"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
I had to call the telco today to check on something and, after waiting the
usual period and being barraged by the usual voicemail options, I finally
got a live person (well, semi-live), who could help me ONLY if I could
supply her with either a 12-digit account number OR the amount due on my
last phone bill.

Say what?

Everyone is supposed to know their telco account number, she said.

Say what?

Idiots. We've been taken over by idiots.

Here, the phone company asks "Are you authorized to make changes for this
phone number?" That's it. No password, no nothing. What am I gonna tell
them? No, I'm not authorized, so let's sign me up for triple super voice
mail? :-)

When I worked for PacBell, we seldom worried about authorization to make
changes. It was easier to do what the caller wanted. A computer generated
form was always sent to the account, listing the changes made and any
charges. If it turned out to be unauthorized, we'd undo the change and
refund the charge, if there was one.
Some customers requested we note the account to identify an authorized
contact person.
When you consider the thousands of customers contacted each day, the
percentage of unhappy ones was very small. It was easy to take corrective
actions for the unhappy ones, and make them happy again.

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
I had to call the telco today to check on something and, after waiting the
usual period and being barraged by the usual voicemail options, I finally
got a live person (well, semi-live), who could help me ONLY if I could
supply her with either a 12-digit account number OR the amount due on my
last phone bill.

Say what?

Everyone is supposed to know their telco account number, she said.

Say what?

Idiots. We've been taken over by idiots.

Here, the phone company asks "Are you authorized to make changes for this
phone number?" That's it. No password, no nothing. What am I gonna tell
them? No, I'm not authorized, so let's sign me up for triple super voice
mail? :-)