On Tue, 9 Aug 2016 12:56:45 -0700, (Dave
Platt) wrote:

In article ,
Chuck wrote:

Did it rain just before your phones stop working? I went through the
scenarios that you describe for years with AT&T before the tech. told
me the buried line had water in it and that they won't replace it. Had
to go to an internet phone service.

That's unfortunate... and might well be an illegal action on their
part. If they're deliberately refusing to repair a tariff-regulated
landline service, in order to push customers onto a non-tariff-
regulated "information" service, it might be a violation of your
state's telecom regulations.

In cases like that, it sometimes helps to write a letter of complaint
to the state Public Utility Commission ombudsman (or woman).
Complain that AT&T has failed (and is now refusing) to perform
required maintenance on their regulated wiring, and that as a result
they have failed to provide you with acceptable voice-grade service
for which you have been paying.

CC: it to your AT&T Customer Service contact, and perhaps to your
Congresscritter and/or Senator.

Regulated utilities *hate* to have complaints about their service sent
to the public bodies that regulate 'em.

I agree with another posted in this thread - it's important to make
sure that your own phones are not part of the problem. More than
that, it's important to be certain that none of your "inside wiring"
is at fault, since this wiring typically is not any part of the
telco's responsibility.

What I always do, in cases like this, is completely disconnect the
inside wiring at the "demarc" block, and then plug a known-good phone
into the demarc. If the problem still exists (better: if you can
confirm it with two different phones and two different line cords)
then it puts the responsibility for the fault right back on the
telco's shoulders.

Tell the telco this, when you call: "I have confirmed that the
problem remains when all customer-premises wiring and equipment is
disconnected at the demarc."

Unfortunately, I live in OK.. Consumer protection here is
nonexistant. This state is controlled by corporate interests. A
fossil fuel billionare says it is commies that are against fracking
when peoples houses are being shaken apart by earthquakes.

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