Ron Schnell <ronnie@sos.com> (05/06/91)
[Moderator's Note: Another of our kind in the spotlight. PAT]
Reprinted from {Los Angeles Times} Sunday, May 5, 1991 Page J1
Wrong Numbers - Julio Moran - L.A. Times Staff Writer
Ever get a phone bill so large that you're [sic] sure it could
not be right because you couldn't possibly have talked that long to
that many people, only to discover that the bill is correct and you
were wrong?
Well, GTE California customers, take heart. This month, you may
be right.
The phone company serving three million customers statewide --
including most of the Westside, South Bay, and Orange County -- said a
computer glitch caused the overbilling of as many as 1.7 million
customers statewide, nearly all in Southern California.
The overbilling involves so-called ZUM calls, usually eight to 12
miles away from where the call is made, according to Larry Cox, a GTE
spokesman. A glitch in the computer software billed those calls as
more expensive toll calls during a four- to six-week period in March
and April.
Cox said the average customer was overbilled by between $2 and
$3. However, at least one Westwood customer said his business-phone
bill was overcharged hundreds of dollars and that his home phone was
i]overbilled by about $10.
Ron Schnell, who runs a computer software company called Secure
Online Systems, said he normally would not have looked at his
business-phone bill except that a friend asked him about his average
monthly bill.
He said he discovered the overbilling and called the phone
company. He said he was upset that the company is not planning to
notify customers.
``It annoyed me that it wasn't publicized,'' he said. ``There
are probably lots of people who will pay their bills without even
knowing they are being overbilled.''
GTE's Cox said the company is not sending corrected bills because
of the high cost involved, but he said that the company will determine
how much each customer has been overcharged and will credit customers
beginning June 7 with the overcharge amount plus 3% interest.
``We apologize for the inconvenience, and we're asking for a
little bit of patience and understanding,'' Cox said.
GTE has 460,000 customers in the Westside, 160,000 in the South
Bay and 200,000 in Orange County. Cox said that most customers in
those communities were overbilled only if they made ZUM calls.
Cox said the cause of the glitch has not been determined, nor has
the company estimated the total amount of money that was overbilled.
---------
[Ron's note - Gee, 3% interest after three months. I wish my credit
card would give me that rate. I don't really like the fact that
people are being forced to loan money to the phone company. They
should really be forced to give a higher percentage.]Barry Margolin <barmar@think.com> (05/07/91)
In article <telecom11.337.7@eecs.nwu.edu> ronnie@sos.com (Ron Schnell) writes: > GTE's Cox said the company is not sending corrected bills because > of the high cost involved, but he said that the company will determine > how much each customer has been overcharged and will credit customers > beginning June 7 with the overcharge amount plus 3% interest. ... > [Ron's note - Gee, 3% interest after three months. I wish my credit > card would give me that rate. I don't really like the fact that > people are being forced to loan money to the phone company. They > should really be forced to give a higher percentage.] Unless they meant 3% annualized interest, it's actually a pretty good deal. 3% after three months is equivalent to 12.5% interest annually. While credit cards generally get more than this from you, it's better than most investments, and it's effectively tax free (they're not going to send a 1099, are they?). And people who waited until close to the end of the March billing cycle before paying, but pay early in the June cycle, will only have leant the month for about 2-1/2 months, which works out to over 15% APR. Barry Margolin, Thinking Machines Corp. barmar@think.com {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar