bzs@bu-cs.UUCP (Barry Shein) (01/17/86)
A while back I got this overdue charge letter from AT&T for a little over $20, sounded pretty strong. The problem was, there was no clue as to what the charge was for. I called them and they told me it was for phone equipment (two touch-tones) and agreed that the note should be changed to explain why it was sent (and of course informed me that it never really would be changed, at least not as the result of this phone call.) So, I sent them a check on 10/28. Early Nov I get another note that because I haven't paid this charge my account was being closed and please remit the cost of the equipment. Well, I figured the payment and the check passed in the night and ignored it. Yesterday, I get a note from the Kneebusters Collection Agency Inc that I owe AT&T 47.xx bucks and to pay them immediately. I called AT&T again and with this nice service rep we figured out that most of that was equipment (ie. because they closed the account they wanted me to pay for the phones) and that in fact my account had been closed because somehow $5.xx had been missed last time I called. We both agreed that this was incredibly stupid and certainly cost AT&T more than $5.xx, a lot more. As consolation she offered "Oh, those computers will do this even if it's only $1.00". [hrmmph I say] Note that they credited me the $20+ dollars, I am not even sure how they decided the missing fiver was the most overdue part, neither could she. Ok, this sort of stupidity has happened to many of us, what I wonder is: Why can't I do something like sign a form which says look, here's a credit-card number, if you are about to do something stupid like shut me off over less than (pick a number, $25) then I give you authority to just send in a charge slip and we can settle it later. Add a reasonable service charge (say 1 or 2 dollars) if it costs you more to do that. Furthermore, in no way do I give up my right to contest such a paid charge at a later date. I assume the nuisance caused by dealing with this should be offset by their getting their money and not having to go through all that dunning nuisance etc, obviously whether or not that's true is anyone's guess, perhaps as I stated a nuisance fee could be added also. Now, obviously there are those of you out there who wouldn't sign such a thing, as for me I'd be willing to gamble $25 or $50 against ending such stupidity as I described above, if I got annoyed I assume I could just cancel their right to make charges, but usually they have the charges right (if you can just figure out how they got them right.) I bet there are a lot of people out their who also would be willing to sign this nuisance insurance, and what could the harm be. If the card is no good they are back where they started (and they could add a charge for that.) I can imagine objections (gee, now we'll never find out if you died) but I emphasize that it's for those of us who consider the $25 and a dollar or two service charge reasonably trivial, if that's a lot of $$ to you then don't sign it. Any thoughts why? I notice you can't pay utilities in general with charge cards as far as I can tell (but you can take a cash advance and then pay...), maybe there's another law involved. -Barry Shein, Boston University
matt@oddjob.UUCP (Matt Crawford) (01/20/86)
Speaking of phone bills, ... A few months ago someone called me from a pay phone. It was not a collect call, but they went a time seconds over their time. AT&T put the extra time on my bill without having asked on the line at the time. I called AT&T and they took the charge away. AT&T's charges are enclosed with Illinois Bell's bill around here, so I just subtracted the amount from what I paid. The next month that amount was listed as overdue and they added ten cents interest. I didn't pay the amount or they interest and the following month the AT&T charge was gone but they still wanted the dime. I'm not about to waste my time explaining to them why they can't have my dime. (But I do waste all our time with the story, don't I?) So far they haven't sent any thugs after me, but if I should suddenly disappear, you'll all know what happened. :-) _____________________________________________________ Matt University crawford@anl-mcs.arpa Crawford of Chicago ihnp4!oddjob!matt
lrosen@sunybcs.UUCP (Leonard Rosenblum) (01/26/86)
> Ok, this sort of stupidity has happened to many of us, what I wonder is: > > Why can't I do something like sign a form which says look, here's a > credit-card number, if you are about to do something stupid like shut > me off over less than (pick a number, $25) then I give you authority > to just send in a charge slip and we can settle it later. Add a reasonable > ... > a thing, as for me I'd be willing to gamble $25 or $50 against ending > such stupidity as I described above, if I got annoyed I assume I could > -Barry Shein, Boston University No, I would not be willing to pay for their error. A credit card number is the same as billing you since you can still contest the charges and not pay. Perhaps what you would like to do is overpay the utility say $25-$50 so you always have a credit. Better yet, how about sending them a seperate check (like a secuity deposit) calling it an error deposit that they can cash only when they make an error? I figure, if they make an error once, a deposit will not change it, they will just take it too. -- <<<--- Lenny --->>> --------------------------------------------------------------------- UUCP : {cmcl2,hao,harpo}!seismo!rochester!rocksvax!sunybcs!lrosen | ...{allegra,decvax,watmath}!sunybcs!lrosen | CSNET : lrosen@buffalo | ARPA : lrosen%buffalo.CSNET@csnet-relay | BITNET : lrosen@sunybcs OR v131dllf@sunyabva | ---------------------------------------------------------------------