John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> (04/10/90)
While on a Sprint call this evening, I suddenly remembered why it is
that I don't use Sprint on a regular basis. About thirty minutes into
the conversation, there were some strange noises, I could no longer
hear the other end and finally we were disconnected.
Thinking back, I can't remember a single time when I *haven't* been
disconnected by Sprint during the course of a lengthy call. Has anyone
else noticed this?
With the media advertising by Sprint and MCI, as well as the pushy
salestypes who call at the dinner hour, I have had a thought.
Ninety-nine percent of the sales push is the "low rates". In other
words, the only real consideration when choosing a long distance
company is "how much does it cost?" Well, to this I take exception. I
don't own the cheapest TV set, automobile, watch, camera, etc. Why
not? Because there are other considerations to be weighed when making
any purchase or contracting for any service. How does the product fill
my needs and how reliable is it? These and other considerations are
usually more important than cost.
As for me and my house, I'd rather pay a few cents more for the call
and be able to talk continuously.
John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395
john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !David Robbins <dcr0@gte.com> (04/12/90)
From article <6229@accuvax.nwu.edu>, by john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon): > Thinking back, I can't remember a single time when I *haven't* been > disconnected by Sprint during the course of a lengthy call. Has anyone > else noticed this? I have been a Sprint user for approximately five years, and have *never* experienced a disconnection such as you describe. My volume of usage is relatively low, but my calls tend to last from 30-60 minutes, and are made at all times of day. The only problem Sprint has ever given me was a real winner, though: on a Thanksgiving Day back in '84 or '85, I placed a call thru Sprint that got hung up somewhere within their network -- it didn't complete and it wouldn't let go of my line. It took two calls to Sprint from a pay phone, and about four hours, to get them to let go of my line! But they were prompt and courteous about removing the charge from my bill. Dave Robbins GTE Laboratories Incorporated drobbins@bunny.gte.com 40 Sylvan Rd. Waltham, MA 02254 ...!harvard!bunny!drobbins CYA: I speak only for myself; GTE may disagree with what I say.
Ranjit Bhatnagar <ranjit@grad2.cis.upenn.edu> (04/12/90)
In article <6229@accuvax.nwu.edu> John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 245, Message 3 of 11 >Thinking back, I can't remember a single time when I *haven't* been >disconnected by Sprint during the course of a lengthy call. Has anyone >else noticed this? Just to add another data point, I've been using Sprint for an average of three calls longer than 30 minutes each week, coast-to-coast, for nearly three years, and I've never been disconnected. - r. "Trespassers w" ranjit@eniac.seas.upenn.edu mailrus!eecae!netnews!eniac!...
john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon) (04/12/90)
Well, it's amazing what you can learn when you open your mouth in this
forum. My complaints about Sprint have triggered a flood (well, maybe
a small stream) of mail commenting about Sprint's service quality. My
observation is that they have never had good FGD service here, but in
other areas it is quite satisfactory.
Writers have indicated that when they lived in or near San Jose,
Sprint service was decidedly defective. Long conversations
disconnected repeatedly, the voice quality was not all that great, it
was frequently difficult to get through, and the whole system would
seem to go down occasionally. It has also been pointed out that when
these people would move out of the area, they found Sprint service to
be remarkably better in other areas.
The conclusion I am drawing is that one or more of the following
conditions exist. Sprint has inferior connections (maybe even analog)
to the San Jose area. Pac*Bell has provided Sprint with inferior
interfacing to the POP for San Jose. The incredibly ancient CO
equipment in this area cannot handle the more modern technology used
by Sprint. AT&T has been dealing with this area longer and somehow
makes do better.
Anyone really have knowledge about the inferior Sprint service in San
Jose?
David Robbins <dcr0@gte.com> of Waltham, MA,
Ranjit Bhatnagar <ranjit@grad2.cis.upenn.edu> of Pennsylvania, and
Steve Elias <eli@pws.bull.com> apparently of Mass. have written:
To say that they have had great luck with Sprint. Do you notice
anything in common with all of the above? Hint: East Coast. Sprint has
apparently not put such care into its facilities out here, no?
John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395
john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !steck@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (Steck Thomas) (04/13/90)
In article <6273@accuvax.nwu.edu> eli@spdcc.com writes: X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 247, Message 9 of 14 >John Higdon writes about all sorts of "disconnects" while using Sprint >as an LD carrier. Here's another datapoint: Just last night, on a call from Maryland (Baltimore area) to Newport Rhode Island, I was disconnected twice by US Sprint, and once by MCI. I finally decided to complete the call through AT&T and had no problems. In all three cases, the call weas about 10-15 minutes long when interrupted. US Sprint disconnected completely, with no warning. MCI suddenly gave me a dead phone, but my friend in Rhode Island could hear me perfectly. Strange happenings ... maybe the full moon has something to do with it? Tom Steck
djo@pacbell.com (Dan'l DanehyOakes) (04/13/90)
In article <6229@accuvax.nwu.edu> John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com> writes: >Thinking back, I can't remember a single time when I *haven't* been >disconnected by Sprint during the course of a lengthy call. Has anyone >else noticed this? On a related note (no pun intended... you'll see why): Some friends and I started a Dungeons & Dragons game back in '76. Some years later (I'm not sure when, but it had to be approximately '83), Peter da Silva was participating on a fairly-regular basis by telephone (Houston to Berkeley), with a speakerphone at our end so he could converse with the other players "as if" he were physically present. (Oh, boy -- telepresence in gaming. A new first...) We were using Sprint (still SPCC in those dim primeval days). One Saturday night, the game was rolling along. My daughter, age approx. 1 year at the time, was sitting in her playpen in the living room, wanting attention. She let out a very high-pitched "eeeeee". The speakerphone replied with dial tone. We all wondered why Peter had hung up on us. Peter called back a few seconds later, and wondered why *we* had hung up on *him*. Anyone familiar with the exploits of my former employer, Cap'n Crunch, or any other such telepirate will have already surmised what happened, but it took us several more rounds of "eeee" - dialtone before we did. Our daughter had, quite by chance, "eeee"ed at the disconnect tone for the SPCC network signalling system. And, finding that the speakerphone did something funny when she did it, repeated the experiment. *sigh* They say it's a fact that you head is cracked, I think that you are loco... Your cerebral vault has a single fault, I think that you are loco... You're a paranoid and your head's a void, I think that you are loco... The Roach
drew@pro-europa.cts.com (Andrew Freeman) (04/13/90)
In-Reply-To: message from john@zygot.ati.com
I have Sprint and I have not ever been disconnected. I guess that is
pretty strange. I am probably going to subscribe to the AT&T new LD
service. Pay $2 a month and receive 20-25% off all calls! That is a
pretty nice deal.
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inet: drew@pro-europa.cts.com bitnet: pro-europa.uucp!drew@psuvax1
america online: Drew5