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
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