eli@pws.bull.com (Steve Elias) (07/30/90)
John, I don't see the point of your embarassment. Your original comment about Sprint's billing still stands. It's been fixed for a long time now. As for the Telebit connection problem, that's another story. If billing is your criterion, Sprint and ATT seem to be on equal footing. If Telebit techno-questions with the LD carrier are important to you, then it looks like ATT still wins. BTW, John. you have ten residence phone lines?? That is truly outlandish! And people call me a telecom geek just because I have an 800 number!
John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com> (08/01/90)
Steve Elias <eli@pws.bull.com> writes: > John, I don't see the point of your embarassment. Your original > comment about Sprint's billing still stands. This is true, however my post tended to sound like a Sprint commercial. My embarrassment was that I had lightly skimmed over the billing vs. SMDR without noticing that while the calls were all accounted for properly, Sprint was screwing me over big time in the fact that it wasn't carrying my data. It was simply correctly billing for the failed attempts. > As for the Telebit connection problem, that's another > story. If billing is your criterion, Sprint and ATT seem to be on > equal footing. If Telebit techno-questions with the LD carrier are > important to you, then it looks like ATT still wins. Again, very true. In my conversation with Sprint's "computer and modem" person, the data rate came up. "Oh, we don't guarantee 9600 baud transmissions and FAX. There are too many ways there can be problems." This is most interesting, since as I was speaking to him, I was looking at my bill insert which glowingly hawked the advantages of using Sprint for "sharp, clear, FAX transmissions." When I suggested that a major use of long distance, at least by me, was PEP transmissions, he said, "I hate to suggest that you use the competition, but that might be necessary in this case." That's a quote. Then he said that it might be possible to work with their repair department in solving the problem, particularly if I told them about my AT&T experience with calls to Kansas and told them what AT&T had found. At this point I lost interest in performing as Sprint's unpaid consultant, thanked the gentleman for his time, and removed "10333" from entries in my Systems file. > BTW, John. you have ten residence phone lines?? That is truly > outlandish! And people call me a telecom geek just because I have an > 800 number! One can never have too many phone lines! John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
jshelton@ADS.COM (John L. Shelton) (08/01/90)
Note that yesterday's (31-Jul) {Wall Street Journal} had an article on
Sprint's continuing financial woes. One of the major points of the
article was that their billing problems seem to be returning. Watch
out!
=John=john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon) (08/02/90)
AT&T NEWS BRIEFS
[All items are today's date unless otherwise noted]
Tuesday, July 31, 1990
MARKETPLACE -- US Sprint's long-distance telephone service, the
company advertises, uses a fiber-optic network so pure "you can
hear a pin drop." That phrase might also describe the stunned
silence ... after [Sprint lost] $42 million in the second quarter.
[...] The problem, [says Sprint's chairman,
William T. Esrey], has been a matter of resources. "We have been
outmanned - outpersoned - and outgunned, by AT&T in particular,"
says the executive, who is lobbying hard against any FCC move to
unshackle the industry leader. ... Wall Street Journal, A1.
-----------------------
I have an alternative explanation as to what the problem might be.
It's called "service to the customer". And it is not a matter of
resources; it is a matter of attitude.
On Sunday, I reported a problem with my Trailblazer speaking over a
Sprint circuit to San Diego. I corrected the problem temporarily by
using AT&T, but have called daily to see if Sprint was even working on
it. Finally today, Wednesday, I reached someone who had the tenacity
to get an answer from the technical department. The findings? The
problem is "in the customer's equipment". (Sounds like GTE, no?)
I explained to the person that there was no problem with the
equipment, in fact there was no problem with Sprint except to San
Diego. She asked, "Do you want me to reenter the trouble report?" "Do
you want my business?" "Of course we want your business!" "Then it
will have to work, won't it?" And then there was one more, "Maybe you
should call your vendor and have your equipment checked." "Not
necessary. Even as we speak the equipment is talking, successfully, to
two other sites." "Ok. I'll make out another trouble ticket."
Now you have to understand that the only reason I'm wasting my time
with all this is that my curiousity is aroused concerning Sprint's
ability to handle customers. If I was not so interested, Sprint would
have lost my business flat, and I would have patronized a carrier that
could serve my needs, as will probably end up being the case.
As my friends say, quoting a line from Stan Freberg's "The United
States of America" -- "When are you going to stop fooling around with
these nuts?"
John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395
john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !