We're paying TMO by direct withdrawal from our checking account. It's never been a problem--at least so far.

Of all the cell phone and Internet service providers in the market I dislike the thing that calls itself "AT&T," these days, the most. It ain't even close.

I've dealt with all three: TMO, Verizon Wireless, and "AT&T." (And Sprint, at one time.) Also several other long-haul and local TelCom and Internet service providers over the years. The thing that now calls itself "AT&T" was far-and-away my worst experiences, bar none.

The original AT&T, the real AT&T, OTOH, was a delight to work with.

Being as I'm single and don't have a family plan, I've found the prepaid phones from box stores to suit my needs and usage as well as anything for about half what the Verizon store wanted the one and only time I talked to them. $110/month including a discount from my employer vs the $48 including tax I pay now didn't even make it a decision.
Sounds like I should be thankful AT&T doesn't work for cellular devices in my area.

Yes T-Mobile is eliminating the $15 monthly discount if you stay with a CC for payment.

You don't have to give them anything but your CC, you can pay by CC, you'll just lose the discount.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
The one from AT&T that really burns me up is the $1.99 “ Wireless Administration Fee” that they charge EVERY phone on the plan EVERY month. They’ve got to be raking in hundreds of millions of dollars with this bullshit “fee” that is pure profit for them.

Another reason to despise AT&T.

Back when I was working, one of our auditors got a burr under his saddle and started scrutinizing the company’s AT&T bills.

They were charging our company (and presumably most other companies) $$ in various administrative and regulatory fees. We got on the phone with AT&T and he asked what the fees were. You would not believe the lies and prevarications they spewed. After a couple of calls, we’d gone around in circles and got nowhere.

The auditor wanted to sue to recover the fees. But AT&T was also a big customer of one of our company’s subsidiaries, so I knew that was never going to happen.

I pay TMO direct with a debit card. I've not heard of any changes in policy to date.

I don’t get the concern with giving them your routing and account number. You do so anyway every time you write a check.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:

I don’t get the concern with giving them your routing and account number. You do so anyway every time you write a check.

They don't get that information if you "write" the check using online bill pay.

It's not so much giving them the routing and account numbers that is the issue. It's the permission to reach into your account every month and pull out your money from it that is distasteful to most people. If there's a mistake on your bill, they're going to reach in and take your money anyway. Because you said they could.

quote:

If there's a mistake on your bill, they're going to reach in and take your money anyway. Because you said they could.

Exactly!

And the hits just keep coming. Was notified today the price is going up $2.50 a line

quote:

Originally posted by Tn226:
And the hits just keep coming. Was notified today the price is going up $2.50 a line

Yup, was about to post the same thing. Fuckers. After paying off the stupid phones, I'm looking elsewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

If there's a mistake on your bill, they're going to reach in and take your money anyway. Because you said they could.

Exactly!

Exactly +1.

AT&T is criminal.

Several years ago, I received a text message from a company that sends a "Joke of the Day". All I did was read the text message. I didn't click on anything. Just by READING the text message, I was immediately billed $9.95 and $9.95 monthly. When I called at&t, I told them to remove the charge and the monthly $9.95 recurring payment or I would cancel my service. I mentioned what had happened to some co-workers and they found the same charges on their bills.


Some time later, I see where they were sued for partnering with the company behind the scheme and fined by the FTC. At&t returned $60 million to consumers but I'm sure they made a lot more than that.

Whenever you sign a contract with at&t, you agree to use an arbitrator of their choosing for any disputes. They can get away with almost anything.

I’m also a long time AT&T customer and about to start looking a my options.
Anyone have Cricket? They use the AT&T system and you pay in advance each month but they claim to have a much better price.

I just switched from AT&T to T-Mobile on Monday.
Our phones were too old for trade-in, but even with the monthly payment purchase plan on two iPhone 14 models, my bill is less than it was with AT&T.

The $10 a month discount per phone did not allow using a credit card for auto pay. I was not giving them my bank account.

quote:

Originally posted by Jupiter:
AT&T is criminal.

Several years ago, I received a text message from a company that sends a "Joke of the Day". All I did was read the text message. I didn't click on anything. Just by READING the text message, I was immediately billed $9.95 and $9.95 monthly. When I called at&t, I told them to remove the charge and the monthly $9.95 recurring payment or I would cancel my service. I mentioned what had happened to some co-workers and they found the same charges on their bills.

Ah, yes: The ol' "third-party services provider" scam. Yet Another Reason for me to detest the thing that calls itself "AT&T" these days.

I think that, at the time these incidents happened, the thing that now calls itself "AT&T" was still SBC. One day I'm reviewing the TelCom bills and see a new charge from some random company. Call SBC. They explain what it is and I'd have to take it up with the service provider. Call them. They insisted my company had ordered the service.

It took me a while to track down, but, I finally got to the bottom of it. These scam artists had sent us a check for $10. The fine print on the check said "If you cash or deposit this, you're signing up for..." Well, the check had landed in the Accounts Receivable Dept., it was money, so they deposited it.

I got the service cancelled. I made sure the AR Dept. wouldn't process mystery checks anymore.

Nonetheless, I still had services we'd never ordered show up on the bill. Finally, I'd had enough. Called SBC. They claimed there was nothing they could do about it. Escalated until I got somebody with two neurons to rub together. (No mean feat at SBC.) Like the others: Insisted there was nothing they could do about it. Told them "If you don't make this stop, here's what's gonna happen: Going forward I will approve the portion of the bill relating to services for which we genuinely contracted with SBC. The remainder will not be paid. If you take action that dings our Corporate credit rating, I've been assured by our CFO we'll see you in Court. Your choice."

The problem stopped.

Imagine that.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
I’m also a long time AT&T customer and about to start looking a my options.
Anyone have Cricket? They use the AT&T system and you pay in advance each month but they claim to have a much better price.

Yes, we switched from AT&T to Cricket about 4 years ago. Our bill went from $300+ to $110/mo. This is for 4 phones, unlimited phone/text/data, and a hot spot on one phone.

Our service has been impeccable (they use the AT&T towers) and the folks at Cricket are a delight to work with.

You do have to agree to automatic ACH, and so far, the only negative is if you travel outside the US. They can't provide service everywhere like AT&T and my guess is they don't have a lease arrangement for the towers outside of the U.S.