hescominsoon
join:2003-02-18
Brunswick, MD
 ·Comcast
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to DHRacer
Re: I CALL BS
said by DHRacer  :I don't think a company has a right to pass on every cost of doing business to a customer because there are some costs that a customer doesn't incur on the business that they should be responsible for. Businesses are supposed to have expenses, yes, but if they have more expenses than they have income from customers, either they need to get more customers for more income, or they need to cut expenses. Customers shouldn't have to pay for corporate mismanagement or abuse or flat out stupid decisions made by management that didn't pan out. Or corporate fleecing. try running your own company before spouting off like this. |
|
stunod2002
join:2003-11-07
Carol Stream, IL
| said by hescominsoon :said by DHRacer :I don't think a company has a right to pass on every cost of doing business to a customer because there are some costs that a customer doesn't incur on the business that they should be responsible for. Businesses are supposed to have expenses, yes, but if they have more expenses than they have income from customers, either they need to get more customers for more income, or they need to cut expenses. Customers shouldn't have to pay for corporate mismanagement or abuse or flat out stupid decisions made by management that didn't pan out. Or corporate fleecing. try running your own company before spouting off like this. I don't disagree with him in this.. It's not necessarily the best approach but when you are basically a monopoly and have very little fear of loosing your customers to competitors you can get away with it..
Now if burger king decided to charge a fee for cooking your burgers (a charge that they have been absorbing for decades) they would have every right to do so but because we have mc donalds they wouldn't get away with it.. |
|
ropeguru
Premium
join:2001-01-25
Hollywood, FL
clubs:
| reply to hescominsoon
Yeah, most businesses do pass along the "cost of doing business". However, it is normally included in the cost of the product. So you are saying that they should charge $23.95 for their phone line and then add in the electric charge, worker's salary fee, trah fee, landscape fee, etc, etc...
I think it is more of the way they are tacking on fees on top of the normal cost of the plan. So in essence, they are lying to the consumer about the true cost of their service.
--
FWD#: 223611 |
|
quatrix
join:2005-02-11
Davie, FL | reply to stunod2002
What monopoly? Alternatives to an AT&T landline include multiple cell providers, VoIP, and others. |
|
ross
join:2000-08-16
·Digizip
| reply to hescominsoon
said by hescominsoon :try running your own company before spouting off like this. How stupid are you? Here are the salient points:
AT&T has a monopoly on telephone service in most areas it does business in. Historically, AT&T helped write the tariff structure for telephone service, which cost of service INCLUDES the ROW fees it pays to governmental authorities. They base their charge for basic service on the minimum requirements necessary to provide service and guarantee a return on their shareholders investments. They provide additional "extra" services, like Caller ID, Call Forwarding, etc. at package prices that return ENORMOUS profit on top of the profits they make on basic service. They should be PROHIBITED from unilaterally charging more than the tariff rates for service because all costs of service are accounted for therein, including a reasonable ROI.
There is NO WAY they can justify breaking out ROW fees as an additional line item expense to pass along to customers who are already paying for these costs in the basic fees and tariff rates for telephone services.
If you ran your own, unprotected, non-monopoly business with the same malfeasant, grifting attitude that AT&T does their well-protected featherbedding money machine, you would be out of business due to competitors taking advantage of your customers dissatisfaction at the screwing you were giving them. Of course, AT&T doesn't have to worry too much about competitive pressure, but when they do, they usually just try wringing a few more dollars out of their customers by just this type of bogus, double-dipping bullshit.
I don't give a damn if you support your telephone monopoly with unwavering, non-thinking bullheadedness, but don't pretend that AT&T has an ethical leg to stand on with these thuggish rip-offs. |
|
annonn
@4.42.x.x | reply to quatrix
Yeah lets see you rely on 911 service from a cell or a dead VIOP connection during a power outage. |
|
KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to hescominsoon
said by hescominsoon :try running your own company before spouting off like this. Try not mismanaging a company before spouting off like this.
In a REAL competitive environment, moves like this by at&t would kill them. Luckily for them, it's not really a competitive environment, and they can bend people over at will. Consumers suffer. at&t needs to find ways to prop up their stock.
--
"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) |
|
jester121
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL | reply to annonn
Lots of people choose to. If you don't choose to, then pay up.
Ain't freedom wonderful? |
|
RogerADSL
join:2004-12-10
Lawrenceville, GA | reply to ross
get a cell phone or VoIP service and let the monopoly die. |
|
EGeezer
Summer is passing
Premium
join:2002-08-04
Country!
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·AT&T CallVantage
| reply to annonn
said by annonn :
Yeah lets see you rely on 911 service from a cell or a dead VIOP connection during a power outage.
No problem. I have the police chief's cellphone number and the EMT guys all know us.
--
BBR's Shooting for a Cause! |
|
johnqpublic
Premium
join:2002-03-22
Xanadu
| said by EGeezer :No problem. I have the police chief's cellphone number and the EMT guys all know us. We are all impressed. 
Now, in the real world, how many people in the country do you think have that option? The poster's response is a very real concern to many individuals when it comes to the shortcomings VOIP and 911 services. |
|
EGeezer
Summer is passing
Premium
join:2002-08-04
Country!
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T CallVantage
edit:
January 13th, @08:05PM
| What the POTS companies don't tell you
How well does POTS 911 work when the baddies cut the phone company lines? Around here they run the lines where anybody with a pair of dikes can whack them. The Demark is a plastic box at my house that anybody with a screwdriver can pop open. A lady's foot, hand drill and a hack saw can compromise the distribution boxes in the alleys and the plastic box at my property line is falling apart as I write this. Of course the POTS folks who worry so much about power failures didn't seem to care about that when I brought it up with my land line carrier. Having burglars or home invaders cut lines should be a very real concern to many people.
Don't count on the land line providers to solve problems quickly or cooperate with othervendors if you do have a problem. They'll stall, deny and finger point at anyplace from their demark out to you, which in some subdivisions and condos may cross several pieces controlled by several companies. It make take days or weeks just to get them to verify their own stuff. Then you also have to deal with everybody else along the line. Heaven only knows how many companies may be involved with bringing that POTS dial tone to your phone, but you can be sure none of them will talk to any others. With the one issue I had with VoIP voice quality early on, my ISP and ATT CV were very cooperative and worked together to solve the issue.
These are a few reasons why we have cell phones as well as VoIP and a land line. Our POTS has been down more times than my internet in the last five years. My longest ISP outage was 2 1/2 hours form outage to online. My longest landline outage was over three days from when I called. The local phone company balked and threatened to bill us even though we still had line guard service and a phone company owned phone. It took a day just to get them to schedule a service call, which ultimately proved to be bad connections in the box in the alley.
As for the VoIP service itself, I've never had VoIP out unless the ISP was down. Power was no problem as I have a UPS that'll hold the necessary equipment up for hours. My power outages have never outlasted my backup. IF my VoIP or ISP is down, my VoIP number automatically switches incoming calls to my cell phone (ATT CV Safe Forward). My land line service doesn't.
BTW I periodically test my 911 service. They have my address when I call from Land Line or VoIP and my general location from cell phone. At home, my cell will ring in to our 911 center.
I recommend periodic testing to all who may want to be sure their 911 service works. Just call your local 911 center's administrative number and ask them if you can test your phones. The folks at the 911 center here don't mind testing at all as long as people don't abuse it.
--
BBR's Shooting for a Cause! |
|
justgold79
join:2008-01-13
edit:
January 16th, @01:36AM
| reply to ropeguru
Re: I CALL BS
The Gotti family get ~20$ million out of the governments Universal Service Fund that was one of those stupid little extra charges that we all just assume is important? They got caught though.
Yes:
»www.mail-archive.com/osint@yahoo···404.html
»news.google.com/archivesearch?hl···+fund%22 |
|
