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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1981)
Nothing phony about this store Competitive bells toll for Ma By BRENDA THORNTON Ma Bell, move over After a 1977 Federal Com munications Commission ruling forced the American Telephone and Telegraph Company to separate its service and equip ment charges, the standard home telephone began to change And the independent phone store was born The black and white desk phone gave way to technicolor Snoopys and svelte attache case phones Suddenly there was a distinction between a rented phone and an owned phone Apparently the rental models are headed for extinction. Newsweek magazine reported earlier this year that while only 5 percent of the nation's 110 mil lion telephones are customer owned, the number will jump to 96 percent by 1986 Chuck Heauser, owner of Phones Plus. Oregon s only in dependent phone store outside of Portland, says he is ready for the jump Although Phones Plus, at 656 Charnelton St in Eugene, has only been open for a year, Heauser says the sales growth has been "incredible " He declines to reveal his profits ("I don't want Ma Bell to know just how well we re do ing"), but since April 1981, sales have grown every month And September sales doubled August's figures, he says As a result, Phones Plus has widened its marketing area considerably "Initially our market was mainly the Eugene-Springfield area," Heauser says. "Today it is anywhere south of Salem, including Medford and the coast " Heauser speculates that recommendations from satis fied customers are responsible for his success "At first there was skepticism, but we've es tablished ourselves in the past year," he says Heauser says he wants peo ple to know that an option ex ists “I feel that the customers should have the opportunity to compare and then make their decision I don't tell them why they should not buy from Bell, but why they should buy them (telephones) here.” The primary reason that cus tomers frequent Phones Plus is to buy a phone that the tele phone company's store will only rent, Heauser says "Most cus tomers want to buy a standard phone, like the ones that have been in homes for years " But the phone company does not sell this model, he says Instead, a customer must rent it from them Prices at Phones Plus start at $39 95 Heauser says his phones usually pay for them selves within two years through savings from monthly phone bills And Heauser says his phones work just as well as Ma Bell's In fact, he buys his phones from the same man ufacturer as the telephone company Bell Telephone is “not very happy” with the emergence of independent phone stores across the nation, Heauser says “Bell tries hard to keep peo ple from buying elsewhere They will tell customers that phones not bought from Bell will be difficult to repair or have no guarantee "When we re selling the same merchandise they’re selling, it's the same guarantee " Heauser urges customers to bring in phones for repair, whether they were purchased at Phones Plus or not Unlike Bell, Phones Plus loans the customer a phone for free while their phone is being repaired “We even repair Bell phones, often at a lower cost ” Graphic by Max DeRungs Heauser says he thinks many phone customers do not like the service provided by Bell Tele phone He refers to an October 1980 issue of the Pacific Northwest Bell newsletter, where a head line told PNB Phone Center em ployees to “Take A Bow" for high service ratings from cus tomers. The article stated that 46 percent of the Phone Centers’ customers gave the service representatives a "good" or "excellent” rating, whereas in 1979 only 40 percent gave the representatives high marks. "That means that 54 percent thought that they (PNB Phone Store representatives) were do ing a poor job,” Heauser main tains. "In any other business that would be a disgrace. "That’s one of the reasons that I decided this was the right thing to do.” I 1981 Jos Schtiti Brewing Co Milwaukee Wis Six of the best tasting beers in the world. ft & ,ov s ^c°> ^ ~«°v' A? jfr 4^ty /4-a. INr* m I „ \x ry ^ &&* ^ K.O*' ty A<~ N s^V b *>® o^ b Jo 4vV ^>° Imported Coffee & Tea In the pound or b\ the cup Kinko’s .'44- ”404 ti4 i.. 1 .itil rvit\ >m.ill u'ini" assoc. Bean ot the Month Excelsior Blend $4.65 lb. (. i,imp.ite i>ur Prices like to folkdance? want to perform? For additional information: Ken Aldrich—Artistic Director 686-3386 AUDITIONS Gerlinger Hall, Room 219 University of Oregon Thur. Oct. 8, 1981 At 4:30 P.M.
