BUCKS WATCH
Many More Tips For Getting to Human Customer Service - In January and September 2005, TRACNotes listed a number of ways to get around the annoying automated customer service systems that many companies now use and quickly connect with a live human. Paul English, whose website we linked to in the September article, has expanded his listings and included hundreds more gathered by other consumers on his new website at www.gethuman.com. His list now contains information for all the major wireless, local and long distance, and broadband service providers in the U.S. In addition, most of the major credit card companies, many utilities, financial service companies, insurance companies, and others are also listed in an easy-to-use, categorized database. To view the list, click here. Among the many customer service tips on English’s site, he lists this great bit of advice for dealing with customer service representatives who are based overseas and may not understand or speak English well:
“If you have trouble understanding an overseas operator, first ask the agent their name and agent ID and write it down. Then tell them you are having difficulty understanding them (be polite!) and ask to be connected to a second level manager. The managers are usually in the USA or at least they are usually better trained with American accents.”
English also includes some great tips on finding companies’ 1-800 phone numbers. The easiest way is to dial 1-800-555-1212, a free listing service. Another way is to use Google and enter “company name” and “phone numbers” (remember to include the quotes). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also runs a free service call EDGAR which lists the mailing addresses for public companies. EDGAR can be reached by clicking here.
WASHINGTON WATCH
Virginia Set to Make Sense of Telecommunications Taxes - A bill currently making its way through the Virginia General Assembly could serve as a harbinger of things to come for consumers sick of wading through the myriad taxes that appear on their monthly phone bills. The law, HB568, would replace the patchwork quilt of state and local taxes on telecommunications services with a flat 5% tax. What this means for consumers is that those who depend on heavily taxed local telephone, paging, and wireless services would likely see their bills decrease somewhat. Consumers who use services that are not currently taxed, such as VoIP telephones, satellite television, and long distance services would see their bills go up slightly. Virginia’s tax department has suggested that the law would be revenue-neutral since lower tax revenue from local telephone, paging, and wireless service would be replaced by revenues derived from taxes on technologies that are currently not taxed. “From a consumer point of view, any move that helps simplify communications bills without increasing the overall amount of money that consumers must pay is a good one,” said TRAC research associate John Breyault.
WIRELESS WATCH
New Jersey May Soon Get Tougher on Using Cell Phones While Driving – The New Jersey General Assembly is close to toughening the law against using a handheld wireless device while driving. The new law would make it a primary offense to use any handheld wireless device while driving, meaning that a police officer could write a ticket to someone for that reason alone, not just as an add-on to another offense. New Jersey, along with New York, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and many localities currently ban the use of cell phones and other wireless devices while driving, unless a hands-free unit is being used.
TRAC AND YOU
What Do You Think of A Flat Wireless Tax? – As we reported the “Washington Watch” section of this week’s edition of TRACNotes, the state of Virginia is considering switching to a flat 5% tax on all telecommunications taxes instead of the hodgepodge of taxes on different telecommunications services. What do you think of the switch? What would you think if taxes on things likes VoIP telephone service, satellite television and long distance services went up while local telephone, paging, and wireless services went down? E-mail your thoughts to trac@trac.org.
INTERESTING LINKS
FCC Main Page: http://www.fcc.gov
FCC Complaint Form - http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm
List of State Regulatory Commissions: http://www.naruc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15
What do you think? Got a tip you want to share? Nominate your "Scam of the Week" and your "Tip of the Week" - If we select your submission, we'll give you a one-year free membership in TRAC and acknowledge your contribution by name in TRACNotes. Send an e-mail to trac@trac.org to submit your ideas!
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©2006 Telecommunications Research and Action Center. TRAC grants unlimited rights to reproduce TRACNotes or any information contained in it provided attribution is given as follows: "Source: Telecommunications Research and Action Center. http://www.trac.org"
