I was an ATT customer for many years and after some months of horrible customer service I took my business to Cingular. That was the worst decision I've ever made. What took ATT eight years to do, Cingular managed it in a little over two months. My first bill with Cingular should have warned me. With less than ten days with Cingular, I receive a bill stating that I owe them in excess of $110.00. I was floored.
I called the customer service line and spoke with a young man that stated all of the fees that I was charged. I quickly squared him away and my bill was corrected. The next month's bill is where Cingular commits fraud. I never received the second bill, but I did receive a call stating that I owed them $136.40. I informed them that I had received the on-line notification, but I wanted the breakdown of my charges and that was what I expected on a paper bill. The representative states that I requested only on-line bill receipt and in her very next breath she states that they had sent me out a paper bill. When I asked for a copy of the bill they supposedly sent, she stated that service would cost me $5.00.
Without receiving a bill delineating my charges, I paid the $136.40 on-line. With this kind of customer service, I cancelled Cingular and promptly went to Verizon, the industry leader. I sent a letter to their corporate office detailing my experience and to this date I've yet to receive word. Three days ago, I received three separate bills from Cingular for three different amounts. When I called Cingular yet again I was told that I could pay $5.00 for the bill that I never received delineating the charges and that I owed them the largest amount on the three bills. Perusing the bills that I did have in front of me, I found that they charged me for an entire month of service AFTER I'd cancelled them.
It is my belief that the $136.40 I paid on-line was for two months of service with some over the limit charges. With a little over two months, Cingular expected me to pay over $350.00 in airtime/service charges. I'm currently disputing these charges with the company. They are rude and I've been told that they will only discuss these charges with me after I pay the bill and once resolved they will issue any refund that may occur. That isn't going to happen. I wrote a letter again to their corporate office detailing my complaint concerning their fraudulent billing practices.
I don't expect to hear from them as their only motivation is greed. I've told every teacher and administrator in my District of 30,000 plus educators how I was treated. These practices won't stop until you hit them where they hurt - their bottom line.
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