covert%covert.DEC@decwrl.dec.com (John R. Covert) (03/14/89)
>PacTel Cellular may be the only cellular operator in the country that >charges the moment you hit the s(p)end button, whether the call is >answered or not. This means you are charged for busys, no answers, >reorders, etc. PacTel isn't the only one; the so-called competition in L.A. (L.A. Cellular) is tariffed by the California PUC for exactly the same rates. The tariff provides that airtime is charged at 50% of the going rate when calls are not answered. Bell Atlantic in Washington, D.C., charges something like ten cents for each incomplete call. >Are there any other systems in the country that are this slimy? Ameritech in Chicago doesn't charge their own subscribers for incomplete calls -- but they charge roamers twenty-five cents (plus tax) for incomplete calls. It will show up on your bill as "INCOMPLETE CL". That, in my opinion, is even slimier. A roamer who tries to make one call while changing planes at O'Hare will be billed $2.25 plus .11 Illinois tax plus federal tax, even though the call didn't answer. >It also means that you are timed from the button push, >not from the point that the call is answered. Almost all systems begin charging airtime from when the send button is pressed (but mostly only on completed calls). Cellular One in Washington was not one of them, but has announced that they will begin to do so shortly. Some systems begin charging airtime on incoming calls from the point at which the phone is found in the system (shortly before it begins ringing). Here in Boston, NYNEX was doing it until I pointed out that their tariff provided for charging from when the phone was answered (and also pointed out that I think it's a safety hazard to rush a driver into answering the phone because the meter's running rather than sizing up the traffic situation and possibly looking for a place to stop). /john
Karl Denninger <karl@ddsw1.mcs.com> (04/06/90)
David Tamkin wrote: >Recently the moderator reported that both cellular providers in the >Chicago area, Ameritech Mobile and Cellular One, ...backdate airtime >charges on completed calls to when the caller pressed "send". That is >true only of Ameritech Mobile; Cellular One does not charge. Used to be true. Not any more. We got a nice notice with our last bill that "To adjust our billing to the standards in the industry, as of April 1, billing will commence with the start of ringing on completed calls." Thanks Cellular One. Your telephone monopoly at work! Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, <well-connected>!ddsw1!karl) Public Access Data Line: [+1 708 566-8911], Voice: [+1 708 566-8910] Macro Computer Solutions, Inc. "Quality Solutions at a Fair Price"