We started Alltel service (land-line and internet) at the end of last year. Of the 11 bills we have received, 6 have had bogus charges on them. Let me first say that all of them have been resolved, but only after spending a considerable amount of time on the phone with customer service.
The troubles started after we switched our long-distance carrier to AT&T (unlimited for $25 a month - quite a savings for us). Unfortunately, we can only get local service through Alltel in this rural area.
The first billing after we switched, we were charged for a week worth of long distance calls while we were on the AT&T unlimited plan. I called, they reversed only 3 days worth of charges because they said they didn't receive the letter until that date. So, I called AT&T and they gave me a credit for 4 days of prorated charges on their plan. Time spent on phone: 1 hour 20 min, 4 calls between the two companies.
Because we spend some time online, we got voice mail which was supposed to be free for three months. The phone number to call to check voice mail was a long distance number, which was no big deal because of the unlimited long distance package with at&t. The next bill from Alltel had over $20 of "enhanced local calling" charges. When I called to inquire about the detail of these charges, customer service could not tell me what phone number those calls were to. She said that "it was empty" and reversed those charges. Time spent on phone: 32 minutes.
Next month was the same thing with the "enhanced local calling" charges but when I called customer service, she said that the calls were to a cell phone with a number I didn't recognize. I disagreed, she investigated further and told me that the long distance number I called to check voice mail was routing to a completely different number and charging me for it. I was also charged for the voice mail service which was supposed to be free this month. She credited my account and I disconnected the voice mail and was assured that there would be no more problems. Time spent on phone: 43 minutes.
Next month was more enhanced local calling charges that were residual from the voice mail service. Called customer service, explained the situation to a very skeptical customer service rep, he reversed the charges. Time spent on phone: 27 minutes.
The next month I was charged $2.50 two times (for a total of $5.00) for voice mail that I had disconnected two months prior.??? Plus, a $3.84 charge under "other charges" which they could not explain. Charges were all reversed. Time spent on phone: 13 minutes.
Most recently, we had trouble with the wiring and I put in a service call. When I talked to the guy on the phone, he encouraged me to put "protection plus" on the account for $2.95 a month and we wouldn't be charged $80 an hour for the service guy to fix the line the next day. I agreed, he came out the next day and fixed the line. I anticipated problems with the bill, of course. Sure enough, there was a $20.49 "other charge" on the bill. Customer service said it was a "set-up" fee for the protection plus plan. I told her I was not informed of a set-up fee and she reversed the charge. Time spent on phone: a miraculous!!! 8 minutes.
There were a couple of other small errors on other bills but this is getting really long.
I guess if they can't get long distance charges out of you, they figure they can just make sh*t up.
These were not huge errors, mostly $15 to $25 each, but my point is the principle/ethics of Alltel's billing practices. How many people aren't paying as much attention to their bill as I am and are being over charged? If just 1,000 people are over charged $20 a month, that comes out to $20,000 extra in Alltel's pocket EVERY MONTH!!! Plus, I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to reconcile their errors. My money is hard earned and my time is valuable and they should be held accountable for wasting it!
If I had any other choice for a local carrier, I would not do business with this company. Not in a million years!
Watch your bills people!!!
Stacy
harvard, Nebraska
U.S.A.
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