Disputing phone bill charges
George Grapman
savings were only a few dollars a month and since I have a home office
it was a good idea to have a back up line.
Last month I was getting poor quality on my main line so while they
were trouble shooting I used the modem line. That line just has a dial
tone,no enhanced features and no long distance. That evening a I wanted
to make an out of state call so I used the MCI dial around code.
When my bill arrived it showed $28 for a 13 minute call. Since I work
in the industry and know the process I simply called AT&T and asked that
the charge be removed. The rep immediately agreed (the fee AT&T gets for
the billing is so small it is not worth their time). I know that one of
two things will happen,MCI will write it off or send letters demanding
payment but it will not go beyond this.
I am posting this because I wanted others to be aware of some things:
Your carrier can not suspend your service for non-payment for bills
from another company. Other than trying to collect the charge that other
company can only block you from using them again.
Your service can not be suspended for non-payment of non-basic
services such as Caller ID, three way or 900 numbers. They can only
eliminate access to these services.
Frank
"George Grapman" <sfge...@paccbell.net> wrote in message
news:9TPPj.285$To6...@newssvr21.news.prodigy.net...
I had a few of business phone land lines with AT&T for years and they were
pretty good. I call in for billing disputes and AT&T would correct it on the
next billing cycle - never a problem with AT&T for years. Then I did a
stupid thing by switching the long distance portion to Sprint as the outside
Sprint sales person promised a better plan with better rate. Well, the
Sprint rep lied, Sprint refused to switch me back to AT&T and the rep refuse
to return my phone calls after leaving messages on her machine telling her
that was not the plan we agreed and we needed to resolve the issue before my
long distance is blocked. Sprint blocked my long distance anyway but
continued to bill me for many sequential months without providing any
services. Sprint did not allow me to switched back to AT&T or any other
carrier and had collection on my account. Sprint told me they couldn't do
anything with my account and that I have to resolve it directly with the
collection agency - major run around within Sprint hierarchy and with the
collection agencies. I told the collection agency to settle this in court
but they never did, they just send me collection letters once a year
instead. As soon as I tried to straighten it out with one collection agency,
a different agency send me another collection notice without any reference
to previous communications. This is still on going for 15 years, perhaps
with as many as 10 different collection agencies. Statue of limitation
expired more than a decade ago. The irony is Sprint is still trying to get
my business. No thanks, Sprint is unethical and I won't do business with
them ever again.
Anyone had this kind of problems with Sprint and how was it resolved, if at
all?
George Grapman
with both and started out from scratch getting a new phone number and
DSL from AT&T. Sprint is still billing him two years later for the
remaining months on his contract.
hchi...@hotmail.com
LOL! Sprint is scum, but their greed got the better of them with me.
I once had a cell phone with Sprint, which also tied into my long
distance service on my land line, providing me with 30? 60? minutes of
free long distance. When I terminated my cell phone service, there
was a credit to the account of about $13. Sprint never repaid the
$13, and for about 10 years I was able to have free long distance on
my land line for calls when I missed using the dial-around numbers.
Sprint ended up paying ofr at least ten times the $13 that could have
been repaid to me. Sometimes there is justice.
George Grapman
Remember when long distance providers sent checks to people to get
them to switch over?
Sprint mailed packages to people in Hispanic areas with Spanish
language brochures. The only English language part of the package was on
the check where it said cashing the check gave them permission to switch
your service.
They were eventually nailed for consumer fraud.
Mark Anderson
> I am posting this because I wanted others to be aware of some things:
>
> Your carrier can not suspend your service for non-payment for bills
> from another company. Other than trying to collect the charge that other
> company can only block you from using them again.
It's still a hassle trying to get an AT&T customer rep on the phone let
alone all the conflict involved dealing with some collection agency. I
prefer the pay as you go calling cards. They're convenient, can be used
anywhere from any phone, and you don't have to worry about some weird
charge ever. I have been a happy customer of onesuite.com for many
years and have used them overseas to call the states for real cheap.
Hotels always try and rip you off with long distance but since the
calling card uses a toll free access number, the hotels can only charge
you for a local call which is usually peanuts or just flat out waived
when you check out.
I got rid of all long distance about 7 years ago and have never looked
back.
George Grapman
If you have trouble getting an AT&T rep call their headquarters st
210-821-4105 and ask for the executive offices. Any time I have done
that the issue has been resolved within 24 hours.
Regarding the phone cards some hotels do charge for 800 numbers. I
use my cell when I travel and my main land line is with IDT which
charges me $51 a month including all the taxes and fees for unlimited
service including all the add ons like caller ID and three way.
Frank
Ok, but I did not have a contract with them - its month to month, or day to
day. But Sprint told me that I could switch back to AT&T anytime - they
LIED!
Frank
<hchi...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:sg0014d8vp2mct6kq...@4ax.com...
Good for you!!
Just checked Sprint market prices, they lost 62% market share in the last 12
months and doesn't even have a P/E ratio. Maybe even become penny stock in
the months ahead. Indeed, "Sprint is scum ... Sometimes there is justice"
after all.
zahir...@gmail.com
> In article sfgeo...@paccbell.net says...
>
> > I am posting this because I wanted others to be aware of some things:
>
> > Your carrier can not suspend your service for non-payment for bills
> > from another company. Other than trying to collect the charge that other
> > company can only block you from using them again.
>
> It's still a hassle trying to get an AT&T customer rep on the phone let
> alone all the conflict involved dealing with some collection agency. I
> prefer the pay as you go calling cards. They're convenient, can be used
> anywhere from any phone, and you don't have to worry about some weird
> years and have used them overseas to call the states for real cheap.
> Hotels always try and rip you off with long distance but since the
> calling card uses a toll free access number, the hotels can only charge
> you for a local call which is usually peanuts or just flat out waived
> when you check out.
>
> I got rid of all long distance about 7 years ago and have never looked
> back.
Like most of you guys, I also had problems with AT&T and decided to
get a long distance phone card instead.
Onesuite caught my attention and might sign up today or tomorrow. I
can see they also have VoIP in their service, just don't know if
theres any additional fee for that feature.
val189
> Hotels always try and rip you off with long distance but since the
> calling card uses a toll free access number, the hotels can only charge
> you for a local call which is usually peanuts or just flat out waived
> when you check out.
Not quite - I stayed in Marriott recently and was about to use my
prepaid card, then noticed a note in the phone in my room that a one
dollar fee would be billed for every toll free number dialed. NTS, I
used my cell.
I hope the rest of the hotel industry doesn't follow suit on this.
clams_casino
It seems that the higher the rate of the hotel, the more they add in
extra charges for use of the phone, safe, maid services, etc.
Next, they will have a per-flush charge.
George Grapman
about those charges but with a cell the only calls that I make on their
phone are within the hotel.
Dave
> Not quite - I stayed in Marriott recently and was about to use my
> prepaid card, then noticed a note in the phone in my room that a one
> dollar fee would be billed for every toll free number dialed. NTS, I
> used my cell.
> I hope the rest of the hotel industry doesn't follow suit on this.
>
At least one major chain (forgot which) is advertising free long distance
phone calls. -Dave
George Grapman
If you see it again check the small print,I am sure there are
restrictions.
Years ago I used a post-paid phone card for calls from a Holiday Inn.
The card, from MCI, charged a 25 cent surcharge per call which was fine
but when I got my local phone bill it had been routed through a
different carrier which charged $1 per call plus a high per minute
charge. MCI told me the hotel must have signed a contract with that
carrier. The hotel manager said he had nothing to do with the rates but
could not explain why they had chosen that carrier. It was only after I
mailed my Holiday Inn rewards card back to corporate with a letter
explaining why they would no longer get my business that the matter was
resolved. The owner of the property offered me a free night plus a full
credit on future stays for the amount of the phone charges.
The Real Bev
> It seems that the higher the rate of the hotel, the more they add in
> extra charges for use of the phone, safe, maid services, etc.
>
> Next, they will have a per-flush charge.
Ha, we'll show 'em, we'll flush one of their towels and then demand a
different room!
--
Cheers, Bev
=====================================================
Why can't we all just get along and do things my way?
val189
> It seems that the higher the rate of the hotel, the more they add in
> extra charges for use of the phone, safe, maid services, etc.
The hotel's restaurant charged a la carte for everything on the menu,
as in five bucks for an undercooked, foil wrapped 'baked' potato.
William Souden
A few years ago I was in San Diego. The non-chain hotel that I wanted
to stay in was full the first night but had rooms the rest of my stay. I
stayed at a Hilton that charged for local calls 800 numbers and movies.
The free "breakfast" was coffee and greasy donuts.
The next day I went to the non-chain. About half the price for a
similar room, free local and 800 calls and the free breakfast was a full
buffet.