🚀 go-pugleaf

lwarren@callamer.com (Lynette Warren) wrote:

>
>
>Two weeks ago MCI called and made me the offer of 30% off my phone bill
>for the next three months if I would switch from AT&T.  The MCI rep also
>very enthusiastically told me that if I switch now, they would match any
>AT&T offer within the coming weeks. She said that when I switch to MCI,
>AT&T would be calling within the next couple of weeks and try to get me to
>return to AT&T by offering me a better deal.  She said to make sure and
>call MCI when AT&T called me with an offer to return and MCI would 
>guarantee that they would match any deal AT&T could make to get me to
>return to AT&T.  That, however, is not what happened.
>
>The night before last AT&T called and asked why I'd switched.  I told them
>I was generally satisfied with AT&T, but that MCI offered me 30% off on my
>next three billings so I changed services.   AT&T then offered 50% off
>for the next six months and a $50 credit which I could use on any of their
>billings.  I thanked them for the offer and asked them to call back later
>this week so I could let them know.
>
>Today I called MCI customer service and told them about the AT&T offer.
>They said they couldn't do any better for me than the 30% which they
>originally offered.  I asked about the $50 credit.  The MCI rep said
>that MCI couldn't afford to offer that sort of credit and that if AT&T
>continued to they would eventually go bust.  I reminded them that their
>sales rep told me that they would match AT&T's offer and asked if that if
>that was no longer the case.  The MCI agent said that it was not.  "So
>your agent wasn't telling me the truth when I signed on with MCI two weeks
>ago?" I asked.  He said all he could tell me was that MCI didn't have
>anything better to offer me.  I asked for the mailing address to MCI
>customer service.  He gave it to me.  I told him I was very disappointed 
>in MCI, thanked him for the information then hung up.
>
>I'll be returning to AT&T for now, this is just a reminder to you all
>that what *any* long distance company rep tells you and what you actually
>get can be two very different things.  Write down every offer, time, date,
>name of rep whenever you talk to them and complain in writing.

First off all, it's not MCI or AT&T or Sprint representatives that
call you to make you switch. The Big Three hire independent
telemarketing firms to do that and that's the reason for so many
mistakes and misunderstandings. I used to switch a lot and so it used
to happen to me a lot. One telemarketer for AT&T told me I would get
40% off all calls for as long as I stay with AT&T, but it turned out
to be only 6 months. One MCI telemarketer told me I'd get a rate of 60
cents per minute to Ukraine for 3 months, but it turned out to be 85
cents, etc.
I finally found a solution to the problem though: I switched both my
lines to LDDS Worldcom. I pay 12.5 cents per minute anywhere in US
during the day and 10 cents at night which starts at 5pm! The billing
is in 6 second increments so if I get a machine and hang up I get
billed 1 or 2 cents. There's no monthly charge or minimum and no
gimmicks. Within the last three weeks all of the Big Three reps called
me with offers, but even their 50% offers couldn't beat what I was
paying with LDDS.

Jason Dulnev
dulnev@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu
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If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble,
competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.
	John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), British economist. 

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