I was a good customer for Bellsouth. I paid my bill on time; sometimes I paid it early or accidentally double-paid my bill when it didn't post quickly through electronic billpay. I used Bellsouth phone service and high speed DSL.
I moved from Cordele, GA to Columbia, SC in October. I spent the first month in Columbia living with a relative while I found a good place of my own. During this time, I was never actually LATE on my Bellsouth bill, but I had the account placed on hold until I got my own place. When I did move in, I had my account reactivated, made 100% sure the bill was caught up, etc.By asking the CSR to double check. After 9 months in my new apartment, I couldn't STAND the noisy neighbors a moment longer and found a house in a nice neighborhood to move into. I checked with Bellsouth prior to moving to find out if DSL was available in the new location and they confirmed it was. (I am an avid internet user and high speed access is one of the criteria for an abode.)
After I'd signed the new lease, I called to have my services started at the address and was told DSL was not avaialable in the area. After I had them recheck sicne they'd confirmed it to me, it was concluded by the CSR and myself that a simple human error had been made. With no DSL available, I asked the CSR to cancel the service and leave my phone account going. Then I signed up for cable broadband, which was available in that neighborhood.
I was very busy at work (80 hours each week) and never noticed for 18 months that Bellsouth had continued to bill me each month on my checking account for DSL. OW!
I caught on finally, and called them demanding a refund. They refused to refund more than 3 months of the fees even though they knew they hadn't provided me with any service.
Next, they billed me again the next month! I called them back, demanded they reverse the transaction, and they did. I was assured that this time the account was really closed.
The next month, I was billed again! This time, I called the bank and simply refused the charge. I called Bellsouth and told them I'd refused the charge and that I wanted definite closure to the matter. It took 17 calls over the course of three days, but I was not billed another month after last March.
Then, in October, another bombshell. I got my mail and saw something that looked like a check. It was an attempt to collect money from a collection agency in Arkansas. They wanted an amount for BellSouth that coincidentally was one month's DSL charge. Go figure.
Repeated calls to BellSouth resulted in my learning that there is no place where you can sit down and speak to a CSR in person. The DSL department said I didn't owe anything to them. The phone phone departmetn said likewise. Both blamed the other department for the bill. Eventually a supervisor noticed that I had double-paid my previous month's bill and offered to credit me the amount if I would pay the collection agency. I did so, knowing this was just as bad as admitting I was wrong, but it's hard to get anywhere with these guys on your credit.
As things stand today, Bellsouth again says I owe them $50 (I shafted them a final payment and closed my account), and they still owe me $450. Guess who's getting reamed on credit?
I was a good customer whose only means of 'getting back' was to shaft them the final payment. Fortunately for me, my credit can stand the battering their various collection thugs have attempted to put on it. Beware BellSouth, they WILL put the screws to you.
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