atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Telecom Service & Providers Vanity number scam

If you ordered a vanity (VZ calls it a "Gold") number, and are still paying the exorbitant extra monthly rate for the privilege, here's a way to escape the charges, and keep the number:

Port the number to a different carrier, (land-line, cell, or VoIP.) Wait two months, and then port it back.

Voila! The "Gold" charge disappears.

Sounds like when customers back in my old Bell days wanted several jacks. Bell would charge for jacks, but if you put an extension on the end of it the jack was free. So they'd least a phone for a month and have them removed wala, free jacks. I don't remember the cost, but putting a phone on it for a month was a lot cheaper than having a jack installed.

Great idea, Arthur. I'm paying for two of them at home although I only asked for one.

Bill, I remember a NJ Bell installer telling me about that trick with the jacks. An extra jack was something like $35.00, but a rented extension was $1.01 per month regardless of the labor required. Rent it for two months and return it.

Wile we are on the subject of fees, does anyone know how to get out of paying for hunting? When my service at home was GTE, they charged $2.90 per month for it, BUT they charged this for all members in the hunt group. No problem except that they also charge for the last number in a terminal hunt. Basically, I'm paying $5.80 per month for line 1 to hunt to line 2. I tried to argue with them that they are double charging me, but never got through to them. I then asked what the fee would be if I wanted circular hunting, $8.70? They never could answer that question. All the while, Bell Atlantic was charging 58 cents a month and only for the first line. I sure would like to figure this one out.

figure this out got a call from a customer the other day; their bill went up $2xx.00 they called about the bill and also asked why the lines did not hunt to the last line and go to a "message center" when lines 1 2 & 3 were busy.
telco could not explain the increase in monthly charges and told the customer that the hunting was in their equipment and not at telco and for them to "call their IT guy". 3 in hunting 2 ogt on a DX120, so how do I make changes to the hunting I ask you?( I'm being a smart axx). my pity for my customer and this from the great Verizon.

Yep, hence my signature line (Must Be Something Wrong With Your PBX), Verizon's canned answer for everything.

Hunting is free in NY VZ territory.

I never paid for hunting on my two lines here in NYC.

In GTE we called a 2 line terminal hunt a "Busy Divert" and the programming in the switch was a simple addendum in one of the fields in the prime line.

Circular Hunting or Terminal Hunting of 3 lines or more was a (slightly) more complicated programming setup (It required you going into the Station Hunting program, while the divert didn't).

Sam

When you say a vanity number, do you mean like 216-464-JEFF?

Yes, any number, if specifically requested, is considered a vanity number. It doesn't have to spell anything, or be anything special to anyone else, but if you ask for it, they will charge you for it. F'rinstance, NXX-867-5309 is a Golden Number, if you say you want it, even if you're not Jenny.

I have had, over the years, several good numbers. Some I got without extra charges, via my connections at the company -- knowing a line assignment clerk ...er...socially helped -- and other numbers were ones I requested. Having Class B service meant that any recurring charges were halved, so the monthly charge was not onerous.

Since leaving the company, and setting up several businesses, I have had to pay the full rate on business service. I just flipped two of those lines over to Vonage because VZ is expensive, and is incapable of providing even the most basic services without noise, hum, static, etc, and they can't give me "transfer to cell number after 4 rings", so I told them, in the nicest possible way, as a former employee to stick it where the sun don't shine.

In a past life, I had 212-749-7490, 212-222-1212, 212-222-9922, and 212-666-9966.

Now I have 631-749-1212, 212-749-1212, and 631-749-0100. I pay the Golden Number charge only on 749-1212, as that is my only VZ line, with Class B service. I keep it just so that I can continue to screw them, in a small but satisfying way.

You can also call me on C*NET at 1-749-0100.

(see www.CKTS.info)

Thanks for the clarification. Interestingly, in the Cleveland area, XXX-1212 and XXX-1234 are almost always the fire and police departments.