AT&T AT&T-Ordered Basic Landline Online, AT&T Switches to More Expensive Plan w/o Permission Nationwide

On 06/03/09, I ordered a basic phone line and unpublished listing through ATT.com. I received a confirmation of my order and installation date of 06/08/09.

On 06/09/09 my phone line was installed and after the installation technician left, I realized the was a loud humming noise after you dialed a number. This made it impossible for you to hear the other party on the line. I called ATT back and they set up a repair appointment for 06/15/09.

After my line was repaired (outside repair) I noticed that I had Caller ID. I then found that I had call waiting. I called ATT and spoke with Gus on 06/19/09 and he did not know why my plan had changed but said he would bring me back down to the basic line and waive the fee for my Unpublished Listing. Having an unpublished listing is very important to me, so I verified that this would not take away that service and he said that it would not.

I called 15 minutes later to verify this with another salesperson. I spoke with Jill. She said an order was placed on my line to bring it down the the basic line and said I show unpublished listing status. She didn't know why my plan changed and could not find out why.

I called later that afternoon to see if my order was processed and spoke with Julian. He said yes I was unpublished and basic line. He couldn't tell me who changed my services either.

Well. I recieved an email from ATT saying all those 'enchanced services' and my unpublished number were removed.

I called ATT on 06/17/09 and spoke with Rob who said I have a basic line and my phone number will not show up on caller id but will be listed in the phone book. What!? He said it was free and I could get an unpublished listing for a fee. Fine, I say, I told him about all the previous salespeople and all this hassle. This is insane.

My bill comes and I am charged prorated for the time I had all those services which I did not order. My bill was $42.84 and I called ATT and they credited my account $40.34 so I only had to pay $2.50.

The thing that bothers me most, is that my name, address and phone number were so close to being published and available online and to anyone. If I had not found the error sooner, there would be no getting my privacy back.

In the mean time I change my mailing address (on 06/29/09) and even get a confirmation postcard in the mail saying this, but my next bill goes to the old mailing address.

This bill shows that I'm charged $6.00 for them adding an unpublished listing. I call them to correct the address (of course they don't know how it got changed back to the old address) and I don't bring up the charge.

If this mess happens to me, it will happen to others. It's fraudulent, unethical and has wasted hours of my time. Is this a new type of slamming?

Anonymous
Anonymous
U.S.A.