# Fucking AT&T bastards taking advantage of a friendly visitor. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 27, 2002, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134 "2002-06-27T00:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/1 "2002-06-27T00:29:25Z")
Please observe the following e-mail I just submitted to AT&T. It’s not a huge deal, but conning me for $50 is pissing me off nonetheless. Worthless assholes. > [@](#): > > L.S., > > On June 1 2002, I made a few phone calls from an AT&T phone booth at Newark airport in New Jersey. The telephone advertised 25 cents per minute (in US Dollars, I can only assume) for long distance calls in the US. Using my MasterCard, I was trying to reach my girlfriend, who lives in Los Angeles. I alternately tried her land line and her mobile phone. Only on the last attempt was I able to reach her. > > For my first 5 tries, I was billed USD 7.51 per attempt, whereas the actual time spent on the phone was no longer than leaving a 10 second message on an answering machine. In fact, after the first try, I hung up as soon as the answering machine picked up, with no apparent effect on the eventual charge. The final, and succesful attempt resulted in a charge to my credit card of USD 9.68. > > The final call lasted all of 4 minutes, tops. > > Kindly explain why apparently, AT&T applies a starting rate of USD 7.50 or thereabouts, whereas no indication of such ludicrous amounts of money can be found on your machines. > > If the problem lies in the fact that my MasterCard is registered in The Netherlands, I humbly submit that your machines should indicate as much - especially taking the location of the phone booth (the international terminal of Newark) into account. > > Please provide an adequate explanation for these wildly unfounded credit card charges. > > Sincerely, > > \ > Amsterdam, The Netherlands I’ll keep you posted. Any other Dopers that got screwed over like this? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/2 "2002-06-27T00:34:22Z")
pay phones are notorious. Collect call (local) from a pay phone can be billed at rates that would reduce the national debt. (or so it seems). ---
**Author:** ![mighty\_maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@mighty\_maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mighty_maxx)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/3 "2002-06-27T00:45:43Z")
I get ripped off by phone companies all the time. My wife is from Thailand, so whenever I fly there, I’m always laid over in various countries…japan, korea(their phones are ridiculous), Taiwan…I always buy phone cards for that particular country over the net, before I go, and I seem to avoid getting gouged. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/4 "2002-06-27T03:27:49Z")
Pay phones are frequently sub-contracted, and they can charge astoundingly high, even extortionate rates. When I was arecruiter, every station in my district had a calling card that by-passed the local payphone contractors billing, which we would hand to our applicants before they went to the MEPS (place where you get your physical, swore in, etc). The pay phones ther had been subcontracted by Bell South to some sonuvabitch company that charged US$9.99 for a collect call. Tell me _that_ ain’t highway robbery! ---
**Author:** ![Skerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Skerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skerri)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/5 "2002-06-27T14:18:14Z")
They also like to charge more for you to call a cell phone than a land line. But they don’t tell you that, because heaven forbid they actually inform you of anything. You should also know that AT&T bills in minute increments at pay phones. So, if you call someone, listen to their phone ring once and hang up, you get charged for a whole minute. I definitely second the calling card idea. You’ll save yourself money and grief. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/6 "2002-06-27T14:28:14Z")
What, they start charging from the moment it _connects_, rather than the moment the other person picks up? What a fucking travesty. I knew about the one minute increments, but it doesn’t explain the huge costs unless there’s a starting fee. Even if you really pay for a ringing phone on the other side of the line, it wouldn’t be $7.50, as that seems to indicate that I listened to a ringing phone for half an hour. Five times. :rolleyes: Nope, there’s a starting fee all right. The only question is: how well are they at bollocksing up an explanation for it? ---
**Author:** ![Skerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Skerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skerri)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/7 "2002-06-27T16:23:19Z")
Well, since you’re using AT&T, I’m sure they’ve tacked on a starting fee. Just like if you subscribe to AT&T for your home phone and they charge you $4.95 a month just to have the service. Ten bucks says that if you even hear back from them, they’re going to say, ‘oh, well, that money goes to taxes and blah-biddy-blah-blah’ and basically tell you to suck it up. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/8 "2002-06-27T17:19:45Z")
Mr. Athena recently spent a week in Texas. He called me several times, collect, because his cell phone wasn’t working well in the location he was in. He used 1-800-collect most of the time, but it didn’t always work, so he used some other collect service. We got the bill last month. The fuckers billed us over $2/minute. The damn phone calls added up to over $300.00. I knew they were going to jack us for calling collect, but he was in a remote location, the cell phone didn’t work, and he had no way to buy a pre-paid phone card. Fuckers. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/9 "2002-06-27T22:00:39Z")
Oh, that’s nuttin!! My wife recently called me direct from Seattle and we talked for 4 MINUTES (!) from a hotel to give me her room number and they charged her $46. We are contesting it since she paid by credit card. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/10 "2002-06-27T23:05:33Z")
That’s right! Fucking AT&T bastards! BASTARDS!!! Sorry, I really have nothing to add, but since AT&T is the company that laid me off in April, I’m more than happy and more than bitter enough to trash talk the old company. Down with AT&T! Bastards! You know, **Coldy** , if I was still working there, this wouldn’t have happened. Yeah, that’s why they let me go, I didn’t screw the customer hard enough. Yeah, that’s what I’ll tell myself… ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/11 "2002-07-02T14:50:59Z")
Five days since I mailed them my question, and no response yet. So I sent them a quick reminded: > [@](#): > > L.S., > > Five days ago, I submitted the inquiry below via this web form. I am one step away from instructing my credit card company to withdraw all transactions involved. > > Kindly provide an answer per e-mail within 24 hours. Doesn’t look like AT&T think very highly of their customers, does it? ---
**Author:** ![Thunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@Thunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thunder)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/12 "2002-07-02T14:58:51Z")
Am I the only one who immediately jumped to the correct conclusion that it really was 25 cents per minute **if you used coins**? And considering I’ve used phones with that offer, the key is the phrase “direct-dialed”. That kind of deal has always been pretty clear to me. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/13 "2002-07-02T15:04:21Z")
If that’s true, then wouldn’t you agree with me that it’s a fucking scam to phrase it like that on a payphone in an international terminal at an airport? I don’t recall the phrase, BTW. The phone booth had enough small print instructions on it to keep me occupied for 3 hours. But the one thing that stood out was “25 cents a minute for all long distance calls in the US”, in a much larger font. I didn’t see any caveats in the immediate vicinity of said claim, so I went ahead and pulled out the MasterCard. You could very well be right, Thunder. But $7.51 for letting a phone ring twice is a con job, whether you use coins or a card. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/14 "2002-07-02T15:05:54Z")
Coldfire: Don’t waste your time with them. Dispute the charge on your credit card and have it removed. By law, they can’t annotate or reduce your credit rating over a phone charge dispute. Then, for evidence, send them a written letter, stating the history of your attempts to contact them, and your reason for disputing the charge. Keep a copy. Your credit card company will remove the charge, and the onus will be on them to prove the validity of the charge. ---
**Author:** ![Thunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@Thunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thunder)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/15 "2002-07-02T15:12:01Z")
You’ve got no argument from me there, **Coldfire**. Also, it would be interesting to see how much the airport authority gets in profit from scams like this. I’m sure this is a very profitable part of the budget. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/16 "2002-07-02T15:14:15Z")
Typically the rate advertised on the actual phone is the rate they charge if you put coins in the phone. It’s always more if you use a card. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/17 "2002-07-02T22:26:28Z")
The Saga continues. This time, someone at AT&T woke up when their inbox said “ping”. Here’s what the individual handling my case told me: > [@](#): > > Dear \: > > Thank you for contacting AT&T Online Customer Service. > > I received your inquiry about the rates you were billed when you used your credit card to place long distance calls over the AT&T Network. > > You will need to contact the Commercial Credit Card Center at 1-800-379-4288 on Monday through Saturday from 8:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. (ET). > > To contact AT&T Customer Service you can dial some of our 800 numbers from an overseas location by using an AT&T Direct Access code. Please note that the access code is different for every country and some countries do not allow access to 800 numbers in the USA. > > For a list of AT&T Customer Service numbers and AT&T Direct Access codes please visit: > > [http://www.att.com/home](http://www.att.com/home) > > - Click the “International” link on the left > - Click “Learn More” under the AT&T Direct® Service section > > The automated direct access number from The Netherlands is 0-800-022-9111. > > You are a valued customer and we appreciate your business. If you need further assistance, please contact us at: > > [http://www.att.com/write](http://www.att.com/write) > > For your protection, an original of this e-mail transmission is being maintained in a secure file by AT&T. > > Sincerely, > > ``` > Sheila > AT&T Online Customer Service > > ``` Thank you, Sheila. Do you wanna know what I wrote back, after doing exactly what Sheila told me? I bet you would. > [@](#): > > L.S., > > Thank you for your reply. However, the employee in charge of this particular incident obviously did not read my complaint. > > Ignoring for a moment the strangeness of an e-mailed reply suggesting me to call AT&T to solve my problem (why even HAVE a web-based complaint form?), the Dutch telephone number provided (0-800-022-9111) is for making international calls over the AT&T network from the Netherlands. I highly doubt that the “rates information” option on this number would be useful for finding out information about phone booth rates in Newark, New Jersey, United States of America. > > Not that it matters, because every time I press “0” so as to GET to said “rates information”, the response is, “We’re sorry. Please dial or say the number you are trying to call”. For your information, the telephone used is a brand new DECT model by Siemens, so I don’t think my hardware is the problem here. > > Also, your e-mail seems to suggest that said number will enable me to get in touch with the “Commercial Credit Card Center at 1-800-379-4288”, since -as you rightly observe- US 0800 numbers cannot be dialed from the Netherlands. The Dutch phone number above offers no such options. > > In other words, the solution offered in your last e-mail is not working. I fail to see why my questions can’t be answered per e-mail. Please don’t send me an American phone number I can call from the Netherlands, as I am not about to make an expensive international phone call for something that can be handled by e-mail. > > If I don’t have an e-mailed response by the end of tomorrow afternoon (CET), I am instructing my credit card company to withdraw all the relevant payments. > > Sincerely, > > \ > Amsterdam, The Netherlands And I just got the cheery confirmation that “Your message has been received and an answer will be sent to you within 24 hours”. Golly, can’t wait. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2002, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/18 "2002-07-02T22:48:55Z")
I’ll second **Scylla** but first a story. Quick Geography lesson Hayward, CA is roughly 10 miles form Oakland, keep that in mind as you read on. My wife called me collect from outside a store in Hayward, she wanted clarification for something I asked her to pick up. We talked perhaps thirty seconds. Two weeks ago my phone bill showed up, the collect call was billed through some comapny I never heard of starting with a Z. Collect Call Hayward Ca 1 minute $29.00 Now I already knew what to do about this, so I called up PacBell and told them to send it back to the biller, Pac Bell cheerfully removed it from the bill. What you don’t know: Ninety-nine times out of a hundred the Biller will do nothing, they count on people not checking their bills, and they write the disputed calls off. I’m not sure if this is true of all carriers but the three times I’ve had this happen, the number listed for the Biller gives you precisely the number for your carrier who will again cheerfully remove the charges. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/19 "2002-07-03T00:10:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Dear \: > > Thank you for contacting AT&T Online Customer Service. > > I apologize for the misunderstanding of your inquiry. Using the AT&T network to place a call to be billed to a major credit card will incur a $4.99 surcharge for the connection plus an 89 cent per minute rate. Payphone fees will also apply. > > The advertised rate published on the payphone would be in regard to accessing the line to make a local call. In that case, you would not have been asked for a credit card or calling card number to bill the connection fees. > > AT&T long distance customers with residential or business land lines can enroll in discount programs to reduce the cost of making calls when away from home. AT&T also offers prepaid calling cards to all customers who use the AT&T network. > > I trust this information will be helpful to you. If you have additional questions, please submit your inquiry via e-mail and we will be glad to assist you. > > If you need further assistance, please contact us at: > > [http://www.att.com/write](http://www.att.com/write) > > For your protection, an original of this e-mail transmission is being maintained in a secure file by AT&T. > > Sincerely, > > ``` > Donna > AT&T Online Customer Service > > ``` Now, there’s a coupe of things wrong with this information. First off, this: _Using the AT&T network to place a call to be billed to a major credit card will incur a $4.99 surcharge for the connection plus an 89 cent per minute rate. Payphone fees will also apply._ Huh? OK, so they admit they’re a bunch of thieving fucks, unwilling to advertise the true rates of credit card paid phone calls on the machine. But what do they mean with “payphone fees will also apply”? Didn’t they just _describe_ the payphone fees? Secondly: _The advertised rate published on the payphone would be in regard to accessing the line to make a local call. In that case, you would not have been asked for a credit card or calling card number to bill the connection fees._ Flat out lie. The machine said “25 cents per minute for all long distance calls within the US”. Period. This may not apply to credit card calls, but it sure as hell didn’t apply to local calls alone. Who the fuck makes a local call in an international airport terminal, anyway? Not the entire world lives in New Jersey, you know. In addition, I wasn’t _asked_ for my CC, I used it by dialling 9 or 0 or whatever gets you to the AT&T operator line. So here we are. I still maintain they’re a bunch of thieves, and it shows that they are (deliberately or not) spreading misinformation, if not lies, about their service. I still have half a mind to withdraw the payments. What do you guys say? My motivation is this:[ul][_]Phone booth displays apparently unrestricted rate of 25 cents per minute for long distance, which turns out to be 89 cents when you use a credit card.[_]Nowhere on the machine, nor on the automated AT&T operator line is there any mention of the scandalous $4.99 connection surcharge for every call when using a credit card. Hell, I wouldn’t have called 6 times had this been properly indicated![/ul]Do I owe these pricks money or not? I still say it’s a scam. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134/20 "2002-07-03T00:45:41Z")
I wouldn’t pay them. ATT is run by a board room of Robber Barons and I swore a long time ago that neither they nor Southwestern Bell, the local provider, would get any more of my money. Thank the heavens for independent phone companies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-at-t-bastards-taking-advantage-of-a-friendly-visitor/116134.md?page=2)