Steve Forrette <forrette@cory.berkeley.edu> (05/15/91)
Each time I deal with Pacific Bell repair service, I think I've
reached a new low. Yet they always manage to outdo themselves next
time. The following story will surely amuse you:
I ordered collect and third-number billing blocking on my numbers, in
order to prevent getting the bill for fraudulent calls (I always use
my calling card). Not wanting to take the Business Office's word that
it's working, I decided to place a test call to make sure that it
would be denied.
To test third number billing, I tried to call 408 directory assistance
from 415-841. So, I picked up the phone, dialed 0 408 555 1212, and
waited for the "ka-bong." (415 and 408 are in the same LATA, so this
should be a Pacific Bell call). Much to my surprise, the first thing
I heard was "This is 421. What city please?" Thinking I must have
misdialed, I tried it again, getting the same result. I was using 0+
dialing and the call was going through as if I had used 1+. Something
was obviously misprogrammed in my CO, so I called Repair Service at
611.
I explained my problem, and was told that they didn't handle this sort
of problem. "We have nothing to do with calling card calls - call
your operator" I tried to clarify the problem, but the person was
insistant. "We have nothing to do with the dialing of numbers." Can
you believe that? This gets my nomination for the quote of the week.
So, I called the operator, explained the problem, and was referred to
Repair Service. I told the operator what I had been told by Repair,
and the response was "They always say that." It was suggested that
perhaps 415 and 408 DA was consolidated, and that this may be causing
the problem. So, I called 411, and asked for a San Jose number. "San
Jose is in 408" was the response. So, no consolidation.
So, back to Repair. The same lady was very angry with me for daring to
call again:
Me> (explanation)
Repair> "I already told you, we don't deal with that!"
Me> "I called the Operator as you instructed, and was referred back
to you"
Repair> "We don't deal with that sort of problem. Operators handle calling
card calls"
Me> "But I never get the Operator because of the problem I'm trying to
report."
Repair> "Why don't you just dial 411?"
Me> "Because I'm trying to call long distance Directory Assistance, in
the 408 area code"
Repair> "Did you dial 0 then a 1?"
Me> "Why would I do that?"
Repair> "0 for calling card, then 1 because it's long distance."
Me> "I've never heard of that form of dialing before."
Repair> (rude mode on) "I was just giving a suggestion. If you don't want
them, I won't offer any more."
Me> *sigh* "Is this the right place to report this sort of problem?"
Repair> "We don't handle problems with your telephone, only in your phone
line."
Me> "It's neither - it's in the Central Office switch. Who handles
those problems?"
Repair> "We do. I'll take the report, and someone will look into it."
Me> "Will someone call me back?"
Repair> "Tomorrow, between 8am and 3pm"
We'll see what happens then. Can you believe this? The person at
Repair doesn't even know how to dial a calling card call! I would be
willing to bet money that this problem goes unresolved for a long
time. But I will be persistant.
Steve Forrette, forrette@cory.berkeley.eduJohn Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> (05/19/91)
Steve Forrette <forrette@cory.berkeley.edu> writes: > To test third number billing, I tried to call 408 directory assistance > from 415-841. So, I picked up the phone, dialed 0 408 555 1212, and > waited for the "ka-bong." > We'll see what happens then. Can you believe this? The person at > Repair doesn't even know how to dial a calling card call! I would be > willing to bet money that this problem goes unresolved for a long > time. But I will be persistant. The amazing thing about all of this is that no one has been able to tell you up to this point that there is NO problem and that is the way it is supposed to work. A little known quirk of CA regulation is that while IECs may charge for DA, and LECs may charge for local DA, LECs may not charge for DA within the LATA in another area code. So in essence, you are trying to dial a mandated free call with a calling card! The biggest problem here is not that the call just went through, but that you did not get some sort of recording advising you that you had misdialed. I would suggest that you use a REAL number to make that test call with. You are probably going to give repair service a stroke while they try to fix something that really is not broken. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
Linc Madison <linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu> (05/21/91)
In article <telecom11.372.3@eecs.nwu.edu> Steve Forrette writes:
[Ordered collect/3rd number blocking. Tested it by dialing
0-408-555-1212 from 415-841 to see if the operator would put
through the call as a 3rd-number-billed call. Call went through
with no operator.]
Well, Steve, the problem is not entirely in Pac*Bell. Here in
California, calls to directory assistance in the same LATA but in a
different area code, are free. The switch figured you must've been
crazy for asking operator assistance (of any kind) on a free call to
the operator, so it just put you through. You'd probably get about
the same response if you tried to dial 0+415+760-1111 (ANI test number
for East Bay).
BTW, as to just how "free" these DA calls are, inter-NPA intra-LATA DA
calls from Pac*Bell payphones are definitely free. From residence
phones, they're either free or 0.25 each after the first 5/month.
From COCOTs, they're generally about 0.40 to 0.75. Also, why they
decided on such a bizarre annular system, I don't know; I guess they
figure that anything they do that encourages you to call from Eureka
to Santa Cruz is worth their while.
So anyway, try a regular POTS number for your 3rd-number test.
Linc Madison = linc@tongue1.berkeley.edu