"DOUGLAS SCOTT REUBEN)" <DREUBEN@eagle.wesleyan.edu> (09/23/90)
Hi- I was going over my Roam charges for Cell One/San Francisco, and noticed that not only was I billed the $2 daily charge for the SF area, but they also billed me $2 for going to Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa, both of which are "part" of the Cell One/SF system. When I first called Cell One/SF in June, I asked "What is the extent of your coverage area?", and after that, "Could you please tell me your system ID code so that I can set it in my phone so the "ROAM" light will come on when I leave you area..." (and not have to pay Roam charges for temporarily calling from another system)? They (VERY politely, with NO hesitation!) told me "Oh, sure, it's 00041, and as long as you don't see the ROAM light come on, you'll definitely be in our area...". Now when I was down in Santa Cruz, or up in Petaluma (in the Santa Rosa "Zone"), my "ROAM" light didn't show up, yet Cell One/SF insists that both the Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa systems have different System ID numbers. I was told Santa Cruz was something like 30041 and Santa Rosa was 50041. (Can't recall exactly.) If this is the case, why didn't my phone show ROAM while I was in those areas? Is the first digit (ie, the 3 or 5 in this case) insignificant, ie, do cell phones ignore it for purposes of comparison with the "home" Sys. ID code in the phone? A friend of mine who has Cell One/SF as her "home" system says that when she goes down to Santa Cruz her "ROAM" light doesn't go on, and she isn't billed anything extra or at higher airtime rates. So is this just some way to rip-off Roamers unsuspectingly? (Which in my experience with Cell One would be quite atypical). I try to make every effort not to incur lots of daily charges, including programming my phone so I can tell when I'm in a new system, but if I can't tell when I am "roaming" by the "ROAM" indicator, how can I tell?? The amount in question was only $18, so it's more the principle of the thing that concerns me. Anyone else notice this? (I am on GTE so this is the first time I noticed this myself...) Just wondering. Doug dreuben@eagle.wesleyan.edu dreuben@wesleyan.bitnet