Help me WalletPop: I overpaid a bill and can't get my money back!
Filed under: Consumer Complaints, Consumer Ally
Dear WalletPop:I'm writing to let you know of a battle that I've been fighting since late June. I am owed a credit of $275 for an overpayment on my AT&T Dish Network account. Neither AT&T nor Dish disputes that I am owed the money; however, due to massive, persistent communication failures between Dish and AT&T and poor customer service toward me by both parties, I still have not received my credit.
Here are the details: Prior to leaving AT&T DIsh Network for AT&T U-Verse, I was sent a replacement Dish receiver that I did not request. It took me a while to return it. In the interim, I was charged $275 for the equipment. Complicating things, my online bank account was set to autopay any AT&T bill, so it did, prior to my returning the equipment. The bill was paid in full. That includes the $275. I then returned the equipment, as Dish acknowledges. Because I returned the equipment, that $275 charge should be removed, as Dish also acknowledges. Dish Network has said on multiple occasions that they have informed AT&T through their systems that I am owed the money. Dish has also said on multiple occasions that they have credited AT&T the $275 so they can pay me. AT&T has had repeated problems seeing that confirmation in their systems. This has happened multiple times since June.
I have been so disillusioned by this process that I have canceled my AT&T U-Verse service, which I actually enjoyed, and have moved all of my services -- TV, phone and Internet.
Matt Schulz
Austin, Texas
Well, Matt, it took a little while -- not as long as you've been dealing with this -- but I was assured today by AT&T that your $275 is finally on its way back to you.
"We apologize for this inconvenience," a spokeswoman for AT&T told the ConsumerAlly. "Thanks for flagging this with us so we could get it worked out."
That's good news -- sort of.
The state of customer service in America today is such that even if you're well-connected to someone in a call center in Bangalore you still can't get a simple solution to a simple problem. Here at the vortex of consumer complaint land you hear a lot of stories quite similar to Matt's.
Recently, I heard a story about someone trying to buy a gift card from Lane Bryant and getting caught in a seemingly never-ending tangle of people who made misstep after misstep until the situation finally landed in the corporate offices. After consistent blundering, Lane Bryant then did the right thing.
The executive who finally ended the cycle of mistakes realized that in order to erase the frustration over the situation and stop the potential loss of a customer (and the others who might be swayed by her story) he had to do something extra. So he had the gift card send by overnight mail and picked up the $200 tab and delivered a sincere-sounding apology.
Why was that the right thing to do? Look at the message that sends: The company acknowledged it was wrong and for the minimal investment of a $200 store credit bought a lot more in goodwill.
So, what AT&T did is better than what it could have done. Matt got back his money. But making a customer get lost for months in a sea of red tape should have been worth a bit more. Comp the guy a year's TV service and maybe he comes back as a customer and stops telling the story about the $275 he couldn't get back. Now he remains a lost customer still exasperated he had to go the extra mile and a half to get his due.
If you run into a situation like Matt did, involve a third party as soon as it becomes clear a satisfactory resolution is not going to be happening anytime soon. Either file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or contact your local or state consumer affairs office. Often, getting a mediator involved will escalate the situation high enough to bring resolution.
Or, if you're still confused about where to go for help, talk to us: "Help me WalletPop!"
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-28-2009 @ 10:22PM
Divr said...
Overpayed???????????????
Reply
9-29-2009 @ 7:31AM
highiron2003 said...
I have had to fight Companies that provide services to get corrections on bills that were more than necessary or expected.
It is my thought that Customer Service involves stacks of phone/computer menus followed by clueless overseas call center workers. Then completed by inept by design systems that cannot or will not allow a penny of anything to escape the all-consuming company piggy bank.
The second thing I think of items like Dish Network for example. It is way cheaper and faster for them to throw deluxe super duper services at your dish than it is to sit down and cut a check for 20 dollars or whatever. All it takes a few minutes at the computer that aims the programming at your house from space.
The third thing. Billing and auto drafts. I usually buy just the basics ahead of time. I keep several months worth of bills on hand in the credit union so that problems can be smoothed over. Once the money is gone it's gone.
The final thought. You can always fire a company. But to actually get them to stop services will take several calls. You will have to get absolutely heartless, deaf to their pleas and stomp the lip service apologies under boot as you do battle to fire one company and hire another.
Or you can cut off everything, put up a DTV box and revert to rotary telephone technology from the flea market to regain peace, quiet and more importantly; Prosperity.
Reply
9-29-2009 @ 5:16PM
Michael said...
This happened to me with Sprint wireless. After I closed my account in order to get my money back, I still got statements that my closed account had a credit.
I filed a complaint with the BBB, and then a few weeks later I got a check from Sprint and a reply from the BBB that when they talked to Sprint the issue was resolved and the complaint would be dropped.
Reply
12-20-2009 @ 7:19AM
Robert said...
It is nice that AT&T finally did the right thing and you are correct, it was only half right. They lost out on something much more valuable - Good Publicity. Some say that any publicity is good publicty, though I tend to disagree on that. Big companys have lost common sense. I have noticed that many customers describe their contacts with companys as Battles. I find it facinating that a consumer has to do battle with a company to purchase its product. I too have chosen to describe my problems with T-Mobile as a battle. I must have told three hundred people about it. I read their contract and decided to purchase a cell phone and service from T-Mobile. The contract stated that after three months T-Mobile would unlock the phone for free so that I could use it in other zones. The code they gave me never did work to unlock the phone. Motorola told me not to attempt it any more as the phone would freeze and be unusable. I could never get through at T-Mobile to anyone who could or wanted to help me. My calls were always routed to a specific manager who told me he had my account and there was no way that I would or could ever get around him. He told me that to me, he was God. He wanted me to pay for a new phone. I contacted my senator's office, but talk about a waste of time. They told me to stop calling them as they were very busy. I contacted the State AG of California and he sent me a letter saying that he had talked to this manager at T-Mobile about the problem and he was satisfied that T-Mobile had tried to help me by selling me another phone, but that I was just unwilling to accept their kind offer. I guess when you are only an average citizen without access to free tickets to sporting events or plane rides to the islands, the government is really no help at all. I then received a call from this manager and he told me again that I would never get around him and let me say if there was one cuss word that he missed in the next two minutes, I don't know what it was. I was speechless. I think I was in shock. Luckily, I wasn't driving at the time. Well, he was right about a couple of things. T-Mobile has designed their customer service in such a way, that it is very difficult to get around abusive employes. It is impossible for me to get T-Mobile to honor the contract and to give me a cell phone that is unlocked and that I can use overseas. I may even be half of those names that he called me, but I will not quite admit that this T-Mobile manager is God. Everyone should be very careful when purchasing cell phone service from T-Mobile.
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