MCI Wireless

Unreasonable long distance charge - On 03/24/12, I contacted AT&T because there was a long distance charge showing billed from MCI on our home phone bill for $221.79 total. Marc (the name on the home phone bill) and I were unaware of this charge. He had only called AT&T to pay our home phone/internet service. AT&T advised him at that time that this charge existed, so I called AT&T also. I was long ago given permission by Marc to speak on the AT&T bill, as we split up the bills and until a few months ago, I was the one paying that bill. Anyway, I called AT&T and spoke with them. They asked for Marc's last four digits of his SSN for security and already saw I was able to speak on the account. They told me to call MCI and give me their phone number. I called and was advised that their normal business hours are M-F.

Over a year ago, I cancelled MCI. They were the long distance provider after AT&T gave up long distance, and for months I was paying service charges for a service we never used. I think had I ever made a call, the cost was 8 cents per minute. I am not even sure as we never used the service. I must have paid these charges for at least a year. Both Marc and I have a cell phone. We only have a home phone as AT&T is also our internet provider through DSL. I am not sure if we can opt to not have a house phone, but still have the internet. I will be checking on that as having home phone service makes no sense to us anyway.

So on Monday, I called the MCI number and reached Bobbie, ID #**. Bobbie said he is not allowed to give his last name. I told him I was charged for two charges to somewhere in GA. One call was for 84 minutes and another for 2. These calls both took place on 01/03/12 and other than that, there has never been a long distance charge on our house phone for years. I say years because it has been so long the time could be anywhere from 2 years to as many as 5 years. These charges totaled $221.79. These charges I was told was to a normal landline within the US. If anyone does the math, that averages to almost $2.60 per minute. I did not even know one could call long distance from the house phone since our long distance service had been cancelled for at least a year.

I had previously asked AT&T how one can make a call long distance when they don't have long distance on their phone. I said if that is possible, how does one get that stopped? As no one would ever pay $2.60 per minute for a phone call. Plus keep in mind, I was paying for months for their MCI service we never used and the rate couldn't have been more than 10 cents per minute. I asked Bobbie how I can get them to block our house phone from being able to call long distance. I am not even sure if this call really even came from my house, as I know neither Marc nor myself made this call. All I can think of was the phone got sat on and a number was dialed and left off the hook or that my nine year old was playing with the phone and called a number, or that the dog got a hold of the phone or that a stranger broke into our house and used the phone.

Really, these are the only logical things I have come up with. Anyway, Bobbie said I must call AT&T to have long distance blocked. Well they had already said MCI had to do that. He also said MCI can not clear these charges. I said I would even be willing to pay the 10 or so cents a minute that I would have paid all that time I paid just service charges, which I still feel is unjust as I had long distance cancelled long ago. I still didn't understand the $2.60 per minute. Where did that total even come from? How is that even allowed by law? So I asked to speak with Bobbie's supervisor. Instead of getting me to a supervisor, which he said he would do, he has the nerve to transfer me to AT&T.

This time, Diana ID **, got on the line. She said MCI has to adjust those charges. I said they told me AT&T would have too. She said the charges seem so far out of the ordinary that they do not appear to belong, which I agreed with. She said all she can do is give me 65 days to clear the charge and that she would put it in a holding status. She told me to call MCI back. She said I probably just got a bad rep who was new on the job and had no clue what was going on.

I called MCI back. Instead of going to the same place, it said my call was being sent to the high toll dept. Even MCI recognizes they are charging a rate that is unjust, in calling it high toll. This time, I got someone who identified himself as Mr. **. I asked for his first name, he stated it could not be provided nor did he provide his ID number. He asked me for my name and said he needed to confirm I could speak on the account and he needed to put me on a brief hold. I said I have spoken to AT&T twice already, once on Saturday and once when I was transferred to AT&T when I asked to speak to Bobbie's supervisor. He placed me on hold, got back on the line and asked for Marc's last four digits of his SSN, which I gave, then he got back on the line and said AT&T shows no record of me being authorized to speak on the account. Mind you, I have been authorized to speak on that account for over 10 years and have done so many times.

I said, "who did you speak with?" and he said Selisha with AT&T. I then asked him if he would pay over $200.00 for an 84 minute call that he didn't even recognize and he said no. I would have to believe I am not the only one who has been in this situation. I even offered to pay the going rate of 10 cents per minute just in case some rare thing like sitting on the phone had occurred. But no one would even listen to me. Then to say I am not authorized to speak on the AT&T account when I have done so for over ten years. When I even called on Saturday, I yelled out to Marc what his last four digits of his SSN were just so I didn't have to get up and go in the kitchen and get that information. First of all, when you cancel long distance service, it seems it should be unable to be called. Who in their right mind makes a long distance call when they have cell phones? It makes no sense to me. But in some rare case, this call was made from the house phone which I still doubt to charge almost $2.60 per minute is so unfair especially when I paid your service charges for months and months without ever once using the service.

I expect a credit of the full charges of $221.79 or at least a reduction in rate to $8.60, which would be 10 cents per minute just in the rare case that was made from my phone, either by my dog or child or someone's rear end. Plus either AT&T or MCI needs to determine why long distance phone calls can be made from phones that do not have that service. People expect that. High toll dept, even MCI, recognizes what they are doing is unjust.

My dear aunt died in May with a $69 credit balance on her MCI account, because she knew she might be unable to send out her bills. Since her account was closed, they have refused to send this money, even after we sent copies of her death certificate. Now they are giving us the runaround, transferring from one 800 number to another, from one idiot agent to another. Believe me, if we owed MCI $69, they would be sending us notices right and left and would not leave us alone. But since MCI owes us money, they don't care. Stay away from MCI. They suck.

My telephone stopped working - no incoming, no dialtone on 5-5-2005, I reported it and was told it would be approximately 24hrs for repair. The repair was done on 5-6-2005, and the telephone died again on the evening of 5-6-2005. I called MCI again and was told it would be repaired on 5-7-2005. I was out of town on that day, the phone was repaired again (shorted F1 pair in cable) and it worked, sort of, for the next few days. The phone died again on the evening of 5-12-2005, I called MCI on 5-13-2005.

A repair person came out and said that it was again a shorted F1 pair in the cable. I was told then that it would be 5-7 days before the repair could be done. I'm still without a phone today 5-14-2005 . I'm a computer consultant and bill approximately $2000 - $2500 per WEEK, and this week has be a loss, plus I have lost 2 clients because of the delays and NON - repairable time. What good is any telephone without SERVICE, If I can't fix someones computer system I don't change for it but I make sure that they are up and running before I leave , but a telephone company can alibi you away for days and do NOTHING, but send you a bill.

The American Business ethic has gone to hell in a hand basket. Thank god I didn't opt for DSL, I'm staying with Adelphia Cable Internet, at least I can have internet telephones that work!!

I called MCI the last week of October 2004 to let them know I would be moving the end of November 29, 2004. I wanted to know what the process was to have my service moved to the new place and how much time would it take to move me. I was told to call back the week before I was to move and everything would be taken care of then. I called back again the first week of Nov. after thinking it tool me a couple of weeks to get the service when I first started with MCI so I wanted to make sure I would have a phone when I moved in due to my illnesses and my son. I also work from my computer and had to have things running I had DSL with them and long distance service. Well that time I was told I needed to call at least three weeks ahead of time to have the service moved.

It was the first week of Nov. then. Ok we started the process I was told I would have the service connected in three days which was fine . Since I was able to get the keys to the new place and start moving. Well I told them to turn the service off in the old place once the service was connected which was in three days . The third day came and went NO SERVICE. I called was told no order was placed. So had to go through the process again (3rd time now). But this time I was told I had to cancel the DSL service first this took time then my order would go through. Never was told that.

I was still dealing with the fact that I didn't have service in the new place but it was okay since I still hadn't moved everything and I was only moving one door over to the new apt. I still had time. I moved my computer back into the old apt. so I could continue to work . Now I was told it would be walked through since I had been having so much trouble and I would have my services moved with in a day. This was good I would be turning the old keys in on the 29th of Nov. I thought everything was great at that time. As of Dec. I still had no phone service and it wasn't turned off in the old place. New people ghad moved in the old apt. and they now had access to my services.

When I called back again I was told it was nothing that they could do about it and the new people just had free service. This really upset me and to make it even worse I get a bill for $168.00. Called back and they canceled that bill after fussing for an hour about not having service. Or having it canceled in the old place either. Dec. 25 th still no service and the other phone was still on. I got another bill 289.17 and a letter talking about my credit would be affected if I didn't pay my bill on time. Again I called and being a very mad person now been told everything would be taking care of. Still no service from them. Jan. Nothing I called and got service hooked up from another company.

Took three days due to a wiring problem in the new apt. but service was on. That problem was fixed right away. Still haven't heard from MCI till I got another bill for 388.18. I have been trying to get a main office number from them and was told they didn't have one or no one I COULD TALK TO about the problem that i was having with them. This has been going on now since Oct 2004 and even thou I now have phone service with another company that has been more than nice helping me that company is ComSouth and I have earthlink DSL internet service they have been great. I would not advice anyone to use MCI ever again. They can't even cut off the service.

Dose anyone know what I can do about this? It is now Feb 2005 and I still haven't had any luck with getting the phone service turned off at the old place I did tell them I didn't want their services any more but I never told them I had service from another company , Oh and get this the bill comes to the new address.

i will be moving to a new apartment on February 26, 2005. i called mci on Tuesday, February 155, 2005 believing that this would be enough time for a move order to be place so that my services will be on when i moved. but, unfortunately that was not true. i have dsl on my line and i was told that i cannot place a move order until my dsl was disconnected and was told that it could take up to 2 weeks for that to go through and then another 3 weeks for my services to be turned on at the new location.

i explained to mci representatives and supervisors in all the departments that i was transferred to, which were many, that i have a 2 very ill children one with severe asthma and another with a whole in her heart that is allergic to have the world that lives on an epi pen so that they could understand why i was so angry and they could try to expedite what i needed to be done. iwas told to call the next day by a supervisor to place my move order. when i called i was told that my order to disconnect dsl never went through yesterday so i had to replace the order to disconnect dsl again and could not place my order to move yet.

i was told to call back in a few days i called back on Friday, February 18, 2005. and was told again that my order for disconnect of my dsl did not go through so they had to put the order in again manually. so i asked to speak to a supervisor of the dsl department and was told by chris a rep in the dsl department that the supervisor was going to tell me the same thing. so i was furious and demanded a supervisor immediately, when the supervisor came on the line she said the same information all over again and i explained my situation for about the tenth time and was told again there was nothing she can do but she would be watching my account to ensure that the dsl was disconnected. i told that that was the same thing another supervisor told me on Wednesday when i spoke to a supervisor.

i got even more upset because if this supervisor saw that the order never went through when she checked my account why did she not place the order again.. so i requested to speak to the complaint department to which i was answered very sarcastically by a person named trace that there was nothing that she could do expedite anything even if she placed a complaint, i explained my situation to her and for the 20th time all i got was i'm sorry about your situation and there is nothing i can do. so i am now writing to your department to see what you can advise me because this is basically a life threatening situation for one of my children and they will be responsible for anything that happens to my children.

I have been an MCI customer for several years. I have moved and have 2 horrible MCI experiences to share.

1. I called MCI on Nov 1 to indicate I would be moving at the end of the month and I wanted to transfer my phone service to the new location. The catch was that the new service was to be a second phone line at the new location. Because of this MCI indicated I needed to treat this as a brand new order(not a transfer order). I asked when do I need to call to have the existing service terminated - they told me 5 days before service termination date.

On Nov 1 I proceeded to place the order for the new service. I was told it would take 30 days to get the new line in and the service established.

A letter was sent by MCI on November 11th to the address I was not living at yet indicating there was a problem with the order - that I needed to contact them. I have since contacted MCI a total of 6 times(each time on hold for a minimum of 45 minutes) only to be told there is no due date on the order, called me a liar, told me they would never guarantee 30 day service, you name it, they said it. No-one would help me determine what the problem was(why they sent the letter) so that I could help them resolve the issue. They said I had to wait 30 days and then it would be turned over to research who would contact me. Ok the 30 days is up and I Still have received NO information from MCI on this order. I have written and sent a fax to the complaint department but have not heard a peep. Great customer service, huh!!

2. I contacted MCI on November 24th to terminate my DSL and phone service(I was told when I called on Nov first I could do this even with the DSL). The new resident has moved into the residence and the phone and DSL service is still active. I contacted MCI today(Dec 1) only to be told there was a problem with the DSL cancellation and the service was not cancelled yet nor could they process the phone cancellation order until this was done. This contradicts my call on the 24th where they indicated the DSL would be cancelled immediately. On Nov 24, the rep I talked to indicated that she cancelled the phone service and she took all of the information and assured me it would be cancelled by Nov 30th. Low and behold, now I call back and they tell me it will take 2 weeks from when the DSL service was cancelled and that there was no record of the cancellation order from the first call. Hey guys, this is not my problem.

I thought moving and staying with MCI would be easy but your company has made this process more difficult than if I had moved to SBC or AAT

I need help, and CANNOT GET IT FROM MCI - please advise.

i called mci for the first time to have my phone & dsl service disconnected on 9/29/04. i was told that they could "block" it, but that i had to call back in 7 days to actually have it disconnected. i called back a week later and i was told they would put the request in and it would be done in 7 more days. then the lawyer and the real estate lady involved in the sale of my home where i had this service called me, saying that the man who bought was complaining that he could not get his phone hooked up because mine still was hooked up. i called again and they said it would be done immediately.

today, 11/26/04, i get a bill for $442.63 and a warning that my service will be disconnected and that they will report me to a credit bureau if i do not pay this bill. are these people nuts? i have never had anything like this happen to me before in my life. when i call, i just sit on hold and i cannot speak to a person. when i have gotten someone, they say they cannot help me and say they will transfer me and then disconnect me. i am at my wit's end and am ready to start calling newspapers.

We bought a house and moved in July 27, 2004. The previous customer had MCI service (630) ***-****. It has been 3 weeks and MCI has not disconnected the local phone service yet. And because of that, we are not able to get our local and DSL service with SBC.

I have 2 children in the house and I think them interrupting service was inhumane especially after I made the payment when they asked me to. And now I can't access my voicemail and I am in the process of moving and need my voicemail for renting agents to contact me.

I received a collection notice from Progressive Asset Management Services, Inc., for $137 on March 13, 2004. The amount relates to my MCI Worldcom Wireless phone account during 2002. MCI Worldcom is the worst service company I've ever dealt with - tons of wrong billings and bad customer services. I closed that account in February 2002 and had my balance paid off. Because of my unpleasant experience with them, I asked for a paidoff statement and they denied to provide one. In October 2002 - 8 months after I terminated MCI services, I got the first collection notice from Progressive for about $170.

I called this collection company, and they couldn't produce an MCI invoice of any sort. I called MCI. After several phone calls, they promised to notify the collection company that I had paid off the balance in February 2002. I thought it was over. IT WASN'T! After one and half years, the collection company now billed me again. Same as the first time, I called them, they denied to provide me any MCI invoices as they said they would in the collection notice.

They said that they would close my case only if I send them $137, or a paidoff statement from MCI. They didn't bother to hear my explanation.

Additionally, I was told the cost for a monthly charge would be $24.00. They conveniently left out the taxes, line charge etc. I am paying approximately forty dollars a month for a quote of $24.00 per month. They are misrepresenting themselves.

My Neighborhood Complete was supposed to be $49.99 a month. Then I called and asked that everything on my line be blocked accept a dial tone, local and long distance and ID Caller. The *69 calls are still not blocked.

Well, every month, it's the same thing. When I received letters stating that my phone would be turned off on an account that was closed, I notified my lawyer. She contacted MCI two months ago. AND, they told her that they apologized and I would not receive any more double bills. It is a New Year and the problem persists. They call and wake me up early in the morning telling me that my phone will be cut off. I have proof that I am current in my payments. I feel as though I am being harassed! My lawyer told me to contact them again. I have. But I feel that the only way to solve this problem is to file a formal complaint.

I keep getting billed for a number that I cancelled several years ago. The bill amount is $4500. I called so many times I have given up. I am always put on hold, transferred for hours, the answer is this all the time: "You don't have an account with MCI ... it was a mistake and is now corrected. I have no idea what to do next.

I am a psychologist. My patients and students are unable to get my number from the phone directory or from directory information. This is costing me business and putting my patients in peril. I spend about an hour every 2 weeks with a new representative retelling my story and getting a very sympathetic response along with a promise to fix the problem but nothing ever changes.

I received a final bill that totaled well over $200. I paid the long distance charges and taxes but refused to pay for the connection fee. Since this point, I have called and tried to have the situation resolved, to no avail. MCI contends that I still owe them $132.57. I called today, December 16th only to be disconnected from the call. I held on for over 8 minutes to talk with that representative. I have to work and can't stay on the phone all day to get this problem resolved.

Two months went by and I had not received the credit, so I called again and I talked to Mr. Sellers and he tells me he will take care of it, Still no credit and this has gone on and on up until now. I should have reported them before this but I didn't think to. They are now telling me that my credit should only be 362.54 and that they cannot issue it because their corporate office is saying they can't find the overcharges because they can only go back 6 months in their system. I asked them to transfer me over to the corporate office and they we are sorry but our corporate office doesn't accept incoming phone calls. Imagine this. I am disgusted. I paid these overcharges and they have no intention of making this right.

Worldcom suspended our cellular phone service for nonpayment despite the fact that we paid our bills on time and made made numerous unsuccessful calls and sent faxes in attempts to prove payment and restore service. Our attempts went unnoticed and unresolved. We cancelled our contract so we could receive cellular service with another company and suddenly Worldcom started contacting us - for their early termination fee!

We were charged an early termination fee of $195.00. We cancelled the contract because we use the cellular phone for personal and business purposes and were in dire need of restoring it. We have since made several attempts to have the fee waived and have been told we will have to pay them. Their Customer Service and billing is TERRIBLE. We felt we had no other recourse than to cancel and to have to pay them after having been serviced so poorly is inexcusable.

In July of 2000 I had signed a contract for one year in which I would get 200 anytime minutes a month for free, and weekend minutes were also free. I got the first bill after three months. I didn't mind since it was the first one. But what I didn't know was that this was a regular routine. Then I started to notice that my bills were exaggerated, and that many of the numbers listed on the bill I didn't even know.

There was one month where the bill was about $800 and most of the numbers on the bill I couldn't recognize. I let Worldcom Wireless know about these problems but they always say that they would investigate but they never do. All I keep getting is a bill of $1,600 and no help or answers about an investigation.

The problem began when I moved from New York down to Florida. I had used their service up north. After I moved here in May, I tried to contact the company to get a local phone number. I have been put on hold for hours, given three phone numbers, requested a new phone since mine wouldn't work here.

I am still waiting.

After a lifetime of holding online to talk to a person, in August I started to write letters to their customer service dept in Texas. I have not used their service to date. I wrote to them complaining of their lack of sevice and proper training of their staff and for the abnormal holding time on their customer service line. Since August, I have sent two more letters to Worldcom and to the collection agency but the bills keep coming in and they have a collection agency sending me letters for payment.

Their billing is 3 to 4 months behind which causes the bills to be in the hundreds of dollars, which a normal working family can not pay all the time and if you do not pay them off right away they terminate service. Most of the time the bills do not make it to my home address, but the delinquent notices do, then they claim that they don't have the correct address, which I do not understand because the delinquency notices make it.

They have cut service off on my cell phone a number of times and you have to stay on hold for hours to try and find out what and why this happens, when you finally get a representative they tell you that in order to help you they have to issue you a new cell phone number, I have a yearly contract and I have had two cell phone numbers because of their billing problems!

Once I called them to pay off a balance in full on my credit card and 2 days later they still cut my service off. When I called them back they claim that the person who took my information never put it through, which now caused me to be without service again and only to find out that I needed a new cell phone number!

Early in 2001, Worldcom Wireless failed to bill my cellular phone account for a period of several months. When an aggregated bill was produced, it failed to detail the calls that were made, however the bill was for a much higher amount than a normal three-month period. In addition, several incongruous bills bombarded me during the same month, making it impossible to discern which if any bill was accurate. This was Worldcom's first violation of their contract.

Regardless, I paid the bills in good faith. The next violation occurred in August of 2001, when Worldcom first shut off the phone service for a day, then shut off the Caller ID and Voice Mail feature for a period of weeks (in fact, they still dont work even though I am still getting billed full rates for the account). This was apparently due to some internal billing system problem.

In my line of business as a network engineer, I cant afford to miss calls or messages for these periods of time, and thus the phone service being provided was not only unacceptable but infringes the contract to which both parties are held. Thus, in September of 2001, I telephoned customer service and informed them of the breach of contract, after which it was agreed upon by both parties that the cellular phone service would be terminated and no further charges would be incurred.

Since then I have continued to receive full rate bills even though the phone has not been used and was presumed to be inoperative. Certainly, the additional features of ID and Voicemail that are charged for, still do not function. I called and was able to speak with a collections operator on December 10, 2001, a conversation in which I revealed their shortcomings and agreed to pay up until the September bill but no additional charges, and furthermore would not pay anything on the account until the billing was corrected and the additional charges removed.

To this I was met with a disdainful operator who rebelliously replied, you can either continue to pay the monthly bill or pay $200 (deactivation fee). I then repeated that Worldcom had breached their contract and my subsequent offer to pay through August services as soon as the bill was corrected. The haughty operator then told him to call customer service.

Unfortunately, the customer service number had a recording which claimed there was an unusually high call volume and therefore a customer service representative would not be available to speak with. This went on for a period of a week, and it has been concluded that it is not possible to speak with a representative from such department. This runaround is also unacceptable, and it is obvious that Worldcom doesn't know the concept of customer service.

Damages: Missed phone calls, "the phone just kept ringing" according to clients who were trying to reach me. This equals both missed business and strained existing customer relationships.

I received a offer in the mail for their cell phone. I called, was approved for three phones in 11/2000. The offer advertised the features the phone has. One of the features was voice mail. I have been trying since 1/2001 to get voice mail. When I called the representative on the phone kept telling me they have to fax over paperwork to Cinqular, because they are the ones that handle voice mail and it would take 48 hours. I would wait 3 weeks call back and each time a rep would go thru the process of ringing my phones to see if it was set up and each time it was not, they would tell me they have to fax over the paperwork.

One time I spoke with a supervisor and tech support went thru the same process, the supervisor gave me a $50.00 credit on my accounts. It is one year later and I still do not have voice mail. On top on everything else, I was paying my bills until I stopped receiving them in 4/2001. I kept getting a letter in the mail stating they are updating their billing system and I will received a bill in the next 3 weeks to catch up my account. When I didn't get a bill I called and was told how much the bill was and to wait because the bill was being sent out. Instead I received another letter just like the first letter.

I finally received a bill in September for $53.95 and $58.95, which I paid with a debit card over the phone. I called, spoke with a rep from their facility when I realized after 3 weeks they never took the money from my account. I also asked him when will I receive another bill and how much was the bill. He quoted a $90.00 figure for both accounts. He informed me that a bill just went out. I verified the correct address with him because the bills were going to a neighbor, even though I called numerous times about that and they claimed they corrected the address in their system. I received two weeks ago, not a bill, but yet another letter stating they are sorry for the inconvenience, I will receive 3 bills in the near future to bring my account up to date.

When I checked my bank account on 11/15/2001, they put a hold for 2 charges for $53.95 (which I only authorize for 1) and $58.95 (this amount is okay). I called to talk to a rep about the double hold on my account, my voice mail and when will I receive another bill when he transferred to an account rep (Ms. Shepard), she was very unprofessional and nasty when I informed her about the duplicate hold on my account. She stated my account is 5 months past due and when will I pay it. She said I have another account which is also past due. I told her I never received a bill only letters about them updating their billing system. I explained to her this was the only bill I received. She said "we were getting a new billing system and you are still 5 months behind, your phone will be shut off soon, if it has not already been shut off".

I could not get anywhere with her, she didn't want to hear anything else. I ask to speak with her manager. She put me on hold and never came back to the phone. Due to me being at work I had to hang up.

I have been harassed and fraudulently overcharged by MCI Worldcom Wireless. First, they tend to not bill you for months, even 3 months at a time, and then they bill you supposedly for those months in extremely high amounts and then refuse to review it. I had two accounts with this company, both I have cancelled and paid their fraudulent bills, and still they bill me saying I am delinquent and even call me and harass me about this.

I have called them and sent faxes proving I paid them their balances and they still say they can't clear my accounts because they take time to clear although I have paid them, and meanwhile I still get their calls and letters, and even threats to ruin my credit. I paid them $655.75 for the first account, and $762.75 for the second, the money was charged to my bank account and my American Express respectively and they credited it accordingly but I am still delinquent in their records. I know I shouldn't have paid such excessive amounts but I was afraid to have my credit history affected by this, but my mental health is now on the line, I am frustrated and depressed about this whole issue, and I know am not the only one.

I joined a cellular plan with MCI Worldcom on 2/26/2000 for a monthly plan of $49.99 (500 minutes weekdays and 1000 minutes weekends). I have never received a phone bill from MCI. About 2 months ago (end September/early October), MCI contacted me with a delinquent and outstanding bill of $1243.00. My plan is a $49.99 plan per month and I am being billed for $1243.00 for 7 months. Plus, I never received a phone bill.

I paid the sum of $1243.00 to avoid my cellular service from being stopped. When this amount was paid it was agreed that MCI will review the charges and credit my account accordingly. If I used more minutes than my orginal plan, I was to upgrade to a better plan with a better rate. Now, again, MCI is trying to bill me for an additional $2000.00. So I am paying about $400 a month for my cellular service and I am under a contract for $49.99 a month. I already paid $1243.00 and I am still waiting for come kind of credit. Plus, I still have not received a cellular phone bill yet.

I paid the first sun of $1243.00 without a phone bill, trusting MCI to send me copies of my phone bill and crediting my account. I need help as they are again billing me for an additional $2000.00 and I am still waiting for a credit. If I am under a $49.99 plan and use their service since February, total of 10 months, my phone bill should not exceed $600.00 (which includes all taxes, etc.)

Back in October of 2000, I got a call regarding a special with MCI Worldcom and a new phone offer. I got the phone, and found out while trying to get through to a customer service agent that not only did their customer service suck, when I finally did get a hold of a live person - that they did not have any accessories available to go with the phone I had decided to try out.

I had a certain time frame in which to return the phone - so I did so, using the box and prepaid label they mailed to me. In November I received a bill for more calls on it than I had made, which also extended out past the time frame in which I had sent back the phone. When I called customer service, and spent over 20 minutes on hold, and being bounced around from place to place - I finally had someone tell me they would take care of this.

It has been almost a year now, and every single month I waste too much time waiting on hold and calling these people who tell me my account is closed and that I do not owe them anything, yet I still get bills in the mail. It went from being $20.90 to now $240.78

I am extremely angry that such poor business can still be IN BUSINESS and that people are being cheated and taken for granted. It's very frustrating when we sit on hold and listen to their recorded advertisements telling us how important our business is to them, and how great of a company they are - yet you read tons and tons of letters of complaint about all the same problems on your Consumer Complaints newsletter. I am very worried that this could effect my credit eventually.

As stated above, I have spent literally hours and hours between hold times and explaining my situation to different representatives every month, over and over. And I am very concerned that this will effect my credit - which is extremely unfair.

Aarica should send a certified letter to Worldcom stating her case and demanding that her account be straightened out. So should other consumers with similar problems. Be sure to retain copies of all correspondence.

First off, let me start by saying that I have never dealt with more unprofessional people then I did when I was dealing with MCI Worldcom. From the beginning of my contract for my cell phone, receiving a timely and intelligible billing statement that detailed the calls that I had made seemed like a near impossibility. In fact, I received one bill for the wireless services that I received when I first joined with MCI and then I did not receive another bill for approximately 6 months! This is a blatant and direct violation of the terms of the contract that I signed with MCI.

When I finally received another bill they requested payment in the amount of $1,600! This bill did not even detail the calls that were included in the bill and I had no way to verify if I was being accurately billed. Even if they were to give me a billing statement at this time, there would be virtually no way that I could recall the calls I made 6 months ago! The only way one can be sure that he is being billed accurately for phone service is if he is being billed contemporaneously with the calls that he is making. I can not be expected to remember the calls I made a half a year ago!

On numerous occasions (before and after being billed) I attempted to contact MCI Worldcom and each time I tried to call them it required approximately 1-1/2 hours of my time as they kept me on hold for an unconscionable duration. Please keep in mind that an hour and a half of my billable time at work is very valuable to me. On one specific occasion I got bounced back and forth between customer service and accounts payable three times before a recording finally told me that there were too many callers and then they proceeded to hang up on me! I have never heard of a situation where a customer had to badger a seller to provide the customer with accurate information as to how much they owed!

When I finally was able to speak to someone they informed me that they knew about all the billing problems and admitted that this was their fault but informed me that there was little they could do about it. The best that they were able to do was to upgrade my plan retroactively for three months which "supposedly" covered some of the calls I had made. The reason I say supposedly is that I have never seen a statement that lists the calls that I made. When I asked to finally be billed with a statement indicating the calls that I had made the customer affairs supervisor indicated that it would take 8-10 weeks to be provided with such statements! This virtually runs through the end of my contract. Why bother?

On top of this, I was informed that if I chose to cancel my service there would be a $200 deactivation fee. I understand full well that the $200 deactivation fee is a term of the contract. However, MCI has violated their contract by failing to provide accurate detailed bills to their customer. The company would not waive the deactivation fee and as such I am trying to find a resolution to a terrible situation.

I felt a need to report this problem to put other cell phone customers on notice so as they will not be defrauded and mistreated as I was. Not only do they not have their own act together, but they are completely incapable of fairly dealing with customers in an attempt to find a fair resolution to an unfortunate problem that they created.

I purchased a cell phone in June 2000 with the service provider listed as MCI Worldcom Wireless. I did not know that the service from MCI would revolve around the word "less". I called MCI and spoke to a rep briefly to confirm the services I was offered. I called MCI again to get help setting up my voicemail and to ask other general questions.

The NIGHTMARE begins. I only received one bill. I have been calling MCI for months, but to no avail. Is the company with the exception of the sales dept. run by mindless (there's that word again - less) tree people, that can't answer a phone. Finally changing from tree people to humans, someone called me. Now realizing that I have not paid my bill (not received) and they want the money.

Finally, on 07/24/01 I call again, someone answers. I explained to the rep my reasons for calling and to complain about the bill (the extortionate amount due). She said the bill was high because it has late charges which have been billed to me, because I have not paid the bill. I have not been getting a bill. She said well, the billing department has been backed up and they are now catching up the billing files so I'm going to have to pay it.

I asked to speak to a Supervisor, she said no one can help me. I'm going to have to pay it. I immediately starting writing this complaint. I should have gone to the Consumer Affairs Website to check for this companies name on the Extortionist Society list. I see that there have been a number of complaints about MCI wireLESS. It also seems (from there no service attitude) that MCI puts great Emphasis on the word "LESS" in their company name.

From the beginning of my using WorldCom I was not billed for many months. When I called them, if I was lucky enough to reach a representative, I was told the computers were down, not to worry, I would get a bill soon. When I received my first bill, it was high, but I paid it. However, i still did not get monthly bills. The second phone acct with MCI WorldCom was not a problem and I paid that as it was received, although it too was months late.

When I finally received another bill it was for over $1,000, which advanced over the next several months to over $1,900. When calling to question calls on the bill, I was told the computers were down or I was unable to reach a representative. This has gone on and on. Finally, when my year was up I wrote on a bill statement I received that I wanted both phone contracts terminated. However, I am still receiving bills and I have not used the phones for months.

I Just got off the phone with an account services rep from MCI Worldcom
Wireless and canceled the 2 accounts I had. It all started 6 months ago when I signed up and immediately asked for a consolidated bill. This process took until last Friday to complete. It was the first consolidated bill I received. In the meantime I made payments to
them for both accounts separately. This was not even taken care of properly.

They lost my first check issued to them directly from Citibank. Needless to
say a week after my first correct billing statement, they shut off both mine
and my wife's phone. This in my opinion is a default in there contract with

me to provide a reliable and competent cellular service.

So now I'm curious. Does a company like this have the right to mess with
its customers and then still charge them $400 for an early termination fee

of a service they failed to provide?

I was thoroughly happy with my cell phone service company for several years (Marathon Communications). I was able to obtain a low minutes, low priced monthly cell phone deal and it worked well for me and only $9.95 per month. I recommended this company to everyone I knew because of their low rates and good service.

At the beginning of the year (2001) I decided to look into purchasing a new cell phone as mine was pretty old, not keeping a charge, and really cumbersome. I contacted my company, Marathon Communications, and was thrilled to find out that they would sell me a phone on a contract basis with the usual low rate attached ($9.95 per month). In total, I would be paying $19.95 per month for the phone and service. Unfortunately, this meant a one year contract with MCI Worldcom Wireless. Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

The first problem occurred when I still was with Marathon right before the switch to MCI. They attempted to activate my phone and, at the same time, another customer's phone was activated with the same number. As a result, my phone never was actually activated. When I realized my phone was not working, I called Marathon and they gave me a new number. At that point I was switched to MCI.

I received my first bill with MCI a month or so later. I contacted them because the phone number on the bill was not my new number it was the number that had never activated. I could not make the person understand what I was talking about. I don't know how they train their customer service bunch but they are impossible to deal with.

After contacting them about the new phone number, I continued to receive my bills with the old number on them. That would not change, I was told. Then I realized shortly after the first call when I tried to make a call on my phone, it wasn't working again. I called three more times, being put on endless hold many times over and talking to customer service reps that had no clue. When I asked to talk to a supervisor, I was told that there was no one available. I finally called again about one and a half months or so ago and felt like maybe I finally got some help. I talked to a customer service representative, even though I was on hold for 45 minutes, I refused to give up until she did something about this problem. She said she would put a job order in and that should solve the problem within a week. After about a month, my phone was working again. Now after two weeks of a working phone, it is again not activated and unusable.

I can't cancel my contract or I have to pay a $200 fee. I've given up contacting them and now I'll be out at least $100 or more for the next year for service that I'm not getting. I am totally disgusted with these people and with Marathon Communications for working with them. I'm going to write to Marathon and let them know what has been happening. It probably won't make any difference but I don't think I'll go back to Marathon when this ordeal is over. I feel like they screwed me over in hooking me up with MCI.

In February, I was called by a representative of MCI and was offered a deal on local and local toll service along with Call Waiting, Caller ID and Voice Mail. It took over one month before services were actually switched, while I was told it would take only 10 business days.(Lie #1) I was told I would receive a $75.00 credit in the mail (Lie #2) which I never received and it was credited to my account only after I called and was put on hold for over 40 minutes to request that it be credited to my account.

I was also told that I should be expecting a caller ID (with Call Waiting) Box in the mail. This never came, and I was later informed that MCI does not send such boxes. (Lie #3) I was also told that I could sign up for voice mail service (Lie #4), which is a service MCI does not provide.

After approximately 4 days of service with MCI, I called and cancelled all services, with the exception of long distance. This cancellation occurred in March (seven months ago!). When I requested that services be cancelled, a representative from MCI informed me that I "should go to Radio Shack and purchase a answering machine and a caller ID box." That statement was rude especially since it was a representative from MCI who offered me these products and services in order to get me to sign up.

Since that time, I have called MCI Customer Service every month for seven months since I cancelled my service. At first, I was told that it takes three billing cycles for all credits and cancelled service to appear. It has now been seven months and I am still being told that it will take another 30 - 90 days before my account can be cleared up. This is ludicrous!!

As far as I am concerned the only thing I owe MCI is long distance service for the past seven months which is less than $50, yet I still get bills for over $150. As I write this I have been on hold for over TWO HOURS. How is MCI's treatment of customers a legal practice?

I was solicited, by phone, by MCIWORLDCOM for local calling service. I understood the package I was buying was one that would give me 100 phone calls a month to as far as Westchester County for a flat rate, and I would then pay, per minute, for all calls over 100 in any given month.

When I received my first phone bill from them, in July 1999, I saw that I was not given 100 calls and I was billed as much as 19 cents a minute for calls within 10 miles of my home. I was charged for an item I did not want or ask for, and there were other things on the bill that I didn't understand and wanted explained.

I immediately called their 1 888 MCI LOCAL number. I told the woman that I was billed for items I did not contract for and I wanted a corrected bill. She advised me she could not do that. I told her that I wanted my service ended; that I was switching back to Bell Atlantic. She told me she could do nothing about that either, that I would have to call Bell Atlantic. I asked to speak with a supervisor. She told me she could not connect me with one, but that she would put in my request and that a supervisor would call me within 24 hours.

I called Bell Atlantic and they told me it would take two days to change my phone service back. I said, "Fine" and went through the verifying procedure.

Three days later I received a call from MCIWORLDCOM. I told this woman what I wanted. She said that it would take four billing periods before I will receive a revised bill. I received another bill for July and then another bill In August. I called the 1 888 MCI LOCAL number and was told that I would continue to be billed till I received the revised bill.

They continued to bill me through November; they sent me monthly bills, duplicate monthly bills, termination warnings, and deferred payment agreements (at least two of everything).

On November 17, 1999 I called and spoke with "Gwen." She told me she would note that I was not to receive any other bills till I received the revised bill, which would reflect what I contracted for. I thanked her, and thought the harassment was over.

But, since then I have received two phone calls from MCI demanding payment of the bill. The caller demanded a "yes or no" answer to whether or not I would pay the bill. I told the caller I would pay the revised/corrected bill as soon as I receive it. I told the second person not to call anymore.

The July and August bills asked for $129.90. The September bill asked for an additional $37.30. The October bill asked for an additional $29.97 above what September asked for. I received a bill in November asking for $227.32.

It appears that there is no centralized customer information, or person who can do anything effective in MCI. They have totally ignored my requests, and they are acting as if they are still my local call carrier. I don't know what else to do. I want to put, "refused" on their mail and have it sent back to them, but I am still waiting for the corrected/revised bill.