[comp.dcom.telecom] Dealing with Telephone Subscribers Who Fail to Pay Their Bill

larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) (09/17/89)

In article: <telecom-v09i0377m01@vector.dallas.tx.us> carroll1!dtroup@uunet.
uu.net (Dave Troup) writes:
> One of the interesting operations that GTE participates in when you
> have not paid your phone bill is to NOT disconnect your line, but
> rather call block OUTGOING calls...except 800's. When they did this to
> myself, I didnt care because I almost never made any local calls...one
> call to the Sprint # or AT&T Conference and I could make all the long
> distance calls just like usual. After a couple months of this, I
> finally got enough $$ to pay my bill. Local service wasnt connected
> for ANOTHER 3 WEEKS...but was I bothered? Nope. Thanks GTE :)

	That was indeed rather nice of GTE to permit 800 calls, but none
other.  Perhaps their business office was an 800-number, and they wanted
you to be able to still call them to make payment arrangements? :-)

	The above selective denial of service can, of course, only be
provided with an ESS office.  All other telephone companies that I know
of simply deny all outgoing service, with not even a dial tone.

	In a SxS or XY office we would deny outgoing but still permit
incoming service by either of two methods: (1) removing the connection
on the distributing frame which connected the "deadbeat" line to its
linefinder group, leaving the connector group jumper in place; (2) placing
two plastic insulating sleeves over contacts on the cutoff relay in the
linefinder group, thereby lifting the connection to the line relay.

	When the customer still did not pay their bill after 10 days,
we REALLY got nasty. :-)  We yanked his protector, thereby opening the
subscriber pair, and we wired his line to an intercept recorder stating
that "The number you have dialed is temporarily out of service."  We
actually left all of the other MDF jumpers in place for several weeks so
that if the customer repented and paid his bill plus a service restoral
charge, all we had to do was replace the protector and remove the intercept
trunk jumper.

	Working in a central office, at times like this, was not unlike
that of playing God. :-)

	In a crossbar office, service denial methods similar to the above
would be employed.  In an ESS office, denial of outgoing service is
performed as a command function through the maintenance tty.

<>  Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp. - Uniquex Corp. - Viatran Corp.
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dtroup@uunet.uu.net (Dave Troup) (09/20/89)

In article <telecom-v09i0386m01@vector.dallas.tx.us> kitty!larry@uunet.uu.net (Larry Lippman) writes:
>	That was indeed rather nice of GTE to permit 800 calls, but none
>other.  Perhaps their business office was an 800-number, and they wanted
>you to be able to still call them to make payment arrangements? :-)
>

	Yep. They wanted me to call they're 800 customer
	service number to work out the bill and my
	possible payment. I must thank them for making
	my connection to them (the the rest of the world)
	as easy as calling an 800 number. "Let your
	fingers do the walking.."


"We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, knowin' that ain't allowed"__         _______  _______________    |David C. Troup / Surf Rat
    _______)(______   |         |dtroup@carroll1.cc.edu : mail