THANK YOU!

SURELY YOU CANNOT THINK THAT WE, THE CONSUMERS, ARE THAT STUPID!

Wayne

VOLUNTEER CUSTOMER ADVOCATE/ACTIVIST

ANOTHER ROUND OF "COMMUNICATION" WITH MCI

Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 22:32:31 -0500
From: "For Home Services"
To: beyond@redshift.com

Thank you for contacting MCI Internet Customer Relations.

As you mentioned in your earlier correspondence, you agreed to try MCI. This makes you responsible for the change in service and any ramifications of that change. We do apologize for the misunderstanding, but we have cancelled your account and the information will be downloaded by your local telephone company via magnetic tape within a few days. We are merely suggesting that you contact GTE to verify that your service will be switched.

We're always available to discuss your account and help you make the most of your MCI service. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact MCI Internet Customer Relations at: for.home.services@MCI.com

Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 09:10:22 -0600
From: Wayne Hartman
To: For Home Services

I don't understand. How am I "responsible for the change in service and any ramifications of that change"?

Thus far these have been:

(1) LOSS OF MY TIME because you did something wrong.

(2) LOSS OF long-distance service for a week now.

What other "ramifications" come from "TRY MCI"? I was expecting no loss of service, no change in quality of service, and a lower cost per month for the same amount of long distance service. YOU clearly did not provide the first two. I have not used a minute of your long distance service ... because I could not due to YOUR actions, not mine.

Wayne

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON 2/10/1997

Am I missing something here? Are my expectations too high? Or, is this a case of a company with processes that simply do NOT support serving their customers?

It would seem to me that it is high time for someone at MCI to advise management of this situation ... so that someone can deal with it effectively.

"We apologize for the misunderstanding". What is it about this situation that resulted from "misunderstanding" anything? All I did was agree to "TRY MCI". Your actions cut off my long distance service. Your lack of reasonably accessible and responsive customer service has turned what should have been a simple matter into a big issue. WHY?

Surely this illustrates that something is terribly WRONG with the way you are doing business. Something should be improved to reduce the chance of this happening to others. We are all human. Mistakes happen. But the process should allow these to be reported and effectively resolved.

It seems you now have TWO things to do: (1) fix the problem, but more importantly (2) fix the process so that all of your customers, present and future, are SERVED better.

THE SAGA CONTINUES

Amazing, I've been without long distance service for a week now, and there is no sign of when this condition resulting from agreeing to "TRY MCI" will end.

Wayne

To: beyond@redshift.com
From: "For Home Services"
Subject: OLCS/MCI
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1997 17:25:28 -0500

Thank you for contacting MCI Internet Customer Relations.

We understand the amount of time necessary to resolve such a problem. Unfortunately, as GTE stated, we sent our request to GTE via magnetic tape, and due to an error, be it clerical, computer, or otherwise, one office at GTE still had SPRINT listed as your long distance carrier. As you stated, upon further research it was found that MCI had sent the request and there was a failure for your long distance service to be switched in a correct and timely manner.

GTE has not acknowledged that there was any error on their part. It is not MY RESPONSIBILITY to figure out what went wrong an fix it. If they did not properly connect my line to MCI, that is YOUR problem to resolve, NOT mine.

MCI is responsible for the transmission of that magnetic tape which is downloaded into GTE's system. GTE is responsible for the actual switch of service. That is why GTE is the party which charges the fee that one pays for switching carriers.

NO!! MCI is responsible to provide the SERVICES that they agree to provide!! MCI said they would take care of everything. I was not given a number for MCI to call if there was a problem. I was not told when the change would be effective ... only that I would get something in the mail from MCI, which as of a week later, I have not yet received.

We must reiterate that the only way for your service to be correctly reactivated is for you to contact a representative at GTE. Your MCI account is cancelled, but that does not mean that you have been entirely switched off of MCI phone lines. You must contact either GTE to have them switch you to another carrier, or contact another carrier for them to send a request to GTE to switch your service to them.

THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE! SURELY THAT CANNOT BE THE ONLY WAY!!! Why do I need to be "switched off of MCI phone lines". My problem seems to be that I was never properly switched onto them. That was due to an error of some type that is between YOU and GTE to resolve. It is not MY PROBLEM and I refuse to take any action to help either of you correct it.

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience that this situation is caused. Unfortunately, there are no further steps that MCI can take to correct your service.

Clearly, you should see that this is MORE than "inconvenience". Also, this is NOT a "situation". This is a PROBLEM that YOU caused. YOU had the power to create this problem ... surely there are many "FURTHER STEPS THAT MCI" can take to return my long distance to the state it was in prior to you taking action that disrupted it.

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT MCI DOES, AND THE RESULTS OF YOUR ACTIONS! This is NOT my PROBLEM, it is YOURS.

Sincerely,

MCI Internet Customer Relations

E-Mail Sent to GTE with CC: to MCI on 2/10

Subject: Help???

Please pass this on to someone that can evaluate whether MCI is correct in their assessment that:

"there was a failure for your long distance service to be switched in a correct and timely manner."

Was this GTE's fault or MCI's fault, and what does it take to switch me back to where I was before this fiasco occurred?

I started with SPRINT as my long distance provider. A verbal agreement to "TRY MCI" resulted in loss of long distance service for a week. WHY?

Who is to blame ... and more importantly, what can be done to keep this from happening to others?

See http://www.redshift.com/~beyond/longdist.htm for further details.

Wayne

Internet Customer Relations wrote:

Thank you for contacting MCI Internet Customer Relations.

In response to your below inquiry, MCI has followed the procedure for switching all customers. We send the order to your local phone company. From there it is up to your local phone company to switch your long distance service. Please contact customer service at 1(800)444-3333 if you have any further questions or concerns.

We're always available to discuss your account and help you make the most of your MCI service. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact MCI Internet Customer Relations at: for.home.services@MCI.com

Sincerely,

MCI Internet Customer Relations

Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 09:43:22 -0600
From: Wayne Hartman
To: Internet Customer Relations

I'm sorry, but that is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Last Monday, I agreed to "TRY MCI". I am responsible for my choice and living with the results of that choice. But the implicit contract was that YOU would provide long distance service for me in return for my paying you for that service.

YOU have not lived up to YOUR responsibility in that contract. YOU did something that took away the long distance service that I had via SPRINT but for whatever reason (this is YOUR problem, NOT mine) did not ensure that YOU were now providing the service that your action took away from me.

Further, YOUR action cost me hours of my time and the time of others to try to isolate the problem. GTE sent me to MCI. I could not contact you in a reasonable time via phone (Due to YOUR customer service number putting people on hold for too long.)

You are not RELIEVED of YOUR responsibility! I decided on Thur, that due to (1) your action resulting in my loss of long distance service and (2) being unable to reach your customer service at MCI by phone, that I no longer wanted to do business with MCI, period. Given my experience, I feel that this decision was perfectly reasonable.

However, at the VERY LEAST, you should be responsible for restoring my phone service to what it was BEFORE your action resulted in this problem. If you need to work with GTE to do so, so be it. You are both big companies. FIX THE PROBLEM and quit giving me excuses. I have already done FAR MORE than I should have to do. It is UNREASONABLE for YOU to put your customers through this.

I am responsible for what I DO. I expect NO LESS FROM YOU.

This has been neither a "misunderstanding" nor an "inconvenience". If that is all that you think it is, SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG in how you do business.

Wayne

ONE LAST TRY ON 2/12

Obviously, MCI customer service is either incapable of SERVING ME by FIXING the problem that resulted from MCI's actions to implement my choice to "TRY MCI" or is simply choosing NOT to do so.

If it true that it is impossible for MCI to do anything further to restore my long distance service to where it was BEFORE your actions resulted in loss of that long distance service, as you claim, then please provide a letter to that effect from the President of MCI. Otherwise, I simply do not believe you. This is a simple matter of residential long distance service!

MCI's actions and choices to not fix the problem are now having additional consequences for which YOU are responsible.

I have told over a dozen people about my "TRY MCI" experience. Yesterday, my roommate thanked me. He was going to "TRY MCI" today. He will not do so now.

You have moved me to document my "TRY MCI" experience on a web page at: www.redshift.com/~beyond/longdist.htm and to become a volunteer consumer advocate.

My complaint has been reported to the Better Business Bureau, and to the financial section of the Denver Post.

I will continue to actively do things to make people aware of what happened to me and to try to reduce the likelihood of it happening to others.

I'll continue reporting my actions and experiences here until:

I have long distance service restored to where it was before MCI's action took it away from me,

OR

I receive a letter from the President or CEO of MCI explaining why it is "impossible for MCI" to FIX the problem that resulted from YOUR actions.

Wayne

Volunteer Consumer Advocate/Activist

ROUND AND ROUND WE GO

Internet Customer Relations wrote:

Thank you for contacting MCI Internet Customer Relations.

Unfortunately, as we have stated below, MCI does not actually make any switches to your long distance service. It is your responsibility to maintain your account, and the services that you have on them. We apolgoize for the confusion.

Feel free to frequent MCI's web sites, as the WWW is an ever changing environment and MCI is dedicated to staying at the forefront of internet technology and development. If you have any other questions or comments, please contact MCI Internet Customer Relations at: for.home.services@MCI.com

Sincerely,

MCI Internet Customer Relations

AND MY RESPONSE

Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 16:25:30 -0600
From: Wayne Hartman [beyond@redshift.com]
To: Internet Customer Relations [Service@MCI.Com]

I'M SORRY, BUT THERE IS NO CONFUSION. I had long distance service with SPRINT before I agreed to TRY MCI. YOU did something to take my long service away from SPRINT but for whatever reason, your action failed to get my service connected to YOU. As a result, I have had no long distance service for 10 days.

MY DEMAND is simple. Return my long distance service to the state it was in before YOU SCREWED IT UP! There is surely a way. Find it.

My next step is to educate consumers via the following ad:

HOW'S THIS FOR SERVICE. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

From: "For Home Services" [For.Home.Services@MCI.Com]
Subject: OLCS-MCI
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 1997 11:05:27 -0500

Thank you for contacting MCI Internet Customer Relations.

We were unable to locate your account and address your concern with the information provided. Please reply with your telephone number or MCI account number and Social Security Number in addition to your original message. We will be happy to assist you.

MCI is committed to bringing you new and innovative ways to review and update account information. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact MCI Internet Customer Relations at: for.home.services@MCI.com

Sincerely,

MCI Internet Customer Relations

STILL NO LONG DISTANCE ON 2/19

Date: Wed, 19 Feb 1997 09:11:11 -0600
From: Wayne Hartman [beyond@redshift.com]

To: Internet Customer Relations [Service@MCI.Com]

HELLO, IS ANYONE THERE THAT CARES???

16 days ago, I agreed to "TRY MCI". The day after that, my long distance service was CUT OFF due to actions that MCI took. As of right now, I have NOT had long distance service for 15 DAYS. This is ridiculous.

FIX THE PROBLEM THAT YOU CAUSED. NOW!!!!!!!

See www.redshift.com/~beyond/longdist.htm for details.

www.redshift.com/~beyond/NEWS/news5.htm

Wayne

Volunteer Consumer Advocate
15 Days without Long Distance Service and Counting

ANOTHER DAY WITHOUT SERVICE

Subject: LACK OF SERVICE
Date: Thu, 20 Feb 1997 13:05:37 -0600
From: Wayne Hartman [beyond@redshift.com]
To: for.home.service@mci.com

HELLO????

You sent this to me TWO WEEKS ago. WHY am I still without long distance service?

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience you may have experienced. MCI is dedicated to providing customer satisfaction, so we give any comments or complaints our immediate attention. Of course, we want to correct these situations whenever possible.

Obviously, you lie! I still have no long distance service due to actions that MCI took. Surely properly connecting long distance service to a residential customer when you screwed it up should qualify as something that is within your power to correct.

The only conclusion I can logically draw is that YOU DON'T WANT TO CORRECT the situation that MCI CAUSED! I'm sorry, but that is simply UNACCEPTABLE!

You have not fixed the problem until:

(1) I can dial long distance from my home telephone without getting a message to call GTE customer service.

(2) SPRINT shows up on my phone bill as my long distance service provider as was the case PRIOR to MCI cutting off my long distance service.

I have a RIGHT to expect MCI to UNDO ALL DAMAGE YOU HAVE DONE.

BTW: I never did receive any information from MCI that your representative said would be sent when I agreed to Try MCI. That was over two weeks ago.

Wayne

AND NOW I GUESS MCI THINKS THAT I AM "DEAD"

This is exactly what I received. Just a change in subject. I found it quite interesting. LOL!!! I still don't know what "by way of Customer Relations" tells me.

Subject: dead, wayne hartmanRe: Lack of Long Distance Service
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 22:30:32 -0500
From: "For Home Services" [For.Home.Services@MCI.Com]
To: Wayne Hartman (by way of Customer Relations [for.home.services@mci.com])

I have now been without long distance service for 21 days due to MCI.

My only "crime" was to "TRY MCI".

See www.redshift.com/~beyond/NEWS/issues5.htm for details.

Companies that treat customers in this manner simply do not DESERVE to be in business.

My efforts to educate others have resulted in two people choosing to TRY SOMETHING OTHER THAN MCI. Hopefully these are the first of many. But that is really up to YOU.

FIX THE PROBLEM! This should be a simple thing for MCI to do. Why is it taking so long?

Wayne Hartman
Volunteer Consumer Activist/Advocate
21 Days without Long Distance Service due to "Try MCI"

AND YET ANOTHER RESPONSE ...

Subject: Re: dead, wayne hartmanRe: Lack of Long Distance Service
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 1997 00:30:02 -0600
From: Wayne Hartman [beyond@redshift.com]
To: For Home Services [For.Home.Services@MCI.Com]

Excuse me. I AM NOT DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!

You took my service away. It is your responsibility to fix it.

Further, since you obviously either cannot or won't fix the problem, please send me the e-mail address for someone in MANAGEMENT who CAN help me.

Obviously you do not understand the principles of good business:

#1: If you don't take care of your customers, someone else will!

Wayne

Subject: Re: dead, wayne hartman
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 09:19:00 -0600
From: Wayne Hartman [beyond@redshift.com]
To: For Home Services [For.Home.Services@MCI.Com]

Hello,

I just received my phone bill from GTE. There are two charges due to MCI that I REFUSE to pay since they have resulted in LOSS of long distance service to me for FOUR WEEKS. One is a 3.50 charge for Interstate Subscriber line. The second is a 4.46 charge for Interlata change on Feb 4. The bill says:

"Your Intralata long distance provider is MCI."
"You have selected MCI as your interexchange carrier."

Ever since I agreed to "Try MCI", I have been WITHOUT long distance service to my residence.

THIS IS RIDICULOUS. IT HAS BEEN FOUR WEEKS ALREADY, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Effective immediately, I will bill MCI at $1/minute for every minute that I have to expend resolving this problem. My minimum charge is for 10 minute increments.

MCI now owes me $8 for the above charges + $10 for the time involved in THIS communication. I will continue to communicate and charge you until the problem is resolved.

Wayne

Volunteer Consumer Advocate
28 days without long distance service due to "Try MCI"

Please send the address of the President of MCI so that I can send the bill directly to the top.

WHY have you not elevated this problem to someone with the power to take care of it?

HELLO, HELLO, HELLO, IS ANYONE HOME AT MCI

Subject: OLCS-MCI
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 1997 15:55:08 -0500
From: "For Home Services" [For.Home.Services@MCI.Com]
To: Wayne Hartman [beyond@redshift.com]

Thank you for contacting MCI Internet Customer Relations.

We were unable to locate your account and investigate your concern with the information provided. Please reply with your telephone number or MCI account number in addition to original email.

MCI is committed to bringing you new and innovative ways to review and update account information. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact MCI Internet Customer Relations at: for.home.services@MCI.com

Sincerely,

MCI Internet Customer Relations

AND ANOTHER ROUND

Subject: MCI OLCS
Date: Wed, 5 Mar 1997 15:12:55 -0500
From: "For Home Services" [For.Home.Services@MCI.Com]
To: Wayne Hartman [beyond@redshift.com]

Thank you for contacting MCI Internet Customer Relations.

We canceled your account as of 2/7/97 per your request. You need to contact the long distance company you wish to use if you haven't already; since, for obvious reasons, we do not have access to their systems. You will need to inform them that you wish to use them and make sure they have you on the correct plans. The reason you need to contact Sprint or GTE to make the switch is if we were to call them for you and request the change, they would not do this without your permission.

Please refrain from sending any further messages. This is the final message you will receive from us.

Sincerely,

MCI Internet Customer Relations
=============================================================
At 09:55 AM 3/5/97 -0600, Wayne Hartman wrote

HELLO,

What do you mean by "We're always available to discuss your account and help you make the most of your MCI service."

My "MCI service" has NEVER worked since I agreed to "Try MCI" over four weeks ago. YOU have known about this for OVER three weeks! But you have done nothing in that time to FIX the PROBLEM! WHY????

Wayne

PS: Another $10 is charged to MCI to cover my time in responding to you. This brings the balance to $28 that MCI owes me.

AND AGAIN!

Subject: Re: MCI OLCS
Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 19:57:29 -0600
From: Wayne Hartman [beyond@redshift.com]
To: For Home Services [For.Home.Services@MCI.Com]

NO!!! YOU MCI need to do whatever it takes to FIX the PROBLEM that YOU CAUSED!

Surely, all the correspondence I have written to you, makes my intention more than clear. Forward them my letter to you if you need to. If that is not good enough, send me the e-mail address for someone at SPRINT that I can send it to.

I am not asking to start over and connect to them from scratch. I am simply authorizing YOU MCI to do whatever it takes to UNDO what you have done and RESTORE my service to where it was. Of course, I EXPECT YOU to cover ALL COSTS involved in switching to MCI and in RESTORING the service back to where it was.

My request had two parts (1) was that I never want to deal with MCI again. (2) was that you must return my service to the condition it was in before you took it away from me.

In particular, I did not "cancel" anything. Since all you did was take something away from me, there was nothing to "cancel".

YOU could not disconnect what you NEVER properly connected.

YOU MCI took away my long service on 4 February. At this point, how or why does not matter.

I hold YOU responsible UNTIL it is restored, PERIOD!

YOU cannot just walk away from this. YOU took action that TOOK AWAY the long distance service that I had. YOU NEED to find a way to FIX it.

I chose to "Try MCI". As a result, you did something that disconnected me from SPRINT. I've already told YOU many times that it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to return my service to what it was BEFORE YOUR ACTION screwed it up.

I should not have to contact another Long Distance Service provider and pay another charge for "changing service providers".

YOU SCREWED IT UP. YOU FIX IT!!!

Wayne

PS: You've taken another 10 minutes of my time. That will cost you another $10. MCIs balance is now $38.

AND ONE MORE TIME

Subject: Re: OLCS-MCI
Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 20:03:45 -0600
From: Wayne Hartman [beyond@redshift.com]
To: For Home Services [For.Home.Services@MCI.Com]

I am finding this very amusing. I'm dealing with two different people at the same address at MCI who obviously don't both know that they are dealing with this WITHOUT communicating with one another.

MCI obviously has more problems. Perhaps it is time to do something about it.

Further, why have I not been given a manager that I can talk to as I requested several e-mails ago? This is ridiculous.

Wayne

PS: Another 10 min charge to MCI. Account balance is now $48.

On a business trip to Colorado Springs, it just so happened that I drove by the building for MCI Long Distance services. I got their address and composed the following letter that I sent via mail to the President of MCI on 13 March 1997 when I got back home. We'll see what, if anything comes of it. Of course, I still have no long distance service.

11 March 97

FROM: Wayne Hartman
SUBJECT: LACK OF LONG DISTANCE SERVICE

TO: President of MCI

Hello,

YOU have a problem that I am personally taking the time to bring to your attention because obviously you are not hearing it from MCI Customer Service.

1. I agreed to “Try MCI” over a month ago. Beginning the following day, on 4 Feb, my long distance service was cutoff due to MCIs actions. It is now 5 weeks later, and despite over a dozen e-mails with your “customer service”, I am still without long distance service.

2. The manner in which I have been treated is laughable. Companies that provide such “service” to their customers simply don’t deserve to be in business.

3. See www.redshift.com/~beyond/longdist.htm for details of correspondence with MCI Customer Service.

Hopefully it will cause you to laugh, and then to cry that YOUR company treats anyone like this. It is simply unacceptable, PERIOD. Hopefully, it will also move you enough to DO something about it, not only to fix the problem MCI caused for me, but to ensure processes within customer service are corrected in a manner to ensure that no customers are treated in this manner again.

4. I have heard of companies being uncaring and inconsiderate before ... but never did I dream that anything like this could happen regarding something as simple as providing long distance service to a residence.

5. I’m willing to post whatever response and actions you take at the end of my web page on this matter or to provide a link from my page to an official MCI response page if you’ll provide the appropriate URL.

6. As I said in the attached copy of my first e-mail, I personally NEVER want to do business with MCI again. There is nothing you can do at this point to correct that. However, a reasonable response will be sufficient for me to cease my “Volunteer Consumer Advocate” role in this matter so that I no longer actively inform others of my story and in the process take existing and potential customers away from you. This does not mean I will remove my web page on this matter. It is a permanent record of my experience with “Try MCI”.

7. My personal philosophy is to play WIN/WIN wherever I can. The manner in which MCI has treated me has made this very tough to do. As I see it at present, I WIN personally when MCI restores my service to where it was before MCI took action that resulted in my present lack of such service. The personal cost of being without long distance service, and the personal time involved in dealing with MCI customer service are lost. The only benefit to me has been to allow me to discover a practical way of dealing with companies that are not serving their customers. I truly thank you for that. MCI’s customers WIN if you do something to ensure MCI customer service SERVES its customers better, MCI wins because I, personally, will no longer be actively working to take customers away from MCI. Further, MCI wins because MCI will indeed be providing a better service that should ultimately result in less turnover and more customers.

8. There is a small matter of a bill of $88 to date, that I believe that MCI owes to me. Note that you are getting off very cheap. I’ve billed you for less than an hour and a half of my time. I would estimate that MCI has cost me an additional 10 hours of time on this, not counting the time to document the situation at my web page.

$8: Charges directly related to changing service. These were included on the last bill I received from GTE. I refuse to pay them since the result to me has been loss of long distance service.

$40: Time to generate four e-mails to MCI Customer Service. I did not begin charging for this until after my service had been disrupted for a whole month and I had finally received a bill that showed this problem resulted from MCIs action. At that time, I informed MCI customer service that I would charge $1/ minute (minimum of 10 minutes) for any further time that I had to expend to resolve this matter.

$40: Time for finding your address and generating this correspondence. By the way, I asked MCI customer service to provide this address to me twice. They have not choosen to do so.

$88: TOTAL charges to MCI to date.

www.redshift.com/~beyond/NEWS/found4.htm

THANK YOU for your time and for the LESSON that interacting with MCI has taught me. Hopefully it will empower others to see that they can take action to ensure they receive the quality of service that they are paying for as well.

I find it interesting that MCI has taken up so much of my time, yet has failed to provide me a single minute of service to date, long-distance service or customer service. Please do what you can to prevent this from happening to others. Also, please read the record of the specific responses that MCI has sent to me. Surely you must not be aware that MCI is responding in this manner. Further, it is surely within your power to put an end to such foolishness.

NAMASTE,