave W. (david_wallace@hpdtl.ctgsc.hp.com) [Moderator's Note: A call to 800-222-8333 from 312-743 just now produced the following response, quoted verbatim: "The telephone number you dialed has been changed. Please call your local directory assistance operator for the correct number." The 'local directory assistance operator' (i.e. 411) gave me a Chicago area number for United Parcel Service. A call to 415-555-1212 produced the 800 number noted above. They insisted no other number was listed in *Oakland*. A supervisor then took my call and searched further to find the San Fransisco number 415-952-5200, but nothing in Oakland. A call to 800-555-1212 produced the response 'there is nothing listed for that company'. I persisted -- and she insisted -- there is no 800 number listed for United Parcel Service. Some companies should get their act together on their phone listings! Another interesting note is that quite a few numbers in the 800-222 series are used by AT&T for their customer service and related functions. PAT]