And please don’t get the wrong idea that anyone else is off the hook just because I’ve singled out Paetec and Sprint. There was the time MCI’s frame relay network corrupted a client’s frame relay packets, and MCI tried to say it wasn’t at fault because “we only promise to deliver the packets – we make no guarantees about the condition they’re in when they get there.” (I really am not making this up.)
Life’s tough for telecom managers. They’re caught in an epic Catch-22: Carriers consistently screw up services and billing, and then deny the problem and refuse to remediate. The only real recourse is to switch to another telco – which will do the exact same thing, sooner or later. Are we crazy yet, Yossarian?
Here’s a typical case from a reader: “I’ve recently switched my T-1 voice service to Paetec Communications . Since the change in early December, I’ve had a lot of misdirected and dropped outgoing calls, and some incoming calls being routed to the strangest busy signal I’ve ever heard. My carrier swears their line is fine and will do no more. What do I do?”
Or another: A reader complains that his carrier (Sprint in this case) had overcharged him to the order of $60,000 per year. When faced with convincing proof of the overcharge, Sprint graciously conceded – that it owed a little more than $1,000. Gee, thanks, guys.
And please don’t get the wrong idea that anyone else is off the hook just because I’ve singled out Paetec and Sprint. There was the time MCI ‘s frame relay network corrupted a client’s frame relay packets, and MCI tried to say it wasn’t at fault because “we only promise to deliver the packets – we make no guarantees about the condition they’re in when they get there.” (I really am not making this up.)
My all-time favorite carrier crisis involved the inability to connect a single international circuit, despite multiple conference calls involving senior executives at all the company’s carriers, which if memory serves included AT&T, Verizon and a brace of European PTTs. And space constraints are the only reason to leave out stories about SBC, BellSouth, Qwest, et. al.
You get the idea. Whoever your carrier is, they probably screw up on a regular basis (if not, write and let me know – Network World readers are dying to hear from you).
The only saving grace is that regardless of the specifics of the problem, the solution’s usually the same. It’s by no means perfect, but if your carrier chronically screws up, do the following:
• Document the heck out of the problem. Every time it happens, send a letter to the provider (and keep a copy). It won’t make the problem any better, but it will provide ammunition if you want to terminate your contract early without penalty.
• While the FCC is unlikely to be of much help (they’re too busy cracking down on wardrobe malfunctions), provide them and the local public utility commission with detailed documentation and request to lodge a complaint.
• Consider switching to another carrier. Issue an RFP to as many providers as possible, request detailed service-level agreements – and be sure to include an “out clause” permitting you to terminate the contract without penalty for documented non-performance, which means you’ll have to be prepared to benchmark performance (see above).
And keep your chin up – even Yossarian finally made it out OK.
