Beginning in October we discovered that our new service with Ameritech was filled with problems. We had moved to Chicago just a few months prior and established new residential service. At that time we had arranged for DSL service as well as some rewiring in our home. Appointments were made for Ameritech service technicians to come and install the DSL and do the rewiring. We were told what the cost would be when we arranged for the appointments.
The first sign of trouble came in on our moving day, when the fellow came to rewire, or rather didn't come. I made several phone calls and eventually someone was sent that very day. He was NOT the one who was going to install the DSL, he said, that was someone else's job. But he did do the rewiring, and indicated that the charges would appear on our first bill.
My call to Ameritech regarding the DSL installation resulted in a month-long struggle. First I was told the work order had been "misplaced in the system" or some such nonsense. I had customer service representatives tell me they would call back within 12-24 hours (this on 2 separate occasions). No one called back. Then I was told, after no less than 4 phone calls, that DSL was not available at my address. That process might have gone better if someone at customer (dis) service had told me that to begin with.
Then in November, the bill came. The rewiring cost more that $200 over what we had been told originally when we ordered the service. I asked if the payment could be made over a period of 3 months. The customer (dis) service representative told me that it could be arranged and she would make the notation in the system. She told me what 1/3 of my bill was, and I agreed to pay it.
In December, another bill came. It had a past due amount for the full balance, though it did have record of my partial payment. I made yet another call to Ameritech. I was told that the situation would be rectified. I paid another 1/3 of my bill.
In January I got a nasty call from Ameritech telling me I needed to pay the account in full or the service would be disconnected. I told them to look in their records, because 2 separate individuals in their company had told me I didn't have to pay the full amount. I was THEN told that they can't split out the payments in the manner in which I was describing and therefore their own Ameritech representatives would not have told me I could. I told them to cancel my service! I also told them that it would be a chilly day in Hades when they got the rest of their money.
I then sat down and composed a 6-page letter, detailing the interaction I'd had with Ameritech to date. It included specific dates, representative "names", and what had happened. I let them know that I was also forwarding a copy of the letter to the Illinois Commerce Commission.
There was no further communication or response from Ameritech... At least for 2 months. Then the collection agencies began to call. We forwarded a copy of the now infamous Ameritech letter to 3 different collection agencies over the course of 2001 and into 2002. Every few months a new collection agency would call regarding a past due balance with Ameritech. They got the same response (and the same letter), and then they too would stop calling us.
Here we are, in riding up on a 3rd anniversary of the ill-fated attempt to get service through Ameritech. I haven't heard from any collection people for some time. Now I just hear from SBC Ameritech, telling me that I was a "valued" customer in the past and they would like me back. Yeah... I have informed them that I wouldn't pay for service through their company until I had some official apology from Ameritech regarding the first episode (to include a statement from them that I owe them NOTHING). So, it seems Hades hasn't reached the sub-freezing temperatures yet.
Chef Wing
Brookfield, Illinois
U.S.A.
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