Family in Need of Major Help: 900 Dollars Worth of International Being Disputed

Hello, all.

A few months back my mother and I had a contract with AT&T and we have been with them for about 3-4 years. I was the second phone number under her contract.

In April, I lost my phone. I'm a quite careless individual when it comes to cellphones -- I misplace my phone all the time. When this happens, I tend to never bend out of shape, because it typically shows up around the house within a few days.

This did not come to fruition in April.

*All my mother's account*

AT&T called my mother to notify her that 500$ worth of international calls had been made. Apparently, they were notifying her since we had no history of making international calls, no less 500$ worth. My mother explained that I had lost my phone recently and apparently, someone had found it and started making these calls.

My mother says at this point, AT&T stated they would renege the charges. I got a new phone, with a new SIM card that same day, but my number stayed the same.

Fast forward to another week or two; AT&T calls my mother again. They state that more international calls are being made on my line (this time, they specify the calls are being made to Haiti) at around 400 dollars. We dispute them again, and assert that the individual must have the phone still, making these calls. If this is possible, we wondered why they would give us the same number, instead of a new one.

At this point we learned that AT&T never reneged the charges, and were expecting us to pay 900 dollars in international calls to Haiti. At that point, my mother quit AT&T and we moved to T-Mobile.

Of course, AT&T is still expecting us to pay for these calls. Apparently, they shaved around 200 dollars off, and a recent bill payment I made chopped the balance down to around 500 dollars. This is still too much. We are a below modest family that consists of only me and my mother and I pay for college out of my own pocket.

I need advice on how to dispute this. A recent conversation with customer service left us empty handed. The rep explained that it is not possible for international calls to have been made from the old phone after the first incident, because the SIM card becomes disabled once the new phone is activated. To the best of my knowledge, this was not mentioned to my mother or I when making their case to us on the second notification. That would have explained to us why we wouldn't need an all new number for the new phone.

The rep was supposed to call me back that night, but never did until early the next morning when I missed the call.

How do I validly dispute this? Is the BBC or FCC the only reasonable option???


Any help would be immensely appreciated.

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This sounds like a handful.

Once a new phone is activated with a new SIM, the old one becomes inactive...so I'm not sure how this issue is happening.

I cannot assist you with this issue further, but I do suggest the FCC. The BBB will not actually do an inside investigation. All they'll do is list AT&T on their website with a complaint.

The FCC is a fairly reliable source, but it does take a while for a good response.

I contacted the FCC a while ago about a price plan increase nationally with Verizon Wireless. In the end, it was true that the price increase was applicable and there was no need for further dispute; however, the FCC did respond and I DID get a response. Not only from the FCC but from Verizon themselves.

If you wish to see what I posted about the FCC's response, please view it here: http://cellphoneforums.net/verizon/t...ml#post1338893

If you want to read what Verizon said when they called me about the complaint: http://cellphoneforums.net/verizon/t...isten-act.html

It might be the best way. Here, I've even provided you the appropriate link to file a complain with the FCC: FCC Consumer Complaints

Thank you for the swift response and thank you very much for the links (particularly the FCC Complaint link). Encouraging, since I'm not generally warm and fuzzy in my imaginings of bureaucracy. Good luck with your situation.

-Kimosabae

I immediately lost my debate.

Verizon and the FCC both agree that a rate increase was inevitable.

Originally Posted by Kimosabae Gran

Thank you for the swift response and thank you very much for the links (particularly the FCC Complaint link). Encouraging, since I'm not generally warm and fuzzy in my imaginings of bureaucracy. Good luck with your situation.

-Kimosabae

:/


-Kimo

Don't be discouraged.

The rate increase occurred among every customer and Verizon had a rebuttal for it.

What rebuttal would they have for your international roaming?

QUOTE=Kimosabae Gran;1347472]:/


-Kimo[/QUOTE]

It's our word versus theirs, so I'm sure they'll simply repeat was has been said to us.

What's discouraging is that you're the only person that took the time to respond to this thread.

-Kimo

I suppose saying what you should have done is fruitless at this point, but in the future if/when you lose a phone, immediately report it lost. That way, the carrier will deactivate the SIM.

As to your specific case, it is very much your word against theirs. With the first $500 dollars in international calls, although you were not the one who made them, the fact that you didn't report the phone stolen leaves you in a precarious position. On the one hand, you can't expect them to reward you for your irresponsibility, not in losing the phone, but not reporting it lost. Yet when you did report it and they agreed to renege the charges, they should have keep their word.

As to the other $400 in international calls, those are very difficult to dispute. As Nick said, once a new SIM with the same number is activated the old SIM is deactivated and, therefore, those calls cannot be made by anyone other than the person with the new SIM. I don't know you personally, so I cannot accuse you, but unless there was some technical glitch, there's really no way that the second set of international calls were not made by you or someone using your phone (the new one, not the one that was lost).

I wish you the best, but just know that this won't be an easy case to win.

Another thing to point out is that if the carrier has not refunded the amount they were willing to, there ARE notes to prove that they did offer that. It is mandatory by law that a note be posted stating EXACTLY why you called and a resolution to your call. Right when the representative accesses your account, there's an auto time stamp saying their name, location, etc. It's automatic and can't be avoided, so there WILL be some kind of proof saying you tried to avoid the problem. If there's a time stamp, but no notes following...that representative could be loosing their job if the FCC gets involved. You may be at least able to lower the bill...if not eliminate it.

Also, even AT&T stated it was unusual behavior. They'll investigate your account and see if something similar has ever happened in the past...if they [the FCC] don't notice anything, that's a bonus point for you!

Before giving advice to contact the Federal Communications Commision, posters should refer to this link: Cellular FAQs.

Billing issues, such as these, are handled by the FCC. This is not part of your customer agreement. It is true the FCC does not handle complaints about your contract (i.e. the carrier won't allow you out of it penalty free)...but they'll handle billing discrepancies.