At 10:44 AM 7/6/2002 -0400, you wrote:
I don't think we've done business with *any* telco that hasn't overbilled us, both LECs (BellSouth, GTE/Verizon, Cincinnati Bell, ICG, Adelphia), and l/d (wcom, T, MCI, probably others that I'm forgetting about).
Focal and Sprint Internet are the only two who have never sent us an incorrect bill. They actually issue credits for outages and their contracts match their bills to the penny. My hat is off to the OSS/Billing people at both of these companies.
I've had the same thoughts as another poster that its a ploy to increase "revenues" (even if they're written off later)...and I actually don't say that thinking it a joke, I really do seriously think that they do that to some degree.
It clearly is a revenue source. Once a customer gets a disconnect letter for their service due to an unpaid balance (which they shouldn't be able to do if the current non-disputed part is paid in full) then the heads roll and the padded bill gets paid even though it is wrong. AT&T is infamous for doing this on the voice side and WCom on every side. I have no issue with the technical people at these TelCo companies - it's the crooks in charge. R Tellurian Networks - The Ultimate Internet Connection http://www.tellurian.com | 888-TELLURIAN | 973-300-9211 "Good will, like a good name, is got by many actions, and lost by one." - Francis Jeffrey