jnelson@gauche.zko.dec.com (Jeff E. Nelson) (03/29/91)
Last night I went to use a payphone next to a Dunkin Donuts shop in Nashua, NH, USA. Rather than finding a phone operated by New England Telephone (NET, a subsidiary of NYNEX), I found an AOS phone. This phone was different. For one thing, it requires 25 cents to place a phone call. NET phones only charge 10 cents. I decided to experiment. To get local directory assistance, one dials 1-555-1212. At NET phones, this is a free call. At this phone, an electronic voice (probably generated internally) said, "please deposit 25 cents for the first three minutes." I then tried 10288-1-555-1212, but as soon as I completed dialing the first 8, the same voice said, "You have dialed an invalid number ... you have dialed an invalid number." I looked around for anything that would identify the owner/operator of the phone. I found nothing, but did notice that the instructions for this phone said that to get directory assistance, the appropriate dialing sequence is "411." Upon dialing, I got the double "invalid number" message. Now I was getting upset. I dialed "0" to speak to an operator. The electronic voice came on instead, and told me that to place a long distance call (credit card, pay-as-you-go, or collect), just dial 1 plus the number. There were more instructions which I forget, but the last was, "press 3 to speak to an operator." Aha! I dialed 3, and a NET operator came on. I asked if she could tell me anything about the phone, and she said that her display didn't even show the number of the phone I was calling from. After exchanging some words about how much we both hated AOS phones, I hung up. I then turned my attention to the phone next to the one I was using. It was one of those blue phones with no coin recepticle; the kind you use when placing a toll-free or credit card or collect call. This phone had a sticker on it identifying it as being owned by "ITC Communications" (I think; those initials may be slightly off). Underneath the name was a toll-free 800 number. I dialed the number, ready to complain about the lousy phone service and lack of 10XXX dialing. A NET recording announced, "that number is not valid from your calling area." Some days you just can't win. Jeff E. Nelson Digital Equipment Corporation Internet: jnelson@tle.enet.dec.com Affiliation given for identification purposes only