ken@sharkey.cc.umich.edu> (08/02/90)
I should preface this by saying I am a happy Sprint customer and have been one for 6+ years. With a residential bill that runs $100+ a month, I'd change carriers if I had any problems. Given that, I just found one Sprint billing practice that I do not like. Fortunately, it doesn't occur that often. If you make a FONcard call on Sprint from a rotary phone (using the 800- 877-8000 number), you obviously cannot tone in the number you want or your FONcard number. This is not a problem, because the Sprint operator comes on line and places your call. The problem is that you get billed the FONcard surcharge AND the Operator assist surcharge. Sprint does not make allowances for rotary phones (confirmed by their customer service rep -- answered before first ring!) I called AT&T to refresh my memory. As long as you dial the number (0 +), AT&T will not charge the Operator assist surcharge. Comparing apples to apples, Sprint probably wouldn't either, given that I had dialed 10333+0+, but I was in the backwaters of North Dakota and equal access did not apply. Ken Jongsma ken@wybbs.mi.org Smiths Industries ken%wybbs@sharkey.umich.edu Grand Rapids, Michigan ..sharkey.cc.umich.edu!wybbs!ken
John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com> (08/03/90)
Ken Jongsma <wybbs!ken@sharkey.cc.umich.edu> writes: > I called AT&T to refresh my memory. As long as you dial the number > (0 +), AT&T will not charge the Operator assist surcharge. Comparing > apples to apples, Sprint probably wouldn't either, given that I had > dialed 10333+0+, but I was in the backwaters of North Dakota and equal > access did not apply. Still not apples to apples. If you dial 10333+0+, you will have to enter in or give the operator an AT&T card number -- your FO(O)N Card won't work. Unless you dial 800 877-8000, Sprint won't accept its OWN CARD NUMBER! At least AT&T accepts one number for alternative billing no matter how you make your call. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
la063249@zach.fit.edu (Bill Huttig) (08/05/90)
In article <10405@accuvax.nwu.edu> John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com> writes: >Still not apples to apples. If you dial 10333+0+, you will have to >enter in or give the operator an AT&T card number -- your FO(O)N Card You are not using your AT&T calling card number; you are giving your local phone company card number ... AT&T numbers are assigned by a local telco. Bill Huttig
"Joel B. Levin" <levin@bbn.com> (08/11/90)
From: John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com> >Still not apples to apples. If you dial 10333+0+, you will have to >enter in or give the operator an AT&T card number -- your FO(O)N Card >won't work. Unless you dial 800 877-8000, Sprint won't accept its OWN >CARD NUMBER! At least AT&T accepts one number for alternative billing >no matter how you make your call. Not necessarily. I still don't understand what happened exactly, but: I was visiting my parents in Tucson and I called home. Forgetting that they default to Sprint, I placed the call using my AT&T Universal number. After entering it, a Sprint operator came on and requested the number. I gave it again and he told me it was a number private to AT&T and he couldn't use it. I tried my New England Telco number (which has worked at payphones with all three main carriers and a number of smaller ones), but the one that worked was my FON card number! If I had entered my NET number at the bong in the first place, all this might never have happened. JBL levin@bbn.com ...!bbn!levin (617) 873-3463