They lied, was told service would be connected on 12/23/04-I called to canceled order on 12/18/04. I was told by the CSR that I would be credited to $62.99, however, when I called to confirm the information received by their CSR on 12/18, I was told no refund, no service since I called to canceled the order. I exlplained I canceled prior to 3 days and expected a refund. Still ongoing!
On Thursday, December 17th I called 1-800-4-A-PHONE to make this a Christmas gift for my son. I paid $62.99 for service. I was informed by the CSR that service would be connected on Tuesday, December 21 between 8am-8pm. I advised my son of the gift and that service would be connected on the December 21st.
Later I went on-line to find out about this company (hind sight). I should have done this first, I was not impressed. I advised my son and he felt that the monthly fee was rather expensive. He suggested that I canceled the order. He would go through SBC for service at a later date. Since the service was in my son's name, he had to call and place the cancellation order; even though I financial the down payment and first month's bill. The order was canceled on December 18th (less than 48 hours from the original initial payment)! The CSR told my son, no problem, I would be credited.
When I phoned on Monday, December 20, to confirm that the plan had been canceled, etc., I was told by a manager named Alex that I would get NO Refund since we canceled the order. According to him, they sent a Tech out to connect service on 12/18 @5:46pm. I advised him that I did not believe that service was connected and I felt he was stating no refund in an attempt to just keep my capital. Furthermore the cancellation was done in a timely fashion. Alex, the manager, stated he would not return the funds spent, and stated I should have inquired about their cancellation policy. He stated if you canceled an order following the Tech's service, you would receive no refund. He stated manpower was involved in connecting the service; therefore, the company would lose money if they refunded/credited consumers who wished to cancel service. I was not "aware" of this "policy" regarding cancellation; as I told Alex, I was advised by a CSR name Frank, that service would not be on until Tuesday, December 23, between 8am-8pm, therefore if a "TECH" came out to connect prior to that time, then I was not at fault; I had acted professionally and abided by the unseen agreement.
A refund should have been issued. Alex stated the CSR should not have given me an actual connection date; he should have stated between 1-3 days and not pinpointed a set date. I told him that if what he is saying is true, this did not happen, and I should not be held liable for his employees error (s). I was given a date for service which I planned and expected service to be connected on.
I was willing to go 50-50 towards my own refund. I felt if Alex, their manager, had agreed to this, I would have at least felt some good faith in the company. I told him I had called several times before I actually purchased the service to get a good understanding of the plan and correct payment options. Never once did any of the CSR that I spoke to over the course of two weeks gathering initial information about 1-800-4-Phone service, indicate NO Refund (s) for "whatever" reason (s). To make a long store short - no refund to date.
On top of all of this; handling my own investigation; I found out that the phone number that was given to me still legally belongs to another customer. I still plan on fighting this with the Better Business Bureau of Texas and also with the Attorney General's Office in Texas. I have already completed a complaint with the Utilities Commission in Ohio.
I told Alex I was going to file a complaint; he stated go ahead, we have a lot of complaints filed, but no one will get any refunds.
I honestly believe program/businesses with this many complaints needs to be regulated by our government. Someone needs to knock on the door and investigate this business. Re-funds need to be returned to consumers who have been lied to.
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