Some 12 years ago we purchased 4 telephones for one account "for emergency use only" phones; unbeknownst to us one of the phones was stolen from my husband or lost from a back pact pocket while traveling through the Nashville airport. Since this was an emergency use phone, rarely used, we were not aware of it missing.
In the years of having these phones it was rare that they were used and never more than $20-$25 dollars of calls placed in a given month. Long distance out of state calls were not placed on this phone. AT&T certianly knew the phone was being used; the thief wracked up nearly $800.00 in long distance call charges without our knowledge or consent.
The first we were aware the phone had ben fraduantly used by someone was when the bill arrived during the regular billing cycle. Of course AT&T was called and the service disconnected. The frustrating thing is that AT&T will not discuss any option other than a payment plan for the bill. Their position is that we are responsible for all charges up until a phone is reported missing. They don't seem to care about the fradulant cost to consumers or offer any suggestions on what recourse we have.
We are currently working with the Consumer Protection Agency and the Better Busines Bureau to try to determine what our rights are.
A police report was filed with the Nashville Police but the indication there is that they will only investigate the phone loss itself and not the charges for calls placed on the phone.
Due to AT&T's lack of interest in helping consumers caught in this type of situation we would strongly suggest that you consider another wirless company.
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