sparks@kvue.UUCP (10/13/87)
Recently, my wife and I were contacted by a representative of U.S. Sprint who informed us that "Sprint One-Plus service is now available in your area", and asked us to "confirm our address". At no time during the conversation did the representative ask us to change our direct access LD carrier to Sprint, nor inform us that she would change our LD carrier, and we did not agree to such a change. We immediately contacted a Sprint Customer Service representative at the 800 number, related the story, and asked Sprint not to take any further action. The rep told us that he would "flag our account" and that Sprint would _not_ request Southwestern Bell to change our carrier. We also sent a notarized letter to Southwestern Bell (at Bell's request) stating that we did not want our direct access LD carrier changed without our written permission. However when our next Southwestern Bell invoice came, (about four weeks later) there was a small note at the bottom of the bill informing us that our new "Long Distance Carrier of Choice" was now U.S. Sprint. We were charged $5.00 for the carrier change-over. Southwestern Bell has agreed to change our LD carrier back to our original carrier, remove the $5.00 charge from our bill, and back-charge U.S. Sprint $5.00. When asked why Southwestern Bell ignored my notarized letter, a SW Bell customer service rep told me that they never received the letter, and even if they did, it would have been on the wrong form anyway(!) (They have since sent me the "correct" form to fill out - it had the same wording as my letter!) Southwestern Bell referred that situation to their "Specialty Group" for investigation. I was told this situation is becoming increasingly common among the various LD carriers. The Texas Public Utility Commission, while explaining that they had no regulatory authority over Sprint, told me they had received numerous complaints regarding this problem, and asked that I sent a formal complaint to the Texas Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection. We have done the following: Cancelled my service with U.S. Sprint. Sent SW Bell another letter asking that they not change my LD carrier. Sent formal complaints, in writing to: The President of U.S. Sprint, The Austin Better Business Bureau, The Texas AG Office of Consumer Protection, The FCC Consumer Affairs Division, and the Texas Public Utilities Commission. (In the letter to U.S. Sprint, I mentioned that I was posting a description of their actions to USENET, explaining what it was, and how many people would probably read this.) Each of the regulatory agencies will require U.S. Sprint to explain their actions in this matter, in writing. I would urge anyone treated like this by their LD carrier to cancel their service immediately, and complain in writing to the appropriate regulatory agency. Slimy marketing techniques, like the ones used by U.S. Sprint, can be eliminated if people complain loudly! Regards, Ed Edward Sparks, KVUE-TV Austin, TX (sparks@kvue.uucp) {asci1,ihnp4,seismo,gatech,harvard,ctvax,ucbvax}!ut-sally!kvue!sparks
jeff@bucc2.UUCP (10/21/87)
> [story of Sprint causing unauthorized LD carrier change] > > Southwestern Bell has agreed to change our LD carrier back to our original > carrier, remove the $5.00 charge from our bill, and back-charge U.S. > Sprint $5.00. That was nice of SW Bell. My LD carrier had been Teleconnect for quite a while when suddenly one day (with absolutely no prior communication) I received a bill from AT&T, and a $5 charge for LD carrier change from Illinois Bell. When I questioned the friendly people at Illinois Bell, they told me that AT&T had requested the change. Despite as much fuss as I was up to generating at the time, they refused to refund the $5, and then had the gall to charge me ANOTHER $5 to change it back to the way I wanted it in the first place. I eventually got my $10 back from AT&T, but that took many, many complaints, and about 8 months.