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From: che@ptsfb.UUCP (Mitch Che)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: ATT perceived as threatening?
Message-ID: <205@ptsfb.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 28-Jul-85 21:23:07 EDT
Article-I.D.: ptsfb.205
Posted: Sun Jul 28 21:23:07 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 30-Jul-85 05:37:21 EDT
References: <2126@amdcad.UUCP>
Reply-To: che@ptsfb.UUCP (Mitch Che)
Organization: Pacific Bell, San Francisco
Lines: 37
Keywords: equal access, confused consumers

In article <2126@amdcad.UUCP> phil@amdcad.UUCP (Phil Ngai) writes:
>My sister, who lives on the other side of the country from me, recently
>got a note from her RBOC asking her to choose a long distance carrier.
>She didn't understand the concept of equal access and just threw out
>the note....
>ATT didn't like that idea. Apparently, the way ATT expressed themselves
>came across to my sister as a threat and she got mad at them, threw
>ATT's note out, and signed up with MCI. Now, I think she screwed herself
>because she probably can't call my parents on MCI, but still, if other
>people are reacting this way, I think ATT has a problem.
>
>Any comments?

Apparently, there are a lot of consumers who are going to end up assigned
to one of the long-distance carriers through the "lottery" process.  It's
unfortunate that all of us don't attempt to get further information if
we don't understand something like equal access.  I haven't seen the
AT&T notice that was sent to Phil's sister, but I would think that the
idea of getting stuck with a long-distance carrier at random is MORE
threatening than any sales pitch/warning from AT&T.
		I think the main points are: be aware of the long-distance
options available, be aware of the pros/cons of individual companies
(e.g. concerning access to places you call frequently, quality, price),
and MAKE a choice when the time comes.  Various sources of information,
such as consumer groups, and, yes, the RBOCs, are available on equal
access, the various long-distance choices, etc. just for the asking...




-- 
Mitch Che
Pacific Bell
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