Dial 411 And Hope For The Best

Hold the phone! Those directory assistance calls are often a waste of money.

A survey shows information operators give out the wrong numbers or can't find the number at all in about one out of three cases.

"How do you spell Gore? G-O-R?" "What state is San Antonio in?" and "Do you mean the 'White House' White House?" were some of the responses from the operators.

They couldn't find the telephone number of the Federal Communications Commission, the agency that regulates phone companies. Nor could they get numbers for Yellowstone National Park, Vice President Al Gore, the Illinois Supreme Court, Six Flags Great America, author Studs Terkel or other numbers easily found in printed directories.

The Chicago Sun-Times called information operators at Ameritech, AT&T and MCI WorldCom.

The newspaper made 360 total calls, seeking 40 numbers three times each with the three companies.

The success rate was based on location. Ameritech was better in the Chicago area but far less accurate than the other two outside the area, the paper reported.

Nationwide, consumers make 2 billion directory assistance calls a year with an 85 percent accuracy, the industry says.

At 95 cents to $1.49 a crack, that's still a waste of $300 million a year.

And, Gary Brown, head of Decision Data Collection in McLean, Va., says the claim of 85 percent accuracy is "just hot air."

The companies say they do the best they can.

One big problem is 25 percent of the nation's phone numbers change each year. Phone companies also are sometimes at the mercy of companies that supply outdated numbers.

"Our operators try to be as accurate as possible," Ameritech spokeswoman Julie Balmer says. "Our database is updated on a daily basis. There is the human factor."

Customers can get refunds for wrong numbers but few bother, and the FCC receives only 100 complaints a year, according to the Sun-Times.

Consumer advocates and phone industry analysts don't understand why customers don't demand better service.

Marty Cohen, who heads the consumer watchdog Citizens Utility Board, said people don't know they have options. He called on the Illinois Commerce Commission needs to regulate the service.

"Everybody knows that you dial 411 to get information," he said. "That's monopoly right there."