S.PAE@DEEP-THOUGHT.MIT.EDU.UUCP (01/04/87)
Over the past year, MCI has sent me three letters with saying "Urgent Reminder" and "Signature Required" on the outside. A cursory reading of the letter seems to imply that you must return the enclosed ballot; actually, it's just a request that you send a reply. Your signature is required iff you're signing up for their Dial "1" Long Distance Service. Granted, MCI has no monopoly on potentailly misleading direct mail. However, the long-distance market is far too confusing already! I despise solicitors who demand information they have no right to. Do other folks agree? Is there any federal agency I can talk with who could/would stomp on these guys? One MCI service I find useful is what their rep called "Secondary Carrier Service", where you call a local 7-digit number, 5-digit account code, and the entire long-distance number. The rates are the same as MCI's "Dial '1' Service". I use this service to make personal long-distance calls from work. This is much cheaper than the AT&T Calling Card. What is the Calling Card overhead per call? Is it a constant charge at all times, whether or not the call goes through? Does MCI have plans to keep these local numbers, or will they phase them out when all have equal access? Will AT&T attempt to compete with this service, or are they better off keeping their larger profit margin on their Calling Cards? How much of this market has AT&T lost?