AT&T (rant/help)

[Markistehnamezor]

So I got a bill today saying that I owe AT&T $578.89 for internet usage. Well I stopped using the internet last month because I found out 3G wasn't free. From August 2nd to September my usage was 28K kilobytes. September 2nd to October 1st it was 45k kilobytes. October 2nd to November 1st it was 38k Kilobytes. That is a total of $331.45 of overage charges. But now from November 2nd to present they are saying I have used 55k kilobytes of data and owe them $578.89. Also auto-pay is turned on. I don't understand how I got charged about $100 for each of the previous months. But in just 20 days of not using the internet I get charged $578.89. Since I called them today I told them to put me on unlimited media net usage. So how the fuck do I owe nearly double in 20 days compared to the other 3 months. I totally don't understand this B/S. I called them and even told them myself and proved to them on the bill charge I didn't use any internet for this month. Yet they still accuse me of owing that much for this month. I know I am 100% correct that I didn't go on the internet for this month, BUT I do know that I went 92 texts over my normal limit, but that is 10 cents a text. Now they are going to create a case to have a chance to knock it off. But is there a surefire way to knock it off with a 100% chance?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[ExplodingTaco]

Go into one of the stores and talk with someone, (hoping it is someone competent) have them look at it, tell them you are trying to get your bill down by upgrading your plan (so they think they have a chance for a sale). Then have them look at and explain the charges. Maybe they have more info than you do and you can use that to fight customer service. the rep will not be able to credit you charges but they might have info.

Also BE NICE!

 

[w1retap]

Depending on the phone you have, turn off 3G and disable the data sending functionality of the phone. Even if you don't intentionally use the data, they will send and receive stuff from your phone which results in data usage.. sometimes you don't even notice on your bill. Rarely you'll get out of it though. Admit to nothing, and tell them you've never used the internet. You'll probably have to talk to customer support through a few phone calls and spend several hours with them, and they might take it off.

I actually ran into a similar situation. I've had smartphones/pda's for the past 2+ years, and I've always had the data and 3g manually disabled on them. I use WiFi only. Well, on my Tilt when I got it, they noticed under my AT&T Premier account that I had ordered it, so they kept trying to push updates to my phone the month I got it. Having my data/3g disabled, their servers basically went in an infinite loop of keep trying to send data to my phone, and it kept counting it as internet/data usage on my phone without me knowing about it. After talking with customer support for hours and even getting as high up as management and AT&T communications engineers, they finally found out that had happened, and it was against my will that it happened and not my fault. They reversed the charges luckily, then they manually disabled data to my phone on their end.

For reference, here's my bill I got reversed , LOL

 

[Negative Decibel]

omg, i'd shit a brick if my phone bill came in that big.

 

[w1retap]

I actually laughed.

Then I immediately got on the phone with them, because there was no way they'd pull off that level of bullshit with me. I just feel sorry for the people it happens to that don't have a high level of technical expertise. I see accounts of it happening across the web quite often. The sad thing is, some people pay it.

 

[Negative Decibel]

I actually laughed.

Then I immediately got on the phone with them, because there was no way they'd pull off that level of bullshit with me. I just feel sorry for the people it happens to that don't have a high level of technical expertise. I see accounts of it happening across the web quite often. The sad thing is, some people pay it.

it is sad, but that's why they do it too. yay capitalism, screwing the ignorant!

 

[w1retap]

I'd rather have that than the government screwing me. They already do that enough and get away with it.

 

[nasdaq]

I have a friend on ATT and received a bill around $500 because his kids were using the Internet feature. He called and complained and they reduced his bill to a more decent amount. You just have to keep them on their toes.

 

[tickle_me_emo]

Interesting that ATT has a phone number for the deaf/hard of hearing.

 

[Rhinohelix]

Interesting that ATT has a phone number for the deaf/hard of hearing.

Probably not what you are thinking:

What exactly is a TTY, TDD and/or Text Telephone?... is there a difference?

With all the acronyms and other confusing lingo, people find it hard to understand what a TTY or TDD or text telephone is and what it actually does. Of course, nobody is going to buy something they don't understand, so let us explain. All these different names mean the same thing: TTY stands for teletypewriter, TDD stands for Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf and Text telephone means a phone that is enabled to send text over phone lines. All these terms are referring to the same device.

So how does a TTY / TDD / Text Telphone work?

This device or phone, when hooked up to a phone or analog jack, allows for the typing of messages back and forth between text telephones. Anybody can call in to a TTY phone (presumably to a hard of hearing or deaf person) from a relay service, also known as Telecommunications Relay Service or TRS (people love making up acronyms). Under Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act, this service must be offered free of charge by every state (just press 7-1-1 to get into touch with a representative from your state relay center).

The Text telephone user can call in to the relay service and give the service representative a phone number to call to facilitate the relay. The TTY user can type in the message which the relay rep will verbally relay to the other person. The other person will verbally speak his message and the relay representative will type it into the Text telephone. Also, a non-TTY user can facilitate a call to the relay service (also by calling 7-1-1) so he or she can communicate with a TTY user. This service is available 24 hours a day.