Late phone bills, mistakes plague dorms

Late phone bills, mistakes plague dorms

Project team works to review records, make adjustments

By Rashmi Nijagal

On-campus residents are quickly discovering that their late
phone bills riddled with mistakes are the result of a new program
adopted by the UCLA Telecommunications Office.

Not only were first bills weeks late, but residents’ second
phone bills arrived in the same month. In addition, most students
found lists of charges for local and unconnected calls.

"My payment was supposed to be due on Dec. 16th and I just got
my bill on the 21st of (January)," said Kristi Rolefson, a
first-year physiological sciences student. "They charged me extra
money because it is 30 days past due ­ but I got the bill a
month late."

When the UCLA Telecommunications Office switched to a new
bill-processing program, the first bill printing became delayed,
and telecommunications workers soon discovered that students were
being charged for local and unconnected calls, said Cecilia Kness,
acting director of telecommunications.

"When we sent out the first bill late, everything just
snowballed from there. (However), we did not want students to feel
the repercussions of this installation that did not go as planned,"
Kness said.

As students experienced combined charges from their October and
November bills, many found it difficult to make their payments. In
addition, students who want to discuss their bills are finding it
nearly impossible to contact Residential Telephone Services.

"I just think that this really shows a lack of respect for
students who are on a tight budget," said Todd Sargent,
undergraduate financial supports commissioner and a residential
advisor in Sproul Hall. "They’ve always been very, very difficult
to get in touch with when there are problems. Basically, I felt
that students were given a bad shake in this and that we are not
being treated as valid customers."

The Telecommunications Office and the Residential Telephone
Services will be working with students to allow them to pay for
their bills over a period of time.

"I do apologize for the delayed billing," said Kness. "We will
work with students so that they will not be penalized for the
delayed billing. Students have another two weeks to pay for their
bills and after that, if they cannot make the payments, we will
work out a plan with them where they can pay gradually. There will
also be more people in the office to answer the many calls that do
come in."

Currently, a project team is reviewing each student record and
making the necessary adjustments which include the cancellation of
charges for local and unconnected calls. Students will also be
given the opportunity to voice concern through their individual
residence halls.

In addition, the Telecommunications Office will be sending
flyers to every resident explaining the situation and how students
are expected to pay their bills. Eventually, the office claims they
will also re-format the phone bills for easier reading.

"We have had certain issues in the past but nothing like this,"
said Kness. "A lot of little problems have become unbelievably big.
I am asking students to bear with us while we get this turned
around."

The vast majority of problems is expected to be resolved within
the next two weeks. In order to "clean-up" the billings, the
January billing statement will also be delayed.

"We do consider students very valuable clients," Kness said.
"And we are trying to do the very best we can to fix the
situation."