Telephone Tidbits

Email I recieved:
90# on your telephone

I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying
himself as an AT&T Service Technician (could also be Telus) who was
conducting a test on the telephone lines. He stated that to complete the test
I should touch nine (9), zero (0), the pound sign (#), and then hang up.
Luckily, I was suspicious and refused.

Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#,
you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which
enables them to place long distance calls billed to your home phone number.
I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many local
jails/prisons. DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE...
The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with
EVERYONE I KNOW.

After checking with Verizon they also said it was true, so
do not dial 90# for anyone !!!!!



I dialed '0' to check this out, and the operator confirmed that this was correct,
so please pass it on... (l also checked out snopes.com and truthorfiction.com This is true, and also applies to cell phones!)

PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW
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I am asking each of you to consider doing the following when you are talking on the phone to any U.S. company's customer service representative that is based in a foreign country (like India ). I have done this twice and it works! Any time you call an 800 number (for a credit card, banking, charter communications, health and other insurance, computer help desk, etc ) and you find that you're talking to a foreign customer service representative (perhaps in India , Philippines, etc), please consider doing the following:

After you connect and you realize that the customer service representative is not from the USA (you can always ask if you are not sure about the accent), please, very politely ( very politely - this is not about trashing other cultures ) say, "I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the United States of America ." The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager, but, again, politely say, "Thank you, but I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in the USA ."

YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED to a rep in the USA . That's the rule. It takes less than one minute to have your call re-directed to the USA . Tonight when I got redirected to a USA rep, I asked again to make sure - and yes, she was from Fort Lauderdale ..
If tomorrow every US citizen who has to make such a call, and then requests a U.S. rep, imagine how that would ultimately impact the number of US jobs that would need to be created ASAP. Imagine what would happen if every US citizen insisted on talking to only US phone reps from this day on. If I tell 10 people to consider this and you tell 10 people to consider doing this - see what I mean...it becomes an exercise in viral marketing 101.

Remember - the goal here is to restore jobs back here at home - not to be abrupt or rude to a foreign phone rep.

You may even get correct answers, good advice, and solutions to your problem in real English If you agree, please tell 10 people you know, and ask them to tell 10 people they know....etc...etc...