I signed up for cell phone service with Worldcom in October. The program I signed up for promised me a monthly fee of $29.99, which would include 250 Peak Time minutes and 1000 Off-Peak minutes. Since my credit is less than perfect, I was required to pay a $125 deposit (refundable in a year) up front, with a credit card. This was a condition of activating my service.
The first bill arrived in early December. It was for $171.34, which INCLUDED the $125 deposit, which I had ALREADY PAID. I have been struggling for two and a half months now to get the $125 charge removed. Their other charges make no sense, either, and are way higher than the promised $29.99. I have never been able to get through by phone to their "customer service, " so I have been forced to communicate via e-mail.
The "representatives" are incompetent and illiterate, if you can reach them at all. The responses I got were hopelessly garbled, as if they were all mentally retarded, so I demanded that my e-mail be referred to a supervisor. Someone who seemed able to read and write a little bit then contacted me, and said I would have to fax a copy of my credit card bill to prove I had paid the deposit. I answered that I did not HAVE the bill, because it never occurred to me that I would have to prove that I paid, and so I did not keep it. I did, however, have the form I faxed in to Worldcom on the day I signed up, giving them my credit card info and authorizing them to charge the $125 deposit to my card. This should be MORE than sufficient, I said. It's ridiculous that the burden of proof should be on ME because of Worldcom's nonexistent interdepartmental communications.
Since then, I've received contradictory e-mails from various representatives. First I was told that the $125 charge had been REMOVED; then I was told that it HADN'T and that I'd have to fax them the credit card bill; then another e-mail said the charge had finally been removed and that my balance was zero; then I got still another e-mail saying I'd have to contact the credit card company and get a copy of the bill to prove I paid.
Now, today, Feb. 16, I've received in the mail an "AVOID INTERRUPTION OF SERVICE" notice demanding $174.80, which plainly includes the disputed $125, plus late charges and interest. I should emphasize that I've consistently deducted the $125 from every subsequent bill and paid the balance, on time. I have also written certified letters detailing all of this to Worldcom's Customer Service address in Texas. They have not answered or acknowledged a single one of my letters, copies of which have also been sent to the California Public Utilities Commission. I want to terminate my contract with this terrible company, on the grounds that they are dishonest and incompetent, and I want my $125 deposit credited back to my credit card.
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