telephone nightmare

[Doug]

Hi everyone.

I haven't been here lately. I know it's a poor excuse to say I've been really busy, so I won't make it.

I read Del's message he posted last week about his tribulations with the phone company. My local company is Ameritch and a few months ago after I had a second line put in dedicated for the computer, I got a bill for over a thousand dollars! A thousand dollars! I blew my cork. First, I thought the kids were calling 900 numbers. They backed up to the wall and shook their heads, "No, dad. We didn't do it!" On the bill I noticed they were mostly 900 calls but out of state. I hadn't been on the computer for a few days, and my son told me that he was hearing voices talking through the speakers. I checked it out and sure enough, someone was having phone sex though my computer speakers! After several calls to the phone company they sent a technician out and he confirmed that the new line wasn't set up properly. I guess in the telephone company world you are guilty until proven innocent. The next month they adjusted our bill and now we only owed 600+ dollars. It took several more calls over the next 2 months to finally straighten it all out. What a mess!!!
Anyhow, my brohter lives in Texas and he wants for us to communicate over the internet with 2 way calling. Can soemone share with me their experiences with this? I hope they develop this technology so that I can eventually bypass the phone company for good.

[Julie]

We would have sent you the cricket if you would have asked! Nothing can come in or go out!

http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif

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Julie

http://www.splitangels.org

[Doug]

The phone company has spies everywhere.

[Bi4Be]

LOL! I can relate to you two in SMALL terms... I got billed $50 extra this month (that is a 50% month increase for my phone bill) because they installed a new phone line for me.
Of course I didn't ask for another phoneline, but hey, mega-corporations suck.

BUT I am *NOT* complaining, at least I didn't get charged a thou for some weirdo's phone "pleasures." http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif

-Bi4Be


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They *DID* correct all of their mistakes though. They said that it was someone in our neighborhood who ordered and got the phoneline, we just got billed.

[Bi4Be]

LOL pqwabbit!

Makes you wonder what kind of reject people they hire for the jobs, doesn't it?
Actually, that is untrue... it really makes me wonder what they were smoking 10 minutes before our phone companies started hiring people...

'Tis a sad, sad world we live in....

[Doug]

Hope you didn't have too much aggrivation straightening out the HUGE electric bill, Lea. You should have gotten a free ride for that month just to compensate fro the aggrevation factor. Hey, when you go to a restaurant and get a steak full of grissle, They apologize and compensate you in a tangable way, but the utilities know there's no way for you to plug into another source of power. Ah, well...
I still am curious about this internet phone service. Soemone told me that they tried it and there was pauses while speaking to someone, and the sound isn't too clear. Do you know if the cable modems will be capable of delivering real-time phone/video connections? Is anyone using cable modem for internet service? It would be cool to pay 40-50 dollars a month and have fast modem, TV and phone service off one connection. When that happens it will all probably cost alot more.

[pqwabbit]

oh yeh one fo my other favorite bill horrors was the time I owed the cable people $121 so I paid em $50, checked the balance the next day and I owed them $150??? HUH?
well I guess that teaches me to go pay the bill! (I promptly ripped out my equiptment and said the heck with it was way too expensive anyway)

a friedn of ours has a cable modem it rips! our brother syas same thing about our dad's connection - it's a pretty penny ot get installed then it's $30/mo if you already have cable tv with the place (MediaOne - groan) $50 and man figuring you're paying an arm and a leg for cable they better give ya a discount for the internet connection! hehe

it'll be a logn time before we're ever able to do that though - we just shut off the cable -
theroettically at last in my area anyway there is some competiton opening up for some utitlities - some new local phone services are starting to come in I think - the electirc structure is all werid now but I aint complaining cuz all a sudden the elcetric company like cut their rates big time and we gone from paying low $20's to about $15/mo in electricity. Also our city is trying to bring in competition for cable tv service as well. like ok in 1991 it was like $20.mo for basic service - now it's up around $40 to $50 OUCH! As far as I know the gas company is hte only one left unchallenged currently - I hope my current local phone cuts it's rates to as other local providers move in and if they don't well - then I can go someplace cheeper http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif Can't wait for some competions to move in on MediaOne too man - they control most of the state's cable tv at this point they just been devouring the region and besides they dont put xmas lights on theri dishes like the old company did during hte holidays when I lcould see the dishes from my odl apt it was just one of thoise little things that made the day just a little brighter http://www.aota.net/ubb/smile.gif

Lea

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I can only please one person per day.
Today is not your day.
Tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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www.massey.i-p-d.com/index.shtml (http://www.massey.i-p-d.com/index.shtml)





[This message has been edited by pqwabbit (edited 02-07-99).]

[pqwabbit]

hmm never had probs with our phone company - but man we once got an electric bill for $7400 cuz the stupid guy is alwys reading hte wrong meter!!! argh

Lea

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I can only please one person per day.
Today is not your day.
Tomorrow doesn't look good either.
------------------
www.massey.i-p-d.com/index.shtml (http://www.massey.i-p-d.com/index.shtml)

[Doug]

Thanks for your thoughts, Lea.