Thanks, Doc!

THANKS, DOC!

In a piece in his blog [1] the other day, Doc [2] takes AT&T to task for their invasive, obnoxious telemarketing campaign. It seems Doc fell prey to being on one of those lists the AT&T telemarketers use, or, worse yet, he was just hit as a part of those random number generators used by some of the telemarketing teams.

Toward the end of the piece Doc notes that he doesn't use AT&T for his long distance service, that he uses "a cheap and good no-name that Dean set me up with."

Well, gee! A big thanks to Doc for the mention. I do indeed operate a small Long Distance Service company, with a no bullshit plan, low rates, no hidden charges. If you are interested, write to me [3] and I'll send you some info.

Doc does, however, use AT&T for his mobile phone. Where he is in California, AT&T is more reliable than most, although some new changes in cellular-as-we-know-it are right around the corner. Within a year, many present-paradigm cell users will be changing to a more web-enabled and multifunctional and more easily portable (meaning of use in more areas without problems) cell/mobile offering.

Funny how the big name companies are jumping all over these invasive, obnoxious, annoying and often hate-inducing telemarketing programs. The bigs have megabucks for marketing and advertising. They put all their plans on the tube and in print. Websites with all sorts of purportedly low rate plans abound.

The bigs have a way of sticking it to the users with fees and charges and minimum usage requirements, all sorts of ridiculous ways to bleed money from their clientele. The ads are incredibly misleading! They advertise a low rate, but then the monthly fee and the inflated charges actually end up costing the unsuspecting users more money.

In the telecom business, some of us refer to that as the "secret hidden minutes" charge. If a company offers the user, say, a flat rate of 6¢ per minute, but also manages to bash the user with monthly bullshit fees of, for example, another $8 per month (as was the case on my father's bill before I switched him over to my service), the end result is the company charging the user for 133.3 unused minutes. That's more than two hours of talk time in terms of minutes!

Then there's a curious definition, of just exactly how and what some long distance providers consider a minute to be. Most of us think a minute (or, as we say in telecom, "minute of use") means 60 seconds. Most of the big huge companies round up to the next full minute.

This means that if you talk on a long distance call for one minute and eighteen seconds, you get billed for two full minutes. If you speak for just thirty-nine seconds, you are billed for a full minute. So, to those companies, a minute can be less than a minute, and anything more than a minute but less than two minutes means...to their way of accounting, two full minutes.

The more forward thinking companies (and, blatant sales pitch, my service!) bill in six-second increments after an initial 30 second duration. So if you speak for 36 seconds,you are charged for that. Not for the full minute. If you speak for the aforementioned one minute and eighteen seconds, you get billed for the precise amount, which comes to 78 seconds. This way you, the user, do not pay for a rounded-up minute. Just pay for the time you use.

The bigs only do this when the competitive companies make a big splash. But they also reserve the right to alter the charge basis. And go back to silently siphoning bullshit money from the user.

Most people do not read (or understand) just what all those charges on their phone bills are all about. Various government-mandated fees are attached to phone bills. Some fees attached to the carriers by the government are passed along to the consumers, despite it not being a necessity.

There are fees, taxes, charges, and surtaxes galore. Some are direct-to-consumer. Others are charged by the government to the long distance provider, or, in some cases, to the local service provider). Many a large company just tacks this onto the customers' monthly bills. And the bills get paid, almost always, with no questions asked.

This, to me, is what we call SCREWING THE USER. But few users complain, much less even have a glint of awareness of how they are being fleeced each month.

Many of us grew up with AT&T as Ma Bell. The monthly telephone bill came, and we paid the invoice amount. The long distance was part of the monthly bill, so be it, so pay it.

Two events changed this forever. There was the breakup of the AT&T long distance monopoly. This was the work of Bill McGowan, the original founder of MCI, and a tremendously forward-thinking and mighty Washington Communications law firm, Haley, Bader & Potts. Haley, Bader has merged with another law firm. From their home page [4] comes this gem:

Among other accomplishments, Haley Bader & Potts helped MCI open the telephone market to competition during the 1970s. At that time AT&T described MCI as "a law firm with a microwave antenna on its roof." Haley Bader & Potts was that law firm.

The second event was the breakup of AT&T into the Regional Bell Operating Companies. The long-term effect of the monopoly seems to have been the creation of new monoliths. As these "baby bells" merge, it seems they are growing into huge monolithic behemoths. Some may even become bigger than the original entity that was AT&T.

Competition is a good thing, as is the open market. The smaller operators face an uphill battle. Budgets among the bigs are gigantic. The smaller players usually are not in a position to wage a marketing campaign that comes anywhere near the powerful reach or influence of the Bigs' efforts.

You can hear a pin drop, you can "be all connected" you can feel the comfort of Ma Bell.

But if you can read a bill or become more aware of what you pay for, you'll find a better way to allocate those long distance monies each month!

Again, thanks to Doc for the nice mention. Most of all, I am glad he is happy with the service.