[comp.dcom.telecom] AT&T Does it Again!!

Gollapudi Pramod <pyg@pc.usl.edu> (06/23/91)

In a grand display of their 'superior service', 'excellent' customer
satisfaction and blah blah blah, AT&T has done it again!!  Even before
clarifying their earlier statements, insulting their intelligence,
they have mailed me a third bill, yes, a THIRD bill for the month of
February and March!!

This bill states that the charges are for calls not billed earlier.
Unfortunately, they goofed.  It is a case of rebilling for the month
of February and March, with calls starting at the same time to the
same numbers as in the previous bill, with different usage periods,
and hence different amounts!!

For the entire month of March and April, exactly March 9 - April 13,
all calls except two or three out of a total of over two hundred calls
have been billed for one minute each!!  The rate codes applied do not
appear in full either.

When questioned, an AT&T manager from San Antonio explained that the
first bill was a computer error or downloading delay, the second a
valid statement and the third 'a mistake' and that they will 'adjust'
the bill.  Other than making up excuses over the telephone and trying
to avoid talking to me, (by offering statements such as 'that office
is closed or inaccessible', 'the concerned manager is not at his/her
desk'), they have avoided issuing a written statement explaining the
matter.  How do they determine which of their statements is 'a
mistake'??  Is it convenience??  They claim they are investigating
the matter but after 25 days of waiting, I have my doubts about their
capabilities.

Upon reciept of the most recently dated bill, I decided not to take it
anymore and lodged a complaint with the Public Service Commissioners
office.  Is there anything more I could do to make AT&T respond??

This posting is intended to serve the purpose of being a follow up to
the earlier ones on this subject and to evoke a response from any AT&T
personnel and experienced netters who might be reading the same and
can share their opinions. Basically, I would like to know how anyone
can mess up as badly and come up with as stupid explanations as AT&T.
Is it just another 'AT&T advantage'??  How do I get them to bill me
correctly ??


Pramod.     pg@gator.cacs.usl.edu     (INTERNET)


[Moderator's Note: You are aware, I assume, that your complaint to the
PSC will be forwarded to the AT&T employee assigned to work in that
office handling complaints (or to the person in an AT&T facility
designated to respond to 'commission complaints') for ajudication. The
Commission staff will NOT attempt to make sense of the billing or
figure it out themselves.  They will require the AT&T employee to
respond to you with a copy to them within a certain amount of time.
Depending on the amount of money involved, AT&T will probably at that
point decide to write it off to appease you and the Commission rather
than devote the same amount of money having a research/adjustment
clerk pull it all together.  PAT]