AT&T Wireless

I have been a long time customer of the string of companies that have =

now ended up with AT&T Wireless. I purchase two Wi-Fi phones, from

independent individuals, knowing that I could gain internet access =

without purchasing the data plans that AT&T charges. Before the switch =

from Cingular to AT&T my husband had a 8125 phone and used it forever =

doing internet, connecting wireless at home and in hot spots. We never =

received a bill that charged us any data charges nor did we have a =

package that could support the time that he was on the internet.

Suddenly in December 2007 we got a bill with charges for data usage. I =

called the company and explained that we had Wi-Fi phones so there =

should be no reason that we would be charge for the data usage. The =

first customer service person said after being on the phone for over two =

hours that they would remove the charges and put my husband to tech =

support who was suppose to be telling him a way to program his phone so =

that this problem would not happen again.

In January, 2008, I got a bill for over 2,000 dollars. I again called, =

spending another two plus hours on the phone, but this time spoke with a =

customer service representative who explained that there is NO WAY to by =

pass the automatic default to AT&T server with your Wi-Fi phone...no =

matter what you do, unless the sim is removed from the phone during =

Wi-Fi usage, you will be billed data charges anytime you just turn on =

Wi-Fi...you did not even have to be actively on the internet...but the =

minute you turned on the Wi-Fi the charges start to rack up...like a =

meter. The representative explained that he did not have the authority =

to credit the amount on the bill but in light of the situation he felt =

like the charges should be credited and he would send it to the up line =

and it would take approximately ten days before I received a decision.

The very next day, a supervisor called my husband and informed him that =

she was denying the request and we would have to pay the bill.

I quickly called one more time to try to get someone to work with me on =

this matter but their decision stands. I am moving my service away from =

AT&T, which I told them, with the intention of only paying the phone =

charges and not the data charges. I believe I only owe for those charges =

and also have no intention of paying an early termination fee. They will =

turn my phone off if I do not pay the bill and I as a consumer I am not =

paying for their messed up system that is cheating people first by not =

explaining that the default and two because the technician that we spoke =

to even told us that we COULD bypass their default.

Is there any consumer assistance that can help me so that I can clear up =

the account. I have one week before I activate my T-Mobile phones.=20

Belinda Anderson

Comment On This

Seems to me like you were trying to get something for free, and it bit you in the hiney. You did say you didn't have a data plan and were trying to bypass their system.

What I don't like/didn't like about ATT&T was this. I HAD a data plan with them. I was on the road all the time and depended on my phone used as a modem for internet service. The cable Cingular sold me for this purpose was expensive, and their data plan costs double what Sprint charged for their data plan. For awhile things worked okay. Not great, not even nearly as well as Sprint. But it worked, and I could live with that.

Then my daughter, a Cingular rep at the time, got me a new "smart phone." It didn't really do anything more than what I wanted the old phone to do, but it was nice. I never used the extra "features" on this phone anyway. But when I hooked up my laptop to use the internet, I couldn't. I spent hours and hours on the phone with Cingular tech help to try to find out why. At last they had the answer.

It was my "smart phone." With that phone, they want you to pay even MORE for internet service! I came unglued! When I had Sprint, unlimited data was included in the plan, although if I had a lower minute plan I'd still get the data for an additional $10 a month. Cingular charged $20 for unlimited data, and then their service was terrible. Sprint was like having DSL on steroids. Cingular was like a rotary dialup phone. Slow couldn't begin to describe it.

My daughter changed jobs, and we all changed cell phone companies with her. She works for T-Mobile now.