AT&T is charging us for two months of services this month (phone, long dis, dsl, and dish) with no prior notice. They say it's to get us ahead a month, so that instead of paying for the previous month that has already been used, we will be paying for the month in advance. When I received the bill this month, it was double what it normally is and they're not willing to work with us to pay it out in two paychecks. Is it legal for them to do this without prior notification?
2006-09-27 10:50:35 · 5 answers · asked by ChristyH 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Corporations
z Dont feel alone. They just did the same thing to me with my AT&T Yahoo Elite...I saw the bill and was floored. I called AT&T, and they explained the same rhetoric you just stated about being ahead and how the phone bill does NOT post the same as the internet provider.
WE HAVE TO PAY extra because "they" can NOT seem to get on the same page.
2006-09-27 11:02:49 · answer #1 · answered by Skeeter63 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If I understand you correctly, they used to charge you in arrears (i.e. for period just past) but now they want to charge you in advance. If this is true, then there will be one cycle (like yours right now) that will contain two months of billing - one prior, one future. That makes sense to me, if this is their intention.
Does is suck? Yes. Is it legal? Probably - but why don't you check with your state's utility commission or attorney general's office or consumer affairs division? Any of these three should be able to help you or inform you. If you have no luck with the bureaucrats, try a consumer watchdog group, whether in your state or in Washington, DC.
No disrespect, but my guess is that you did receive prior notice and threw it away, just like we all do. Who looks at those glossy pieces of paper they send with the bills anyway? Or it might have been a line of text printed right on your last bill (or two or three).
2006-09-27 10:57:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have AT & T they don't do that.They are billing you ahead of time that way it gives you time 2 pay your bill last months bill is on there cause you didn't pay it yet that's how that works plus they charge U $20 for a late fee at least that's how it is on my bill maybe a few days early
2006-09-27 11:00:38 · answer #3 · answered by sugarbdp1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know, but let me tell you a short story about the unchallengable power of the phone company.
When I spoke to a lawyer in the office of my state's attorney general's office, he said the phone company does what it wants. -- By his tone, he implied it was borderline mafia. The thing that prompted my call to him was that they pried into my private life, and decided to make me pay a "deposit" based on some bit of personal history they uncovered. --This, even though I was a current subscriber, and had been for years, who always paid my bills, and was caught up. They just went snooping, God knows where, and came up with something they felt like making a buck on.
I hate the phone company.
2006-09-27 11:44:23 · answer #4 · answered by martino 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
depends... as a dish network customer your first bill would have been for two months.. this is their policy.. this way you are paying for the month before you use it... not after.. I would imagine that DSL would be the same way... this is why it is very important to read all the documentation you are prodived.. especially the small print.. because as long as they have printed it somewhere, then technically you have been informed..whether or not you read it is not their problem..
2006-09-27 11:01:00 · answer #5 · answered by limgrn_maria 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋