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jimhadd's profile

New Member

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3 Messages

Sunday, January 29th, 2023 6:55 PM

Being billed more than promised.

Long story. I called to close an unused line in August for my business account.  After closing the line, the representative asked if he could look at my account to see if he could save me money.  Unfortunately I gave him permission.  I was paying $539.77 per month for 10 lines.  I was closing 1 line, to bring me to 9 lines.  He told me I was on a very old plan, and he could save me $100 per month if I added a line and an iPhone 12.  This new plan would give me more unlimited hot spot, and only cost about $450 per month.  He would give me a credit on the iPhone 12, and he would credit my account $20 per month which would make the new 12 Free.  He then said because I had 10 lines it was a bundled deal.  This sounded too good, so I asked him multiple ways.  He assured me I would drop my bill to approximately $450 per month from $550.  This ended up being about a 2 hour phone call.  

The new iPhone arrived and I still didn't believe the deal, so I called again and talked to another representative to confirm.  This representative brought up the account, and said it made sense.  Of course I received my next bill and it was $688.28.  I called up and was basically told after a couple hours, don't worry, it will all be reflected in my next bill.  I received my October bill and it was 1367.17. This did have a new iPhone 14 on it with 2 year contract, which accounts for $250 of it. and there was some overseas charges that amounted for $380, so that counts for $630 of it. Putting my bill in that $700 range.  

I called again, I told them my bill is not dropping like I was promised, I have not even opened this iPhone 12 yet, because I have not yet seen it cost me less to have it, and I was overcharged for the overseas rates.  The representative looked at it and agreed I was over charged for overseas, and would escalate it.  Also said she would fix the plan, so I would get down to where it was supposed to be, but she said it would be right around $500 because of taxes.  I explained what my bills were, when I was told the representative would drop my rate from approximately $550 to $450 per month, that $550 was with taxes, but fine just get it down to below what I was paying before I called in August.

Guess what, I received my November bill and it was $718.88.  I received no credits for the overseas travel, and it was still $180 more per month than I was paying before I was told AT&T could save me money.  So I called again.  This representative asked If I had a case number, else as far as he was concerned it never happened.  Then after looking at if for a while he said he would make the fixes, and speculate this to get me a credit.  I asked for a case number, which he gave me, but seemed to me like this was unusual. I also told this representative that I have never used this free phone, it has never been opened, and I would like to return it and just put my account back to how it was when I was paying $540 per month.  I was told I missed the return window and it would cost me a lot more to cancel the contract I agreed to and return the phone.  

Then a few days later I get a text that my escalation was declined, and I could go online or call to get more information.  I found nothing anywhere online on my account, so waited for my next bill to arrive, and my December bill ended up being 642.13. So with this bill, I am now only paying $100 more per month, by agreeing to lower my bill by about $100 per month. I called back up and tried to explain everything once again to a new person.  I gave her the case number, and she pretty much blew it off.  She looked at everything and asked why I didn't put all my phones under the new plan, I only put the one phone under it.  I explained to her, I did not do anything, I keep calling, and AT&T representatives keep looking at it and saying they will get my rate down.  She then moves all my phone under the supposedly better plan, and says I don't need the ultimate version, I should just do the basic, because we don't use much wifi hotspot, and that is the only way she could get me to the $450.  I am annoyed, because originally I was told I was getting better service, more data, another line, a free phone and I would pay $100 less per month.  Now I'm being told if I go to the basic service I can get the lower rate.  That is fine, lower my rate, and I feel that since AT&T didn't actually move my lines, they should reimburse me for the extra $100 to $200 per month since august.  She did not think that would happen, but I may get some rebate, she would escalate.

Now comes our January bill, $755.41.  No extras in this bill, I now seem to be paying the maximum, it still looks like I have 2 groups of phones.  Now it appears I am paying $220 more per month, than when I was told he could save me money.  I don't see how it is productive for me to keep calling and talking to a new person.  Does anyone know how I can get in touch with someone who can actually fix this, and not make me re-explain the entire story over an over?  Is anyone else having this issue, and do I need to help start a (Edited per community guidelines) (Edited per community guidelines)?  Do I need to just hire an attorney and have them fix my bill.  This extra savings is costing me a lot of money every month, and I would rather pay an attorney that money at this point.  

Please give me suggestions how to fix this problem.


The new iPhone arrived and I still didn't believe the deal, so I called again and talked to another representative to confirm.  This representative brought up the account, and said it made sense.  Of course I received my next bill and it was $688.28.  I called up and was basically told after a couple hours, don't worry, it will all be reflected in my next bill.  I received my October bill and it was 1367.17. This did have a new iPhone 14 on it with 2 year contract, which accounts for $250 of it. and there was some overseas charges that amounted for $380, so that counts for $630 of it. Putting my bill in that $700 range.  

I called again and 

ACE - Sage

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107.4K Messages

4 months ago

Well that's a long story but none of it's very useful

1.   Are you on a business account or is this a consumer account?

2.  What is the name of the plan they put you on? And what are the rates per phone line?

3.   Roaming isn't free.  International day pass is $10 per day on any day service is used. To make or receive a phone call, send a text message, or use data while outside of the USA.  Without International day pass pay per use rates are frequently up to $3 per minute for phone calls, 50 cents per text message sent, $1.30 for any MMS sent and $2.05 per megabyte for data usage.

If you want to bypass routine csrs who clearly don't understand the problem and aren't making much of an effort, don't call -  you can file a Better Business Bureau complaint online, only takes a couple of minutes. The online complaint is forwarded back to AT&T upper management and someone will call you, and that someone will know what they're doing. They should be able to review your account put everything on one plan and provide some credits for any overcharges for service.

Again, roaming is not a free service. If you travel outside the United States under a business plan the $10 per day charge is not capped. On consumer accounts the $10 per day charge is capped at 10 charges per bill cycle which limits the charge to $100 extra.

Consumer accounts do not have the option of 2 year contracts.

Weigh the options

New Member

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3 Messages

4 months ago

Yes, it’s business account. The roaming was supposed to cap at 6 days. They charge more days, and csr agreed and escalated. Thanks, I will go to bbb so I can get a response from att rep. 

Fl_retire

ACE - Professor

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2.8K Messages

4 months ago

Consumer accounts are capped at 10 dayy during a billing cycle, not cap for business and government accounts. 

Excerpt from link below. 

After 10 daily fees on a line, that line may continue to use IDP through the end of the bill cycle at no additional charge. Business and government customers: with IDP for Business are not eligible for the reduced daily fee or the charge cap. See att.com/idpforbiz for details.


https://www.att.com/international/

New Member

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3 Messages

4 months ago

Cool, but that was just mentioned as to why that bill was so high. The main issue is with the csr telling me he was lowering my bill by $100 per month, and I am now paying $200 more on average. That is $300 more per month than I was told. I was giving all the numbers and mentioned the over seas as the reason for almost half the bill, but the bill without over seas was still $300 higher than I was told it would be.

the part I am looking for help on is the $300 higher than I was told, and the csr still has not put all my lines on the same plan. 

ACE - Sage

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107.4K Messages

4 months ago

Because it's a business plan, and business plans are priced somewhat differently, I honestly have no idea what they should be charging you per line and this side of the form is pretty much all consumer. So I'm going to give you the link to the business side and hopefully they can straighten it out.

BUT... 

In your shoes I would just go straight to filing a Better Business Bureau complaint online. The complaint is forwarded back to AT&T upper management and someone will contact you rather than you having to chase down someone.

https://bizcommunity.att.com/

ATTHelp

Community Support

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215.3K Messages

4 months ago

Hi @jimhadd,
We want to help. Let’s meet in a Direct Message on this. Please check your Direct Message Inbox (it’s the chat icon next to the bell icon in the upper right corner of the forums).

Viktor
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