DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Douglas Scott Reuben) (02/11/91)
Hello all,
In case you may not recall, a few weeks ago a friend of mine was
trying to call Israel on her (and later, my) Calling Card, and was
unable to because calls were blocked.
I wrote one of my usual "letters to telephone companies" to AT&T to
let them know my feeling about this, which was kindly reprinted here.
(The letter was to Robert Allen at AT&T, with the standard "This is
what happened, this is what I am upset about, I am a long-time and/or
faithful customer, I don't like being treated this way, I demand you
correct this, Thank you for your time and attention in thision in this
matter. ", etc. letter, which I generally send out to some
telco/cell-co or other on a mnthly basis..:( )
I received the following FAX in response, as per my request. It was
dated Feb 10th, 1991, although I received it on Feb. 6th. Odd...
-------------
Mr. Reuben,
I have been asked to respond to your questions regarding the blocking
of calling card calls to Israel. Let me start by apologizing for the
inconvenience you have experienced. We value you as a customer, and we
strive for excellence in serving you. The handling of your call was
not in accordance with our standard operator procedures in these
circumstances, and I have asked that all of our operators receive a
refresher on handling calling card calls which have been blocked for
fraud reasons. If you have the name of the operator to whom you spoke,
I will personally follow up with their supervisor, to ensure that
corrective action is taken.
As you know, the call you attempted to Israel was temporarily blocked
due to calling card fraud. This system of blocking certain phones at
certain times is for the protection of the card holder. Occasionally,
someone will obtain a lost or stolen calling card, and will sell calls
to overseas countries using the card number for billing. Every
compromised calling card number began as the card number of a good
customer.
The actual process of blocking certain countries is based on a
computer system that screens high levels of fraud. This system is set
up to shut down all calls to a particular area from the phone or
phones experiencing this fraud until the data can be analized by our
Corporate Security Office. Limiting fraudulent use of cards allows us
to pass on the savings to our customers in lower overall long distance
prices. Because of the inconvenience that this block causes our good
customers, it is only used where and when card calling has become
extremely unprofitable.
I cannot comment on the methods of other long distance carriers, other
than to state that my knowledge of their similar fraud control
procedures most likely comes from the same forums through which you
orignally became acquainted with this practice. I am sorry that due to
the proprietary nature of our fraud controls that I am not at liberty
to reveal the methods, times, or places where it may be enforced. For
the present, where blocking is encountered, the alternative billing
methods of charging to a third number, and collect calling are
available.
In conclusion, let me assure you that a more effective, less
disruptive method of fraud control is under development, along with a
new, more secure card product which will soon be entering the
marketplace. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience that you may
have been caused. If you have any other questions, or if I can be of
other assistance, please call me collect on (201) 644-1951.
Peter Coulter
Manager - AT&T International
-----------
A few thoughts:
1. Interesting and thorough letter (addressed all my points). What one
would expect from AT&T.
2. What is this new "Calling Card product"? A Pac*Bell like calling
card which does NOT have your name and only shows you PIN? (But has a
magstripe on the back ...) (Pac*Bell used to have these ... I dunno if
they changed or not. NYTel also had these holographic cards, with only
your PIN. I orderd LOTS of these because my friends like the
holograph!)
3. If they base "blocking" on the degree of fraud from said phone (or
group of phones), how come some Pac*Bell payphones in Truckee, CA
(right off of I-80, near the west-most Tahoe exit, for CA-89) block
these calls? I use these phones a lot (they are at a Safeway -
probably the only Safeway there, just a few hundred feet north of
I-80, near the BoA), and on July 4th, I tried calling Egypt, and guess
what? Calls were blocked. I got on my Cell phone, pulled in the Reno,
NV system (Cell One), and dialed through there. I was reimbursed for
the call, so not too important, but I can't figure how much fraud they
get in Truckee! I mean, how many people stop off at Safeway's to call
Egypt? The same thing happened a week later just south of Stockton,
at a BP station on I-5. A lot of fraud in Stockton? A lot of
*anything* in Stockton?? :) )
4. I'm glad to see that at least they agree with me that the operators
should not give pathetic answers like "NJ and the country you are
calling do not have a billing agreement" ... Please ... sounds like
Metro Mobile as to why my phone doesn't work in XXX city. I rarely
listen to anything Metro says anymore, and I'm glad to see that AT&T
takes this a bit more seriously, and does not just give out any info
to appease their cusotmers.
Next time, I'll try calling the International Center and ask to be put
through via them.
Doug
dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu
dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet
[Moderator's Note: Thanks for passing this along to the Digest. In
fairness to AT&T I will add they do now have a tariff in place which
allows selective blocking of credit card calls when fraud has become a
problem. See Tariff # 1 Section 2.9.5, as per a footnote in the
International Calling Guide. PAT]am299bv@sdcc6.ucsd.edu (Ravinder Bhumbla) (02/11/91)
In article <74445@bu.edu.bu.edu> DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu (Douglas Scott Reuben) writes: [about the letter from Mr. Peter Coulter, Manager - AT&T International about international call blocking from payphones] I went through the letter twice and (correct me if I'm wrong), all he is saying is that if you want to make international calls from a payphone, they have to be: (a) collect calls, or (b) third-party billed calls, or, of course (something he didn't mention) (c) coin calls. When I had written a similar letter to Mr. Robert Allen last year, the local AT&T representative who had called in response had suggested another option: (d) mention her name and ask the operator (or the supervisor on duty) to lift the blocking for that particular call. As I had mentioned in an earlier message, that did work for me when I encountered call blocking on a *residential* phone. So, that might be another thing to try if you need to make an international call from a pay phone. Ravinder Bhumbla rbhumbla@ucsd.edu U. of California, San Diego