Ok -- so i am not usually one to review charges on my bills. But the last year or so i have gotten much better at doing so after discovering mysterious charges on cell phone and credit card bills. Recently i discovered 3 charges for a total of $45 on my ATT home bill.
Commonly known as "cramming" 3rd party companies bill ATT claiming we requested some service for them (a voicemail service or something stupid like that). ATT adds them onto your bill "in good faith" and "for the convenience of its customers" who want a single bill. In today's world i'm shocked that they still get away with claiming they are doing me a favor adding unverified charges to a bill.
Anyway... I called 611 from the home phone and off on my journey through customer service nightmares (always expected, never fun). The first ATT rep said they would reverse the charges but that i had to call those companies to prevent anymore charges. (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?) You want me to call criminals, verify my billing info with them and hope they will stop trying to rob me???? Why don't i just publish my social security number, my mother's maiden name and my ATM pin on the internet and see how that works out????? I asked that they put a third party billing block on my phone line. First ATT rep said she couldn't do that and that if i didn't contact those companies, they would continue to bill me and ATT couldn't always remove the charges. At this point I'm very angry. When I called, i thought i was the customer, apparently I'm the money tree for ATT. As I explain to her my need for a supervisor so i can clarify my extreme disappointment, the phone goes dead. Yes, she hung up on me. Oh joy....
I call back...
ATT rep #2 finally gets on after 15 minutes on hold (no worries, I was doing email....). He informs me I'm on the business side and transfers me to residential (ok -- how did that happen??).
ATT rep #3. Answers and I say -- I need a supervisor. Rep #3 asks for home phone number (didn't these guys invent caller ID?) -- again. Finally he gets my account up and "verifies me" and then asks why i need a supervisor. Um, the last rep hung up on me. Silence on the other end. Then he says -- no problem, please hold. After a few minutes of hold the floor supervisor is on the phone. ...
ATT floor supervisor -- Justin G. Ok -- this is why i ask for supervisors... This guy is all over it. He reverses the charges in about 1 minute. Fires off a note to the ATT rep #1 boss about getting hung up on and assures me that they can put a Third Party Billing Block on my number. He does mention this is a new service, so some might not be familiar (he is being nice about dumb rep #1). So in minutes (once i got to the right person) I have bill reduced to the right size, no more third party charges allowed and a commitment from Justin G that they'll follow through on getting everything taken care of.
What did I learn?
- Demand the right thing, but stay polite.
- Go up the chain fast.
- Think about dumping my home phone line.... ;-)
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1 comment:
That's what Jp and I did. You know what? It's been a lot quieter and we haven't missed those telemarketers :)
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