This is what happens when you live too far away to get service from your own damn company
Yesterday, I got a brochure from a telecommunications company that has just been authorized to enter CLEC competition in Wisconsin. Sage Telecom wanted to offer me unlimited local calling, an hour toward local toll calls, interLATA and intraLATA service, Caller ID and CallWaiting for $27.90 per month (plus applicable fees and taxes of course). Being the responsible consumer that I am (and the geek who works for a telecommunications company myself), I decided to give Sage Telecom a call and ask a few questions.
First, I'll give you a couple of links:
FCC: Charges on Your Phone Bill
Glossary of Telecommunications Terms
I spoke with a woman we'll call "J." I asked J how much they charge for the Federal Universal Service Fund charge. She told me in a very rude tone of voice "$5.06, the same as you pay with Ameritech." I explained that $5.06 is the Subscriber Line Charge, I wanted to know what they charge for Federal Universal Service Fund. She said in the same rude tone "I don't even know what that is." I tried to explain it to her and she hung up on me!!!
I couldn't believe it. I call a phone company, and they couldn't tell me what they charge for a federally mandated charge (well, in that the comapny is required to pay it to the government - they're not required to have their customers pay it, but most companies pass the expense along to their customers). Nice.
Fast forward to an hour later, when I call them back and ask for a manager...
First I talked to some guy named "A" in residential sales. I asked him for a resi sales manager, he transferred me to their general customer service phone queue, where I got "S" (sp?). I partially explained my situation to "S" before I realized she wasn't a manager, she went to find someone to escalate the call to. Whoever she found had her ask me to just send the complaint in writing. Huh? I said I'd be more than willing to do that, but I wanted to speak with someone also. She transferred me back into her own department's phone queue (still customer service mind you - I needed to speak with residential sales), where I got "D," who finally got me to "E," the director of resi sales.
I explained my situation to "E." He apologized, saying it's unacceptable that I was hung up on, but also told me that their representatives are told not to divulge tax and fee information. WTF? How am I supposed to know what my total bill will be? He then told me that my FUSF would be whatever I was currently paying because that's law. Huh? I explained that the amount charged for FUSF is up to telephone companies as long as they're paying their 6.whatever percent to the government. My company charges 6.whatever percent just to recoup their cost, some companies charge more than that and pocket the difference. It's up to the individual company how much they charge for FUSF, not the government (state OR Federal).
He asked for a callback number and said he would personally check into what they charge and call me back within 15 minutes. Then he gave me a spiel about wanting me as the newest Sage customer. Not likely! If I have to go all the way to the director of sales because nobody can tell me what my bill will look like if I switch to your service, only to find out that representatives are told NOT to divulge charges, there's no WAY I'm going to be going with them!
Oh, and here it is over 3 hours later and still no word from "E." I think a visit to Planet Feedback may be in order.
UPDATE!!! I submitted my Planet Feedback letter. By that time it was over 4 hours since he was supposed to call back, and I said so in my letter. Of course he left a message on my voice mail not even 5 minutes after I submitted my letter. But the rest of it still stands. I should not have to explain federal telecommunications policy to a communications company!
Posted by beenie at March 26, 2003 02:10 PM