AT&T false bills

[Steve Clardy]

Anyone else having this problem with AT&T? I have been getting bills from them for 6 months or so. I have not had them for over two years as a long distance provider.
Suddenly I get this bill for three months worth. I call and they credit me. Then another round, calling does no good. So I write on the bill what I think about it and send it in and I guess it goes unnoticed or don't care. Now I have a new bill, with LATE CHARGES.

Ideas?
I did a net search and found all kinds of complaints about them, but no specific help on how to correct this mess.
Steve:mad:

[Tyler Howell]

Hey Steve,
I spent 1.5 hours waiting on the phone to clear up erroneous long distance charges. Finally a young lady from India skillfully/unsuccessfully tried to get me to pay fees for service not received. You guessed it! AT&T.:mad:
Wasn't until they cut off long distance service that we got serious:eek: . I had cut back to barebones service in May but they were still charging me. I had service confirmation numbers, the people I had talked to and everything.
The phone log on my caller ID showed they would call 6-10 times a day but would leave no message. I hit the call back button on the caller ID and got an automated billing service. No way to talk to flesh and blood.
Twice I talked to MA Bell bill collectors once they said the "fixit" office was closed next time I hung in there till I got little miss fixit from the other side of the out-sourced world. She got pretty huffy with me. I reciprocated in kind.:p
Stand your ground. That hour and a half had to cost a small fortune but it was on their dime. Many more times the $25.00 they wanted to gouge me for.
Oh yah! They're history.:D

[Brian Austin]

I finally cancelled long distance on my landline. Between free long distance on my cellphone and very cheap phone cards from Sam's Club, we really don't need it and haven't missed it at all.

I'm going through a telecom audit at the office, though (we're auditing THEM). Met up with a bulldog telecom auditor who is very, very good. She gets the telco to credit anything if it's legit and gets a percentage but not until WE get the check. She's got some serious experience at it, too!

[Dennis Peacock]

All I will say is that AT&T and I haven't gotten along in a very LONG time.!!!! :rolleyes: :D I throw it all away. IF they choose to drive up in my driveway to collect their money? Then we'll get serious!!!! ;) :p

[Jim Becker]

You need to call your LOCAL phone service provider to 1) insure that the long distance provider of record is whom you want for both regional and long-line service and 2) put a lock on your account so noone but you can change those selections. It sounds like you may have been "slammed" which is very illegal. You may actually have recourse on this, too...

It is unlikely that you will be able to fix this just via AT&T, at least for future billings. Do it with your Local Exchange Company (LEC) to insure your selections are what you expect and want.

[Gary Shoemake]

HI Jim,
You sound like you have a background dealing with the Phone company. I retired from Verizon in NJ and know that if the folks have a problem with either a local or long distance carrier a call to their local Boeard of Public Utilities will often tke care of it. If they were "slammed" then a call to an attorney will also work. Done both in the paast for my family members.

Gary

[Mike Evertsen]

I get a bill from at&t every month for 1.17 and a credit for -1.17 so I owe nothing. I have called them to stop sending these bills I still get them, it's been 6 yrs.

[ralph scherrer]

I just got a bill last month from them. No explanation what the charges were for. I got on the horn and I too got the india center. young lady put me on hold for every question I asked, then came back with no answer. she said she could not view or help me with my account. Gave me a fax number to send my "written request" in to. So I hopped on AT&T website, went to customer (dis)ervice and emailed them all the information and wanted to know why I was receiving a bill when i have not used AT&T for over 5 years. They responed:
Because we no longer have direct access to the bill in question, you
will need to submit your claim along with a copy of the bill(s), to the
following address for further investigation:

AT&T 0300/Small ICO Correspondence
P.O. Box 25691
Miami Lakes, FL 33102

If you prefer, you may fax your information to 1-877-650-1439. Please
be sure to include the nature of your request, along with copies of the
billing statements in question.

If an adjustment is issued, it will appear on your bill within one to
two months. If it is determined an adjustment is not warranted, you
will receive a letter of explanation via U.S. Mail.


Ya, right.... So I am ignoring it too. got my second bill in the mail last week..........

[Steve Clardy]

You need to call your LOCAL phone service provider to 1) insure that the long distance provider of record is whom you want for both regional and long-line service and 2) put a lock on your account so noone but you can change those selections. It sounds like you may have been "slammed" which is very illegal. You may actually have recourse on this, too...

It is unlikely that you will be able to fix this just via AT&T, at least for future billings. Do it with your Local Exchange Company (LEC) to insure your selections are what you expect and want.
Yep. That was the first thing I did Jim. I called SBC and they looked up the records where I changed from AT&T to SBC long distance. That was in Jan. 2002. They sent me a copy of the bill. I in turn sent that in to AT&T with their false bill. I got a credit.
What amazes me is I had no service from them for over two years then suddenly they send me a bill for three months service. They issued the credit, sent me aother bill three months later. I wrote them a note on the bill, sent it back. And now they are charging me late charges on that bill.

Sounds like I will have to go through that routine again, or just ignore the bills. I did a search on AT&T false bills on the net and found all kinds of stuff. For instance, New York residents were issued checks back for false billings from AT&T, some 300,000 people.
Steve

[Tyler Howell]

You'd be surprised how many people will write a check with out even looking to see if it's correct. Not saying Ma bell is a mother, but after my dealings with them I wouldn't put it past them to try and replenish the coffers on mistakes if you know what I mean.:mad:

[Steve Clardy]

You'd be surprised how many people will write a check with out even looking to see if it's correct. Not saying Ma bell is a mother, but after my dealings with them I wouldn't put it past them to try and replenish the coffers on mistakes if you know what I mean.:mad:
Hey. Hear ya Tyler. Guess we could get together and go straighten them out.:eek: I could distract em, and you could whack em in the knees:eek:.
I usually go over my bills pretty throughly and check for boo boos. If I owe, I pay. If I don't owe, I get aggressive. These things really take up a lot of time though, especially in this day and age, trying to get a real person on the horn.:mad:

[Joe Mioux]

Hi Steve:

Well this is a timely thread. My accounts payable person just asked me why we got a bill from AT&T when we switched to SBC two months ago.

I called AT&T and they told me that I had to cancel their account in order for me NOT to get a bill. I told them that this is the first time that I had to do that. The Cus rep told me that that is the way it is done, so he closed my account for three phone lines.

I just go another bill from AT&T for the four other lines, so I'm going to call them again in a few minutes.

BTW: I still get a $20.00 bill from MCI for every month for the past two years. MCI was my previous phone provider prior to AT&T, now I'm with SBC

good luck
Joe

[Arvin Brown]

I have not done this for AT&T but have for other companies with unbelievable customer service!!!!! When all correspondence to customer "no-service" I send a polite letter describing my problem to the president of the company or division. For this instance, I would send a letter to:

Mr. John Polumbo
President & Chief Executive Officer - AT&T Consumer
900 Rt. 202-206N
Bedminister, New Jersey 07921

I don't get a response directly from that person but someone from their office will personally call you and take care of you.

[Rich Konopka]

It sounds to me that they have some screwed up Billing systems. They most likely did a conversion and brought in some old customer files.

Ba-da Bing !! or should I say Ba-Da Ca-Ching

[Chris Padilla]

Interesting. We have some oddball company doing our long distance but that is only because we need a good rate to call my wife's folks in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (getting 20-25 cents/min for that is GOOD!).

Funny thing, we have AT&T handling our cell phones. About 4-5 months ago, they start sending me "checks" (a mail-in credit with postage-paid envelopes included) to encourage me to resign with them for another year or two. We are happy with the service (got a nice deal through work) so no problem, we mail it in. Next month we get another one...so what the heck, I mail it in. Next month *another* one shows up...mail it in. Guess what, we got 3 months of free cell phone useage! :D :D :D

[Steve Clardy]

I have called them, sitting with the phone stuck in my ear for 30 minutes.:eek:
No luck.:(
Written my thoughts about them on the bills and returned them.
No luck.:(
Faxed them. Haven't heard back yet. We'll see what happens.:rolleyes:
Emailed them this morning, Got a auto response back that they have received email and will be contacting me. We'll see what happens.:rolleyes:
Last resort, I will call the number that Arvin listed in New Jersey.
Thanks Arvin:D
Steve

[Joe Mioux]

Hey Steve:

Remember AT&T's old slogan (circa 1984 or so). "The more you hear, the better we sound." Cliff Robertson.

I don't know about you, but I think something has gone awry:confused:

Joe

[Steve Clardy]

Well I actually got a response back next day vi email.:eek:
We have checked into your report and will issue a credit in the amount of ****.;)
We'll see.:rolleyes:

Down below, they were wanting me to sign up for their phone services.
You know, blah blah blah, etc etc.
No way.:eek:
We'll see.

[John Miliunas]

I too was a recipient of an AT&T screwup. And yes, it did take quite some time to finally get it straightened out and my regular Telco account credited. Actually, it was an outright PITA! :mad: Anyhow, I finally did and then, just a few days later, an AT&T telemarketer called to see if I wanted their LD service! :eek: Yeah, I know....The marketing organization probably doesn't have a clue what the billing side is doing, but it was enough for me to let the Telemarketer know *exactly* how I felt about AT&T! :cool:

[larry merlau]

Well I actually got a response back next day vi email.:eek:
We have checked into your report and will issue a credit in the amount of ****.;)
We'll see.:rolleyes:

Down below, they were wanting me to sign up for their phone services.
You know, blah blah blah, etc etc.
No way.:eek:
We'll see.

steve how far away is yur shotgun? bet ya got one in the shop dont ya :D

[Steve Clardy]

Yesterday I received via mail a written notice that they have indeed credited my account, and also closed it.
Also had the typical sales pitch for their phone services. Bah, Humbug.
Guess I can put away my shotgun for a while.
Steve

[John Miliunas]

Good for you, Steve! :) Glad you hounded them until you got satisfaction and were credited with what was rightfully yours in the first place! :) :cool: