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AT&T Billing Disputes

AT&T • Slamming • Long Distance • Local • Wireless • Broadband • Telemarketers --- News • AT&T Agrees to Refund Some Ringtone Charges • States Asked to Probe AT&T U-Verse Explosions • AT&T Exits Pay Phone Business • AT&T Changes Contract Policy • AT&T Changes Terms Of Service After Outcry • AT&T Agrees to New Stolen Cell Phone Rules • AT&T Stiffens Language Covering Objectionable Content • AT&T Adds Parental Controls To Mobile Phones • AT&T Slammed Over Rebate Policies • Appeals Court Shreds AT&T Arbitration Clause • Court OKs Rebate Lawsuit against Cingular/AT&T • AT&T Trashes Cingular Brand • AT&T Offers Net Neutrality Concessions To Win Merger Approval • FCC Delays Decision On AT&T/BellSouth Deal • Justice Department Green Lights AT&T-BellSouth Merger • FCC Clears the Way for AT&T-BellSouth Merger • AT&T Trumpets New TV Service • AT&T Web Site Hacked; Customer Data Exposed • AT&T Sues Calling Record Brokers • AT&T Declares Consumers' Personal Data "Corporate Property" • AT&T Plans to Kill Cingular Name • Report: AT&T Acquiring BellSouth • SBC Recast as AT&T • FCC approves AT&T, MCI Deals • Justice Dept. OKs AT&T, MCI Sell-Outs • SBC Will Keep AT&T Name • Consumer Groups Oppose Big Telco Mergers • SBC Buys AT&T • AT&T Will Pay Refunds to New Yorkers • AT&T Will Pull Out of 7 States • AT&T Teams With Sprint to Return to Wireless Business • Minnesota Sues AT&T • Class Action Charges AT&T With Slamming • Another AT&T Rate Hike • AT&T Hiking Minimum Fees • AT&T Faces $780,000 Do-Not-Call Fine • AT&T Will Run Do-Not-Call List • Supreme Court Denies AT&T's Appeal of Arbitration Ruling

Kristen of Bishop CA (9/25/03):
I signed up for a new Verizon long-distance account and was told to contact AT&T to cancel. When calling the company they used the usual selling tactics and convinced me to sign up for a new plan. After thinking about it I decided that it wasn't a good idea and so had the plan blocked by Verizon the same day. On the next, which should be last phone bill from AT&T there is a charge for the phone plan that I signed up for. Knowing that the plan never went into effect I called them to have the charge removed. They refuse to remove the charge because I signed up for it and they have a 30 day prepayment for that plan. I feel that the charge should not be on the account because they never provided me with any services after I switched to Verizon.

Considering that she did not even have the courtesy to inform AT&T that she had changed her mind we have a hard time seeing how a one-month minimum charge is out of line.

Christine of Nesconset, NY, writes (4/2/01):
Here’s my nightmare: In the beginning of March, my 80-year-old father got his phone bill from Sprint. He only uses Sprint, for local and long distance. His bill, for approximately three years, has been $8 or so a month. He hasn’t ever had a problem until AT&T entered his life.

AT&T added a page of long distance charges to my father’s Sprint bill totaling $170.27. My father mailed the bill to me because he got so upset he thought he would have a stroke over it. I told him I’d call and take care of it. After three weeks, seven Customer Service Reps, two Supervisors, seven solid hours, and a dozen excuses, I’m no closer to resolving this.

I will try to give you a concise version of events: 3/13/01 7:30pm – Called AT&T at 1800-222-0300. Spoke to Tony. Told him these calls were not my father’s and he transferred me to Ms Brown. Ms Brown told me I had to order a wire check with Sprint or call 1800-222-3000 to order a wire check from AT&T. She wasn’t sure though, if the customer would have to pay for that.

• 3/14/01 3:35pm – Called Sprint at 1800-339-1811 and told them the story (for the fourth time). They transferred me to an AT&T dept. Back to them, I was told that both the wire check and CMI excuses were not correct. They said I should call AT&T Customer Service again.
• 3:50pm – Spoke to Monique at AT&T Customer Service. She told me she’d have to call me back because their computers are being updated. She promised it would only be 45 minutes.
• 5:00pm – Called and demanded to speak to a Supervisor. Was given to Craig Gentry. He surmised that the problem could be with the recent change in area codes. He suggested I call Bell South in Florida at 1-904-780-2355.

I explained that I’ve wasted enough time trying to get AT&T to fix their own error. I shouldn’t have to make all these calls to different companies and investigate where AT&T made the mistake. He agreed and had a conference call with BellSouth in Florida. Well, BellSouth wouldn’t even talk to me because they told Craig that it is an AT&T snafu. AT&T tried numerous times to push their mistake onto every other phone company. I refused to let Craig off the line now. He transferred me to Kevin Morgan, supposedly a Supervisor in Hollywood CA. We went over everything for an hour and a half. He thought that when the area codes were changed in Florida, my father’s was the same number as a Sprint Wireless phone. My father was being charged for those cell phone charges belonging to a different customer.

• 3/15/01 3:50pm – Called 1800-339-1811 and spoke to Patricia. She transferred me to the Business Office. I spoke to Coritha there. She suggested changing my father’s phone number altogether since AT&T can’t seem to fix this. My father would have to call though, to authorize this. In the meantime, she’ll get AT&T to take off the charges.
• 4:30pm – Kevin at AT&T said the charges of $170.27 will be removed. He gave me Confirmation #NC******. It will be about a week before Sprint gets the order and takes off charges. Also, he will note the problem on the computer so that my father will no longer get these erroneous charges. I thanked him profusely and thought all was well.
• 3/18/01 – AT&T sends my father a letter (dated Sunday, the 18th) stating that they have reviewed the charges and they are correct as is! The name on this letter is incorrect and the phone number they are referencing is also incorrect:
• 3/29/01 – My father receives a letter from Sprint stating that they will be turning off his phone service if they do not receive the past due balance by 4/8/01. In a panic, he calls me.
• 7:30pm – Chris with Customer Service says I should call 1800-222-0300. I’ve explained that MAYBE AT&T has the information mixed up. MAYBE these charges belong to the area code they have on my father’s letter? I did AT&T’s job so that this might finally be resolved. I, myself, called that phone number on their letter and, SURE ENOUGH, the gentleman there said he uses his phone for business calls.
• 7:40pm – Spoke to Pauline Chadwick at AT&T’s Long Distance Billing for Business Dept. She gave me Confirmation #NB*****. She said there’s no promise that “they” will take off charges though. She said she’d call me back in a few days, after she gets an answer from someone else.

I asked her for her direct line or extension since I’ve gone through this over a dozen times now. Not to hold her accountable (God forbid!), but just to allow me to reach someone who knows the story so I don’t have to repeat whole complicated mess again. She told me, “No, you can’t get me again. Just dial the 800 number”. I then asked for a supervisor and she refused, saying, “No, there’s no one else you can talk to here”.

As of this date, I don’t know what to do or who to turn to. I feel that AT&T has no interest in taking care of this. If I can’t investigate and tell them whom to charge, they will not bother. I tried everything. I can’t spend any more time or aggravation on this. Also, I made the long distance call to the number on my father’s letter. I’ll have to pay for that; I don’t understand why AT&T didn’t call it and find out for themselves. They do not cooperate at all though. I feel this is a form of extortion. They can tack any amount or any calls on someone’s bill, then refuse to look into it and correct their own error. What is a consumer to do now? I feel they expect me to pay the $170.27 just to be sure my father’s phone isn’t shut off. After all, he IS elderly and in poor health. I find it hard to believe that they can do this to people.

We've forwarded this sad tale to AT&T and, like Christine, are awaiting a reply. What Christine might want to do is pay the disputed amount, just to ensure her father's telephone is not turned off.

Angela of Salisbury, MD, writes:
My husband and I got our phone bill three weeks ago. The bill was from AT&T for $800. We don't even have AT&T long distance. When we called them they said it was internet related. We called AOL our long distance provider and they said that it was not. They could prove we were not even on the computer when these calls happened.

AT&T then said they were regular 900 calls, but they would cut the price in half. We refuse to pay anything, we did not do this. Everytime we called back AT&T they changed the story. First they say they are internet related calls, then when we tell them we can prove they weren't they change the story. Finally they said it was going to investigations.

I called back myself and talked to a woman named Ida in the Massachusetts office. She said we were cleared of the charges and a credit would be made to our account, it would take up to two billing cycles to hit our account. She even gave me a confirmation number. I asked her if a lot of people were having trouble with these calls to Chad Africa, and she told me no because AT&T had an account with this company, and other companies like psychic hotlines.

Just two days ago we get a phone call from Vincent in investigations with AT&T saying they are reinstating the charges. When my husband told him we already had a confirmation number clearing us of the charges, he said that was only a credit while under investigation. Now he says that we do owe the money. He told my husband I misunderstood Ida, and that there was no way that she told me that AT&T even has accounts with companies like these (adult porn).

So my husband hung up the phone and called AT&T himself and asked how he could set up a 900 number account. They gave him a number and when he called it was a "how to" set up a porn line (phone or internet) and how AT&T will help you collect money from customers and all this other information. When my husband called Vincent in investigations back at AT&T he told him about this number and Vincent said he could not believe that a company he worked for would have accounts like this. I know I keep rambling on but I'm very upset and AT&T keeps changing their story on us. I truly believe they are in "kahoots" with companies like these. There is no way we called on the internet or on our phone these numbers. Either we are being scammed by AT&T or someone has hacked our computer and used our info to access this porn account.

Carol of Hollywood, FL:
Billed for a bogus call from my phone on billing cycle 1/28-2/28 to an international "Chad" number which is an adult entertainment charge. Billed for $197.16. On Feb 7, 2000, I called AT&T and told them this call was not made by me. They were advised I would not be responsible for this call. They could check my previous records and it will show this is not my practice.

Billing 2/28 to 3/28--my bill was credited for a "MISDIRECTED CALL" for $104.13, they were still asking me to pay $93.03.

This is a scam. I will not pay. Another letter went out to AT&T. They were also advised I would be contacting Consumer Affairs. There should be some type of law to protect the innocent consumer.

Unfortunately, AT&T has been refusing to back off these charges to Chad, which are the result of a scam supposedly aimed at adult site visitors. See our recent story for more details.

Raymond of Mooresville, NC:
I received my phone bill from Alltel. In it was a bill from AT&T for $297.40 for two phone calls to someplace called Chad. I called AT&T and talked to a guy name Vinny. He said the calls were made from my computer and I'd have to pay the bill.

My wife and I are the only ones who use are computer and neither one of us made the calls. I Didn't know you could make calls from a computer. I'd like to know if AT&T has some scam going with some co. to rip off people. My wife and I are both in our 60s and I am disabled.

Scott of Norcross, GA:
I have 2 phone lines in my house. When I switched to AT&T I requested to have each line set up on the same calling plan (7 cents/min and 25 cents calling plan). They agreed. Several months later after using the calling card while traveling on company business, I realized I had been charged 72.5 cents per minute for each calling card call made.

I called AT&T to complain and expected to have them gladly remove the excess charges. After a personality conflict with one supervisor "Monica", no one else was permitted to override her decision to help me. I e-mailed the company only to receive another "I'm sorry" response. I am willing to fight the big boys if that's what it takes to prevent excessive consumer charges and the lack of record keeping these companies have in these situations.

It is frustrating to have a poorly spoken company rep to say, "I didn't overcharge you, so don't be upset. There is not anything I can do.

Kathryn of Stuart, FL:
We were on the AT&T One Rate Plan at $.07/minute at our previous address and telephone number. When we moved to our new house I re-established the same service with AT&T at our new number effective 2/1/00 and confirmed that I would be on the same One Rate Plan at $.07/minute. Well, I received my first bill approximately 1 1/2 weeks ago and I was shocked to see I have been charged REGULAR RATES!

Upon conversations with a couple of Customer Service Reps., and a message from a Manager, they have no record in their file of my request for the One Rate Plan and will not adjust my account. The last Customer Service Rep. I spoke with, Terry, said she feels that my complaint is extremely legitimate and she agreed with me when I told her I was not planning to pay my bill until I receive an adjustment. She was going to specifically speak to her Manager about my situation and have her Manager call me back. Her Manager left a message that she would try back, but left me no way to contact her directly.

Last night and again this morning I tried to get some sort of acceptable response through their online customer service, but received the same results. A customer service rep. wrote back that they reviewed the notes in my file and cannot make an adjustment. I specifically requested direct contact information for someone above the Manager level with whom I could discuss my situation. I am awaiting a response.

Having just endured the stress of moving across country with two young children, living in temporary housing, house-hunting, and finally moving into a permanent house - all while being 3,4,5, and now 6 months pregnant is extremely stressful. This problem with AT&T is extremely frustrating, especially when I make a LOT of long-distance calls, have been a loyal AT&T customer, and have ALWAYS BEEN on a calling plan.

Gail of New Rochelle, NY, writes:
On October 21, 1999 I received a AT&T long distance bill for over $1200.00. I reviewed the bill and called AT&T and found that I had been dialing a 914 telephone number to connect with my Internet Service Provider (which I assumed was local since I live in the 914 area) but turned out to be a long distance call. Subsequently I ended up making calls in the amount of $1200.00.

I tried explaining my error to several representatives who were all very nice but kept telling me that  "it is not AT&T's job to police my bill".  

I would have accepted that, had another representative, "Irene," not advised me that on five different occasions - September 13 & 22, October 5,13, & 21 - AT&T was notified of a "high usage bill." As a matter of fact on September 13, the bill was a little over $524.00. 

Why didn't anyone contact me?  I tried getting an explanation as to why no on ever notified me, I called the Executive Office and spoke with Mr. Tom T, who arranged for a Manager to call me back.  Mr.  Mike T called me and advised me that the charges would be sustained and that"it is not AT&T's job to police my bill". 

Mr. T then advised me that the bill was now an additional $1900.00 and still would not answer my questions or explain what happened but said that I could make payment arrangements.       

Not being satisfied I called the Executive Office again and spoke with Mr. M, who listened to my story and agreed that the best answer to my question, was not, "it is not AT&T's job to police your bill".   Mr. M advised me that he would arrange for someone to call me back with a better explanation, but no one ever did. 

I called Mr. M again today; he advised me that  "the charges were sustained " and that the case was closed. 

I feel that someone dropped the "ball" on this, I feel that someone should have called and did not. I was a representative for another company and we always notified our customers of  "jump bills", it was a good policy then and it is still a good policy now. Anyone who even looked at the bill would have realized that, 1000's of dollars in calls to Poughkepsie, NY when you live in New Rochelle, NY had to be an error of some kind.