Watch Your Wallet... And Your Bills

I think the problem really boils down to how we track credit. We don't dare delay a payment for a bill to dispute it in fear that they will report us to the credit bureaus, ruining our credit. Its even more of a pain to remove a bad item from our credit reports than it is to dispute a bad bill. And it takes time. So if you plan to buy a new car, or take out a student loan then you dare not hesitate to pay every questionable bill. Not only that, but some credit cards are set to hike up your interest rates if your credit score changes, even if you never miss a payment to them.

This is all because we trust faceless companies and databases more than we trust people.

I called AT&T (used to be SBC) the other day to contest a $3 charge we had on our home phone line for long distance. We never call long distance on the home phone, we always use our cell phones for that anyway. (Frankly, I don't even know why we need a home phone, except for the fact that it makes it easier to get calls from telemarketers or random pollsters, but I digress.)

They insisted that it would cost me ~$9 to remove the $3 charge. I was ticked, and let the friendly AT&T person know that. They didn't do a thing about it, just kept insisting (rather forcefully, but that may be because I was upset) that it was absolutely necessary. I ended up agreeing to it, although I should've escalated my complaint.

Anyhow, good article Killfile. Nice to see something completely unrelated to politics, religion or war. :)

Isn't there some class action thing we can do about all these charges instead of each individual calling about a $3 charge?

My wife and I ditched our land line when we realized that, since we both had cell phones, no one we wanted to talk to ever called the land line. As a matter of fact, 99.9% of the time, incoming calls just pissed me off. My problem with land lines isn't questionable charges. It's that, somewhere along the line, they stopped being our personal devices for our own use and became public domain that anyone can use for whatever reason they see fit. It annoys me when some stranger uses a service I pay for to attempt to sell me something.

My question is: Usually when you have to give a phone number for ID, they want a land line phone. So how do you guys handle that?
I went w/o a land phone for a while, but was forced to get one when I wanted to job hunt. There are other situations too that want a land line ph#, like credit card accts and other things I cannot think of right now...
PS - I like Tracfone for cell svc. It is so much easier to go online to buy either minutes or months, whichever, in any quantity. Pay as you go so you don't get forced to buy minutes you don't use.
Land line co. is Qwest - there you can go online too and email with questions, or get someone live.

Killfile: How we avoided these problems was by signing up for the complete package from our broadband cable provider. Free long distance anywhere, cable TV, broadband connection, all at a fixed rate. The bill is the same every month with no hidden charges. I highly recommend it.

Has anyone documented the Verizon practice of over-billing such as charges for incalling and then suggesting (urging) a higher cost more-minutes plan as a result of the tripling of the monthly cost?

Within the last ninety days, Verizon has wrongly charged my account for several hundred dollars to prompt me to give up the plan style I entered their service with in 2000; one that is no longer offered.
I finally relented and agreed to a new contract having been given the promise to monitor and never allow these excessive charges again.

The fraud continues. I called to cancel the contract and of course I am offered that option for a large buy-back fee. The supervisor who gave me such strong, comforting support is no where to be found.

I'm reminded of something I read yesterday. It was the Washington Post or the
New York Times coverage of the court proceeding regarding the challenge of
the spying by the government. At one point a government lawyer said the law is very
complicated and a judge said it can't be any more complicated than my phone bill.

Another thing which I consider a scam -- the big charge for call blocking. Why shouldn't that be free, just like email blocking? Can anyone argue that somehow it actually costs $20/30 per month just to block a caller? I don't think so...

OK, from one with a little experience with these phone people!!!!

It takes several months and numerous calls to the FCC (Thats Federal Communications Commission, if you did not know) To finally get these phone creps off your back. Happened to me over a $6,500.00, that right $6,500.00 phone bill from MCI a couple of years back. Until the FCC ruled and I sent that ruling to MCI they hounded me every month over those charges, wich were made while I was living alone and most times while I was away from the house. I was "CLONED"

Have fun folks, the "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" will how ever put a lock on your line(complete with password) if you request it. But you have to request it. They will not offer it.

Received ATT bill and it included the $7.45 for 10 15 15 800 director assistance. Called 800# listed by ATT for explanation, and spoke to call center operator. Complained about the charge, believing I was speaking to ATT, but I was not. Operator agreed to refund the money and block any further charges. Then called ATT and complained. ATT operator sounded like she had received numerous of these complaints and appeared to be apologetic. I received refund check for $7.45 in two days.

Google has a free directory assistance number. 1-800-GOOG-411 for looking up numbers of businesses. NO ads and no fee, will even connect you for free. I just found out about this, and have not even had a chance to try it out.
But I read about it on e-newsletter from Everyday Cheapskate.