Yuan Ling <selenayuan@HOTMAIL.COM>
 

Subject: **How to deal with Ameritech: sharing useful tips with you

Hi everyone,
I am a new student accepted to UIC, and I learned some useful lessons when dealing with Ameritech. Here are some tips I learned, and it will be really helpful for you to decrease your phone bill, and get the right service you deserve:

1. Reduce your phone bill
Ameritech offers several packages. The one I am using is called Economy Solution which offers several features such as call waiting, caller ID, etc., and the total charge is $31.95. Actually, you can remove some of the features that you don't need. Some agents will tell you that they are bundled together. Don't believe that, it's not true. Just tell them you want to remove them and reduce your phone bill, otherwise you are considering changing to anther phone company. So, if you are like me who does not receive/make many phone calls or your phone does not support some of the features, you might want to remove features such as Caller ID, Call Waiting, Calling Name Display, etc. You might want to keep Line-Backup for
a while and then remove it later (it costs you about 3 or 4 bucks per month).

2. About Line-Backup feature
With this feature, you should be able to enjoy a free service of line repair and maintenance anytime. However, if you do not make it clear, the technician who comes down to fix the line for you will charge you some ridiculous labor fee and something called "repair service call charge." Recently they came down to fix the jack for me and charged $96 ($25 for labor and $71 for "repair service call charge") The repair is not free because it will be effective only after 5 days of new service installation.
When I called Ameritech to complain, the agent said she will offer 50% of the charge, which means I still have to pay about $50. So, after further negotiating with her, I said I am only willing to pay the labor charge since they did send someone down, and won't pay the $71. And that's the final deal I got.

3. Experience of customer complain and negotiation
When negotiating with Ameritech, I learned one thing. As long as you are right, you've got to argue and get the right service you deserve. What I told the agent is, when I asked them to fix the line, I was NOT told that there will be certain charges, and therefore, a decision was made when I did NOT know the whole story. Without knowing the consequences, I am not
responsible for the extra charge. Their service should be on an informed base. So, if you have the similar experience, stand up and argue, as long as you are right. Don't just pay the bill without knowing what you are paying for.

Hope these can be of some help for you. Have a nice day!!

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uic clu <uicclu@YAHOO.COM>
 

Subject: you can set up a phone line from Ameritech for $55

call Ameritech at 1-800-244-4444 (the phone number may not be accurate). After telling the representative your address, just ask how much they want to charge. Typically they will ask for something like $110. Now, let him/her know you can do the in-house work by yourself... the technician just need to pull the phone line to the box. If he doesn't lower the charge to 55$ (the basic charge) and start to blah blah, politely thank him and say goodbye. Wait for 10 minutes or so and call again... When I came to Chicago, it took me 3 calls to find a representative who charges $55 only.

The in-house work is not as difficult as a lot people expect. A phone line (cord) has at least 4 twisted wires (new line should have 6 wires). A phone number needs only 2 of them. So one line that connects your home to the "Phone Box" could be used for at least 2 phone numbers. Normally there is at least one line which connects your home to the Box, no matter you're
setting up a 2nd phone number or a new one. When the technician is working on the Box, you can watch carefully to see which connector is used for your phone number. Now you can use the extra 2 wires to connect the connectors in the Box, and on the other side (at your home) connect them to a jack. Wires could be distinguished by colors and jack could be
purchased in Walmart or Dollar Store. You may ask: how can you know which line connects the Box to your home?
Often there is a tag in the Box, which shows phone numbers for each connector. If there is no tag, observe carefully... there is always a clue.

You don't have to be an EE PhD to finish these work...It's one of the simplest work for $55 reward. Hope it helps, and correct me if I'm wrong.

Certainly, if you are rich or don't want to do these in-house work, just go ahead and pay $110 or whatever price.

By the way, some Ameritech technicians are cheaters...
be careful and good luck!