Very OT - US Home Phone Service ?
 

I have a question that I'm hoping someone has run into before and can give me some advice on (for a friend in the US) ...

My friend got a home phone set up with long distance calling for the US and Canada, at a rate of $20 per month (for that feature). A few months later he decided it was best just to get a cell phone, so he called cancelled his home phone service.

They didn't disconnect the phone right away, he presumed because it late on a Friday, but by Monday morning the phone was disconnected.

He recieved his final bill, and on it they charged him for every individual long-distance US and Canada he made over that weekend while the phone was still connected. Since the phone was still going, he figured the plan was still in effect ($20/mo US/Canada), but they said "no, you cancelled the plan on Friday so you have to pay for the long-distance calls you made.

This does not make sense to me, because if the phone is still operating, so should be the plan be. The company is refusing to reduce the charges.

Any idea where to go from here with this? The state is Washington ...

Cherie

The phone company is likely correct -- that your friend is responsible for the cost of the LD calls.

However, when I've made a mistake in paying credit card bills on time, for instance, the credit card company will waive the late fee for one time. It's just customer service.

Even if your friend made a mistake, it was unintentional. Perhaps he could call and request to speak to someone in management (customer service reps might not have the authority to waive charges). He should explain his situation and why he was confused, and request that they waive expenses that exceed what he expected that he would be charged. It sounds like he intended to cancel the entire phone service, not just the LD plan. If that is the case, it makes sense to me that he simply assumed that the phone company had not yet followed through. A simple misunderstanding.

He can request that consideration in the name of "customer service".

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

~ Faith

I would call and speak to a customer service SUPERVISOR. Your friend knew the service was supposed to end, and used the phone to call out of the country anyway. He/she is responsible for those charges, but if you get a sympathetic customer service rep, and plead your case without screams and rants, you may just be able to get them to wipe out the bill entirely, or at least cut it way down. Most companies will forgive those types of charges if you call and speak nicely, and ask.

He did call already, and was calm about it. He was just confused mostly, and couldn't figure out how they made the jump from a "plan" that he signed up for, to suddenly charging each individual call.

To me it seems like a scam. I can understand if they charged him for the plans right through to Monday, even though it was really their issue that they didn't get around to disconnecting it, but to charge him for each call when there was a plan in place ...?

The thing is that he has a long-distance plan on his cell (through the same company), so it was no big deal to pick up that phone instead. He just figured it wouldn't matter which one he used.

I don't understand why it would matter one way or another to them, and it sure doesn't look good from a customer service perspective. He tried to get up the chain of command, but they wouldn't let him past customer service. I guess he'll have to write a letter.

Cherie

He needs to plead his case at the executive customer service level. There is a consumer website called The Consumerist. Search there about executive customer service. He can even email the editor of the site for help...they love this sort of thing!

Thanks for the feedback. I'll let him know.

Much appreciated, Cherie.

UPDATE:

The bill was eventually sent to collections, where the lady laughed at him when he told her he was planning on fighting it.

He sent a complaint in to the Attorney General's Office, and they got it squared away with the company. He didn't end up having to pay it ...

Cherie