Date: Sun, 4 Oct 92 22:13 PDT
From: john@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Unhappy With the AT&T Attitude
Reply-To: John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com>
Organization: Green Hills and Cows
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 761, Message 2 of 8

Some time back, I recounted a situation where calls to the UK were
appearing on my telephone bill. These calls showed as being made on a
weekly basis on a line that is not used in any way for outgoing calls.
As mentioned, AT&T very reluctantly removed the charges, indicating in
essence that since the calls were "direct dialed" they had to have
been made from my residence, with or without my knowledge.

And now, the rest of the story. Each month the frequency and duration
of the "calls" increased to the point where the monthly amount was
pushing $100. And each month AT&T became snottier and snottier about
removing the charges, until finally I was informed that there would be
"no more credits". AT&T's position was that the calls were being made
and there was no room for error. My position was that I did not make
any such calls; no one in my house made any such calls; and I was not
going to pay for calls that I had nothing to do with.

On September 10, Pac*Bell found the problem that involved some crossed
lines. I was informed that Pac*Bell had identified the source of the
calls and the party responsible. End of problem, or so I thought.

Today I received my September 26 bill. There were no bogus UK calls,
but AT&T had failed to remove previous charges for these phony
billings causing a past-due balance and late charges. I called AT&T.
The rep informed me that since "Pac*Bell has found no difficulty, the
billing stands." At that point I demanded a supervisor, and when he
came on the line I three-wayed a Pac*Bell rep into the conversation.
(Is it not nice that both AT&T AND Pac*Bell do business on Saturday?
Unlike another telco that I will not name whose business office is
open 8AM to 5PM Monday through Friday PERIOD.)

The Pac*Bell rep informed the AT&T supervisor that there had indeed
been a problem with my lines and that it had been corrected. The AT&T
supervisor issued an immediate credit (and Pac*Bell removed the late
charges). I thanked the Pac*Bell rep for her help and then I reamed
the AT&T supervisor a new orifice.

Throughout this whole affair, AT&T has been arrogant and
uncooperative.  It had even promised to follow up on the actions taken
by Pac*Bell to determine if there were technical problems with the
line. It did not.  Somehow I prefer not to do business with a company
that just assumes that I am lying, or attempting to evade lawful and
appropriate charges.  Each and every frontline rep at AT&T with whom I
spoke sported an attitude that there was no question that I had made
the calls in question. To them, that was a "fact" that was not even
negotiable. All we were discussing, from their point of view, was how
"generous" AT&T would be in "forgiving" those charges.

As mentioned previously, I do substantial business with AT&T each
month. Considering the size of my bills, the idea that I would attempt
to weasel out of even $100 is absurd. The supervisor today was put on
notice that considering the wretched treatment that I received and the
lack of effort AT&T put forth in resolving the problem, my search for
a carrier that would offer even remotely similar rates/service has
been intensified.

AT&T blew it with this one. No, the problem of erroneous charges was
not due to any mistake or negligence on its part. But there was a
legitimate technical problem. And even though it involved Pac*Bell,
AT&T might have operated from the position that it needed to look
after its customer's interests just a little. And even though the
technical glitch was in Pac*Bell's facilities, Pac*Bell always treated
me with great respect and with the attitude that there was something
that needed to be corrected. The proof was in the pudding: Pac*Bell
technicians pursued it until it was found. I was given progress
reports and was immediately contacted upon resolution.

Apparently AT&T could not have cared less, particularly since no one
there believe there was a technical problem in the first place.


John Higdon  |   P. O. Box 7648   |   +1 408 264 4115     |       FAX:
john@ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | 10288 0 700 FOR-A-MOO | +1 408 264 4407