Big Company Hassles
By MsTickle
@MsTickle (25180)
Australia
October 10, 2008 5:54pm CST
Our phone company offered us a choice of "paperless bills". We would still get a one page bill with a total on it but no breakdown of the different things we were being charged for. I like to check my bill for errors or to see where I can cut back if necessary. I was pleased and went to sign up for on-line billing. When I went to the site, I found my account but it said I had to register to read my bill. For some reason, I could not find where to register. I sent an email to them for clear instructions and was told to ring a certain phone number. When I rang the number I was given an online address to go to to register. It went to my account. I sent another email and again was told to ring a number. This person said he would give me another number to ring to get past all the red tape. When I rang that number I was told I had been mis-informed and he gave me a web address which again took me straight into my account...still not able to read my bill. So I opted to receive a paper bill and would you believe...every single local call was itemised....it used to be a total number of calls...now I'm on dial-up and log on at least three times a day...each call was itemised. How silly.
Do you get annoyed by the hassles you have with the major companies you have to deal with. What was your most ridiculous fiasco?
4 people like this
8 responses
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
26 Mar 09
I would love to be able to view my bill online like that and do the paperless thing like you said be less waste to toss away after it is paid. even though we keep them a few months..I am going to ask my phone company if I am able to get that kind of service..Cool thanks.
2 people like this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
27 Mar 09
Yeah me to.. I'm hoping it will be.
1 person likes this
@slickcut (8141)
• United States
11 Oct 08
I hate my phone company AT&T,they are so stupid...Someone put my phone number on some site,probably a mistake of some kind & i was automatically signed up to some phone answering service,and they continue to charge me .I have called the company that i was signed up for and it is not even my name,so i had it deleted and got a conformation number,then i called the phone company & told them & they said i had to pay the bill & i would be credited later..I asked them how in the world can a person that is not me can sign me on to something & the phone company will honor it.They continue to send me bills,late charges etc & they just make me sick..You cannot talk to a reaL PERSON you have to go to automated service & mess up really bad before you can talk to a person...I am so sick of them i feel like just forgetting about a home phone all to gether...
2 people like this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
12 Oct 08
That's ridiculous. So you are saying, that you could go round using other peoples number and sign them up for things that they have to pay for...that is ridiculous and so open to abuse. Surely you cannot be held responsible for a b ill not in your name...what a crazy situation.
1 person likes this
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
30 Oct 08
grrrr.. Mindless companies can drive ya crazy!1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
11 Oct 08
Hi MsTickle what a carry on, why where they not able to register it at their end, I am on online billing, the Phone Company registered it for me and from there on I am able to access my Account, it just seems strange how you where always told to ring a Number and now you are being charged for them calls
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
11 Oct 08
If we did not live in different countries, I would swear we had the same phone company. We are supposed to get a discount for having bundled services, and it never has gotten straight.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
13 Oct 08
After they fix it for you guys, send them to the states. I would take Chinese or Egyptian, if it worked.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
12 Oct 08
This company makes millions in profit each year. You'd think they'd spend the money to bring the services up to par but they don't...it's criminal I reckon, to charge us for services which are shoddy and badly implemented. We are still trying to get mobile phone coverage where we are. We've even offered them the land on which to build the tower but they keep giving us excuses. My daughter is in Egypt at the moment in the middle of the desert and asking how come she has mobile coverage in the middle of the desert in Egypt but not in central New South Wales, Australia? Same with China...their mobile phones work everywhere....even in train tunnels far underground.
1 person likes this
@Barb42 (4214)
• United States
11 Oct 08
I guess the one thing that now ticks me off is the Bank not returning our checks! We had always gotten them back and now they are photo copied. And I hate that some companies now take the money out of your account right on the spot, returning your check to you! WHO is going to keep up with those checks? I don't! There are so many things that have changed with different companies.
My husband just told AT & T about their problems tonight. We have had lots of static and noise on our phones. People complain they can't hear us. When you call repair you don't talk to a real person. You have to speak to the phone, and it says, "I can't hear you" or "I can't understand you" ...... you do it over and over until instead of trying to say YES or NO, you are told to put in the number. Took us about 30 minutes each times we have called to get our complaint in! It is very frustrating!
2 people like this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
12 Oct 08
I can relate to this one Barb. Our phone company has a service where a machine answers and then we must speak and tell the machine what the problem is. Now I speak clearly and am able to annunciate my words very well but I continually get..."I'm sorry...did you say....?" and it says the wrong thing. It ends up putting me through to an operator and I wonder why it doesn't just do that in the first place....grrr.
@Barb42 (4214)
• United States
13 Oct 08
It is very aggravating when you need to talk to a live person and never can get them! Someone told us yesterday for us to say agent when we called into the repair service. We still have the problem and my husband is on the phone right now punching buttons, trying to put in another complaint with AT & T. One of these days, we might get this messed cleared up. My son's inlaws had the problem in another city for about 8 years. They finally got it fixed and he said it is very clear now. I wish they could find our problem out here. It's not only me, but the entire community.
@kayrod2 (1304)
• Australia
11 Oct 08
i certainly do. and only last week i had hassles with a phone company. i went through 5 different people before i got the help i needed, and she wasnt really meant to help me, but she was nice. another one last week with another company - a bank had to put me through to a different department which gave me an automated response of they were very busy and to call again later and disconnected me. i didnt have there direct number, so what a waste of time. centrelink is another one. there are some really nice people who work there, but some do some really stupid things and shouldnt be there and they got a horrible manner.
best wishes to you, and take care
The people I speak to are usually really nice Kay. The only time I've had people be abrupt with me is Telstra. I only ever deal with Telstra, my ISP and Centrelink but them only rarely these days.
@newzealtralian (3930)
• Australia
16 Oct 08
We have a similar issue with our mobile phone provider. They have sent us a bill that doesn't go into details about calls etc, and we really need those details as we are trying to dispute some of the usage charges. These usage charges were supposed to be covered under our monthly 'free calls' and weren't, but because the bill doesn't list the calls etc, we can't dispute it because the person we speak to has no idea what we are talking about!
Now, we don't use our phones all that much, and our bills have never been high (usually just the monthly contract) so we know how much we need to put aside each month, but I want to see how long this 1 call (yes, one call is in dispute!!! But we are talking almost $30 for it!!!!) went for in order to see for ourselves if it is covered by the monthly 'free calls'.
I want my itemised bills back please!!!!! Oh, just for the mobile, as the land line hardly ever gets used (we have broadband)
1 person likes this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
31 Mar 09
I feel for you and I know your frustration. Have you tried asking for a supervisor when you phone...that can work wonders. I'm like you, I want to know every detail so I can check it. I think they get away with stuff because people don't check things....they just pay up. That's just stupid as far as I'm concerned. Hope it's been sorted...I did not receive an alert that you had replied to this...I came here on the alert for the response 2 down from yours.
1 person likes this
