DarTalk needs substantial reorganization in order to better serve its customers, the students. Its current management isinconvenient, disorganized and the source of much frustration.
Student complaints about unfair rates are unfounded and inaccurate -- current rates are about 10 percent off what we would be charged by AT&T for long distances. We are also exempt from a tax that the state usually levies on callers.
But while they offer competitive rates, the mandatory $15 monthly fee that DarTalk charges is illogical and unfair. Currently, students residing in singles are charged $15 for their phone service; those living in doubles must also pay the $15 each in order to access additional accounts, although they do not receive an additional phone line.
The current DarTalk billing system encourages students living in college rooms of doubles or more to subvert the system by paying for only one Dartalk account and splitting the charge, which highlights the absurdity of the current billing system.
A student living on campus for twelve terms will spend a total of $540 while she is in college just to have an operational phone line. Given the enormous revenue the mandatory fee generates for DarTalk and the fact that it is the only phone service available, DarTalk should be more accommodating to student needs.
The fee should be automatically charged on a room by room basis to the College bill of each student residing in the dorms through the Residential Life system. Students in multiple occupancy rooms who wish to have additional accounts on their one line should pay a discounted fee.
The separate locations for billing and service in Clement and Thayer add another inconvenience which creates unnecessary confusion, often resulting in students running back and forth from each building in order to answer the simplest of questions.
The employees of both offices are often rude and unfriendly. Their lack of sympathy for the victims of the muddled system that employs them only adds insult to injury.
On a campus dominated by BlitzMail and other electronic services it is unreasonable and unnecessary that students are required to hand deliver cards issued at the end of spring term in order to put their phone services on hold for the summer.
Billing coordination with ORL would alleviate this problem as well as minimize the occasions that students would need to visit either office.
As a campus monopoly that serves each and every Dartmouth student at one time or another, DarTalk has a responsibility to ensure that their business runs efficiently and fairly. The current system is flawed and begs for revision.
