Pat_Barron@transarc.com (12/20/90)
This seems like the obvious solution for avoiding being slammed. I called up my LEC's customer service number, and told them that I *never* wanted to have my long distance carrier switched without *written* authorization from me, personally. They said "fine", and noted my records to that effect.
wales@cs.ucla.edu (Rich Wales) (12/25/90)
Pat Barron said: >This seems like the obvious solution for avoiding being slammed. I >called up my LEC's customer service number, and told them that I >*never* wanted to have my long dis- tance carrier switched without >*written* authorization from me, personally. They said "fine", and >noted my records to that effect. When I called my local company (GTE) some time back and made an iden- tical request, they flagged my phone records so that they would only accept a long-distance carrier switch from me, personally. I told them I only wanted them to honor a request from me in writing. However, the GTE representative refused to do this; he said GTE would continue to accept a verbal LD carrier switch, provided the caller sat- isfied them (via either my driver's license number or Social Security Number) that he was me. I asked if there were any way to make my phone records more secure than this, and was given the option of associating a "code name" with their records. Then, someone calling up GTE and claiming to be me would have to supply said "code name" (in addition to either DL# or SS#) before the phone company would deal with them. I did this. I called GTE again just now, and verified that my phone number is indeed marked with a "no slamming" flag in accordance with my earlier request. For practical purposes, I suspect that this will suffice to block most ordinary "slam" efforts. What GTE might do if I were to send them a =letter= (via certified mail with return receipt, of course) demanding no LD carrier switches without my personal signature, I can't say. Rich Wales <wales@CS.UCLA.EDU> // UCLA Computer Science Department 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, CA 90024-1596 // +1 (213) 825-5683