On March 6, 2008, I called one of AT&T company’s call centers located in Georgia requesting two business class phone lines with fast access DSL. Over the phone I was originally quoted the price of over $180.00. I immediately responded that I could not afford that amount monthly. I then informed the representative that I currently had Comcast who offered me the package for much less. I told her that if she could quote me a price within my budget that I would sign a contract. Shortly after, she e-mailed me a “quick quote” offering me the services for $162.00 monthly including discounts which would be provided after signing a two year agreement. I responded that if she could quote me at $130.00 a month; I would then sign up. Over the course of a week she sent me various quotes, and finally quoted me a price of $123.00 monthly. She also made me aware that my first bill would be higher because it would be prorated, plus parts and labor. I told her I understood that and I was looking forward to being an AT&T customer.
After I reviewed and signed the contract I received a courtesy call from AT&T. This representative basically asked me if I was satisfied with my services. After reviewing my file, she was helping me to set up my phone book listing. When I told her I wanted to be listed under web development, she mentioned to me that I had signed up for a slower DSL speed. She let me know that I needed to upgrade because the speed I signed up for was to slow to handle the type of services my business would be providing. I responded I was sure I had told the previous rep that I needed a fast internet connection for what I was doing. In fact we talked extensively about it, because she (the first rep) also did graphic design. I asked how much it would cost to upgrade. She said my bill will be about $150.00. I told her I was stretching it, but I really needed the faster speed. She also sold me other features “at a fraction of the price”, because of the misunderstanding. She said my total monthly bill would be about $162.00. I agreed and signed another contract.
On May 5th 2008, I called AT&T again. This time I was checking on my bill. I know I had signed up in March and I did not receive a bill for April. I was told that I did not have any charges yet, but my next bill would be in the mail soon. I assumed all of the “discounts” I was promised had been applied to my first month’s bill. Shortly after, a third representative called me. He informed me that because I was a new customer I was entitled to receive a new promotion that AT&T was offering. He said that he had been reviewing my account and saw that I already had two lines and fast access DSL. He also told me that if I added a third line it would put me in a package instead of having individual services (I thought I already had a package deal), thus giving me greater savings. I asked him how much my bill would be with this “package deal” He said about 139.00, which was less than what I was paying with 2 lines. I said it sounded good and I accepted via phone confirmation. He also made me aware that my first bill would be slightly higher because of the prorated amount, I said I understood. He promised to send me papers in the mail. I did not receive anything. I never used the phone line, and I never even knew the phone number. I only agreed to add it in order to be eligible for the “package deal”.
Time went on. I checked my P.O. Box weekly, but the bill had not come yet. The last couple of weeks of the month I did not check my mail because I was very busy. By June, I knew that I had not yet paid a bill so I paid $400.00 at a local pay center thinking that would cover two monthly bills of $139.00, plus any extra charges. The next day I made it to the post office; I had received a $100 discount coupon, and my bill which was over $500.00. When I returned home I immediately redeemed my coupon on line, and called AT&T. I questioned the rep about the charges on my account. At first she could not see why the bill was so high. She assumed that it was the charges from the first month’s bill. When she double checked she saw that those charges were included in the first billing, and that my current bill was from all the extra services I had been sold. I again asked her why it was so high, because my bill should only be 139.00, plus prorate and labor. She informed me that my actual services cost me 249.00 not 139.00 like I believed. There were also charges for labor over $200 for adding the third line. I could not believe it. I told her that I had been lied to twice already (to my knowledge) and I wanted to cancel my contract. She replied that I could not get out of my contract but she could take my services down to one phone line plus the DSL. She put me on hold has she “took care of it” for me. After about 30 minutes she then informed me to wait four days then unplug the DSL from the second line and plug it into the first line and everything else should be fine. So I thanked her and did as she said.
On July 22, 2008, my services were interrupted. $100 was paid in order to get the phone back on. I was informed that I had to pay the full amount of over $1000 to keep from re-interruption. I could not believe it. How could my bill be so high? I had just paid $500 last month (with the coupon). How in the world could I owe over $500 in just another month? Besides I had canceled everything but one phone line and the DSL. At least I thought I did. After getting my service restored, I called in again to figure out why my bill was so high. Talking to my sixth representative, I learned that no changes were made to my bill. To my understanding, the information was documented but nothing happened. So I was charged again for 3 phone lines and DSL. She said that she could not give me credit for that, but she could remove the extra lines and transfer the DSL from the second line to the first, as I had previously requested. She put me on hold as she “took care of it for me” and then transferred me to collections. After being on hold for almost twenty minutes I decided I was going to speak to someone in person, and hung up the phone. I called a couple of my friends to see if they knew any place I could go, none did. So I called AT&T again hoping to get information. After another ten minutes of holding I finally got someone. I asked her if she could give me the location of an office in my area. She told me that there were none, only call centers. Then she asked if she could help me. I was hesitant because so far everyone who offered to “help” me had lied. I began to tell her the whole situation and why I wanted to speak to a REAL person.
After listening to me explain the situation, she asked me for my account information and then began to review my file. She warned me not to get frustrated as she explains to me what had “really” happened. She kindly let me know that my original bill was never for $123.00. That it was really $222.00. The price I was quoted was false. She also made me aware that each time I make a change to my account (which I had done numerously because of deception and company errors) I receive a charge of $50.00 or more. As she continued, she explained that the last person I talked to only added a second DSL to my first line and never cancelled the original that was on my second line, which gave me another fee! She told me that I probably would not get my bill under control for another two to three months because of all the changes. She told me the best thing to do was to try and set up a payment plan to avoid getting disconnected again. She informed me that each time a service is interrupted there is a fee of $50.00. In my case it turned out to be $200.00 because I was still being charged for three lines plus DSL. I said that I had been lied to and should be able to get out of my contract. She assured me that I would not because the contract was for the discount only and not the price I was quoted. She gave me step by step instructions on what to do next as far as removing the DSL from line two and putting it on line one as the other two reps previously failed to tell me. I wrote down her instructions and called the number she gave me in the DSL department to set things straight. I then called collections. I told the representative that I was calling to set up a payment plan to keep my services from being disrupted again. She told me (in a very nasty way) that I could not keep up with my current bill so they would not work something out with me. I begin to explain my story yet again, and she told me “that’s not her business, and there was nothing she could do”. In tears I hung up the phone. As I recollected myself I tried get in touch with a supervisor only to discover it was five o’clock. I had been on the phone all day and only half the problem was resolved.
Two days later, July 24, 2008, I finally got a hold of a supervisor who patiently listened to the whole situation. She received my account information and began to make a review. She did credit me $400.00 from line three and labor cost. She also took of the second DSL charges. She said that was all she could do. She then transferred me to collections, which allotted me the discount and said I now owed $679.00. The collections rep told me I had to pay $304.00 by the 30th to have my DSL restored, and after that the amount will go up. I told her I did not have the money because it is way beyond my means. I begged for some kind of payment plan because I need the internet to operate my business. She said there was nothing she could do and ended the conversation with I’m sorry. The supervisor was still on the other line and asked me if I could come up with the money. I replied I have nothing to sell; she sincerely apologized and hung up the phone. I began to calculate the amount I was quoted I would have to pay and divided it by what I had already paid. It turns out that if I would have been accurately charged I would be current on my bill.
I only signed the contract in order to have a reoccurring bill of 123.84 per month. Even after reading over both contracts I was not aware that the contract was for the discount only and not the price quoted. Because of the deceptive tactics of six of AT&T’s employees and the misleading dialogue used in their company’s contract I have acquired a bill that is beyond my means. I clearly stated many times how much I could and could not afford. AT&T’s employees deliberately lied to me in order to make a sale.
So far I have filed to complaints with the FCC and written a letter to AT&T. I started this blog to keep tract of what happens next in order to warn others out there.
