I live in Tennessee and we have used Bellsouth for years. We recently moved and had our services transferred we also signed up for DSL service.
To make an extrememly long story short our bill sky rocketed. Each month it escalated from being over 100 to gradualy over time going up to well over 200 with no change in service. They also would disconnect our phone if we were so much as 1 day late on our bill so they could add more fees. We finally decided to leave bellsouth and paid what we thought was our last bill. That was in October.
In Dec. We received a collection bill stating we owed $286.46 we were floored. We figured we could just make it past the holiday's and pay them. Before we even had that chance bellsouth turned it over to a lawyer named Gregory J. Barro. The letter sent to us was dated for Dec. 29 in it was stated that we had "30 days" from receipt of the letter to resolve the issue and was full of threats. If you flipped the letter over it talked of more threats stating that you can challenge the suit, but that they go by bellsouth records that are stated to be always accurate. I tried to contact bellsouth and ask what the deal was to no avail.
I then tried to access my online account and see if I could view their bill. They had blocked us out from doing so. I then tried to call and make a small payment and was told by the representative that it was turned over to an attorney and I needed to contact them. I asked for a supervisor at which point the rep. Got angry with me and said it would do no good they would tell me the same thing. Mr. Barro's office would not talk to me because my husband's name is the one that appears on the phone bill. They said he had to give permission. The lady I spoke with was named Mrs. Morgan and she bacame rude with me because I tried to explain to her that my husband worked out of town alot and didn't get home until late most nights. He tried to call them on several occassions, but their offices were always closed.
I'm at a loss because we can't afford this supposed bill let along help from a lawyer. Yesterday Jan. 16 I received another letter from Mr. Barro's office stating I now have 48 hours to resolve the matter. This letter threatened to send this case " to a tennessee law firm along with having our " (local county officers serve (us) with legal papers directing us to appear n court." It went on to say " you will likely pay all court costs in addition to you phone bill... You are jeopardizing you credit and facing the possibility of having your non-exempt wages garnisheed..."
So what happened to my 30 days? Bellsouth says I owe $286.46 Mr. Barro's office says I owe $323.96; we have tried to see if we couldn't pay with some of our tax return money, but no one will even speak with us like were some kind of criminal's all because we were tired of paying hundred's of dollars on a phone bill. As a last resort were going to try and pay half to bellsouth at what they claim we owe and attempt to pay the other half in 30 days. If it goes to court maybe a nice pro bono can help other than that were at a loss! Be warned these people are rude and ruthless. Switch to someone else before they take all of your money and your credit too!
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