[geeks] Verizon's Int'l Call Blocking - doesn't

[Patrick Giagnocavo]

On 10/29/2010 4:33 PM, Jonathan J. M. Katz wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 4:31 PM, Patrick Giagnocavo <patrick at zill.net> wrote:
>> How is it, that a Verizon-provided line, using Verizon's LD service, did
>> not actually block an international outgoing call?  Is there some
>> "trick" that I am not aware of that allows such calls to be made?
>>
>> I know there are some phone geeks here on the list ...
> 
> Either you have a calling card that was used, they never actually
> enabled the blocking you requested, or someone used a 1010XXX number
> (what used to be a 10XXX number) to make the LD call.

I did ask them exactly that, and both the VZ rep, and the bill, confirm
it was "Verizon Long Distance" that completed the call.

I asked them how (playing dumb a little), if they had a database entry
for call blocking on this line, on a VZ-owned phone line, using VZ's LD
to complete the call, that their system could not possibly know which
phone number was being used to originate the call and thus it should
have been blocked.

Eventually they comped the $80 charge but I think, left a bunch of taxes
and fees stay on the bill, so it is still $10 higher than it should be.

I may write them a letter, copying the FCC or FTC on it, stating what
happened and claiming that they were engaged in false advertising when
they told me the phone would be blocked when it wasn't.  Depends on how
much I care about it on Monday.

Of course, I didn't reach a human until about 4-6 minutes into the call,
having to navigate a bunch of auto-attendant trees, only to reach
someone who tried to snow me by telling me "there are people who know
how to bypass our call blocking with certain codes" ... as if there are
phone phreakers out there wandering through my mom's nursing home ...

--Patrick