0002293637@mcimail.com (Krislyn Companies) (10/15/90)
To those who noted the couple of rate increases on MCI Mail:
Don't forget about the fact that, in the past 18 months or so, MCI
Mail ...
-- introduced toll-free access.
-- lowered rates for the average email message (501-2500 characters) by 25%
(from $1.00 to $.75).
-- lowered fax rates from $.60 for the first 1/2 page and $.40 for add'l
half-pages to $.50/$.30.
-- introduced the Preferred Pricing option which gives up to 75% savings
for the first 40 email messages and/or pages of fax.
I don't like price increases either, but there are two sides to this
coin.
Paul Wilczynski
Krislyn Computer Services
MCI Mail AgencyDREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu) (DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN) (10/15/90)
Not only is MCI going to charge $35 per year for a mailbox, but in my
bill insert there was also a line saying:
"Letterhead and Signature Graphics: $30.00/Year"
Signature and graphics used to be FREE...one would pay a $20
registration fee and have no annual "storage" charges for this
service.
MCI claims that "...[T]he changes in pricing are a response to higher
costs and MCI's efforts to unify pricing while continuing to provide
customers with the highest quality communications services."
(^^^^^^^ = priced?! )
Hmmm ... I guess the costs for storing my signature and letterhead
must have gone up dramatically, no? ;-)
$65/year is way too high to pay for this service ... do any of the
other E-mail providers out there allow users to store and print
letterheads/sigs. on paper and/or fax letters?
Doug
dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu
dreuben@wesleyan.bitnetjdominey@bsga05.attmail.com (10/16/90)
In V10#737, Douglas Scott Reuben (dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu) plaintively inquires: >Not only is MCI going to charge $35 per year for a mailbox, but in my >bill insert there was also a line saying: >"Letterhead and Signature Graphics: $30.00/Year" >... do any of the other E-mail providers out there allow users to store and >print letterheads/sigs. on paper and/or fax letters? AT&T Mail charges $12/year for Signatures, Logos, and Letterheads. There's no one-time fee. I have most of the pricing for AT&T Mail available, but it's in print rather than on-line. But I'd be willing to key most of it in and submit it to the Digest if there's Overwhelming Public Demand. And if you'd like to order an AT&T Mail account, or get some glossy brochures, the number is 800-624-5672. Or 800-MAIL672, if you prefer. Jack Dominey AT&T Commercial Marketing 800-241-4285 AT&T Mail !jdominey
tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) (10/20/90)
In article <13548@accuvax.nwu.edu>, 0002293637@mcimail.com (Krislyn Companies) writes: > To those who noted the couple of rate increases on MCI Mail: > Don't forget about the fact that, in the past 18 months or so, MCI > Mail ... -- introduced toll-free access. But when I complained about the ending of the local numbers, they told me they were centralizing the service via MCI 800 numbers as a COST SAVING MEASURE. > -- lowered rates for the average email message (501-2500 characters) by 25% > (from $1.00 to $.75). > -- lowered fax rates from $.60 for the first 1/2 page and $.40 for add'l > half-pages to $.50/$.30. So the 40% increase in mailbox fees is a CROSS SUBSIDY? > -- introduced the Preferred Pricing option which gives up to 75% savings > for the first 40 email messages and/or pages of fax. But you PAY $10 per month for this! > I don't like price increases either, but there are two sides to this > coin. And this is verbatim the company line that my MCI Mail agency rep gave me! > Paul Wilczynski > Krislyn Computer Services > MCI Mail Agency OH! ANOTHER MCI Mail agency rep! In article <13547@accuvax.nwu.edu>, DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu) (DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN) writes: > Not only is MCI going to charge $35 per year for a mailbox, but in my > bill insert there was also a line saying: > "Letterhead and Signature Graphics: $30.00/Year" I finally got a response from MCI on my rate complaint. They couldn't answer right away because they were in the middle of moving. Because of the lack of response, I sent a message to Bert Roberts, MCI chairman. (One of the neat things about MCI Mail is that you can enter a name, and see who is on there. You can send mail to Bill Gates and John Sculley too.) One of the folks who called me back was answering my message to Roberts. The company line from marketing is that they hadn't raised their rates in "several years" (I pointed out that I had only owned a PC since July 88, and was an MCI Mail subscriber sometime after that. I remember the last 40% rate increase, so it can't have been "several years.") They said that in the mean time, they had added lots of new features, like FAX dispatch, and 800 access. I pointed out that these are all features that one pays for individually, so it does not make sense to say that this is the reason (well, 800 service you don't pay for ... but signature graphics you do). So if they were raising the mailbox fee because of these features, then that means that the low volume users are cross-subsidizing the pay-per-use features. I also pointed out that when they made the 800 service universal, they eliminated my local access numbers, which I had complained about at that time. There were times back then when the 800 service experienced blockage, and I needed to use the local numbers. Anyway, when I complained previously about the ending of the local service, they told me they were doing some cost saving to centralize the access via 800 service. So this time around, I asked: "How can you now say that you are raising the rates to pay for a service that was originally instituted for cost saving??" Bottom line: They are raising the rates. Period. One interesting thing ... the billing insert didn't say this, but the rep pointed out that since I am on the $10 per month high volume plan, I don't pay an annual fee anyway. Tad Cook Seattle, WA Packet: KT7H @ N7HFZ.WA.USA.NA Phone: 206/527-4089 MCI Mail: 3288544 Telex: 6503288544 MCI UW USENET:...uw-beaver!sumax!amc-gw!ssc!tad or, tad@ssc.UUCP
ccplumb@spurge.uwaterloo.ca (Colin Plumb) (11/04/90)
In article <13814@accuvax.nwu.edu> tad@ssc.UUCP (Tad Cook) writes: > (One of the neat things about MCI Mail is that you can > enter a name, and see who is on there. You can send mail to Bill > Gates and John Sculley too.) Wouldn't billg@microsoft.uucp or <examine Apple's naming convention>@apple.com work just as well? (P.S. mail to billg@microsoft, at least, hits a mail filter first, which passes the Turing test. I believe it's traditionally called a "secretary.") -Colin [Moderator's Note: Certainly your address for him works as well as via MCI. If someone has an Internet account it might be even faster. PAT]