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Report: #144603

Complaint Review: AT&T - Chicago Illinois

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Evanston Illinois
  • Author Confirmed What's this?
  • Why?
  • AT&T http://www.att.com Chicago, Illinois U.S.A.

AT&T False billing for closed paid in full account ripoff Chicago Illinois

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In 2001, I had AT&T local and long distance business phone service in my office. I had one line until June 2001.

In June 2001, I had a second line installed for Fax service. It was set up as a seperate account with seperate billing. AT&T brought the live line into the building (a 500+ downtown condominium office building). They told me that I would have to get a private contractor to run a line to my office unit after they connected my new line in the basement level telephone room.

The At&t installers left written information for the private contractors, but after having 3 private contractors out, none could find the AT&T connection in the phone room.

I was billed monthly by AT&T for the fax line and paid the bill every month while I continued to try to work out the problem of actually getting the line connected to my office.

In November 2001, I gave up and cancelled the AT&T fax line. In December of 2001, At&T sent me a final bill, which I payed in full. I continued with AT&T service for my previously installed line without any problems.

In July 2004, AT&T sent a letter saying they would be ending local service in Chicago and gave me until August 15, 2004 to switch to another local carrier. If I didn't switch, they said that I would be billed at a new rate (which was more than double the old rate). It seemed like mumbo jumbo because they said they were discontinuing local phone service in Chicago market, yet they were all set to slam me with a new higher rate.

I decided to check SBS and they offered a far better deal, so I switched to SBC. SBC and I both notified AT&T that I would changed service 8/15/ 2004. SBC warned me that AT&T might drag there feet on the switch.

As it turns out, they did, but for two months, I continued to pay AT&T for service I cancelled.

Then, in December 2004, they began to bill me new monthly charges for the fax line that was terminated and payed in full, back in November 2001. Repeated calls, have gotten me no where. I've told them to look up the bills to see the record showin a cancellation of the phone and the sudden resumption two years later without explanation. They insisted I must have resumed service. I told them to check the bills. Initially, there wasn't even a phone number on the bill, just an account number that was asssociated with the old fax number.

When I told them that, suddenly, the old fax number started to appear on the bill. I demanded they check that line and produce some evidence of usage, or some evidence that I ordered that line. No one I spoke with could ever seem to look up anything associated with the records for this account, except to say I owe the money and continuing to send new charges each month.

Eventually a computer spit out a termination notice for non-payment and I'm getting notices from a collection agency demanding payment. I can't get anyone to deal with this.

I had this feeling that people I spoke with at AT&T knew that there are problems like this with their billing, but for some reason, they don't want to deal with it.

I consider it fraud at this point. I don't don't know what to do. These people have wasted so much of my time on hold, calling dead end numbers, promising call backs that never came and now dealing with harassment from collection agency people.

Mark
Evanston, Illinois
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 05/31/2005 06:34 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/att/chicago-illinois-60611/att-false-billing-for-closed-paid-in-full-account-ripoff-chicago-illinois-144603. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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