0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E. Kimberlin) (09/27/90)
And Now Ladies and Gentlemen -- COCOT/AOS Slamming!
Yep, you got it: That fine group of citizens that sell AOS services
have gotten into the slamming act, too. Here's an excerpt from AT&T's
summary of recent news about how New Jersey COCOTs are getting THEIR
Long Distance access slammed:
"PAY PHONE -- ... Responding to reports of ... inconsistencies [in pay
phone charges], the [N.J.] State Board of Public Utilities said it
would take a closer look at the practices of alternative operator
companies that provide long-distance services to thousands of pay
phones ... across the state. ... All six telephones in the Hudson
County Administration Building lobby, for example, contain cards
indicating that long-distance calls are handled by AT&T.
Notwithstanding that, one of the phones, until recently, was serviced
by an alternative operator. ... Apparently, [said one county
official], a salesman for an AOS company had simply called the number
of a payphone and asked whoever answered for authorization to provide
the company's services. ... New York Times, p. 1, N.J. sec., 9/23."
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Truly, truly, Alexander Graham Bell must be filling Telephone Heaven
with tears ... to see the slimy mess of a marketplace his proud
invention has become.
[Moderator's Note: Alex got out of the phone business almost as soon
as he got in ... after the first couple years, he lost all interest in
the business and ceased to have any management role. He of course
remained a major stockholder in Bell Telephone, a/k/a AT&T until his
death, and his wife Mabel remained a major stockholder until her death
several years later. PAT]
amb@ai.mit.edu (09/28/90)
AT&T has run advertisments for quite a while now in NYC urging payphone owners to check their carrier, with a special number to call to reports changes. It's not just COCOTs, but regular Bell phones, that have been getting slammed. On a similar note, in Grand Central station, in which all of the phones were a year ago changed to have as their default carrier "Sprint PublicFON Service", enough rail riders have complained that they are now going back to AT&T. At least they aren't COCOTS yet.