WARNING: AT&T can now damage your credit rating for 7 years

[Gnurb]

Thanks for the warning JCDudeman, if it helped/warned one person it was a useful post

 

[RideFree]

AT&T is the biggest fraud there is.
I had let my LD calling card agreement lapse with them and called to re-activate a while back when I was working in Richmond, VA. No trouble, I confirmed with them the .25 to .36 cent /min. rate(s).
When I got back home they billed me as high as $1.85 /min.
It was something like $1200.00 for however many calls during the 20 days I was in Richmond.
I did my own math based on the minutes on the bill and sent them a check via registered mail along with a letter explaining my calculations as per their published rate plan that was on the www.
I also sent a cc of the letter along with a formal complaint to the FCC, Virginia AG, Colorado AG and the Fair Trade Commission.
Did AT&T blink? He!! No!
After several months of pounding me with phone calls and badgering letters, they appeared to relent.
Now, every 3-months, they send me a letter of credit for $34.?? indicating that I overpaid.
I called and tried to get them to send me the $34 but they turned around and denied it, saying another department had turned me over for collection. That damn collection still remains - two years later.
Don't you dare let AT&T get into position to bite you on the A$$! Simply use anyone other than AT&T ? Anyone!

They made an enemy of me for life!:disgust:

 

[JCDudeman]

does this apply for all of AT&T? including cable tv and cable internet services as well?

I am only aware of phone at this point. I hope the idea does not spread to other branches/companies.

 

[tcsenter]

2 months between paying your phone bill? Hell I used to go 4 months. I payed my bill when I got a shut-off notice. haha

They lost no money, with the monthly late fees I was charged (2% of the outstanding amount).

 

[snooker]

Plus alot of people do not get paid weekly and live paycheck to paycheck (Sorry, not everyone is born with a fat wallet). What happens if you do not get paid until the 15th, and the bill is due on the 13th. Will that constitute a bad credit report? I hope not

 

[waggy]

ohh good warning.

i agree this is BS but like other people say pay your bills on time.

Though i cant say i have always done that myself. I have been late a few times like when i went into the hospital for ermergancy surgery.

heck sometimes i forget i have the bill due! then i get a phone bill (vorizon!) for like $250 (bah damn wife!) and freak out and see that oh i forgot to pay last month.

i think they will get a few nasty calls from people. being late a few weeks is nothing. i think they should wait till its like 3+ months late myself. sometimes things happen. heck i had morgage payment late because i put the wrong stamp amount on and they returned it a week later!

 

[RaySun2Be]

AT&T had best be careful. People get awful cranky about stuff like this, especially if they have competitors that give their customers a better choice.

FirstUSA (owned by BankOne) changed the way they processed payments. They used to give a grace period of several days after the due date, and if a payment was received during that time, they wouldn't assess a late feel. Well, some accountant figured out they could make more $$ by strictly enforcing the due date.

So they did, without sending out any notices. Pissed people off, FirstUsa lost over a million customers within a few months, which was one of BankOne's bread and butter incomes. BankOne lost a lot of money, missed projections, stocks fell. Top 2 guys of FirstUsa were forced to quit, people were laid off, and John B, McCoy, former head of BankOne before the merger with the Chicago bank, took over. 6 months later, he bails and decides to retire. I don't know if they've recovered yet or not.


Personally, I figure the worse credit rating I have, the less likely I'll be a target of identity theft. And even if I am, they can't get any credit with it. So I'm safe.