T720019@univscvm.csd.scarolina.edu (Volkhart Baumgaertner) (08/10/90)
In TELECOM DIGEST #492 I described the problems I had getting telephone service. I wrote: > I am just about to move, and my new roommate (who is also my >landlord) had another roommate some time ago who had a phone in his >own name and apparently still owes the phone company about 140 >Dollars. When I called Southern Bells customer service here in >Columbia (SC) to order my line, my order was taken, but I was told >that I could only get my installation if my roommate's former >roommate paid his debts. I was asked to post the results of my attempts to get service, and here is what has happened in the meantime: First, I tried to find my roommates ex-roommate, which turned out to be impossible (as i have learned, there is even a warrant out for him - for what I don't know - , so he disappeared). This did not make a difference to Southern Bell (I talked to an assistant manager of their SC state headquarters) who claim that anybody who lived in the place while the phone was there and had access to it is also responsible for the bills, whether the phone was in his name and he had signed for it or not (which was both not the case with my roommate), and accordingly they said they would not install a phone in ANY name at that address as long as the bill wasn't paid and my roommate were still living there. The PUC confirmed that this practice conforms to their regulations, and when I called a friend who is a lawyer he said that, legally, there really is no way to force them to install my phone line; one could only try to convince them. I finally had my supervisor at work call them (I have a summer job at the President's Office at the University of South Carolina, as network manager of their Novell net, and I am a graduate assistant during the semesters). He got them to install me a line without the ridiculously high deposit of $ 240.- that they originally wanted, in fact without any deposit. However, they said that my roommate would have to make an arrangement with them within 30 days to pay the open bill, or it would be cut off again. So, after all, my roommate will actually have to pay his ex-roommate's bill (after already having given him his share !!), although he did not sign for the account. This may be legal - at least in South Carolina -, and I understand that Southern Bell want to be paid for the service they provided, but I still don't think this way of forcing another person than the account holder to pay for it is a fair business practice; in fact, where I come from (Germany) we call it blackmail. But I guess that's just the way it is over here. Volkhart Baumgaertner BITNET: T720019@univscvm INTERNET: T720019@univscvm.csd.scarolina.edu