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  • Report:  #57958

Complaint Review: Bell South - Miami Florida

Reported By:
- Hollywood, Florida,
Submitted:
Updated:

Bell South
Miami, FL Miami, 33021 Florida, U.S.A.
Web:
N/A
Categories:
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Mario *********

**** ******* Street

Hollywood, Florida

*******

Telephone **** ***********

April 26, 2003

To Whom It May Concern:

Subject: CONSUMER RIPOFF

The purpose of this letter is to make you, (THE UTILITY COMPANY WHO PROVIDE THE NEEDED SERVICES TO CONSUMERS) aware that I, the undersigned, am actively conducting a campaign to assure that companies such as yours that do business in the State of Florida stop with the regular unethical practices of Consumer Rip-offs that have become a very big, elaborated, and industrialized (Rip-Off Industry) business in the State of Florida.

This letter, with the audio evidence that have been obtained shall serve as the catalyst that, I hope, will serve to suspend such unethical practices, as explained below. This letter shall also be forwarded to the two State Senators of this State as well as every State Representative.

I have already gathered several signatures from consumers who fall within the herewith mentioned and hope that with enough signatures, our legislators will make the necessary efforts to correct these ills by coming up with a workable and effective legislative change that will benefit all of the concerned while allowing the providers of services to conduct business in a correct manner. Currently, I am at the planning stage to generate funds in order to have the allegations published in the local newspapers.

It has become a very frustrating experience for me to simply resign myself to paying for a multitude of non-existent surcharges or for services that have never been rendered. Companies: small and large, well known and unknown, who emerge each day in our communities, utility companies that provide telecommunication services such as Supra Telecom, Excell Telecommunication, US Sprint, MCI, AT&T, Bell South to name a few. Cable Companies such as Dish Network and Direct TV, Wireless Companies, etchave learned the most basic aspect of the trade in how to take advantage of the unaware and the unable consumers. By this, I mean to say that most consumers do not pay attention to their monthly bills because those bills have become much too difficult to decipher that it would take a PhD in bill reading to understand what is considered today to be the most basic monthly bill. To the average consumer, the difficulty in bill reading results in the most viable option, which is to pay the amount due, the only understandable part in the billing statement.

Consumers file complaints only when the billing errors become too excessive or humongous and they are unable to meet the due charges that are coupled to a multiple of unknown surcharges and more taxes than anyone can imagine. Those errors, that always seem to benefit the utility company, may, in some rare cases, result in a credit being applied on the clients accounts, only to reappear in an inconspicuous amount on the next monthly bill.

The utility companies who make those very large excess profits in error never seem to have problems spending large sums of money for the expansion of their customer service base because whether they receive the thousands of daily calls for sign ups, disputes or account cancellations, they make money. They will not rectify their errors unless it can be blatantly shown. While the overwhelming majority of us believe that the large and seemingly reputable companies such as Bell South or AT&T should be trustworthy and many of us never really take a close look at our monthly bills.

A closer look at those bills will reveal that those same companies are the biggest of all thieves. In addition, we sometimes hear of the large fines that are imposed on these large companies If They Are Caught Doing The Nasty To Us, The Consumers. The (Millions Of Dollars) in penalties seem humongous to the average person because we all tend to compare those very large amounts in penalties and fines to our own individual financial picture. This is exactly where the average consumer gets fooled and screwed. We think the large corporation just got burned when in fact the buck only gets passed to us, the consumer, on the long run.

A reality check will reveal that on each such occasion, the benefits to those large corporations have always out weighted the risks. Any well sensed person will agree that while it may be unethical and perhaps bad business practice to steal but it, nevertheless, makes good business sense to risk spending a few millions for the expansion of an already large customer service base, risk paying a few millions in penalties and fines when ever the authorities decide to catch you while the returns my be in the billions.

After all, if those fines had a real impact on the violators, dont you think they would have already stopped with their thieveries? How many times have any of us been arrested for failing to pay traffic citation within the allotted time frame, it may happen only once?

MY OWN EXPERIENCE:

Supra Telecommunication: I was a client of Supra Telecommunication for a five-year period during which time my monthly bill averaged $32.00. The good service I was receiving from supra at that time prompted me to refer my many friends and family members. All was fine until, Supra decided and began to bill me exorbitant amounts, which the company could not justify. I later realized that The reason for overcharges may have been the accumulation of funds to pay for their legal battle with Bell South and they were passing the buck to their clients. Despite the numerous and lengthy calls made to Supra Telecommunication Customer Service Department, each time, I was told in a threatening manner to pay the bill or to have my phone turned off. The overcharges could not be justified.

I opted for the latter and had my telephone service switched to Bell South. I later discovered the people I had referred to Supra were experiencing the same problem as myself and had already switched to another phone company.

Bell South: I later decided to switch to Bell South and was given a deal that was not supposed to exceed $62.00 per month with all surcharges and taxes included. I expected the first bill to be much higher because of the usual first time surcharges such as connection and other first time fees. The first bill of $98.20 was paid. The second billing period amounted to $85.00 at which point, I called for an inquiry of the bill. Customer Service was advised that the conversation would be recorded because they too were recording it on their end as well (for quality purpose, yeah, right).

The representative agreed to the recording. To make a long story short, he stated that a previous customer representative I had spoken with at an earlier date could not have told me what the taxes would be because tax rates change every time I receive a bill and all of the other charges shown on the bill are regulated charges. I have it all on audiotape. A few weeks later, I began to look for telephone service from other telecommunication companies.

Excell Telecommunication: I signed up with Excell Telecommunication on January 28, 2003 for the complete package, which includes unlimited domestic long distance for the billing cycle. Cost per month, $49.00. Again, as expected, the first bill came to $85.00. I paid it. The second bill totaled $74.00. Again, the amount shown on this second bill prompted me to call Excell Telecommunication Customer Service to inquire about this 33% increase of the package.

Again, they were made aware that the conversation would be taped and it was. To make a long story short, the Customer Rep attempted to explain, but ended up getting lost in his own undecipherable explanation. One of my analogies to him was If buying a car for $20.000.00 and the surcharges and taxes brought up the price to $30,000.00, would you buy it? He was made aware that is exactly what the 33% surcharges ($49.00 to $74.00) shown on his bill represents.

He agreed with me. I then opted for the cheapest package that they had available and was told that the basic package would cost $29.00/Month and would not be over $42.00 with all surcharges and taxes included. Since I had already paid for the previous billing period in full, I was told that the only charges that should show on my next bill would probably include long distance charges made during the current already paid billing period. The long distance charges would be extra at $0.07/min. However, my very next bill from Excell Telecommunication came to $161.00.

With the usual method that had to be employed whenever tape recording a two party conversation, I proceeded with my inquiry. Again, the customer representative attempted to explain the contents of the bill but could not make sense out of his own explanation and finally told me to pay $124.00. According to him, this latest amount was based on the billing departments calculation. Not satisfied, I later called and demanded to speak with a supervisor who later told me that his calculation came to $156.00 and not $161.00 as shown on the bill.

My analogy to the supervisor was the following: Number is an exact science, I told him, how can you come up with a different number each time I speak with a different person? The supervisor was then advised to turn the telephone service off at the end of this billing cycle:(May 6, 2003).

He was also advised that this bill will not be paid until such time the amount is corrected. Attached is a copy of their latest bill showing several partial monthly charges and numerous credits, surcharges and taxes, which I could not decipher?

THE ICING ON THE CAKE: On my second billing period with Excell, I received a bill from Bell South for $65.00 for the period of January 28th through February 27th. Before calling Bell south, I called Excell to again, verify the exact date for service connection and it was verified as January 28, 2003.

The call to Bell South Customer Service Representative resulted with the usual bold expletive threat to pay for the period of January 28th until February 27 because my service was still on at the time I was disputing. I told her that prior to calling her I verified my connection date with Excell to be January 28th.

In addition, I also told her that I have the conversation with Excell on Tape as I have the current conversation with her and I would be glad to allow her to hear it in addition to putting her on line with the Excell Customer Service Representative on the three-way line, after which her reply took a complete 180 degree turn with the following response: Sir, I just realized that it was an error on our part and it, in fact shows that you were disconnected on January 27th.

Again, I apologize, it shall be cleared, you were right, your service was disconnected on the date you have mentioned. The reading of this part would not be a gratification to the reader; one would have to listen to the actual conversation on audiotape to realize that the customer service representative felt that she was caught with her panties down.

As stated earlier, those large corporations have no problem spending millions to expand their customer representative base because the Customer Representatives is a big money maker for them, These employees are being trained in Teletronic pick pocketing of the consumers. A good telephone conversation recorder will show irrefutable proof of this while it is also an excellent weapon against such fraud.

Dish Network & Direct TV: These two companies use the same and very unique BAIT & SWITCH methods to lure potential clients: currently, as of 05/01/2003 they have a promotional ad going for $39.00 per month with access to a zillion channels. Without a doubt, this $39.00 amount will be metamorphosized to three times the advertised amount in the first bill and a much higher than normal bill in subsequent billing cycles.

Several clients and former clients that I have spoken with have had the same experience with each of the above mentioned satellite companies and the interesting part is that they both use the same collection with the purpose of destroying consumer credit if clients attempts to dispute an erroneous amount shown on a bill. (I Guarantee You That A Collection Charge Off Will Be Promptly Shown On Your Credit Report ASAP) for failing to pay the amount in dispute. Regardless how long it takes, this amount will have to be paid. These two companies rely on the fact that a hardball client has the only option: to pay sooner or later if he/she has a need to apply for credit in the future. With Dish Network and Direct TV, once the client calls to dispute the bill, these two company will not contact you again, they will simply submit your data (Social Security Number and other Pertinent Data) to their collection agency who then destroys your credit rating completely until such time that the bill is paid in full.

MODUS OPERANDI OF DISH NETWORK AND DIRECT TV: When an agreement is entered with any of these two companies agreements are generally done verbally over the telephone, of Course the only information those companies are interested in obtaining is your social security number, name and address and sometimes bank account number. The verbally agreed monthly fees are only (For Talks Sake and Socializing only) and have no bearing whatsoever on the verbal contract. This is why, in one specific case, three different customer service representatives hung up on me when they were told that the conversation would be recorded on my end as well.

Finally, when not advised of tape recording the conversation, the client agreed to pay $52.00 per month for satellite service. At the end of six weeks, he was billed $190.00. This bill supposedly included two months of prepaid service.

According to a different customer rep, We Do Not Charge A Security Deposit And This Is Why We Have To Charge Our Clients Two Months In Advance In addition, the customer rep also advised the client that the rate mentioned does not exist and the customer rep could not have given the rate he was referring to. This was news to the client because not only was the rate confirmed, the additional two months in advance payment was never disclosed to or discussed with the client, much less agreed upon that the account would be handled in such manner.

THE GAME: The overwhelming majority of consumers are no longer being (Nickled and Dimed to death, They Are Now Being Dollarized To Death). Imagine how many Americans have no access to telephone service because they cannot meet the above requirements for paying the unjust and over inflated amounts as explained above. The game that is being played with consumers finances goes something like this;

1- The utility company advertisement attracts the prospecting clients because it promises premium service for a low monthly rate. The unsuspecting client is attracted and decides to get into contract per advertised clause with the utility company.

2-Unsuspecting clients enter into verbal contract with the utility company, in good faith and usually by phone based on the advertisement clauses.

3-The unsuspecting clients disclose personal and sensitive information to the utility company: information such as Social Security Number, Place of Employment, Bank Account Number, etc

4-The utility company is now armed with information that can do some serious damage to the clients financial status. The company now has the edge on any and all clients and can do what ever it wants, including violation of the verbally agreed upon contract. This is called (Bait & Switch). Supposed to be unethical and illegal business practice, but never enforced by the authorities.

5- The utility company bills the clients an over inflated amount on the first monthly bill and all future subsequent bills.

6- One of the clients calls the utility company to dispute the erroneous amount shown on his/her bill. The utility company, although not able to justify the bill, insist that the client pay the indicated amount or have the service terminated and the amount placed in collection.

7- The client continues to dispute the bill. His service is now terminated and after a few weeks, all of his sensitive data is forwarded to an in-house collection agency for processing.

8- The in-house collection agency, armed with the clients social security number and other personal data promptly notes a delinquent and negative report on the clients credit report. Client who had a good credit rating is no longer able to buy a roll of toilet paper on credit because he is now considered to be a bad credit risk.

9- As a result of not being able to obtain any credit or credit at a very high interest rate, the client now decides to pay off the collection as the best course of action. However, the negative notation on the clients credit report remains as a sign to other lenders that this client is not really a bad credit risk, but a belligerent b***h that refuses to abide to the norms of being screwed out of his/her money. This is a good signal to all lenders who use this information to charge all like prospective clients a much higher interest rate. (Normal rate is %7 but this hardball b***h will only qualify for 14%).

10- The bottom line is: We all know that all cops, good or bad, look out for each other. A cop is never wrong regardless of the vile acts he may have committed. This is called the CODE OF BLUE. Likewise, the same codified rules also applies to Doctors, Lawyers, Lenders or nay other profession. They all lookout for each other and have learned through time how to read between the lines. In this case, the lenders know that you are not really a bad credit risk, but an s****.>


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