AT&T Long Distance - assured that account was cancelled, but it wasn't

# 6 for June 18, 2003

Complaints.com received the following on June 17, 2003:

From: Vicki Arnold [Email User]

RE: AT&T Long Distance - assured that account was cancelled, but it wasn't

I had cancelled my AT&T long distance service in November of 2002 and switched to MCI. In April 2003 I received a bill for my phone service with my local calls, and my MCI monthly charge and a bill for a phone call from AT&T. Because this was only $18 I went ahead and paid it and assumed it was just a mistake. I called AT&T and made sure my long distance was cancelled and they assured me it was.

I also cancelled my long distance with MCI as I had cell phone long distance and didn't need MCI anymore. In May I received a bill from the phone company with another charge from AT&T, this time it was for 3 calls totaling 71 minutes for a total of $86.73! I immediately called AT&T and talked to a lady who refused to help me and said the calls were routed thru AT&T because MCI's lines were busy.

When I inquired why I wasn't informed of that and why they could charge me whatever they wanted, she didn't have an answer. I asked to speak to her supervisor and after asking 10 times (she was trying to get me to switch back to AT&T) I finally got him. He gave me the exact same explanation and said there was nothing he could do. Finally he said I could talk to someone in billing so I said transfer me. He sent me back to the first person I talked to and she tried to sell me AT&T again.

After saying "Transfer me please" about 20 times I finally interrupted her and said "you really think after the way you have treated me today that I would ever switch back to AT&T, now transfer me", and she did. The billing department said they would not change my bill. I then called MCI and they couldn't help me cause they couldn't see the AT&T bill and suggested I call Qwest, my local carrier.

I called Qwest and they said the AT&T was cancelled in November and there was no reason the calls should have been routed to AT&T, and told me not to pay the bill. At this point I have not paid that portion of the bill, but not wanting it to affect my credit, I have been in e-mail contact with AT&T (phone calls take too much time I don't have). Their first response back to me was that there were 3 reasons that calls would have been routed to AT&T: 1. collect or operator assisted calls that were handled by an AT&T operator 2. someone in the residence used the 10-10-288 access code 3.

AT&T long distance telephone lines are frequently used as a back-up for other long distance carriers during heavy telephone traffic usage times or when they are experiencing problems with their lines. I responded back to this saying that #1 and 2 are not the reason and that I do not think it is legal to switch carriers (#3) without informing the consumer and letting them know how much you will be charging for the call. I am willing to pay 7 cents/minute for these calls (MCI plan at the time), but I am not going to pay over $1 per minute for these calls. To this point I have not received a response.

I must say that the customer service at AT&T is not helpful at all. They keep you on hold for long periods of time (probably thinking you will give up) and several times I have gotten disconnected. The thing that bothers me the most is instead of trying to solve your problem or get someone who can, they try to sell you another long distance plan. Thanks for listening!

Victoria Arnold

Davenport, IA