Auto Payment Nightmare [ Edited ]

[aircow33]

I dont understand how ATT is still in business.   I dont know what more I can do so that I can get my money back.  I am posting to this forum as an last resort.  I REALLY HOPE someone at ATT can get me the money you STOLE from me.!!!!

To whomever it may concern, 

So last year around thanksgiving I was moving out of my apartment.  I called ATT to transfer my u-verse internet to my new house.  They said they cannot schedule a slot for the installation date i wanted.  So I asked them what about rest of that week....also all booked up.  I asked them what about next week........again all booked up.  I was like, forget it i dont like u-verse internet enough to go two weeks without internet.  I told them to go ahead and just cancel my u-verse account.  Sure enough, I get an e-mail giving me instructions on how to ship back my u-verse modem.   I went to the local ups store and send in my att modem.  This is when the problem started popping up.......

A month goes by I get an e-mail saying ATT still has not recieved my equipment.   Luckily, I called up ATT, and asked them why I got this e-mai, and for them to verify they have recieved the equipment.   The lady on the phone said they indeed recieved the modem, and told me not to worry about the e-mail.  This phone call proved to be extremely important as you will see shortly.

Another month goes by (January 2012), and I noticed that my credit card bill is showing 70 dollar charge from U-verse.  I had auto-payment when I was with U-verse, and was shocked to see that I was still getting charged.   I called ATT up immediately.  The man on the phone said he sees that my account is still active.  I told him that I dont even have the modem anymore!!!! How can my account be still be active?  He says he doesnt know why, but the account is indeed still active. I told him I had called last month to make sure my equipment was returned properly.  He went and checked in the "notes" and he says he did see that I called in to verify my equipment was returned.   He apoligized for the trouble and said he can close my account for me.  I said GREAT!!!, and you will refund me the two months of payment you stole from me right?   To my utter dissappointment, he said he can't do that, the "system" doesnt  allow him to do that.   I told him to get his supervisor.  His supervisor goes on and tells me that they can't refund me the money, and it would have to be separate department that handles this.   I told him, please transfer me to this department.

So now I am transfered over to this department, which i no longer remember the name of.  But I can tell this department was definately the "god" department, meaning they probably have admin priveledges on everything.  The man on the phone apologized for all of this and proceeded to tell me that he will fix everything for me. I asked him why he can't just credit the money to my credit card.  He said that a separate department will refund me the money by issuing me a check, that he can only put the proper amount back to my account as a credit.  

Another month goes by (mid-February 2012 now), I still dont see a check in the mail. I call up ATT again.  Shockingly, the lady says she doesnt see any credit in my account.  I was like what the heck, cussing her out because i was angry.  and I apologize to that lady. It wasnt her fault at all but at this point I was pretty mad at ATT and took it out on her.   She transfers me to this "god" department again.  I went through my whole story again, and the man assured me that he will make it right this time, but again he has no power to refund the money directly to my credit card, and that I would have to wait for the check to arrive.  He did suggest that I might be able to expedite it if i called up billing.

Middle of March, I still dont have my check.  I called up ATT again...........they do see the credit.   So where is my check?.....they told me that it usually takes 4-6 weeks for the checks to be mailed out, and since I got the credit middle of february it has only been 4 weeks. I told them I actually got the refund in january, and it was ATT that{word filter evasion} up and I had call in again to get the proper refund.  They said they were really sorry, but they asked me to wait another two weeks.   I asked them, can't you just tell me if you mailed out the check or not yet?  The guy said they dont have that information on the "system".

Now it is April 09, 2012, I still have not gotten my money back, still waiting for the check.   I am almost about to give up.   It has really taken a toll on me.   Just a couple of weeks ago, a sales guy from u-verse showed up at my door, trying to sell me u-verse.  I told him i would never sign up for u-verse ever again in my life, because of what happened and was really rude to him. Again I want to apologize to that salesperson for my rudeness.  I am usually nice to people, even unwanted solicitors. But now anytime I see ATT I am just angry   All I am asking is for ATT to give me the money that you stole from me.  

Sincerely,

Stanley {Personal content removed for your safety}

[oufanindallas]

Send a PM to Alex, he or someone from his staff will be in touch with you.

[BeeBeeSA ACE - Wizard]

Precisely why I would never recommend or sign up for auto pay.  If you do it pretty much opens up the door for the kind of situation your in.

I would never let someone else have control over MY money and when it gets spent.

[Computer-Joe ACE - Guru]

---

BeeBeeSA wrote:

Precisely why I would never recommend or sign up for auto pay.  If you do it pretty much opens up the door for the kind of situation your in.

I would never let someone else have control over MY money and when it gets spent.

---

You better check the small print (TOS). If you have givien a credit card number they can take money whether you are on auto pay or not and in the case of the OP had they not had auto pay, they would probably be dealing with AT&T's collection agency now istead of billing.

The OP might be able to contest the charges with their credit card company.

__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

[skeeterintexas]

Any time you give your bank, debit card or credit card account number to a 3rd party (ie: ATT), you're giving them access to those funds.

I agree with BeeBee.  I would never do that.

[Computer-Joe ACE - Guru]

---

skeeterintexas wrote:

Any time you give your bank, debit card or credit card account number to a 3rd party (ie: ATT), you're giving them access to those funds.

I agree with BeeBee.  I would never do that.

---

Not sure how long you've had your service, but I do not believe you can sign up for anything AT&T now without giving them either a CC number or checking account number and that number is kept on file by AT&T for when they decide you owe them some money, then they'll just suck it out of whatever account you gave them. Your best protection is to use a CC number and then cancel the card or check it every week for new charges so you can contest them.

__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

[skeeterintexas]

---

Computer-Joe wrote:

---

skeeterintexas wrote:

Any time you give your bank, debit card or credit card account number to a 3rd party (ie: ATT), you're giving them access to those funds.

I agree with BeeBee.  I would never do that.

---

Not sure how long you've had your service, but I do not believe you can sign up for anything AT&T now without giving them either a CC number or checking account number and that number is kept on file by AT&T for when they decide you owe them some money, then they'll just suck it out of whatever account you gave them. Your best protection is to use a CC number and then cancel the card or check it every week for new charges so you can contest them.

_________________________________________________________

We've had UV going on 4 years and cellphones forever (15 yrs. maybe) and did not have to give any kind of credit card number. Of course, we have excellent credit and have never been turned down for anything.

Do they ask for a CC number regardless of your credit report?  I'd be hesitant of being required to give a cc number.

[Computer-Joe ACE - Guru]

---

skeeterintexas wrote:

We've had UV going on 4 years and cellphones forever (15 yrs. maybe) and did not have to give any kind of credit card number. Of course, we have excellent credit and have never been turned down for anything.

Do they ask for a CC number regardless of your credit report?  I'd be hesitant of being required to give a cc number.

---

This is from the TOS: http://www.att.com/u-verse/att-terms-of-service.jsp

"BILLING AND PAYMENTS

Credit Card Authorization. You may be asked to provide us with a valid email address and a credit card number from a card issuer that we accept in order to activate your Services. You hereby authorize AT&T to charge and/or place a hold on your credit card with respect to any unpaid charges related to the Services. You authorize the issuer of the credit card to pay any amounts described herein without requiring a signed receipt, and you agree that these TOS are to be accepted as authorization to the issuer of the credit card to pay all such amounts. You authorize AT&T and/or any other company who bills products or services, or acts as billing agent for AT&T to continue to attempt to charge and/or place holds with respect to all sums described herein, or any portion thereof, to your credit card until such amounts are paid in full.

You agree to provide AT&T with updated credit card information upon AT&T's request and any time the information you previously provided is no longer valid. You are solely responsible for maintaining and updating the credit card information. Without limiting the applicability of any other provisions of this TOS, you acknowledge and agree that neither AT&T nor any AT&T affiliated company will have any liability whatsoever for any non-sufficient funds or other charges incurred by you as a result of such attempts to charge, and/or place holds on, your credit card. If you mistakenly provide a debit card number, instead of a credit card number, you authorize all charges described herein to be applied to such debit card unless and until you provide a credit card number. In the event you are enrolled, or later enroll, in an automatic payment or electronic funds transfer plan, you agree that all sums described herein may be charged, at AT&T's option, to the account number provided for such automatic payment or electronic funds transfer plan."

It does say "you may be asked..." but I doubt you could sign up as a new customer with any service provider without supplying a CC number regardless of how you plan to pay for the service or your credit standing.

This also means any company that bills you on your AT&T bill can suck off your CC. As well as any company that bills for AT&T, I assume that means any collection agencies they might hand your bill over to.


__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

[BeeBeeSA ACE - Wizard]

---

Computer-Joe wrote:

---

BeeBeeSA wrote:

Precisely why I would never recommend or sign up for auto pay.  If you do it pretty much opens up the door for the kind of situation your in.

I would never let someone else have control over MY money and when it gets spent.

---

You better check the small print (TOS). If you have givien a credit card number they can take money whether you are on auto pay or not and in the case of the OP had they not had auto pay, they would probably be dealing with AT&T's collection agency now istead of billing.

The OP might be able to contest the charges with their credit card company.

Nope I have never given AT&T or any other company my credit card number to pay a bill or to start service and never will......Always pay by check or on line at the companies website. 

[BeeBeeSA ACE - Wizard]

My daughter looked into changing from TWC to Uverse but they wanted a CC to secure the deal.  I told her no way do not do it.  Now, her credit is not very good since her soon to be ex left and left her with all the bills.  She is trying to get things back in order BUT....giving AT&T a credit card isn't going to fly so she politly declined.

[ATTAlexCM]

Thanks everyone!

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aircow33 wrote:

I dont understand how ATT is still in business.   I dont know what more I can do so that I can get my money back.  I am posting to this forum as an last resort.  I REALLY HOPE someone at ATT can get me the money you STOLE from me.!!!!

To whomever it may concern, 

So last year around thanksgiving I was moving out of my apartment.  I called ATT to transfer my u-verse internet to my new house.  They said they cannot schedule a slot for the installation date i wanted.  So I asked them what about rest of that week....also all booked up.  I asked them what about next week........again all booked up.  I was like, forget it i dont like u-verse internet enough to go two weeks without internet.  I told them to go ahead and just cancel my u-verse account.  Sure enough, I get an e-mail giving me instructions on how to ship back my u-verse modem.   I went to the local ups store and send in my att modem.  This is when the problem started popping up.......

A month goes by I get an e-mail saying ATT still has not recieved my equipment.   Luckily, I called up ATT, and asked them why I got this e-mai, and for them to verify they have recieved the equipment.   The lady on the phone said they indeed recieved the modem, and told me not to worry about the e-mail.  This phone call proved to be extremely important as you will see shortly.

Another month goes by (January 2012), and I noticed that my credit card bill is showing 70 dollar charge from U-verse.  I had auto-payment when I was with U-verse, and was shocked to see that I was still getting charged.   I called ATT up immediately.  The man on the phone said he sees that my account is still active.  I told him that I dont even have the modem anymore!!!! How can my account be still be active?  He says he doesnt know why, but the account is indeed still active. I told him I had called last month to make sure my equipment was returned properly.  He went and checked in the "notes" and he says he did see that I called in to verify my equipment was returned.   He apoligized for the trouble and said he can close my account for me.  I said GREAT!!!, and you will refund me the two months of payment you stole from me right?   To my utter dissappointment, he said he can't do that, the "system" doesnt  allow him to do that.   I told him to get his supervisor.  His supervisor goes on and tells me that they can't refund me the money, and it would have to be separate department that handles this.   I told him, please transfer me to this department.

So now I am transfered over to this department, which i no longer remember the name of.  But I can tell this department was definately the "god" department, meaning they probably have admin priveledges on everything.  The man on the phone apologized for all of this and proceeded to tell me that he will fix everything for me. I asked him why he can't just credit the money to my credit card.  He said that a separate department will refund me the money by issuing me a check, that he can only put the proper amount back to my account as a credit.  

Another month goes by (mid-February 2012 now), I still dont see a check in the mail. I call up ATT again.  Shockingly, the lady says she doesnt see any credit in my account.  I was like what the heck, cussing her out because i was angry.  and I apologize to that lady. It wasnt her fault at all but at this point I was pretty mad at ATT and took it out on her.   She transfers me to this "god" department again.  I went through my whole story again, and the man assured me that he will make it right this time, but again he has no power to refund the money directly to my credit card, and that I would have to wait for the check to arrive.  He did suggest that I might be able to expedite it if i called up billing.

Middle of March, I still dont have my check.  I called up ATT again...........they do see the credit.   So where is my check?.....they told me that it usually takes 4-6 weeks for the checks to be mailed out, and since I got the credit middle of february it has only been 4 weeks. I told them I actually got the refund in january, and it was ATT that{word filter evasion} up and I had call in again to get the proper refund.  They said they were really sorry, but they asked me to wait another two weeks.   I asked them, can't you just tell me if you mailed out the check or not yet?  The guy said they dont have that information on the "system".

Now it is April 09, 2012, I still have not gotten my money back, still waiting for the check.   I am almost about to give up.   It has really taken a toll on me.   Just a couple of weeks ago, a sales guy from u-verse showed up at my door, trying to sell me u-verse.  I told him i would never sign up for u-verse ever again in my life, because of what happened and was really rude to him. Again I want to apologize to that salesperson for my rudeness.  I am usually nice to people, even unwanted solicitors. But now anytime I see ATT I am just angry   All I am asking is for ATT to give me the money that you stole from me.  

Sincerely,

Stanley {Personal content removed for your safety}

---

Welcome Stanley and thank you for posting. I'm sorry to hear about the trouble. I received your Private Message and replied.  Since this is account specific, please check your Private Message inbox (blue envelope, top-right) for an update.  We'll get you in touch with the group that can look into it.

Regards,
Alex