Complain about a product or service

Ameritech Customer Service

Patricia of Evanston, IL, writes:
The service provided by Ameritech leaves a great deal to be desired. When I moved into my original apartment, I was told that I could not have another jack installed even if I paid for it. I really did not understand the reason for this even though it was explained to me. I was told by the customer service agent that Ameritech was only required to have one functioning jack in the residence. There were three jacks total in the apartment and the only one that worked was located in the kitchen. I was renting a one-bedroom apartment so needless to say that was not very convenient.

To remedy this problem I was offered the Ameritech Clear Max phone which was $179.99 and it would be billed on my phone bill in installments. This phone was supposed to have great reception and all these other features. Well I received the phone in April of 2000 by August the phone was not functioning properly; for example it could not locate the base, it was not allowing me to answer the phone with the handset, and it had a great deal of static when I was on the phone. I called Ameritech to inform them of the problems I was having wth the phone and was told to try plugging the phone into another outlet, try turning it off and on, try re-registering the phone. I did all of the above and decided to give the phone a while to fuction properly.

In October I had to call again about the same problem with the same phone, once again I was told to try all these things again. I did once again amd the problem got worse. I called back in November and requested another phone because I did not feel I should have to pay $179.99 for a phone and have it not function properly and it was not even 6 months old. The customer service agent told me to return the phone and once it was received in the office I would be sent another one.

This is where I have a real problem with Ameritech. I'm the customer they sent me a defective product and now I need to return it first before I can get a new one. I let the customer service agent know that I only had one phone and I would not have another phone to use while waiting on another phone. Finally the rep offered to send me a new phone and allow me to send the defective phone in once I received the new one.

Whenever I have called into Ameritech's customer service I receive very poor customer service and very nasty attitudes.

Cristina of Cleveland writes:
On October 1, 2000, I moved into my new home. All my utilities were arranged, and everything was arriving, in the mail, on time. As new homeowners know, things can be a little hectic during the first few months, and things can slip away unnoticed. During the first month, all the bills were arriving on time, and they were being paid on time. The second and now the third month came along, and everyting seemed fine. Until...my roommate noticed that we hadn't been getting our phone bill.

She called for a reprint and on December 26, 2000, the same day the bill arrived, our phone service was cut off. A bill of $223.69 dated from November 4, 2000 was our Christmas gift.

Consequences you ask? Where do I begin? My roommate paid $100 over the phone on December 26, 2000. In addition, I paid an additional $169, that same day, over the phone so our service would be reconnected in "24 hours". Today, December 29, 2000. I tried to contact my parents, and what did I hear when I dialed their number? "You must have a long distance code to complete this call."

I contacted my long distance provider (who I also have issues with), and they said "You have no problems here." Off to Ameritech I called, and what did I hear? You have another bill that was due December 26, 2000. I was on the phone with Ameritech on December 26, 2000, and they didn't notice that a payment was due? The woman I spoke to was extremely rude and insinuated that I was indeed receiving my bills and I was choosing not to pay them.

I, a single female, purchased a home, have a car that is paid off, and have excellent credit. How dare she claim that, "Regardless if the zip code is incorrect, if the address is correct, you had to receive the bill." I am furious. She then passed me on to another "associate" who is sending me a printout of my bill since October 22, 2000. Now I wait for the bill. Will it come in? Who knows! Is my credit slipping because or this? Who knows?

All I want is to get my bills, and not be attacked when I inquire about them. If this entire situation affects my credit in any way, Ameritech will be hearing from my attorneys.

Frances of Chicago writes:
I requested a detailed bill from Ameritech because we had been charged for 612 phone calls in one month. The printout had a number of calls in succession to the same number for example: 9:02am 773-538-6807 1 minute; 9:03 am 773-538-6807 1 minute; 9:03am 773-538-6807 1 minute. There is another call to a fax line (so it just beeps when it is connected) and the bill shows a duration of 2 minutes for that call. We do not have a fax machine and that means we would have listened to a high pitched beep for more than a minute. When I questioned these calls and asked for an explanation, I was told by Ms. Laney that "the computer is never wrong". When will I have a choice for local phone service?

Joan of Flushing, MI, writes:
My Ameritech phone service has been out of service since August 17th 2000 (2 weeks to date). I was told by Ameritech that it will not be reinstated until Sept. 5th. My neighbors' phones service have all been reinstated, while mine remains out of service. It is totally unacceptable for a company of Ameritech's size to treat its customers with such total disregard. I have not been given any reasonable explanation for the loss of my phone service. Being without a phone has caused me great distress. I am attempting to start a new business and my phone service, plus internet use, is very important to me at this time.

Roberta of Rives Junction, MI, writes:
I am a GTE customer trying to call my nephew who just moved to Holt; he is an Ameritech customer. Whenever I call his number I get Holiday Inn South. I have contacted GTE and they have totally checked out their equipment and they state that it has got to be Ameritech because they find nothing wrong on their end.

So I contact Ameritech and of course they say it's not their fault. I don't care whose fault it is, I just want to be able to call my nephew. After getting very upset with Ameritech they basically told me that I was screwed and I should just have the operator connect me when I want to call.

So now I have to have my nephew call me instead. He is young and doesn't have the money for long distance calls but I still need to know that he is okay and doesn't need anything.

Laura of Rochester Hills, MI, writes:
On July 20, 2000, I contacted Ameritech to let them know that on August 1, 2000, I would be moving into a new home and would like service to begin on that date. I was first told that the earliest they could "connect" me would be on August 6. I told them that that was unacceptable, because I was told on June 30, when I initially called, that I needed to call back in two weeks ... that it was too early to call yet for service in August. They said that they would see what they could do to get my service started earlier and that someone would call back within a day or two. Someone did call back a few days later to inform me that they could start service for me on August 1.

I moved into my new home on August 1 (but could not find my telephone amongst the boxes that had been in storage until August 3). On August 3, I anxiously plugged my telephone into the phone jack. Nothing. It was completely dead. So I contacted Ameritech via my cellular phone to let them know that I did not have service. They argued that yes, I did, that it was "activated" on August 1. I said fine, maybe you did, but I do not have a dial tone.

They informed me that I would have to speak to someone in their repair department and, before I could say another word, immediately transferred me. I explained my situation to the repair department who informed me that they would have to send a repair technician to my home and the earliest they could get someone to come out would be August 28. I was flabbergasted!! Once I calmed down, I settled in on the fact that I would have to use my cell phone until August 28 (which, as you can imagine, had a VERY high bill since I only had the 150 minute plan and used it only for emergencies).

While patiently waiting for the 28th to roll around, a friend of mine decided to investigate the situation and found that, if you plugged a telephone into the jack on the outside of the house, we had a dial tone! How exciting! So we ran to the nearest Meier's and purchased a cord long enough to plug into the outside jack and run through the kitchen window. We figured we could get by with this makeshift phone set-up until the 28th. This amazing discovery happened on or about August 6. The next week, much to my amazement, I received a telephone bill from Ameritech in the amount of $121.99! It listed all kinds of hook-up charges and all of the great new features that I was now receiving as a new Ameritech customer! I was furious!

In my state of built-up frustration, I took the bill and tore it into several tiny pieces and tossed it in the garbage. I'd show them! As time went on, I grew more and more furious about the entire situation. How dare they send me a bill when I hadn't even had service. Sure, I used the phone a couple of times with the cord tackily dangling through the kitchen window, but I hardly thought that this was worth the $121.99 that they were charging me.

On August 21, as I sat home ill from work (and having to use my cell phone to call my boss and loved ones to inform them that I was ill) I grew more and more angry with the whole situation. I decided that I would just "up" my minutes on my cell phone and do away with the whole mess of trying to have a home phone. Besides, the only people that usually contact me at home after 6:00 p.m. are solicitors trying to sell me stuff I don't want or need. I contacted Ameritech and told them that I was unhappy with the way the whole thing happened and how I was frustrated with being in voice-mail-jail every time I called them and I told them I no longer wanted their "service." The customer "service" rep said "are you sure?? Because as soon as we hang up, you will no longer have service." I said "hallelujah!" Click. No more dial tone. Service was disconnected. (It amazed me how quickly they can "end" service, but it takes a whole month to "start" service.)

I was both relieved and irritated at the same time. Ameritech sent me a new, revised bill a few weeks after for $101.33 ... they put in a few "credits" (how nice of them). Now tell me if I'm wrong, but it hardly seems justifiable that I would have to pay $101.33 for telephone service that never really happened. I don't have a problem paying the $10.64 worth of phone calls from August 12th through the 21st that appear on my last bill (and whatever other calls were made through the kitchen window from August 6-12), but I refuse to pay the total amount of $101.33.

I tried contacting Ameritech last week to try to resolve this issue, but was informed that my account has already been referred to their collection agency, Allied Interstate, and that any disputes I have must go through them. So I called Allied and spoke to "Jack", who told me that my file has not yet reached their office and that he'd call me back. I told "Jack" that, no, you can't call me back because I don't have a phone, so have a good time finding me!. He said "Okay, have a great day, ma'am!" RIGHT! I am one who always pays my bills on time and prides myself on my excellent credit history. I certainly do not want to have a blemish on my credit report just because of Ameritech, but I simply refuse to pay this bill. I am willing to negotiate a reasonable settlement with Ameritech so that they will be out of my life forever, but when I try to contact them, I am told they can't help me because my account has already been referred to collection. There isn't a day that goes by that this does not bother me. In fact, I am already getting threatening mail from Ameritech stating that if I don't pay the entire amount of $101.33 within 10 days, they will have to take further collection action and report my debt to a major nationwide credit bureau! Isn't there anyone I can report them to? I don't react well when someone is threatening me. As a matter of fact, as long as they keep threatening me, the longer I will chose to ignore their collection notices. I made every attempt to discuss this issue with them, but the problem is, no one would listen.

Laura can file a complaint with the Michigan Public Service Commission.

Afsoon of Indianapolis, IN, writes:
Ameritech is charging me for #1) services that I never ordered and will not credit my account, and #2) my telephone line is not working properly. There is enormous interference and the line "cuts out" ALL the time!

I've called them 6 times, spent more than an hour on each call, only to have the customer service rep say that a manager will call me back & THEY NEVER DO! They've sent me to collections and are threatening to disconnect my telephone line!

Afsoon should file a complaint with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission. Mrs. H of Berwyn, IL, writes:
My husband ordered a second line for our computer. He took the day off of work to be here for the installer. He was upstairs when he saw the truck pull up. By the time he got downstairs the truck was gone.

He waited about 45 minutes and called customer service. They stated that the man left because he needed to gain access to the house. He could have come in the house had he rang the bell or waited 3 minutes for my husband to get down the stairs. Customer service seemed to care less and because of the installers hours it will not be possible for us to be home again for some time.