[mod.telecom] Billing of 10XXX calls

JDLH@SU-SUSHI.ARPA (Jim DeLaHunt) (01/28/86)

I am a Spring Equal Access customer under Pacific Bell in Northern California
(Palo Alto).  My phone was connected in September, but direct dial didn't
work for a while, so in the first few weeks I dialled via Sprint using 10-777.
Calls that I made from October 6 through October 27 appeared on my bill for 
the period November 15 - December 14, or about four weeks late.  Calls that 
I later made with 1+ dialling were billed on time.
	--Jim DeLaHunt		JDLH @ SU-Sushi		Stanford University
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LENOIL@DEEP-THOUGHT.MIT.EDU (Robert Lenoil) (01/29/86)

Before my ALLNET dial 1 service started, I used 10444, as well as occassionally
dialing up their switch if I wasn't at home.  The 10444 calls appeared on my
New England Tel bill, the ones direct to the switch were billed directly by
ALLNET.  My bills didn't start coming directly from ALLNET until my 1+ took
effect, and I was told that even though my direct-to-switch and 10444 calls
together totalled above $25, I could not receive a volume discount, since they
were billed entirely separately.

The only 10xxx number that I've received bills direct from the carrier is MCI;
whether it costs the carrier more to do this or not I do not know.

(Humorous anecdote: ALLNET apparently contracted with New England Tel to handle
its 10444 billing; the number on the ALLNET portion of the New England Tel bill
to call about billing problems is New England Tel's own customer service
number.  I remember my first bill I had a billing problem, and gave the folks
at customer service a call; but they were unaware that they were doing Allnet's
billing, and gave me the standard "call the carrier" pitch.  After some
pleading, the attendant put me on hold and found out that, yes, I had come to
the right place.  She did not, however, know how to make the appropriate
adjustments, and called me back the next day, after having learned how to use
the new system.)
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