jxh@attain.uucp (Jim Hickstein) (10/27/90)
*flame on*
I have been reading in this Digest about the evils of COCOTs and AOSs
(which I read with relish), but I haven't had the misfortune of being
forced to use them, until now. Let the titans of telecom argue
economics: this is a call to arms from one of the peons.
I just got my phone bill for last month, covering a trip I made to
Wisconsin and Minnesota. On my way back to Minneapolis from eastern
Wisconsin I stopped in Chippewa Falls to call a friend who was
expecting me in Minneapolis some time that afternoon. A six-hour trip
by car has enough variability that I need to connect when I get toward
the end of the trip. I did not have my cellular phone, and it
probably wouldn't have worked in this small, rural town. Iridium is a
few years away (and probably over my budget) so I had no choice: I had
to use a public phone. I have done this a number of times over the
years, but never even noticed what it cost me. It's about 80 miles,
interstate, inter-LATA. No big deal, right?
I knew there would be trouble, since I could not find a BOC coin
phone. But I had the presence of mind to dial 00 and demand the name
and address of the company responsible for what I knew would be an
outrage. I don't remember the name, but they said they were in
Neenah, Wisconsin. I didn't hear them identify themselves as AT&T or,
for that matter, anyone I had ever heard of before in my life. I had
a sinking feeling.
I placed the call, and it went through, although the phone disabled the
DTMF pad after it was convinced I was through with it. No problem,
*this time*. 10xxx did not work. I do not *know* the 950-xxxx number
for AT&T, and cannot reasonably be expected to know it. In fact, I
cannot reasonably be expected to know 10288: only my exposure to this
digest makes me one of the few who *do* know it. How carefully do you
read all the inserts in your phone bill? (I mean normal people. :-) My
grandmother, who once asked me what a satellite TVRO dish was, can
barely be reasonably expected to know how to place a *pre-MFJ* DDD
call. That's why there are operators, she says. It's hard to argue
with that.
This time, for two minutes during the day, (probably 1.01 minutes, but
that's neither here nor there) using my Pacific*Bell Calling Card, it
cost me --> $4.27 <--. This was on its own sheet bearing the logotype
of the Operator Assistance Network (OAN). Pacific*Bell has a billing
arrangement with them, evidently. Over $1.00 of that was a line item
called "LOCAL TAX." Hmmm. Can you say "highway robbery"? Can you
say "string the bast*rds up by their b*lls?" And I only do this once
or twice a year! What about my brother, who travels extensively
throughout five states? Granted, his employer bears the cost, but
it's still my money if I buy their product. And it is absolutely
unnecessary.
This particular gas station has had BOC coin phones for *decades*.
(I've been making this call for some time, now.) Clearly, they were
*removed* to make way for the zero-armed bandit. "Greater public
service." Sure.
Tell me where to write, and write I shall. And raise Hell along the
way. These things are a scam and should be AGAINST THE LAW. If
people want to go into business in this society, they should fill a
need in the marketplace, or expect to be out of business before long.
I do not see how charging me what I figure to be 5 times the going
rate for *anything* fills a need of mine. I equate this with
organized crime. (Hmmm ... I wonder if there's an unusually high
number of COCOTs outside pizza parlors. :-)
Remember that TV ad a few years back where people came screaming out
into the hallway of an office, holding pink telephones, with bare
wires dangling, demanding the head of the responsible party on a
plate? We need to do that with these things.
*flame off* Sorry about that. I needed to get this off my chest.
By the way, another such phone in rural western Wisconsin gave me so
much grief that I finally commandeered the red 2500-set on top of the
cash register, placed there for the credit transaction terminal's use,
to make my call. I guess I sounded like I knew what I was talking
about, because the cashier did not object once I assured him that it
was a "credit card call." I'm afraid the irony was lost on him. :-)
Jim Hickstein, Teradyne/Attain, San Jose CA
jxh%attain.teradyne.com@apple.com ...!{amdcad!teda,sun!teda,apple}!attain!jxh