Speaking with several agents, service providers and employees of carriers, I get the feeling that billing issues are more frequent today than ever before. I kind of joke that the ILEC's purposedly bill wrong to gain a 10% revenue increase, but all I hear is billing problems. And never in the customer's favor. It's always additional USOC's and old circuits and extra charges.

The other side of it is that it is a time-consuming effort to get ANY billing issue resolved. And the W-2 employees at the carrier just don't want to be bothered. Everyone is so focused on new revenue that any customer care is minimal enough to avoid a lawsuit and that's it. How short sided!!

When a customer signs a contract, it is a two-way agreement. The carrier is agreeing to not only provide the correct service to the service address but to bill it correctly, maintain it properly and some level of customer service. 

You wonder why churn is high and customer retention is low? Because you don't actually care about the customer. Period. 

The focus is on the revenue. The customer is just a number. 

It is a time consuming effort to get billing fixed. I get that. But do you get that you made a promise to provide the contracted service at the contracted rate? That the billing issues are rampant in your company? It's almost at the point that it is a class-action lawsuit waiting to happen. (And if you are interested in starting one please contact me; lawyers are standing by). 

Disclaimer: These opinions are mine alone.