brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) (03/27/91)
Bell of Pennsylvania's Guardian Service ($2/mo for basic jack
repair) has always struck me as being a blatant attempt to take
advantage of people who just aren't aware of certain information. The
commercials show Mr. Normal running a book case into a wall jack,
while his wife talks to the camera about the service. She looks back
disdainfully, as if to say, "See what I mean?"
For $2, only when it actually happens, they could install a new
jack for themselves (even Mr. Normal, the astonishingly slow witted
middle-American). I have to wonder what was said in the early
meetings, when some upstart said, "Well, why not give them a pamphlet
telling them how to do it themselves? Good PR!"
Something akin to, "No WAY, this is $20 million in revenue in one
year alone!", I would guess.
[As a quick side note, a local television news team discovered that if
the cause for trouble is your phone, and not the line or the jack,
customers will get whacked $56 [$40 for the visit, $16 for 15 minutes
of lineman time] for the service call. No where in the ad does it
mention this.]
Brendan Kehoe - Widener Sun Network Manager
brendan@cs.widener.edu Widener University in Chester, PA reb@ingres.com (Phydeaux) (03/29/91)
The sad thing about this is that most people are afraid to do any of this themselves. Even if they *did* call the phone company and have them fix it at $60/hr, they'd be better off paying for the service call. I've never had inside wiring problems. I tried to convince one friend of this recently. She lives in an apartment building and is spending $2 each month for "wire maintenance." What a rip-off. reb *-=#= Phydeaux =#=-* reb@ingres.com or reb%ingres.com@lll-winken.llnl.GOV ICBM: 41.55N 87.40W h:558 West Wellington #3R Chicago, IL 60657 312-549-8365 w:reb ASK/Ingres 10255 West Higgins Suite 500 Rosemont, IL 60018 708-803-9500 [Moderator's Note: Illinois Bell calls their plan 'Linebacker', and like the others it is a total waste of money. PAT]
jhall@ihlpm.att.com (John R Hall) (03/31/91)
Well, I agree in general that "inside wire maintenance" plans are not worth much especially for someone who is minimally handy with tools. However, I lived in a high rise for several years, and I did choose the inside wire maintenance plan, and I'm glad I did. When I got my initial service, I asked from what point in the loop I would be responsible for repairs. The best I can tell, the answer was a telephone panel located in a stairwell a couple of floors down (I was on 17), but I was never quite sure of this. The wire went internally through the walls and floors from that point where it popped up in the kitchen jack. Inside were many pairs of wires. We also had an entry door system which operated off a special code on a lobby telephone that rang on our regular phone line. I was not convinced that if something went wrong I would be able to fix it, so I opted for Illinois Bell's inside wire maintenance plan. Well, two years later my phone went dead - no dial tone. I called repair, and the repair person had to check in a couple of places in the building where I didn't have access, and he was in my apartment for about six hours. He got it working, and his diagnosis was one corroded jack (probably due to moisture from an adjoining cooling duct) and a "wiring error" (curious, though because it worked OK before). It was very confusing because I couldn't follow the wiring easily from jack to jack, and the cable in the boxes was a rat's nest. So I was glad I payed the wire maintenance surcharge. In my current place, the wiring runs clearly along a conduit straight down to the basement, and I would have no problem in diagnosing a problem with it (my tip and ring ARE reversed, but I don't have access do the basement - guess they want to protect that old coal bin which is still full of coal even though the antique boiler was converted to gas who-knows-how-long ago). --John
Ed_Greenberg@3mail.3com.com (04/03/91)
Phydeaux <reb@ingres.com> writes: > ..... I've never had inside wiring problems. I tried to convince one > friend of this recently. She lives in an apartment building and is > spending $2 each month for "wire maintenance." What a rip-off. I live in an apartment building. We have an interesting situation for inside wiring. Pairs are multipled through apartments and down to a phone closet on the side of the building. There they are cross connected to the incoming cable on nut and bolt type blocks. The entire shebang is locked with a lock that says "Bell System"! Inside this locked island of pre-mfj phonedom is one (count 'em) grey modern demark for my two lines. I had the telco mount this during my one inside wire failure. My inside wire failure was sabotage, or more probably vandalism. Somebody seemed to have reached into the cabinet (it's open at the bottom) and pulled down a loop of wire (mine.) The telco charge to fix this was $60, which was paid (cheerfully) by the building management. Thus I have established a precedent that inside wire maintenance is, at least at 1600 Stokes Street, a building repair. Next question: If I want to perform my own connection to the inside wire, will the telco send a man at no charge to unlock the lock? edg [Moderator's Note: Here in Chicago, in one of the very bad neighborhoods, a situation like yours culminated in one group of neighbors going after another group with *guns*, each accusing the other of disrupting phone service while trying to install their own lines. They had gotten into each other's pair multiples and made a terrible mess. It turned out one person had paid the janitor in their building to 'run a wire' for them. He knocked out the others ... just another of the wonderful aspects of permitting the federal judiciary to administer the phone system in the USA. PAT]
Kevin Brown <brownK@moravian.edu> (04/06/91)
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 247, Message 4 of 6 > Bell of Pennsylvania's Guardian Service ($2/mo for basic jack > repair) has always struck me as being a blatant attempt to take > advantage of people who just aren't aware of certain information. The I believe you are the one not aware of that "certain information". Basic jack repair is covered under the wire maintenance plan, $ .50 /month. The guardian service you're speaking of includes offering a loaner set if the problem is in your CPE. > [As a quick side note, a local television news team discovered that if > the cause for trouble is your phone, and not the line or the jack, > customers will get whacked $56 [$40 for the visit, $16 for 15 minutes > of lineman time] for the service call. No where in the ad does it > mention this.] It doesn't mention it in the add because it's not true. Under the Guardian plan there is no charge regardless of where the problem is. If it's in the jack, Bell of Pa. repairs it free of charge, If it is in your equipment, Bell will leave you a loaner set until yours is repaired. The only time the $56 charge is given is if you do not have a maintenance plan or just have wire maintenance plan and the problem is in YOUR equipment. I'm not saying the plan is a good idea, it's pretty easy to determine if the trouble is in your phone set or in the lines. Please, before you start flaming the local telco's make sure your story is accurate. Kevin Brown Box 72 Moravian College, Bethlehem PA 18018 CSNET/INTERNET: brownK@moravian.edu UUCP...!rutgers!liberty!batman!brownK