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Anyone else abhore AT&T?

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions: 2004 May - July: Free Expressions (ARCHIVES): Anyone else abhore AT&T? users admin

Author Message
Kappy
Member

06-29-2002

Friday, June 25, 2004 - 4:37 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Aiyyeeee yai yai!

This is a company that is a master at screwing it's customers over. If any of you are one of the few who have never had problems with them, count yourself as very VERY lucky!

Does anyone know what government agency I can go to complain about them or do I just go straight to the Better Business Bureau? I won't go into what happened . . . there isn't enough room on the internet!

To AT&T!

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Friday, June 25, 2004 - 4:44 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I used to loathe them as a second occupation, so I switched to SBC, whose labor practices are just awful (that's how much I hate AT&T...I went against my principles because of them). But you have to tell us what they did to you Kappy!

Mak1
Member

08-12-2002

Friday, June 25, 2004 - 5:13 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
After I quit them for a better deal with another company, they called to get me back. They agreed to match the other company's deal. I questioned the saleswoman twice to be sure she understood the service I was requesting, as it hadn't been offered previously. She supposedly checked with somebody else, and assured me I would have the same price with them. Well, as you can guess, it was a lie. Our phone bill was outrageous. I called, was told that plan had never been offered. They didn't even have such a plan. I should have taken it to the BBB or something, but I just cancelled immediately and went back to the other company.

When AT&T called to get us back again, I let the salesperson complete her whole spiel and politely told her "no". Then when she pressed it, asking why not, I told her "my husband and I hate AT&T because your company lied to us, and we will never do business with them again". She said "oh...uh, thank you for your time", and hung up. They have never called us again. I did sign up for a class action suit against them, because we weren't the only ones they lied to to lure back, but I haven't heard anything again from the suit.

Spill, Kappy!

Maris
Member

03-28-2002

Friday, June 25, 2004 - 5:15 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Sprint is worse. I have a story to tell about them. I had Sprint wireless and my contract was up on April 26. So I decide to go with the AT&T plan which is cheaper and I can add more phones. I sign up with AT&T. I call Sprint and tell them on April 10 that I will not be renewing my contract. Everything is hunky dory.

Fast forward to this week, I come home there is a bill from sprint for $182.00. I write sprint an email demanding that the bill be rescinded because I dont owe them anything. They write back and tell me the only way for me to clear up the matter is to pay it. So I say the only way to clear the matter up is for them to explain it.

I get an email back telling me that the bill is for early cancellation of my contract. I send an email back saying that telling them ten days in advance that I was not renewing was not a cancellation. They reply it is cancellation pay the 182 to avoid collection.

Well I wrote back and told them that I thought they were guilty of extortion and I was sure the FCC would agree with me and they were never getting the money out of me. Within an hour I got an email saying they were crediting me $182, the matter was closed and don't write to them again.



Mak1
Member

08-12-2002

Friday, June 25, 2004 - 6:15 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Good job, Maris!

Current score: Evil phone companies-4; TVCHers success over said companies-1


Maris
Member

03-28-2002

Friday, June 25, 2004 - 6:36 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
my next project is going to be all wireless companies. We have a guy in our state Eliot Spitzer who is as close to being the pope as you can ask for if you are a consumer.

I have signed up for AT&T as you have all read above. Now here is the thing, I signed up for the monthly plan $39 bucks and add a phone for 10 bucks each. I added two phones. SO I figure my bill is going to be $59. Makes sense right? Nooooooooooooooooooooo. My bill is $87.

what they do is charge me $39 for each phone, apply taxes and then give me a credit of $29 for the additional two. So I end up paying $59 for the phones and then I pay $28 bucks in taxes. I am taxed the full amount on the additional phones. I am writing to Eliot Spitzer about that because I am betting everyone in this country is getting gouged on these cellphone taxes.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Friday, June 25, 2004 - 7:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
If you Google "hate at&t" you will stumble onto a whole world full of angry people who hate the cell phone companies.

FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is proper agency for complaints, but it never hurts to complain firmly but politely to any and every agency you can think of - BBB, your state Attorney General, Federal Trade Commission, your congress persons, FBI, Postal Inspectors, any local and state consumer agencies, and the media.

Kappy
Member

06-29-2002

Friday, June 25, 2004 - 10:28 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Maris ~ You're my new hero! Congratulations on having some success with sprint cancelling out what you didn't owe to begin with.

LOL, Mak ~ we've got to raise that success rate of TVCHer's over evil companies!

Juju ~ Thank you for the list of other agencies that I can contact. As you said, it can't hurt to let them know how a consumer feels.

Warning ~ the following is very long!

I think I've calmed down from earlier today. I normally try to remain calm and polite when dealing with companies like this because 1) It usually gets you further and 2) I'm trying to set an example for my son. So much for setting an example ~ Thank God he's 18 because he heard me talking in ways today that he's never heard from me before!

We got a cell phone back in December with the infamous $39 plan. With tax it ran around $60 which is what I was expecting. For every bill I received, I sent a check in plenty of time. All's good, right? Wrong! At the beginning of May, I get a late notice stating that I am $150 and a month behind in paying my bill and that if I don't pay upon receipt of this letter, a collection agency will deal with me. Since I had just paid the last bill not 3 weeks before, I called them thinking they've made some kind of mistake. Silly me! When they tell me the mistake is mine, I ask for a copy of the bill to be sent to me since I have received nothing stating I owe $150. I'm told to go online to see my bill as it would be a $5 charge to send me a copy. I go online and I can access how to change my plan and how to order more "toys" but I cannot access my bill information. And of course when I tell them this, I'm told that I am the ONLY customer having that problem.

Four days later, I receive yet another "late notice", this time for $250 bringing the total to $400 and I'm told that I am now 2 months late in making the payment. Now I'm irate. I call them for an explanation and am told again to check out my bill online. We go round and round and I inform them to cancel my service. They say I will have to pay $150 for breaking my contract and I say fine. I figure that's a deal compared to being charged $400 for a bill I've never seen. The phone is deactivated the next day when I try it.

One week later, I receive both bills 2 days apart from each other. It seems I am finally being charged for minutes and text messaging used beyond my limits and it goes back to January so it had taken them that long to bill me for those extra minutes. But why two bills within one week and why the "late" notices?

So I pay the bills and figure I'll only have one final bill left after that for the $150 and I'll be done with AT&T. WRONG!

Today I receive an e-mail informing me that I can access my new bill online. (Say what?!) It's $25 for a REactivation fee and another $25 for a pro-rated month of service for JUNE! So I call them up today thinking that because it's definitely their mistake this time, they'll admit to it and just wipe it out. (Gee, could I be anymore dense?!) Nope, I was again the one who was wrong because I am an evil customer who doesn't pay her bills and the customer rep knew that because she had my May bill right in front of her where it showed how I hadn't paid until LATE! And they were "valid" for charging me for June because once my May payment was received, "the machine automatically reactivates you!" I say "The machine made a mistake but you the human can rectify that". And I'm told that "No, because the machine automatically does it, there is no mistake on our part".

Do these people read frickin' scripts for crying out loud?! Do they hear anything being said to them or asked of them?

Being someone who has always paid her bills on time, I was beyond insulted and angry! I know I should be happy that they even admit they received my check in May or God knows what they would have done - probably taken my house away from me!

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Saturday, June 26, 2004 - 11:11 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
So Kappy the real question is: did you curse at them? How loudly did you yell?

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Friday, July 02, 2004 - 12:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I think it is all phone companies. Verizon tried to get me, but we outwitted them. I have had Verizon since it was AIRTOUCH. It has been awhile. But, their phones break on me about once a year. So every year I have to buy a new phone, and each time I have to sign up for two years. But you can only upgrade your phone every two years, but they break once a year. See my dilemna, it's really making me angry. I have two phones with this company. I would quit this company, but I don't want to pay an early termination fee of 200 dollars. This last time the crappy phone broke, I called customer service and told them the problem. My phone was broken. They said, no problem, I have phone insurance. I have to pay 5 bucks extra a month for it for two phones, so it is actually 10 dollars a month. So, I pay 120 a year for phone insurance. Now, hears the kicker, they don't tell you that you have to pay a deductable for this phone insurance. It was 100 dollars. I didn't realize phone insurance and car insurance was the same. Now I am really steamed. I tell them where they can go with their phone insurance, and me and DH head to the store where I bought the phone to begin with. Maybe the phone has a warranty. Once we get there, the CS rep, who don't speak a lick of english, utters out warranty up by 2 day. (WHAT?!?!) No upgrade untill september." NOW I AM FLOORED. DH the whole time is trying to calm me down, while hold a crying DD (10 months) Imagine my stress, and I am a fairly calm person. The manager comes out. Irritated that I drug her away from her smoke break. I don't even think she was old enough to smoke. She is a brace faced high schooler, with way too much power. I explain the situation, the phone breaking every year, the insurance problem, the warranty, the upgrade, the whole shebang. With a smart A$$ smile, she says there is nothing she can do, and if I'd like, I can pick out any phone at full retail price. Oh no she didnt. I am seriously about to wreck the whole place up. She then goes back to her cave/hole/office, whatever, and a different sales rep comes up to us, and asks what the number to the other phone is. We tell her and she punches numbers into a computer and says she thinks she can help. I think she just wanted us outta there. She then tells me DH's phone is eligable for an upgrade, and that we can upgrade his phone for free (of course paying tax on the new phone) and then switch the number to my number, and switch his number back to his current phone. YIPPEEE, lets get this dog and pony show on the road. About a half an hour later, we waltzed out with a new phone, with a free 2 year warranty, no dang phone insurance, a sleeping baby, and a happier (but still pi$$ed) continuing customer. SNIFF SNIFF.... Does anyone else smell a big fat SCAM.

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Friday, July 02, 2004 - 12:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Oh yeah, I had to reup for another 2 years.

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Friday, July 02, 2004 - 1:06 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Geez. I keep thinking I want a non-prepaid cell phone...but maybe I don't.

For our land-lines (1 voice and 1 fax), Sprint was charging us--with all of their cute little fees (but not Caller ID, Call Waiting, or anything like that. I mean for line guard, insurance, hook points, etc.)--roughly $74/month, and that did not include long distance. When they gained approval to raise rates, I decided that we were outta there.

We already had Cable Internet service ($49.99/mo) from Cox. We went to Vonage and initially chose their $24.99 package (all-included flat rate on local calls, 500 minutes of long distance in the US, and features including Voicemail Plus, Caller ID with Name, Call Waiting, Call Forwarding, 3-Way Calling, In-Network Calling, Call Transfer, Click-2-Call, Call Return (*69), Caller ID Block, Repeat Dialing, International Call Block, and some others) and added a fax line for 9.99 a month for all-included flat rate on local calls, 250 minutes of long distance. The overall total was $39.03 ($1.05 for FET Tax, and $3.00 for Regulatory Recovery Fee).

We then were offered a chance to upgrade our $24.99 package to unlimited long distance in the US & Canada for $29.99. This made DH thrilled, since it meant he could be on the phone to his baseball buddies while they were playing their games weekly to do the communication. (Apparently the voice function on the game doesn't consistently work.) As part of this, the change fee of $9.99 was to be waived.

When I looked at the bills as part of my monthly review, I noticed that they had charged me the $9.99. I dropped them an email giving them the invoice number and asked for the $9.99 credit, and not only did I get that, but I also received a $5.00 apology credit.

My bill is now $44.21 per month ($1.23 for FET Tax, and $3.00 for Regulatory Recovery Fee).

Some people have pointed out that my bill is actually the same amount, since I also have to pay for Cable Internet. My response is that I was paying for that even with Sprint, so the Cable Modem doesn't count. I also love getting referral credit on our account when our friends signed up for it.

As far as I can tell, I'm a customer for life.

Rupertbear
Member

09-19-2003

Saturday, July 03, 2004 - 3:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I just plain old abhor the telephone.

I never answer it. I let the machine pick up.

Maybe i have phone-aphobia! ;)

Escapee
Member

06-15-2004

Saturday, July 03, 2004 - 10:09 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
What ever happened to good ol' customer SERVICE and the CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT????

Jhezzie
Member

07-05-2001

Saturday, July 03, 2004 - 10:24 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
If you have a phone for just light to medium use, get Tracfone service. I hardly ever use my phone, so the monthly plans are way too much for me. Tracfone lets me buy my airtime for the year and purchase minutes when I need them. They never expire. I spend under $150 a year and my local calling area covers like 1/3 of the state. I haven't had any issues with them yet, and I've had it almost two years. Maybe they could be of use to some of you guys? Plus, I agree about ATT and Verizon. They can be absolutely loathsome.