- Report: #8969
Complaint Review: AT&T Consumer Services - New York New York
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Author Not Confirmed
Why?
AT&T Consumer Services
32 Avenue of the Americas New York, 10013-2412 New York, U.S.A.
Phone:
2123875400
Web:
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ATT CALLING CARD RIP OFF
Until late last June (2001) my family and I were AT&T residential customers for more than 20 years. We resisted all offers to change because we felt safe with MaBell. We have 4 telephone lines and pay hefty monthly long distance charges. We pay our bills on time. In sum, a good customer that anyone would want to keep, right?
After dealing with AT&T's recent not-so-subtle moves to get directly into the customer's wallet via direct billing, and finding way too many mistakes on said direct bills, we cancelled our service. We switched to another major carrier. When we cancelled our account, we believed that anything having to do with these accounts was cancelled. Wrong! A calling card that was issued when the long distance account was established long ago was still active in their system. Though I hadn't used it in years, and none of my family knew it existed, someone was able to obtain the calling card number.
Several calls were billed to the account, from somewhere in Alabama, and supposedly received at one of our numbers. The "bill" came for the first time, noted "past due". It also said that because I was such a good customer, I was approved for an AT&T phone card even without residential service! The "past due bill" provided me with an amount at first, though there was no calling record.
I immediately took steps to dispute the bill. First, I called the 800 number on the bill. These weren't customer service people but bill collectors and they didn't want to hear about dispute. They threatened to ruin my credit. They told me that it didn't matter if I knew nothing about these calls, it was my responsibility. When I said that the calls must be fraudulent, they said that this was an impossibility because my home number had been called. When I said my service had been disconnected prior to these calls being made and that my card should have been killed along with the service, they said that THE CARD HAS TO BE CANCELLED SEPARATELY.
Interesting that the bill came so late after the calls were made and with the notation that I could have a calling card without a residential account because I was such a good customer. It is also interesting that the first bill was a dun letter, without reference to any of the calls. There was no itemization of these calls, and I didn't receive the record of the calls until after I disputed the charges.
Of course these people were hostile and rude. I sent a letter to the billing address on the bill. I referenced all of the above. I also mentioned that it was my consumer right to have the bill investigated. After about 3 weeks, I received another bill. There was no written acknowledgement of the dispute, so I contacted the 800 on the bill and asked them where the letter of acknowledgement of the dispute might be. They told me that AT&T DOESN'T NEED TO WRITE LETTERS. They said the calls were "sustained" and that I could either pay the bill or not. When I stated that, once again, these weren't my calls, that I hadn't made them, that no one I knew had made them, that I paid my bills instantly as they arrived and didn't dispute items on my bill, ever, the people on the other end just yawned.
I wrote another letter to AT&T corporate's CEO of consumer. The letter was sent Federal Express. Instead of a response from corporate of any kind, especially the WRITTEN kind, I received a call today from a woman named Karen Herrington in Missouri. She didn't listen to a word that I said, and didn't care to tell me why AT&T doesn't need to respond to my dispute in writing.
A word to the wise: when you disconnect your service, make sure that your calling card or any other service you may have with AT&T is cancelled, in writing. There is no way to insure that you will be protected from fraudulent charges otherwise. Furthermore, if you are a participant in any of their awards programs, take the merchandise certificates. If you, like me, opt for free long distance, once you leave the benefit leaves with you.
I will continue to dispute the charge even though I have written a check for a whole $33 today.
DOES ANYBODY OUT THERE HAVE ANY IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH THESE CORPORATE THIEVES?
Thanks, Donna C
Click here to read other Rip-off Reports on AT&T
After dealing with AT&T's recent not-so-subtle moves to get directly into the customer's wallet via direct billing, and finding way too many mistakes on said direct bills, we cancelled our service. We switched to another major carrier. When we cancelled our account, we believed that anything having to do with these accounts was cancelled. Wrong! A calling card that was issued when the long distance account was established long ago was still active in their system. Though I hadn't used it in years, and none of my family knew it existed, someone was able to obtain the calling card number.
Several calls were billed to the account, from somewhere in Alabama, and supposedly received at one of our numbers. The "bill" came for the first time, noted "past due". It also said that because I was such a good customer, I was approved for an AT&T phone card even without residential service! The "past due bill" provided me with an amount at first, though there was no calling record.
I immediately took steps to dispute the bill. First, I called the 800 number on the bill. These weren't customer service people but bill collectors and they didn't want to hear about dispute. They threatened to ruin my credit. They told me that it didn't matter if I knew nothing about these calls, it was my responsibility. When I said that the calls must be fraudulent, they said that this was an impossibility because my home number had been called. When I said my service had been disconnected prior to these calls being made and that my card should have been killed along with the service, they said that THE CARD HAS TO BE CANCELLED SEPARATELY.
Interesting that the bill came so late after the calls were made and with the notation that I could have a calling card without a residential account because I was such a good customer. It is also interesting that the first bill was a dun letter, without reference to any of the calls. There was no itemization of these calls, and I didn't receive the record of the calls until after I disputed the charges.
Of course these people were hostile and rude. I sent a letter to the billing address on the bill. I referenced all of the above. I also mentioned that it was my consumer right to have the bill investigated. After about 3 weeks, I received another bill. There was no written acknowledgement of the dispute, so I contacted the 800 on the bill and asked them where the letter of acknowledgement of the dispute might be. They told me that AT&T DOESN'T NEED TO WRITE LETTERS. They said the calls were "sustained" and that I could either pay the bill or not. When I stated that, once again, these weren't my calls, that I hadn't made them, that no one I knew had made them, that I paid my bills instantly as they arrived and didn't dispute items on my bill, ever, the people on the other end just yawned.
I wrote another letter to AT&T corporate's CEO of consumer. The letter was sent Federal Express. Instead of a response from corporate of any kind, especially the WRITTEN kind, I received a call today from a woman named Karen Herrington in Missouri. She didn't listen to a word that I said, and didn't care to tell me why AT&T doesn't need to respond to my dispute in writing.
A word to the wise: when you disconnect your service, make sure that your calling card or any other service you may have with AT&T is cancelled, in writing. There is no way to insure that you will be protected from fraudulent charges otherwise. Furthermore, if you are a participant in any of their awards programs, take the merchandise certificates. If you, like me, opt for free long distance, once you leave the benefit leaves with you.
I will continue to dispute the charge even though I have written a check for a whole $33 today.
DOES ANYBODY OUT THERE HAVE ANY IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH THESE CORPORATE THIEVES?
Thanks, Donna C
Click here to read other Rip-off Reports on AT&T
