fscking phone company

[mdlbear]

So it seems that adding chaoswolf's new cell phone to my family plan drops us from unlimited calls between phones on the plan, to 1000. And we have to extend the contract in order to keep our free long distance. The alternative would have been to put the new phone on a new and different (and more expensive) non-shared plan.

I consider this sleazy, but service contracts subject to arbitrary change without notice seem to be the rule these days rather than the exception.

Comments

[johno.livejournal.com]

Yep, we've run into that as well.

On our land lines, someone keeps helpfully unbundling our grandfathered service package, then charges us about twice the going rate for our lines and the services.

When I said once that I really don't need the services anyway, the total was 1/3 more then we usually pay, because "it's a change in service plane and you loose any special rates you were receiving."

Sigh, so every 3-4 months we get a OMG bill, call customer support and spend 1/2 hour explaining to the CSR what the situation is.

{sigh}

At least our account is flagged as a "Ivanova" account from way back when.

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

If you know how to complain they can't play fast and loose with you. I had a contract with AT&T in which we wrote in -- and the salescritter initialed -- "Free Mobile to Mobile." Two year contract. The third month we got a bill for $900. I faxed them a copy of the contract. They ate it. Chomp chomp. "Bill adjustment" for $750. About a year later they "updated their computer system" and "no longer offered that plan." I mentioned the CPUC and small claims court and pointed out that their computer system was their problem, not mine. They stopped counting our minutes and invoiced at base rate until the contract expired. We counted the days . . . and the minute the contract expired, we called them up and renegotiated. Had a nice deal for another year until we changed carriers.

I talk to my current carrier's billing support about every two months. Most carriers will offer competitive discounts -- if you ask for them and can point them to a competitor's cheaper rate plan -- and they will fix any "games" you happen to catch. But it is up to you to check your bill every month and "Trust, but verify."

If you change the contract in any particular, you start over the negotiation from scratch. So you need to be very careful. I have been known to hang up on billing reps who are obviously out to scrooge me, and start over with another rep. It helps that calling 611 from a mobile phone to the mobile phone support center is a "free" call. For you. Knowing your usage level is also critical. Divide minutes/mo by 30 to get minutes/day, which is easier to visualize.

For my carrier the main phone line is a master bill, and additional lines and/or services can be added or subtracted without affecting the master agreement. Only changes in rate plan force new contract provisions. Obviously not all carriers work this way.

A helpful billing tech makes all the difference. So few people are nice and friendly to them on the phone that they bend over backwards to jack the system for the benefit of their "good calls." The appropriate thank-you is to ask for a supervisor and praise the billing tech for their excellent customer service and hard work.

You can usually buy extra mobile-to-mobile minutes, cheap. ($10 for 3000 / mo) And forcing an extension to keep free long-distance is particularly sleazy, as most carriers consider free LD a competitive upgrade and give it to anyone who asks for it. If I were hit with that I'd seriously consider changing carriers. I would definitely hang up on a billing tech who offered that "deal." And when I called back I'd verify that the tech didn't make any unauthorized changes to my account.

As always, I recommend taking notes to duplicate the calling notes in their computer system. Name and ID number or extension of anyone you speak to. Date and time. Items discussed. Agreements reached, if any.