W-b Schools Wrestle With Custodian Numbers 
The District Is Committed To Reducing The Work Force, Superintendent Namey
Says, But A Decade-old Report Does Not Have All The Answers.

1 Week Without Tv

By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER tmorgan@leader.net
 Friday, February 01, 2002 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 9A 





FRANKLIN TWP. - A township woman is battling her phone company and Internet
service provider over nearly $300 in long distance fees charged to her phone
even though she says her computer dialed a local number. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Joyce Coolbaugh said she has three Wilkes-Barre phone numbers, which are
non-toll calls, programmed into her computer for it to access America Online.
One of those numbers - 570-819-2184 - was somehow switched to a Danville
number - 570-271-3200 - for 2 1/2 weeks in October, resulting in $292.96 in
toll charges. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Coolbaugh has tried to resolve the matter, but said she's gotten the
runaround from AOL and her phone company, Commonwealth Telephone, both of
which offered little help. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``My question is if my computer is dialing a Wilkes-Barre number how am I
getting Danville, and who is responsible? AOL says it's the phone company and
the phone company says it's AOL. I'm stuck in the middle.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Patricia Amendola, a spokeswoman for Commonwealth Telephone, said the
company has gotten similar complaints from other customers. In most cases,
those problems were caused because the customer programmed a toll number into
the Internet access numbers list, not realizing the number was a toll call. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 With most Internet providers, customers are given a list of several access
numbers. That allows the computer to bump down to the next line if the other
lines are busy. If one of those numbers is a toll number, the customer would
be online racking up charges and not know it, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That's precisely what Coolbaugh thought might have happened. She said she
immediately reviewed her access numbers, and confirmed only Wilkes-Barre
numbers were programmed. She also questioned other family members to make sure
they had not changed the numbers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``There is no reason why I would change the number for three weeks,''
Coolbaugh said. ``I'm not stupid. I know Danville is a long distance call.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Amendola, after being asked to look into the case by a reporter, said
Commonwealth was unable to determine what might have went wrong because the
numbers involved were not Commonwealth Telephone numbers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After several phone calls, a reporter learned the Danville number is owned
by a subsidiary of Sprint United Phone Co. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Charles Fleckenstein, a spokesman for Sprint in Kansas City, Kan., said
Thursday he has turned the case over to the company's operations department.
The department must undertake a complex technical analysis, he said, but he's
confident it will resolve the matter within a few days. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the meantime, Coolbaugh said she's reluctant to use her computer, which
still dials out on the 819 number, for fear she'll get socked with more
unexpected toll fees. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``There's really no way for me to protect myself from this happening again,
especially since no one will take responsibility for how it happened to begin
with.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She said she's thankful someone is looking into the case, but frustrated at
how long it took to be taken seriously. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I was just tossed aside. No one wanted to talk to me,'' she said. ``I
don't know if the problem is AOL or the phone company, but it's not me.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at
829-7179. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Woman Disputes Internet Toll Connections 
Franklin Twp. Resident Says Her Computer Accessed America Online With A Local
Number But Her Bill Says A Danville One Was Dialed.

Woman Disputes Internet Toll Connections Franklin Twp. Resident Says Her Computer Accessed America Online With A Local Number But Her Bill Says A Danville One Was Dialed.