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Article: PHONE ``SLAMMING'': UNSCRUPULOUS COMPANIES ARE TRYING TO TRICK CUSTOMERS INTO CHANGING THEIR LONG-DISTANCE SERVICE. RIGHT NOW, THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO PREVENT IT.(FRONT)
- Article from:
- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
- Article date:
- February 13, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
Billy Spruill was baffled when a telemarketer tried to get him to change his long-distance carrier back to AT&T Corp.
AT&T had been Spruill's long-distance provider since Feb. 11, 1954 - the day he moved into his Portsmouth house.
``I thought it was strange to change back to something I never changed from,'' Spruill said. ``I had them all those years, I had no problem with them, so why change?''
Spruill didn't know it, but he had been ``slammed.'' That's the telephone industry term for the unauthorized switching of a person's long-distance provider.
Spruill is far from alone. Slamming is the ...