So when I checked on line for my AT&T cell phone bill this month there
was a notice that my bill would be going up by $6. Having seen this I
called AT&T to see what other options I had. My current plan only had 1
Gig of data as I mostly use the phone while at home and use my WiFi.
Well the fellow I got to talk to said he would be happy to help me since
I had been a customer for 22 years.
Then then told me about a plan including unlimited talk, text and data
for only $50 per month. I asked him what the catch was and he said
there was no catch other than the normal taxes and fees. I asked what
the estimated total cost would including these fees and he told me
$58.12 per month give or take a dollar or so. That was really good as I
was already paying $53 per month which was going to go up by 6 bucks.
I again asked there were no other charges to be added and he said
absolutely not and again told me how much they wanted to give a long
time customer like me a great deal.
When then went through the processes of switching my plan. He said I
would be receiving a summary Email from them in a hour or so. I thought
I had just made a good deal.
Well I got that summary Email and it showed that my new monthly bill
would be $72.84. I figured they must have made a mistake and called
them again.
The new person said me that the $50 plan required auto pay and without
auto pay the charge would be $60. I told them that the first person
said nothing about auto pay. They kept repeating the same thing over
and over again that my bill would be $70 unless I did auto pay. I had a
bad experience with auto pay a while back so I do not like auto pay. I
asked to talk with their supervisor and after a 30 minute wait I got a
supervisor that said the same thing and was real sorry that the first
person misled me. I then said I wanted to go back to my old plan and
was told that my old plan was no longer offered I could not go back.
After then telling her that I would then cancel my service before the
next billing cycle. Of course that stirred things up and she switched
me to the loyality department. I was told again that I had to use auto
pay to get the $50 price and again I could not go back to my old plan.
After some more talking they said they would give me a $150 credit on my
account because of they misleding me if I would continue my service and
use auto pay.
Well I have a credit card that I don’t use much so I agreed to sign up
for auto pay using that card. So I was forced in the end to do
something I didn’t want to do.
No here is one more little thing. I was told if I want to stop my
service I should first stop auto pay as if you only stop your service
they will continue to use auto pay to charge you for a service you had
already cancelled.
Moral of the story is don’t trust what AT&T tells you.

chat@nvda.groups.io wrote:

So when I checked on line for my AT&T cell phone bill this month there
was a notice that my bill would be going up by $6.  Having seen this I
called AT&T to see what other options I had.  My current plan only had 1
Gig of data as I mostly use the phone while at home and use my WiFi.
Well the fellow I got to talk to said he would be happy to help me since
I had been a customer for 22 years.
Then then told me about a plan including unlimited talk, text and data
for only $50 per month.  I asked him what the catch was and he said
there was no catch other than the normal taxes and fees.  I asked what
the estimated total cost would including these fees and he told me
$58.12 per month give or take a dollar or so.  That was really good as I
was already paying $53 per month which was going to go up by 6 bucks.
I again asked there were no other charges to be added and he said
absolutely not and again told me how much they wanted to give a long
time customer like me a great deal.
When then went through the processes of switching my plan.  He said I
would be receiving a summary Email from them in a hour or so.  I thought
I had just made a good deal.
Well I got that summary Email and it showed that my new monthly bill
would be $72.84.  I figured they must have made a mistake and called
them again.
The new person said me that the $50 plan required auto pay and without
auto pay the charge would be $60.  I told them that the first person
said nothing about auto pay.  They kept repeating the same thing over
and over again that my bill would be $70 unless I did auto pay.  I had a
bad experience with auto pay a while back so I do not like auto pay.  I
asked to talk with their supervisor and after a 30 minute wait I got a
supervisor that said the same thing and was real sorry that the first
person misled me.  I then said I wanted to go back to my old plan and
was told that my old plan was no longer offered I could not go back.
After then telling her that I would then cancel my service before the
next billing cycle.  Of course that stirred things up and she switched
me to the loyality department.  I was told again that I had to use auto
pay to get the $50 price and again I could not go back to my old plan.
After some more talking they said they would give me a $150 credit on my
account because of they misleding me if I would continue my service and
use auto pay.
Well I have a credit card that I don’t use much so I agreed to sign up
for auto pay using that card.  So I was forced in the end to do
something I didn’t want to do.
No here is one more little thing.  I was told if I want to stop my
service I should first stop auto pay as if you only stop your service
they will continue to use auto pay to charge you for a service you had
already cancelled.
Moral of the story is don’t trust what AT&T tells you.

So when I checked on line for my AT&T cell phone bill this month there
was a notice that my bill would be going up by $6.  Having seen this I
called AT&T to see what other options I had.  My current plan only had 1
Gig of data as I mostly use the phone while at home and use my WiFi.
Well the fellow I got to talk to said he would be happy to help me since
I had been a customer for 22 years.
Then then told me about a plan including unlimited talk, text and data
for only $50 per month.  I asked him what the catch was and he said
there was no catch other than the normal taxes and fees.  I asked what
the estimated total cost would including these fees and he told me
$58.12 per month give or take a dollar or so.  That was really good as I
was already paying $53 per month which was going to go up by 6 bucks.
I again asked there were no other charges to be added and he said
absolutely not and again told me how much they wanted to give a long
time customer like me a great deal.
When then went through the processes of switching my plan.  He said I
would be receiving a summary Email from them in a hour or so.  I thought
I had just made a good deal.
Well I got that summary Email and it showed that my new monthly bill
would be $72.84.  I figured they must have made a mistake and called
them again.
The new person said me that the $50 plan required auto pay and without
auto pay the charge would be $60.  I told them that the first person
said nothing about auto pay.  They kept repeating the same thing over
and over again that my bill would be $70 unless I did auto pay.  I had a
bad experience with auto pay a while back so I do not like auto pay.  I
asked to talk with their supervisor and after a 30 minute wait I got a
supervisor that said the same thing and was real sorry that the first
person misled me.  I then said I wanted to go back to my old plan and
was told that my old plan was no longer offered I could not go back.
After then telling her that I would then cancel my service before the
next billing cycle.  Of course that stirred things up and she switched
me to the loyality department.  I was told again that I had to use auto
pay to get the $50 price and again I could not go back to my old plan.
After some more talking they said they would give me a $150 credit on my
account because of they misleding me if I would continue my service and
use auto pay.
Well I have a credit card that I don’t use much so I agreed to sign up
for auto pay using that card.  So I was forced in the end to do
something I didn’t want to do.
No here is one more little thing.  I was told if I want to stop my
service I should first stop auto pay as if you only stop your service
they will continue to use auto pay to charge you for a service you had
already cancelled.
Moral of the story is don’t trust what AT&T tells you.

On Sat, May 28, 2022 at 05:32 PM, Don H wrote:

Moral of the story is don’t trust what AT&T tells you.

-
Not that I think your story is anything but 100% the truth, but it's so characteristic about what I hear about dealing with telecomm and cable companies in general that I know it's not only AT&T (disclosure:  I once worked for AT&T, but that ended in 1997).

The above is not a defense of AT&T nor of all the companies that operate this way, but it's not limited to AT&T.  I was never so happy as when I was able to dump Verizon for landline and DSL service, because this sort of "bait and switch" or failure to disclose important requirements that make major changes in cost.  I wish I could do the same for Comcast.

I can honestly say that one of the things, and it's only one, that made me go T-Mobile when I decided to drop our landline and landline-based internet service was their no-hidden-anything pricing.  What they quote monthly included (and still includes, I've referred others over time) all taxes and fees and if they say $50 per month that's what the cost is.  There is, however, a discount for auto-pay which is not at all unusual, and I do pay my T-Mobile bill monthly via auto-pay because I know, to the penny, what it will be each and every month.
--

Brian - Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044

Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.

        ~ Mark Twain

So when I checked on line for my AT&T cell phone bill this month there
was a notice that my bill would be going up by $6.  Having seen this I
called AT&T to see what other options I had.  My current plan only had 1
Gig of data as I mostly use the phone while at home and use my WiFi.
Well the fellow I got to talk to said he would be happy to help me since
I had been a customer for 22 years.
Then then told me about a plan including unlimited talk, text and data
for only $50 per month.  I asked him what the catch was and he said
there was no catch other than the normal taxes and fees.  I asked what
the estimated total cost would including these fees and he told me
$58.12 per month give or take a dollar or so.  That was really good as I
was already paying $53 per month which was going to go up by 6 bucks.
I again asked there were no other charges to be added and he said
absolutely not and again told me how much they wanted to give a long
time customer like me a great deal.
When then went through the processes of switching my plan.  He said I
would be receiving a summary Email from them in a hour or so.  I thought
I had just made a good deal.
Well I got that summary Email and it showed that my new monthly bill
would be $72.84.  I figured they must have made a mistake and called
them again.
The new person said me that the $50 plan required auto pay and without
auto pay the charge would be $60.  I told them that the first person
said nothing about auto pay.  They kept repeating the same thing over
and over again that my bill would be $70 unless I did auto pay.  I had a
bad experience with auto pay a while back so I do not like auto pay.  I
asked to talk with their supervisor and after a 30 minute wait I got a
supervisor that said the same thing and was real sorry that the first
person misled me.  I then said I wanted to go back to my old plan and
was told that my old plan was no longer offered I could not go back.
After then telling her that I would then cancel my service before the
next billing cycle.  Of course that stirred things up and she switched
me to the loyality department.  I was told again that I had to use auto
pay to get the $50 price and again I could not go back to my old plan.
After some more talking they said they would give me a $150 credit on my
account because of they misleding me if I would continue my service and
use auto pay.
Well I have a credit card that I don’t use much so I agreed to sign up
for auto pay using that card.  So I was forced in the end to do
something I didn’t want to do.
No here is one more little thing.  I was told if I want to stop my
service I should first stop auto pay as if you only stop your service
they will continue to use auto pay to charge you for a service you had
already cancelled.
Moral of the story is don’t trust what AT&T tells you.




.

On Sat, May 28, 2022 at 06:23 PM, Howard Traxler wrote:

Now I need to figure out what I need that will cost exactly $92.07.

-
Uh, why?  These cards just "charge down" the amount on them until it hits zero.  I've had prepaid cards from many sources.  Even when I was down to my last few pennies no store had any difficulty taking those few pennies, thus zeroing out the card balance, and accepting other payment for the remainder of what I owe.
--

Brian - Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044

Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.

        ~ Mark Twain

Spectrum Mobile is quite good. However, television service through Spectrum keeps going up and up. It's about as basic as we can get, using a Roku box from several years ago.

I'm thinking of Youtube tv. We will be contemplating dropping home phone service too.

---

On 5/28/2022 6:11 PM, Brian Vogel wrote:

On Sat, May 28, 2022 at 05:32 PM, Don H wrote:

Moral of the story is don’t trust what AT&T tells you.

-
Not that I think your story is anything but 100% the truth, but it's so characteristic about what I hear about dealing with telecomm and cable companies in general that I know it's not only AT&T (disclosure:  I once worked for AT&T, but that ended in 1997).

The above is not a defense of AT&T nor of all the companies that operate this way, but it's not limited to AT&T.  I was never so happy as when I was able to dump Verizon for landline and DSL service, because this sort of "bait and switch" or failure to disclose important requirements that make major changes in cost.  I wish I could do the same for Comcast.

I can honestly say that one of the things, and it's only one, that made me go T-Mobile when I decided to drop our landline and landline-based internet service was their no-hidden-anything pricing.  What they quote monthly included (and still includes, I've referred others over time) all taxes and fees and if they say $50 per month that's what the cost is.  There is, however, a discount for auto-pay which is not at all unusual, and I do pay my T-Mobile bill monthly via auto-pay because I know, to the penny, what it will be each and every month.
--

Brian - Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044

Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer.

        ~ Mark Twain

I accidentally sent a blank message while trying the e-mail app on my feature phone.

You may want to see what T-Mobile (spelling) has to offer.  Others on the list may have other suggestions.  I believe T-Mobile has a plan offering unlimited talk and text for about twenty dollars.  I think you get 2GB of data but I'm not sure.  At any rate, it sounds as though it would be more than you need for a lot less.

If you want to continue with AT&T for some reason, I don't know how T-Mobile coverage is in your area, you may find something for much less if you ask about plans that offer unlimited talk and text and 1GB or less of data.  It sounds as though you would be satisfied with even less.

Gene

chat@nvda.groups.io wrote:

So when I checked on line for my AT&T cell phone bill this month there

was a notice that my bill would be going up by $6.  Having seen this I

called AT&T to see what other options I had.  My current plan only had 1

Gig of data as I mostly use the phone while at home and use my WiFi.

Well the fellow I got to talk to said he would be happy to help me since

I had been a customer for 22 years.

Then then told me about a plan including unlimited talk, text and data

for only $50 per month.  I asked him what the catch was and he said

there was no catch other than the normal taxes and fees.  I asked what

the estimated total cost would including these fees and he told me

$58.12 per month give or take a dollar or so.  That was really good as I

was already paying $53 per month which was going to go up by 6 bucks.

I again asked there were no other charges to be added and he said

absolutely not and again told me how much they wanted to give a long

time customer like me a great deal.

When then went through the processes of switching my plan.  He said I

would be receiving a summary Email from them in a hour or so.  I thought

I had just made a good deal.

Well I got that summary Email and it showed that my new monthly bill

would be $72.84.  I figured they must have made a mistake and called

them again.

The new person said me that the $50 plan required auto pay and without

auto pay the charge would be $60.  I told them that the first person

said nothing about auto pay.  They kept repeating the same thing over

and over again that my bill would be $70 unless I did auto pay.  I had a

bad experience with auto pay a while back so I do not like auto pay.  I

asked to talk with their supervisor and after a 30 minute wait I got a

supervisor that said the same thing and was real sorry that the first

person misled me.  I then said I wanted to go back to my old plan and

was told that my old plan was no longer offered I could not go back.

After then telling her that I would then cancel my service before the

next billing cycle.  Of course that stirred things up and she switched

me to the loyality department.  I was told again that I had to use auto

pay to get the $50 price and again I could not go back to my old plan.

After some more talking they said they would give me a $150 credit on my

account because of they misleding me if I would continue my service and

use auto pay.

Well I have a credit card that I don’t use much so I agreed to sign up

for auto pay using that card.  So I was forced in the end to do

something I didn’t want to do.

No here is one more little thing.  I was told if I want to stop my

service I should first stop auto pay as if you only stop your service

they will continue to use auto pay to charge you for a service you had

already cancelled.

Moral of the story is don’t trust what AT&T tells you.

On Sat, May 28, 2022 at 05:32 PM, Don H wrote:

Moral of the story is don’t trust what AT&T tells you.

-
Not that I think your story is anything but 100% the truth, but it's so
characteristic about what I hear about dealing with telecomm and cable
companies in general that I know it's not only AT&T (disclosure:  I once
worked for AT&T, but that ended in 1997).

The above is not a defense of AT&T nor of all the companies that operate
this way, but it's not limited to AT&T.  I was never so happy as when I
was able to dump Verizon for landline and DSL service, because this sort
of "bait and switch" or failure to disclose important requirements that
make major changes in cost.  I wish I could do the same for Comcast.

I can honestly say that one of the things, and it's only one, that made
me go T-Mobile when I decided to drop our landline and landline-based
internet service was their no-hidden-anything pricing.  What they quote
monthly included (and still includes, I've referred others over time)
all taxes and fees and if they say $50 per month that's what the cost
is.  There is, however, a discount for auto-pay which is not at all
unusual, and I do pay my T-Mobile bill monthly via auto-pay because I
know, to the penny, what it will be each and every month.
--

Brian -Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044

*/Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even
to prayer./*

~ Mark Twain

Gene is correct that there are a number of carriers that offer unlimited
talk and text. Consumer Cellular's plans
<https://www.consumercellular.com/shopping/choose/plan> are well-worth
looking at if all you really want is unlimited talk and text and even if
you want data, as they have scaled pricing from 1GB/month ($20) up
through unlimited ($55) with 4 levels between those end points.

Also remember that most companies, provided your existing phone uses the
same network technology theirs does, allow you to bring your own device,
and that you own your phone number, so you can port it from carrier to
carrier with ease.  I worked in telecomm just before the laws changed to
make a phone number the property of the person to whom it was assigned,
unless they choose to relinquish it.  Before that it was considered the
property of the carrier.
--

Brian -Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044

*/Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even
to prayer./*

~ Mark Twain