Robert.Savery@f666.n285.z1.fidonet.org (Robert Savery) (04/08/90)
In several recent articles, various people have commented on the way
they receive their bills ( either from the local telco or in a
separate bill from the LD carrier ).
Here's a tale I think might amuse y'all.
For quite some time, both my parents and I had MidAmerican Long
Distance as our primary carriers at home. About 6 months ago,
MidAmerican was bought out by Telecom USA. I was never notified that
my carrier was "changed". I only found out when my mom asked me if I
had looked over the info Telecom USA sent out. After my "huh?" reply,
she told me about the change. Looking it over, we decided there was no
real difference in service, so no need to change (unless rates went
up). I promptly forgot the whole thing.
About a month later, I got a call from a telemarketer asking if I'd be
interested in switching to Telecom USA for my 1+ long distance
dialing.I explained to him I already had Telecom USA. I also mentioned
that I had not received the info packet at the time of the switch
over. To make a long story short, I received an info package 2-3 days
later. A couple of days after that, another call from telemarketing
wanting to know if, after reviewing the info I requested, would I like
to sign up? Again, I explained I was already a customer. The response
was something like " Oh, well would you like to sign up for a calling
card?" Having reached the limit of my endurance with telemarketers (
@15 seconds ) I said no. Every things back to normal right? Wrong!!
A couple of weeks ago, Dad called to ask my opinion of the flyer
Telecom had sent with the latest bill. Knowing the teleco bill would
not arrive for another couple of weeks, I asked what bill? I turns
out, ever since the merger, they had been receiving a separate bill
from Telecom USA. I immediately checked my teleco bills, and sure
enough, there was my charges for the long distance calls I'd made.
As far as I'm concerned, I rather have the LD calls along with the
rest of the bill as this saves me money ( cost of stamps, check
charges, and time). It would also seem to me, the LD carriers would
want combined billing as a money saving measure. As long as the charge
the teleco wanted to do this was not more than the cost of maintaining
their own billing dept, then their profit margin would be higher.
BOB
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