It Pays to Pay Attention

[BlancheNoE]

I received my phone bill a couple of days ago and noticed a 12% increase. Being that I'm always curious about how these things happen, I called my AT&T customer service representative.
"Well,.." he said, " give me a minute here so I can figure it out."
"Take your time." I said, knowing exactly what was going on from the information on the bill I held in my hand.
" It looks like your service price was increased by 6% " he said.
"Yes, I know" I said, ",..and what about the other 6 % ?" I asked.
" Hmm,..." he pondered. After a minute or so he spoke again. " It looks like that other 6% is a one time service change charge."
" Yes." I said. " It appears you increased my monthly price and then charged me a one time fee for increasing my monthly price. I don't think that's very fair," I said " do you ?".
" I'll tell you what ma'am, " he said, " here's what I can do for you. I'll adjust the bill and knock off the change of service charge,..how's that?"
" Well," I said, "considering I never changed my service, I think that's the least you could do."

I'm considering canceling the service all together. This is the second time in two years they've pulled this one,...and I can't help but wonder about the 4 or 5 million customers that either didn't notice or didn't have the time to inquire. That's a sweet, easy 15 million dollar influx in one shot.
I'm in the wrong business,...or on the wrong planet. Why is this legal? This will continue unless we act together and make it much more expensive for entities to pull shit like this than not. If every person that was charged a "one time change of service" charge called when their bill increased, the phone company would have to hire so many customer service reps that it would no longer be lucrative for them to blatantly try to screw us when we're not looking.

Okay,..now ,..let's see,...levity,..levity,....OH ! Did you hear the one about a Pope and a caveman and Sarah Palin walk into a bar,...oh never mind I'm pissed.

[Chig]

What's a phone company? Oh yeah ditch those guys if you have a fast and reliable cable internet connection.

[SydTheSkeptic]

Chig, how do you ditch the phone company if you don't have a cell phone?

[Chig]

I cancelled my Qwest and Att long distance. I then disconnected the Qwest line physically from the telephone network interface box outside my house and left a note to any of the telephone guys inside the box which says DO NOT HOOK UP Phone service, this house has a telephony modem which can be damaged by any the voltage supplied by the phone company. I then plugged in the telephony modem with the coax cable supplied by the cable company and plugged the rj11 cable (phone line cable) from the telephony modem to a phone jack in one room that leads to 3 phones in the house (too many phones weakens the signal.) I am able to use the same old phones and wall jacks and go through the internet connection. The telephony modem comes with a service like Vonage. The only downside is that you don't have direct 911 service (which is the part where your local phone company insists on leaving a wire plugged into your telephone network box, and why I had to leave them a note.) The telephony services like Vonage take your 911 calls and pass them on to the authorities. You may also by cable modem phones which often are wireless handsets if you don't mind the expense of buying new phones...

[Chig]

I meant to say "buy" cable modem phones.... This whole process is probably one of those things that takes a person explaining verbally instead of typing. Sorry. Anyhow I can use my same old phones in the house the way I did it... only pay 25-30 bucks and never get charged any long distance. I actually can call overseas to many places if I choose and not get charged.

[SydTheSkeptic]

You can do that for free on Google Voice now, just so's ya know.

But you lost me on "cable".

[Chig]

Does Google voice give you a phone number and you can use your phone without turning on a computer?

[Chig]

I forgot to mention caller ID, Call waiting, forwarding, messages.... all that costs extra stuff comes with the low 25-30 dollar/month price...

[SydTheSkeptic]

Yes, it does.
It also has caller ID and it will transcribe your messages into text.

[Chig]

Do you have to use a computer, or is it totally computer non dependant?

[JustAnotherUserName]

We had to switch to AT&T when we got iPhones. I hate AT&T. But I love my iPhone. It's a conundrum...! Do I hate more than I love? Love more than I hate?! I've many time considered just chucking the whole thing. But then how would I check my facebook?