Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: *TONE-BLOCK* Message-ID: <4628@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 2 Mar 90 07:21:25 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Reply-To: John Higdon Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 41 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 138, Message 3 of 5 Tom Lowe writes: > I agree that 50 cents would be worth it if I had to pay. This wasn't > the first time I had a hard time getting a logical answer from the > business office. It's frustrating living in a place where the telco > doesn't even know what their switches can and can't do. Just this past week, a Digest reader contacted me for help because Pac*Bell insisted upon charging him for an unlisted phone even though he has listed service at the same address in his name. The rep insisted that this didn't matter and that he would have to pay for at least one unlisted line, but that subsequent lines would be unlisted at no charge. I kept telling him to go back and ask for supervisors, etc., but numerous calls to the business office netted the same answer. No one would budge on this point. Finally I reached a contact of mine at PB who gave me chapter and verse from the handbook that confirms the policy of not charging for unlisted "second" service. Had it not been for that information, this person would probably still be unfairly charged for an unlisted line. It's bad enough that the customer has to educate the reps on correct procedure, but it's even worse that the initial reps wouldn't even take the trouble to look up the applicable sections in the handbook. How many people do you suppose are out there paying for things they need not pay for, or worse, paying for things they don't even have? John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o ! [Moderator's Note: Smart consultants earn a good part of their living by cutting a deal with their clients where they audit the phone bill for a period of several months past. Then they take a percentage of whatever they save their client. Incorrect billing by local telcos due to changes in equipment and service never recorded correctly is a scandal. Illinois Bell has had cases where they were forced to refund over a million dollars to a single customer based on errors in a single year alone. PT]