I heard about this new deal from Ameritech.  It's called Ameritech Packet
Switching.  Supposedly, it was cheap and handy.  I called Ameritech and 
talked to one of the representatives there.  In discussing the pricing, 
I asked several times, very clearly, if you were charged for online time.
The woman I talked to listed a couple of various things that are listed
in the charges.  I asked her again, "Are you charged for online time?"
The resulting answer, while runaround, was no.

I got an account there.  It WAS great.  I could get in on the first dial,
every time.  From their host, I simply typed michnetcp, and there I was,
connected right to merit, no fuss no muss.

Last week, I got my phone bill (another nice feature of Packet switching-
it goes right on your phone bill).  For a little more than a month's worth
of service, my total came to...
$211.00.  I thought this was ridiculous.  I called ameritech several times.
The person I talked to at the packet switching tech help number was a little
helpful, but not much.  He said he'd check a few things and call me back.
He said, well, you were online a lot, and downloaded some big files.  I 
thought "$200 worth???".  I called ameritech's billing office.  They didn't
know *anything* about packet switching accounts.  Twice I was given a phone
number to call.  As it turned out, this number was the answering machine
you leave your name on to *get* an account.  

So far, this is unresolved.  As far as I can tell, I *was* charged for
every minute online- at least $.05 per minute.  This seems a bit steep,
especially since I was told there were not charges for online time.

Sorry about the length of this item. If anyone wants to hear more about it,
email me.  But here's the main point of posting this:

        DO NOT *EVER* SIGN UP FOR AMERITECH PACKET SWITCHING, UNLESS
        YOU LIKE HIGH PHONE BILLS AND INCORRECT INFORMATION ABOUT
        THEIR ACCOUNTS.

28 responses total.

Thanks, I was considering that program. Some guy in a newsgroup told me
about it.

Wow, I sure hope you get out of paying that, Brenda.  Did you get the name
of the person who told you there were no on-line charges?

   They either charged ona per-minute basis or per kilo-packet.  I
think its on a time basis.

   The good news is that you can contest this, and you *don't* have
to pay that amount to keep your phone on.  Basically, you can tmake
things painful enough fo Ameritech, that they'll back off.  You'll
probably need to file a complaint with the Michigan Public Service
Commision.  Their number is (517) 334-6424.  Their address is:
MPSC PO Box 30221 Lansing MI 48909.

   I must say I haven't heard of Ameritch screwing a customer like
this in a while.  Forunately, you can fight it.

Would someone please link this to internet?

Item Agora 41 linked to Internet 78

Gee, for $200+ you coulda spent a lot of time with sex-talk instead ....
<g>

Make sure you submit something in writing to Ameritech - then they can't
force collection until the issue is resolved.  What about the Better
Business Bureau???

(Hey - how about a link to Consumer, too?)

Okay...agora 41 (internet 78) is now linked to consumer item 21.
 
I hope you get Ameritech to deliver what they promised on this deal,
brenda.  Sounds pretty shady to me the way they sidestepped around
the issue of online time costs that eventually amounted to more than
a significant bill.  Thanks for posting this item; we'll all be wary
(warier?) now.

PLEASE everyone... feel free to copy the initial post and enter on any
boards you want to.  I am really upset about this, and I'd like to warn
as many people as possible about this.

thanks

If it is any consulation, even the help people that Ameritech has
for this service are not very fluent with what they are doing.

I talked to a guy on the phone for about 20 minutes trying to convice
then that, no I was not the Internet Help Desk.  I finally got him to 
admit that he was given the number by someone over in the Ameitech
Packet Switching Dept.  When I called over there, I was given the run-
around.  Noone there seemed to be aware of what an internet was.  (But
then these are telco people, and if a problme is not in that LEC's
network, then the telco people rarely care.)

I was finally able to talk to someone and was able to convince them that 
they should not give out our number to there customers.  I have not heard
from them since.

-------

Good luck fighting the bill.  I know that Ameritech is usually very bad
at this sort of thing.

ameritech isn't screwing anybody intentionally. the major charge for the
packet switching network is kilobits transmitted, this includes text on
screeen, i.e. irc.  if you dont have tons of text scroll across your screen
the charge will be less than if you spent the same amount of time on irc.
live and learn.

   No, Ameritech doesn't screw anyone over intenionally, they screw
people over by incompetence.

didn't they just announce an early retirement plan so good that they had to
start hiring people off the street beause so many people took advantage of it?

hi jdc! Welcome to Grex!

There are alot of TELCO's that are offering the early retirement thingy.
Unfortunatly, in the RBOC's cases, the competent people are taking the
offer, then moving over to CAP's to finish out their careers.  Ah well,
what do you expect from such an incompetent organization.

Re:  The Ameritch Packet Switching thing

I am not sure if I mentioned this above, but the point is worth
reiterating.  When you subscribe to the Ameritech Packet Switching
service, all that you get out of that is a transport service over the
ameritech X.25 network.  If you are using this transport service to
connect to the internet (i.e., Merit), you must also subscribe to that
service (i.e., obtain a Merit Authorization Account).  

Basically what this means to you, is that Ameritech is charging you to
use their modems to connect to your account with Merit.  But, if you
have an account with Merit, you can use the network of dialup modems
that they have to connect to them, so you would never have to touch the
Ameritech modems.  So in the end, you are paying ameritech for what you
have already paid for under your agreement with Merit.

I would recommend thinking very closely abouwhat exactly you want when
you decide to investigate this service.

Ya don't say!  8*)

Welcome to Grex, livesaya!

I have just enrolled in Ameritech Packet Switching. This will provide
access to MichNet from locations that do not have a MIchNet server. The
cost appears to be less than calling long-distance to a server, but I
must still determine the details. I was told there are no service charges
or monthly charges, while the use charges are: Holding chg, $0.01/min;
Data Transport chg, $0.015/min; Protocol Conversion chg, $0.005/min,
for an on-line charge of $0.03/min. 

This appears to be the optimum connection to MichNet from some locations.
For example, from an area south of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti is a local call
but Ann Arbor is not. There is no MichNet server in Ypsilanti, but
Ameritech Packet Switching is available there. (Go ahead - tell me there
is a better access from Willis - I'd love to know about it!)

Are others here no using this service? If so, what are your opinions
of it?

Rane,

Good Luck.  I have never heard anything but horror stories from people
that were trying to use this x.25 service as a gateway to the internet.
One thing that you might want to double check is the extra costs of
connecting to Michnet.  I think that Ameritech automatically signs you
up for an authorization account with Merit.  But since you are already
associated with the UofM, you should not need to get one of these.

Anyway, for all that it is worth, good luck with the service.

---

It is almost 5am, so it is time to go out and and break routing on the
internet...  

It has been announced that the Ameritech Packet Switching link to MichNet
goes bye-bye on 1 June. It has served a friend of mine very well (from Willis)
- her charges come to ca. $3/month (low-rate time, but she quit worrying
about that, it was so cheap). So now - what other options are there from
Willis (besides normal local-long-distance)? While I'm asking, why has
MichNet delinked from APS? There are still a lot of places with no local
MichNet access, but with APS. What will be the surcharge for the 800-
MichNet access? As cheap as APS? [Final question :): what is APS used
for primarily - credit card traffic?]

Rane, your friend might want to check into Provide.Net.  They are a full ISP
offering slip/ppp accounts for about $20 set-up and $15/mo unlimited access
(you get 13 months by paying a full year in advance...they will refund
pro-rata if you cancel before a year...but you lose the 1 month discount).
They advertise they have dial-up in Willis at the 461 exchange.
  Call them at 313-572-0101, email is order@provide.net, or check them out
at http:/www.provide.net  (I've had good experience with them since February).

Do you know for a fact that Merit is not doing this as a result of introducing
their own local POP within reach? I thought they were adding a lot of POPs
trying to blanket the state.

Who can see into the mind of Merit? So far, they have not indicated
they will have local access from Willis (461 is not local). They plan
on offering for-fee 800- service, but details are not yet posted. Yes,
Merit is adding a lot more NASs, but, well...have you *been* to Willis? ;-}

Rural Southeastern Washtenaw County (and SW Wayne) yes - I have been there.
I do not know the mind of Merit, but I have heard Jeff Ogden speak of their
intentions (albeit more than a year ago).

What is it, like 4 streets?  Just large enough for the Pickle Barrel and 
its staff. :)

I've heard that Merit 800 number access will have an hourly fee of $5-$6.  

Response not possible - You must register and login before posting.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss