Just how many circuits, lines, and other services at&t is billing and being paid for that the customer is unaware of. There has to be many, seems like an audit should be conducted by an unbiased third party.
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You can bet there are a ton of services being billed for that do not exist. You can bet the Financials for these services are in at&t's favor.
As for employees unaccounted for, you can bet there are many.
Nope
Things to ponder for the unworked, hmmm. I’m bored, wonder what insignificant thing I can think of next?
I’ve Got It!
Ever wonder how many staples people are using when they could be using reusable paper clips. Has to be in the millions, companies should be auditing them. How dastardly!
Worrying about a disconnect is the least of my priorities. These days, I mostly wonder if or when I’m going to be involved in the next layoff. They don’t ever seem to end with this failed leadership train wreck.
Consulting companies used to exist just for this specific purpose. They would audit your telecom bill. Compare services billed to services requested and services in use. They would get paid based on an annualized cost savings. You could absolutely make a living off of this as a contractor or consultant. You would need to focus on larger companies with a large geographic footprint and a decent number of years in business. You would want to look at more than just auditing bills. You would want to compete the network services the company is left with after disconnects are placed t find the best priced provider.
Go beyond just looking at the bills. Prepare to visit a LOT of telecom closets and check if services paid for are actually live and verify what they connect to. You could certainly have a career outside of AT&T, and AT&T could be the one footing your bill based on annualized savings after you disconnect and/or compete services.
Never have
“I lost count how many times my boss would pressure me to mask problems and remind me these inflated numbers are how we are paid.”
Never experienced this but was on some project calls where some participants who never did anything or barely spoke made sure any accomplishments were on their end of year. A million dollar project was ultimately turned in individually by 8-9 people in different departments as their success.
Um angry? I don’t remember being angry. I just remember thinking if Att fired me I would make a good consultant. Lol
""I can remember back in 2001 doing a digital switch conversion with a new central office frame and we neglected to move a dozen ds0 ckts for the state and never got a trouble ticket.":
So, your state didn't disconnect unused circuits, or doesn't test anything?
Your anger is pointed at the wrong place. If the circuits were "in service" for billing and didn't get moved, we screwed up.
The state should have been aware of that and placed trouble reports, as well as been reimbursed for unavailable time per tariffs. Many could be hot or warm spares, or emergency use circuits that the state failed to monitor. We positively notify private circuit and bulk access customers of major network activity.
Shame on your state telecomm departments for not being skilled or willing to pay attention.
I can remember back in 2001 doing a digital switch conversion with a new central office frame and we neglected to move a dozen ds0 ckts for the state and never got a trouble ticket.
“ Guessing you’re a pot stirrer or a former or current disgruntled employee”
Hmm , guessing you’re one of the unethical ones..
Comical how some posters honestly believe they have the right to censor posts on this site! Last I heard it's still a free country, post whatever you want!
WRONG!
This site can be whatever you want it to be. No regulations dictate the subject must pertain to layoffs. Get a life di--head, if you don't like a comment, don't read it, just go away.
Hmm, I thought this site was for Layoff commentary? I fail to make a connection between the purpose of the site and your comment. Guessing you’re a pot stirrer or a former or current disgruntled employee
Can they do that?
Highlights the regular unethical results organizations share with leadership. I lost count how many times my boss would pressure me to mask problems and remind me these inflated numbers are how we are paid.
Business mobility customers are regularly subject to added unauthorized services. Access My Lan is consistently added to lines without approval and if discovered , a credit is provided. Sales Managers and Director are complicit in this activity. This is just one example, there are dozens.
Ever wonder why you’re not doing something about it…? If you have facts, do something for the customers instead of “wondering “ which is really a hope that the company gets caught doing something illegal so it is harmed because it will make you feel better?
It is up to the customer to audit their bills. This should take place at least once every 6 months, since most disputes can only go back 6 months. Do you personally check your own bills each month for variance? Do check and make sure billing stops for something you disconnected? Of course you do. Same applies to the business customers. Customers are very lazy in their IT auditing, and it costs them thousands…sometimes millions.
Shouldn't it be up to each bill recipient to verify?
We provide a decent number of circuits that are not in constant use, and many circuits don't have the ability to be monitored for traffic.
Not discontinuing billing after a customer disconnect is wrong, but it isn't T's fault some customers simply stop using a service and never request a disconnect.
Well, how many AVPs and higher are there? This is quantifiable.
"Kind of like employees, there's gotta be a few T employees who have fallen through the cracks over the years. No accountability, just get a deposit in their checking account every two weeks. How many? Who knows for sure!"
They are all E6 circuits
AT&T can’t authorize a disconnect on a circuit that doesn’t belong to them. It’s the customer’s responsibility to request a disconnect & AT&Ts responsibility to execute it. One of the biggest issues is disconnects not flowing all of the way through, the billing stops but the network records still show the circuit in service. Government customers seem to be the biggest culprit of paying for but no longer in use circuits, T is prolly second.
Funny you bring this up. One of my peers migrated 8 Locations from T1 to Fiber in 2011. After many years of going to a different group I was placed back into that group in 2020 and had that customer in my module. Behold the T1's were still billing 9 Years later. Of the past 4-5 AM's who had the account, nobody canceled them. This is why our business customers hate us because of stuff like this. The AM's got the TBR and didn't say a word. Don't get me wrong customers should all pay attention to their bills, but this was a joke. Thant along with Dual AVPN Circuits I had with one customer who was paying $20K a month in duplicates.
"Probably most of these circuits are internal to Toxic-T and we are paying ourselves!"
This guy gets it......how many 'internal' circuits are being charged to T that we count toward our earnings.....gets interesting, but I am no accountant.
Snitches get stitches and end up in ditches.
If you know something, you should report it to COBC so Asset Protection can sweep it under the rug and terminate your employment.
No. I don’t.
Probably most of these circuits are internal to Toxic-T and we are paying ourselves!
Kind of like employees, there's gotta be a few T employees who have fallen through the cracks over the years. No accountability, just get a deposit in their checking account every two weeks. How many? Who knows for sure!
Plenty of big money being collected every month for services no longer being provided. In many cases, businesses being billed fo circuits and don't realize it.