# AT&T and wack charges **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-t-and-wack-charges/248852 "2004-06-05T21:12:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-t-and-wack-charges/248852/1 "2004-06-05T21:12:50Z")
OK, Sprint handles my regular (local) phone service. They used to be my long-distance carrier, too, but I never make long-distance calls because my cellphone is cheaper. Last summer, AT&T started calling me at least once a night and asking me to switch over to them for long-distance. I just said no every time, and a few times asked them if they were aware that they had just called an hour ago, but mostly they would just keep talking until I hung up. Eventually, they started offering me stuff to switch over- phone cards, that sort of thing. One night they said I’d get a $50 Mastercard gift certificate for switching to their service, and there would never be any cost to me unless I made a long-distance call. No monthly fees, they said repeatedly. So I said what the hell, 50 bucks is nothing to sneeze at, and I let them do it. I got the $50 dollar thing and used it, and didn’t hear from AT&T for months. This was August, and all was well. Two days ago, I got a bill in the mail from AT&T. They’re charging me a bunch of fees and taxes. No actual calls. So I called the 800 number, but couldn’t get a person on the line. I then went to the website and filled out the form to contact somebody. Got the response today, and in part, here’s what they said: > [@](#): > > Our records indicate that you are with AT&T since August 20, 2003. You > have received a bill after a long time as your account was on deferred > billing. Wherein, your monthly AT&T charges will not be sent to you > until your long distance charges have reached $30.00 or more or it has > been three months since your last AT&T Long Distance Bill. Therefore, > if you do not place a direct dial call you do not receive the bill. > > As you are enrolled in the AT&T One Rate ® Basic Plan, it features a > flat rate of 21.5 cents per minute on domestic, direct dialed calls from > home, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No monthly fee for this plan. > **Effective March 1, 2004, once enrolled, if you spend less than $5.00 a > month in qualifying calls, your account will be charged the difference > between what you use and $5.00. That is the reason you have received a > bill from AT&T.** Besides this fee, your current bill includes $5.64 for > In-State Connection Fee, $1.56 for Universal Connectivity Charge, $2.97 > for Regulatory Assessment Fee and $2.87 > for taxes and surcharge. The bolding is mine. My question is, am I obligated to pay them even though I was very specifically told I would never be charged unless I made a call? Obviously, they’ve changed their policy, but don’t they have to at least tell me that before they start charging? Or not? As you might have deduced by now, I’m not all that experienced in these matters. It seems to me, though, that they just started charging me (in March) for nothing, even though they said they wouldn’t. So what do I do? Can they just do whatever they want because I signed up for the plan, or do I have some kind of right not to have the rules changed on me? I’m canceling my service, of course, but about that 30 dollars… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-t-and-wack-charges/248852/2 "2004-06-06T23:58:30Z")
Now, I’m sure I could blurt out a lot of sarcastic stuff about how deregulation will surely save us all a lot of money, and that the fine print lets them charge you extra for being a whiny customer, but that wouldn’t solve anything, now, would it? Somewhat seriously, you might touch base with the Better Business Bureau or Consumer Reports. I’m not a lawyer, and if I was, I could maybe tell you that you are soooooo screwed. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-t-and-wack-charges/248852/3 "2004-06-07T00:15:26Z")
I used to have AT & T. I noticed, however, that even though I wasn’t making any long distance calls, I was paying abput $60/year for the privelege of doing so. I finally got tired of it and ditched them altogether. The operator there tried her best to get me to stay. I explained that it was cheaper for me to use a calling card (the kind you can most anywhere) than to use them. She countered with the old “Well, they charge you more per minute” bit. I explained that if I buy a $10 card and I’m being charged $0.33 per minute (this was 4-5 years ago), but it takes me a whole year to use the card, then my yearly expenditure for long distance calls is $10. If I used AT & T, it would have cost me $60 + whatever their rate was at the time. She was crushed by my logic. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-t-and-wack-charges/248852/4 "2004-06-07T03:03:27Z")
I just recieved the same bill. I called and DID speak to someone (I think the total charge was $29.00). They said the bill was a mistake and avoided explaining what the charges exactly were supposed to mean.