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warrrreagl · 01-27-2007, 04:53 AM

Here's our latest - trying to get rid of the immortal AT&T.

Grancey and I have a house landline with BellSouth and cellphones (another carrier), so we haven't made a true long distance call in at least 3 years. Our AT&T setup was a "bill-as-you-go" service, where we would only get a bill from AT&T if and when we ever used long distance - which was never.

In September, we got a bill from AT&T for $15 for long distance. WTF? I called AT&T customer service and was told that they no longer offered our service plan and that we had been automatically converted (how nice of them) to one of their other plans. "Didn't you get the notice in the mail?" Uh, no we didn't. Since they no longer had a "pay-as-you-go" plan, I asked her to remove our long distance service and credit our account the $15 since I didn't select that plan and we hadn't made any long distance calls. She agreed, but not without offering me a few other plans - one of which was only $5 per month. "No," I said. Just give us credit and cancel it because we don't ever use it. She agreed, and I got a confirmation number.

The next month, we got a bill for $5 from AT&T. I told Grancey to ignore it because the bill and the cancellation had crossed in the mail, probably.

The next month, we got another bill from AT&T for $11. I called AT&T and was told that the cancellation hadn't taken effect and our account would be credited and cancelled. I got another confirmation number.

The next month (December), we got another bill from AT&T for $17 and a threat to put our account into collection. I spent most of the afternoon of Dec. 26 yelling over the phone at two idiots in AT&T customer service. First, they told me that I had enrolled in the $5 per month plan back in September and they refused to believe that I had not. Then, they told me that there was a "limit" to the number of credits my account could receive and that they could not give me another credit for the $17. In other words, they could cancel the account but I would still have to pay the $17. I went NUCLEAR.

I went through an agent and his supervisor and got the same story. I told the supervisor that I was going to send him a bill for $100 for tutoring services - it didn't matter that he didn't ask for it or even get the service, because if I send a bill then you have to pay what it says, right? He apparently didn't believe that we really didn't use the long distance service. Grancey theorized THAT was the main aspect of this AT&T scam - they figure everybody will eventually use the long distance for something and then they've got you and you can't get credit. He announced that he would have to do an "in-depth" study of our account and call me back. He finally did call back, "with great news, sir!" They were now suddenly magically able to cancel my account AND give me full credit for the $17. Once again, I got a confirmation number. End of story? HA!

Yesterday, we got another bill from AT&T for $6. The bill showed the $17 credit but didn't show anything about cancelling. I called customer service yet again and was told that it was MY responsibility to call my local service provider (BellSouth) and have the long distance disconnected at the switch. Since I didn't take that secret step, then AT&T had assumed I still wanted long distance and would keep billing me until I changed it.

She cancelled the account - again - and gave me credit for the $6 - again - another confirmation number - again. Then, she connected me to BellSouth for the official disconnect. After being on hold for 10 minutes with BellSouth, the call was dropped. Since she had connected me directly, I had no idea what BellSouth number to call, so I had to call AT&T back all over again, wait forever, then explain the whole thing to a new person who could connect me back with BellSouth (this time, I had her give me the number just in case).

Once I got BellSouth, they handled everything and I am now officially disconnected from AT&T. I think.

But here's the kicker. BellSouth charges $4 to make any changes in your long distance service, and that includes cancellation. And guess who now owns BellSouth again? After 20 years, we're right back where we started with this shit. They got their damn money from me after all.

01-27-2007, 04:53 AM	#13 (permalink)
warrrreagl pinche vato Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton	Here's our latest - trying to get rid of the immortal AT&T. Grancey and I have a house landline with BellSouth and cellphones (another carrier), so we haven't made a true long distance call in at least 3 years. Our AT&T setup was a "bill-as-you-go" service, where we would only get a bill from AT&T if and when we ever used long distance - which was never. In September, we got a bill from AT&T for $15 for long distance. WTF? I called AT&T customer service and was told that they no longer offered our service plan and that we had been automatically converted (how nice of them) to one of their other plans. "Didn't you get the notice in the mail?" Uh, no we didn't. Since they no longer had a "pay-as-you-go" plan, I asked her to remove our long distance service and credit our account the $15 since I didn't select that plan and we hadn't made any long distance calls. She agreed, but not without offering me a few other plans - one of which was only $5 per month. "No," I said. Just give us credit and cancel it because we don't ever use it. She agreed, and I got a confirmation number. The next month, we got a bill for $5 from AT&T. I told Grancey to ignore it because the bill and the cancellation had crossed in the mail, probably. The next month, we got another bill from AT&T for $11. I called AT&T and was told that the cancellation hadn't taken effect and our account would be credited and cancelled. I got another confirmation number. The next month (December), we got another bill from AT&T for $17 and a threat to put our account into collection. I spent most of the afternoon of Dec. 26 yelling over the phone at two idiots in AT&T customer service. First, they told me that I had enrolled in the $5 per month plan back in September and they refused to believe that I had not. Then, they told me that there was a "limit" to the number of credits my account could receive and that they could not give me another credit for the $17. In other words, they could cancel the account but I would still have to pay the $17. I went NUCLEAR. I went through an agent and his supervisor and got the same story. I told the supervisor that I was going to send him a bill for $100 for tutoring services - it didn't matter that he didn't ask for it or even get the service, because if I send a bill then you have to pay what it says, right? He apparently didn't believe that we really didn't use the long distance service. Grancey theorized THAT was the main aspect of this AT&T scam - they figure everybody will eventually use the long distance for something and then they've got you and you can't get credit. He announced that he would have to do an "in-depth" study of our account and call me back. He finally did call back, "with great news, sir!" They were now suddenly magically able to cancel my account AND give me full credit for the $17. Once again, I got a confirmation number. End of story? HA! Yesterday, we got another bill from AT&T for $6. The bill showed the $17 credit but didn't show anything about cancelling. I called customer service yet again and was told that it was MY responsibility to call my local service provider (BellSouth) and have the long distance disconnected at the switch. Since I didn't take that secret step, then AT&T had assumed I still wanted long distance and would keep billing me until I changed it. She cancelled the account - again - and gave me credit for the $6 - again - another confirmation number - again. Then, she connected me to BellSouth for the official disconnect. After being on hold for 10 minutes with BellSouth, the call was dropped. Since she had connected me directly, I had no idea what BellSouth number to call, so I had to call AT&T back all over again, wait forever, then explain the whole thing to a new person who could connect me back with BellSouth (this time, I had her give me the number just in case). Once I got BellSouth, they handled everything and I am now officially disconnected from AT&T. I think. But here's the kicker. BellSouth charges $4 to make any changes in your long distance service, and that includes cancellation. And guess who now owns BellSouth again? After 20 years, we're right back where we started with this shit. They got their damn money from me after all. __________________ Living is easy with eyes closed.