I've used AT&T for many years for long distance (goes way back...) Years ago I was encouraged to use automatic bill pay by one of the representatives, and I also went with paperless statements. Two years ago when I changed companies and cities and moved my service with AT&T. I had a DSL/land-line/cell phone bundled package. It was supposed to be flat rate kind of thing, unlimited everything... I didn't want nickle and dime charges and wanted a predictable bill. They moved my service, installed everything and I was off to focus on life. Today, Monday 6/27, my cell phone was disconnected.
When I tried to place a call I received an automated message to hold for a customer service representative. I was greeted by a cheerful sounding customer service rep who told me my account was past due and..."would I like to make a payment over the phone for... (drum roll)...$6,835.54...?"
I don't know if it was the "cheer" in her voice, or the absolutely absurdity of the "past due balance", or a combination of both... But I actually laughed out loud... A real laugh, not a fake sarcastic laugh, the kind of laugh you'd have at a really... Really funny joke... I asked her to repeat what she just said... And she did. My laugh quickly faded. I said there must be some sort of mistake, I had an automatic payment set up for this account, and besides, even if there was a draft error my bill shouldn't be any more than $175 dollars for the month... (I giggled again here...)... Not almost SEVEN THOUSAND dollars. She said she saw where I had set up the automatic payment on the account but for some reason it looked like I had NEVER made a payment. Now, I've been with AT&T for decades (... At least long distance), I've made lots... And lots... Of payments. She said "the system" was showing that I had NEVER made a payment... And THEN... Asked if I'd like to make a telephone payment now. (?!!!)
I asked her to tell me the breakdown of the charges, which... She couldn't do. After fumbling around for awhile, I assume trying to read "the system". She put me on hold for five minutes (which is a long time, long time on hold). When she came back on the phone she said that she had "found" where I had made my last payment in November... But she STILL couldn't explain the charges. Doing some quick math I said "this still doesn't add up... EVEN if you've not received a payment from me since November of last year... 7 months ago... There is no way $175 per month would add up to almost $7,000. I need to understand the charges you're asking me to pay (still with a smile on my voice)... Believe it or not, even after all we had been through she made another canned attempt, "... Will you be making a telephone payment today for the past due amount of $6,835.54?"... (???!!!???!!!???)
"No... I won't"
... I said I did not believe HER "balance" was accurate and that she needed to provide me information supporting her claim that I owed ANYTHING. This kind of threw her... So... She put me on hold... After a few minutes she said she was sending me to "customer service" (ah! Now we are getting somewhere... Customer... SERVICE!!!)
... After waiting on hold ANOTHER cheerful voice came on the line with the same canned greeting, "HOW MAY I BE OF SERVICE TO YOU today?!." I told him that I had been transferred to his number from another "customer service" area... Somewhere... He responded, "Great! Can I have your name... Home telephone number... And the last 4 digits of your social security number (little did I know how tired I would get of this routine... AT&T should have some sort of software to "hand-off" customers so they don't have to keep reexplaining AT&T's screw up)... This rep knew less than the first rep, it was completely obvious to me that my problem wasn't part of HIS script... So... He put me on hold.
When he came back online he cheerfully informed me he was transferring me to billing (... But that's where I THINK I just came from?) I think I was being shuttle passed, like a hot potato from billing (... Or collections) to customer service, and back again. None of them had the appropriate script. The only additional information I gathered from all these hand-offs was that there had been a "SYSTEM ERROR"... Oh, and that no one at AT&T knew how to read their billing system, or could explain the "past due amount". I must of had to answer the same "security questions" and explain the situation a half dozen times or more (... It went on for the better part of an hour... Holds and transfers). The second to last representative (... Perhaps collections?) did not have a happy voice... After going throw the security questions she said, "I see where your account has a past due balance, were you planning to make payment over the phone today?" (I was so proud of myself for keeping my cool throughout this ordeal... Up until this point... Where, I lost it... Just a little... And began... Well... Yelling... A little) She became angry and said she would not be spoken to in this manner (I wan't cursing... Still was able to hold that together... Just raising my voice... A little) I want so badly to hang up but this company had me by the short-hairs. EVERYTHING was with them... And it was OFF. I contemplated ending it right there... But thought crap, I don't I don't have time to make all the 1-800-who-cares calls to other providers. I pulled it together and told her "I've asked to speak to a supervisor for the past half hour of my life. I am only going to try explain this to ONE MORE PERSON at AT&T... This last person needs to be ABLE to help me or I will end THIS call and dial my attorney.
I was handed off to a billing supervisor who had the sweetest most motherly sounding voice (nice). We had a great relationship together for next half hour, delving into the nether regions of AT&T's "SYSTEM" trying to find the esoteric knowledge of HOW an AT&T balance is calculated... It fruitless... She couldn't figure it out either. About the only thing she could determine is that I had set up an automatic payment, that had not worked since Sept (almost two years ago)... It was a "SYSTEM ERROR" and they picked this MONDAY... To fix it.
She did one thing right, made the smart choice of turning back on my cell phones, internet, etc so that I could work this out. The math still doesn't work for me on this one, but I did find out that they were not taking the automatic payments from the household account. But they'd have to be charging me double what I thought I was paying (That's the only way the math works). So... I just paid some LIFE Tuition today...#1 No more automatic payments #2 pay close attention to those "little" bills because they can bit you in the ass and #3 NO more bundled deals... None. I will NEVER depend on ONE company, especially AT&T for ALL my communication and technology... No way... No how.
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