From: Clark Reynard <clark@metal.psu.edu>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 93 00:45:41 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: WARNING:  NON-CYPHERPUNK QUESTION
Message-ID: <9307140818.AA03244@metal.psu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


WARNING:  NON-CRYPTOPRIVACY-RELATED QUESTION FOLLOWS:

Are there any fast, quick, reliable
methods of forestalling phone disconnection due to failure to 
pay the bills, and the ugly reconnection fee which ensues
thereupon?

Being a professional deadbeat, and having given up phone phreaking
since my nasty bust--I did get off better than poor Phiber, though--,
I find phone rates extortionate.  This is not to say that I do
not intend to pay the phone bill; I have no choice, since there is,
as in most areas, only ONE phone company for local service.  
What might have been called a 'vertical monopoly' in the days
of the robber barons, who have been reincarnated as phone company
magnates.

In either case, does anyone know of any federal laws which one
can cite to delay a phone service shutdown?  I only need about
two or three weeks before I can pay in full (I'm waiting on some
blasted residuals on work I did months ago).

I've kind of stalled on this, and now have until Friday before
the axe-man cometh.  If you believe that your answer to THIS
question would be relevant to the list at large, please post.
If not, send it to me personally.  But please hurry; by Friday,
I may not be able to receive your mail.  

[Oh, and for a partial answer to the second question, for anyone
in the same circumstance:  try 'sickness in the family' and be
vague.  If you've had a cold, it's more or less an honest excuse.
When the representative of the phone company goes silent, after
asking for the minimum you can pay immediately, do not say anything.
They are instructed to remain silent (as are any salesmen, myself
included) and wait for an answer.  Just stay on the line and not
say anything.  I waited five minutes.  Eventually they start to
talk; THEN, you've won the silence-battle.  Get them to cough up
the absolute minimum, and send THAT to them.  Complain about
the disconnect notice, saying you just got it, and it was for
days ago.  Then ask how you can pay it before the time allotted,
since if you sent it out today, it might not be there for days.
Get an extension.  Send them less than you said you would, claiming
any full-bore lie you can imagine; I used "car repairs," which
was half-true.  With similar half-truths you can forestall disconnection
for months.  However, I have reached the point where the phone
company is rapidly losing patience, and I want to know of any
sure-fire methods of delaying them.]

Thank you for your kind consideration and indulgence.