14 replies to this topic

[EntropyModel]

Just thought i'd pass along warning. We use the dial around 10-10-834. We just got a letter from MCI's fraud dept saying they suspected fraudelent calls on a number 10-10-835. Infact, we misdialed 5 instead of 4 last digit, a common occurance i'm sure. This mistaken dial around number didn't require any sign up code, didn't indicate rates etc it just put the call through. After calling MCI we discoved we had a called charge of 270$ for one call, charged at 3$ per minute, Instead of the average market cost of 4-8cents per minute of long distance cariers, thats about 4000% above average market price. My first thought was, its a scam by some smalltime business, hoping you misdial and then charging crazy amounts per minute. But infact, the number 10-10-835 belong to Telecom USA, a subsiduary of MCI itself! So if this is supposed to be a legimate dial around and not a scam, I went to look for the service on the web. But I can find no published rates for this dial around 1010835 number by telecom USA(MCI) , obviously no-one in their right mind would use it at 3$ per minute, so why does it exists at all except ? hmm. I also have no clue why MCI themselves flagged it as possible fraud. Its their service, and if its legit why did they think it was fraudlent, they even disconnected our long distance which saved us making the mistake again at least. After talking to MCI as to why this unpublished dial-around rate is so high compared to their published rates, we couldn't get a straight answer, just that 'we may be able to get the rate reduced to a normal market rate' but no guarantee's and alot of hasle. So be careful of dial-arounds. Mark.

Edited by entropy, 27 December 2006 - 04:08 PM.

[LongShort168]

is MCI still around? lol use SKYPE...the best thing around ...

[greenie]

You can make the 10-10-834 company your primary long distance service provider without changing MCI. So, try that. Also, keep arguing with MCI. Threaten them to do X,Y,Z. It may work. I saw so many scams by this company that your experience is no surprise to me. Remember, their founders are in prison for biggest scams of all time. If they were so skillful in con art, don't you think they introduced some of those evil skills to make the company more profitable?

[selecto]

I second the skype call. I use a "dedicated" laptop for running skype to a Linskys cordless handset. Interesting aside: In many places in Latin America, at many rural crossroads, one will find a bank of "pay" phones, which fior many, is the only way to communicate. Many of these operations are now run off skype.

Edited by selecto, 27 December 2006 - 04:26 PM.

[EntropyModel]

You can make the 10-10-834 company your primary long distance service provider without changing MCI. So, try that.

Hi Greenie..good xmas?
Not sure what you mean 'changing MCI', MCI aren't my long distance..they just own the dial around 1010835. Whoever is my long distance, I can still misdial to 1010835, or am I missing something?

Also, keep arguing with MCI. Threaten them to do X,Y,Z. It may work. I saw so many scams by this company that your experience is no surprise to me. Remember, their founders are in prison for biggest scams of all time. If they were so skillful in con art, don't you think they introduced some of those evil skills to make the company more profitable?

Yeah..thats the hassle part.

Mark.

Edited by entropy, 27 December 2006 - 04:33 PM.

[Net]

Just thought i'd pass along warning.


After calling MCI we discoved we had a called charge of 270$ for one call, charged at 3$ per minute, Instead of the average market cost of 4-8cents per minute of long distance cariers, thats about 4000% above average market price.

Mark.

I'm the IT person for my company, and was handed repsonsibility for the phone system, for which I found what seemed to be rediculous over-charges that accounting simply missed by not scrutinizing bills when paying them. And then, thinking that 14 cents was high compared to market rates, I worked on re-negotiating rates to a more competitive 3.5 cents a minute. Well, when it came time to put those "reduced rates" in affect, some clerk at the phone company entered a wrong key code on the business account, which put all our company long distance calls on the MCI network without a rate plan, so we were billed at their open rate, or whatever they call it when someone uses their network without a calling plan. Calls came in at the multi-dollar per minute rate, giving us, well, not exactly a "pleasant surprise" when we saw the first long distance bill for the division on that new reduced price plan. Although we never authorized MCI as our carrier, and the phone company was clearly at fault by entering a wrong code (they in fact were the authorized long distance carrier) MCI continued to attempt to collect on those charges for months on end using collection agencies, et. al. And, the phone company that made the mistake did not want to admit fault either and pay MCI for which MCI indignantly demanded to be paid for the use of their network. Yes... you are right, be careful.

As a side note to this, cellular companies also have quite a gig going.. just ask any parent whose kids have cellphones and forget to check their minutes one month... and end up with a bill for just one month that exceeds the cost of the contract for the entire year. And, perhaps it could be just the luck of the draw for our company, but our company's cellular provider, and the provider before the current one, managed to make repeated mistakes resulting in substantial over-billing that was quickly corrected when challenged... month after month (yes, with repeat occurances) but I have to wonder how often this happens to other companies and slips past accounting depts. Fun stuff. Dilligence pays.

With that "dial around" code, the first thing that popped into my mind was to use a speed dialer to prevent such a mistake again. And let's hope MCI did (or will do) the right thing and wave the price gouge.

[vitaminm]

is MCI still around? lol

use SKYPE...the best thing around ...

http://www.pingo.com/en/home.do

[EntropyModel]

I second the skype call. I use a "dedicated" laptop for running skype to a Linskys cordless handset.

Interesting aside: In many places in Latin America, at many rural crossroads, one will find a bank of "pay" phones, which fior many, is the only way to communicate. Many of these operations are now run off skype.

I agree skype is a good service, I use skype for Video calls......but my wife likes to use the dial arounds.

Mark.

[OEXCHAOS]

Yanno, I just buy 400-500 minutes (I can't remember) for $20 a month and I never worry. Between that and the unlimited incoming Cell, we never have a problem. The 800#, interestingly, is almost never used, unlike in the mid/late 90's when I would get several hundred $ bills. Mark

[greenie]

Hi Greenie..good xmas?
Not sure what you mean 'changing MCI', MCI aren't my long distance..they just own the dial around 1010835. Whoever is my long distance, I can still misdial to 1010835, or am I missing something?

Merry Xmas entropy. I misunderstood and thought MCI is your primary carrier. If not, why care about the $270 bill? Ask them to get lost. Maybe call for another $270000 and see what they do