Thousands overcharged as merger causes computers to go haywire

CWC hit by phone bill chaos

by SIMON FLUENDY

Telecoms company Cable and Wireless Communications is facing a
multi-million pound nightmare because its telephone billing system has gone
haywire.

Telecoms watchdog OFTEL is investigating as thousands of phone customers
with the £8 billion giant are being overcharged.

Solving the problem, caused by computer chaos, is expected to take at least
six months.

The company says the confusion stems from last year's merger between the
Cable & Wireless phone subsidiary Mercury and three regional cable
companies that had phone customers of their own.

Efforts to unite the customers on a single billing system ran into
difficulties.

The company also warns it can compensate only customers who discover
mistakes for themselves because its computers cannot work out who has been
affected.

CWC was formed last year from the agreed merger of Videotron, Nynex, Bell
CableMedia and Mercury Communications, creating a rival to British Telecom
with almost a million customers.

Malcolm Budinger, a technical planning manager at CWC, said 'Our biggest
problem is the legacy billing system - it is losing us customer goodwill'.
The billing problems are also delaying the introduction of new services
such as mailboxes that store faxes.

Some customers inherited from cable companies are being charged peak rates
for calls made on bank holidays. They are victims of Mercury's former
policy decision to recognise only three bank holidays during the year while
the cable company customers had been allowed more.

The computer confusion has also switched some customers from one set of
tariffs to another without notice - in breach of their contracts.

And the system is unable to cope with bills for customers with more than
one line. Some are being charged for calls made during much earlier billing
periods.

Because CWC is still restructuring as a result of the merger - involving
1,500 job losses and a heavy reduction in the number of call centres - the
problems could become worse before they improve.

The company admits that it cannot rule out problems with the phone system
itself. 'We haven't had that kind of complaint, and it shouldn't happen,
but we can't say it won't', say CWC.

It added that customers were being switched into the amalgamated billing
system from one cable company at a time and warned of the problems on a
regional basis.

Almost 80,000 former Videotron customers around Southampton were the first
to be warned of the switch, generating about 100 complaints of misbilling.
London customers have also been switched, while former Bell CableMedia
customers will follow in August.

One former Videotron customer became so furious at CWC that he organised a
demonstration outside the company's London HQ.

Alastair Scott from London and 60 supporters - accompanied by a pantomime
horse and a pantomime chicken - handed out more than 900 leaflets in March
protesting about unfair treatment.

Scott said, 'I organise an Internet Web site dedicated to monitoring CWC's
treatment of customers and I know hundreds of people who have been
misbilled'.

Examples of rogue billing included two calls made from the same number
simultaneously and calls charged at the wrong rate, Scott said.

Richard Sliwa from London said his first bill from the new system was
almost £100 too high.

'As a result of applying incorrect tariffs, my bill was £93 in excess of
what CWC is due', he said. The billing period started on May 2 and the
intervening period is correctly billed. I spoke to the company last week,
only to be told it was not aware of any billing errors.

Customer Martin Paton said that on top of billing problems he had received
contradictory information from CWC customer services staff. One told him
bank holiday calls were charged at weekend rates, another that they were
not.

'Customer service is a disgrace', he said. 'They don't seem to know what
they are talking about'.

© Associated Newspapers 1998