Just so everyone out there knows this, the FCC is now into protecting dead beat customers, and have a personal grudge toward all of the utility companies out there. With that said, here is what happened on a call I took earlier.
This guy called in telling me he could not get his internet to connect properly, stating his username and password were incorrect. I pulled up his telephone account, and saw it was suspended, but somehow, the internet was still working. So, I did my share of troubleshooting, had him correct his username, then advised him of his service being suspended for non payment, plus that meant the internet was subject to this as well. The moment this was said, he became defensive and said, "I'm supposed to have the internet on my other phone number, which is......" and he rattled it off to me. I pulled up the number, and found this was paid in full, was in the same house, and in his name as well!
He demanded I put his internet on the telephone he paid for in full, which I would not do, telling him that because it is on his unpaid phone line, it was being suspended until paid up. (In this profession, we cannot add services, remove services, or even disconnect a phone service if it is suspended for non payment).
A few minutes later, another rep spoke to him and this time, he was complaining about his internet not working. This rep told him he was suspended and nothing could be done until he paid the bill in full, so he was connected with our collections department, who had him pay his bill in order to restore the internet and phone line.
Later on, I was advised if his other telephone number was on a separate account, we could not turn off the paid for line! The FCC has this in place, that the phone company cannot turn off other phone lines if you owe money on any others! However, it does state that we can turn off services on the line you owe on.
At the end of the call, this guy told me I needed to get more sleep and get my attitude checked. In return, I suspended his internet service, and he was suddenly able to pay his bill in full. I guess I needed more sleep so I would not be the smart person that caught something like this.
This guy called in telling me he could not get his internet to connect properly, stating his username and password were incorrect. I pulled up his telephone account, and saw it was suspended, but somehow, the internet was still working. So, I did my share of troubleshooting, had him correct his username, then advised him of his service being suspended for non payment, plus that meant the internet was subject to this as well. The moment this was said, he became defensive and said, "I'm supposed to have the internet on my other phone number, which is......" and he rattled it off to me. I pulled up the number, and found this was paid in full, was in the same house, and in his name as well!
He demanded I put his internet on the telephone he paid for in full, which I would not do, telling him that because it is on his unpaid phone line, it was being suspended until paid up. (In this profession, we cannot add services, remove services, or even disconnect a phone service if it is suspended for non payment).
A few minutes later, another rep spoke to him and this time, he was complaining about his internet not working. This rep told him he was suspended and nothing could be done until he paid the bill in full, so he was connected with our collections department, who had him pay his bill in order to restore the internet and phone line.
Later on, I was advised if his other telephone number was on a separate account, we could not turn off the paid for line! The FCC has this in place, that the phone company cannot turn off other phone lines if you owe money on any others! However, it does state that we can turn off services on the line you owe on.
At the end of the call, this guy told me I needed to get more sleep and get my attitude checked. In return, I suspended his internet service, and he was suddenly able to pay his bill in full. I guess I needed more sleep so I would not be the smart person that caught something like this.
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