AT&T Rate Rant by dreamtrove

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AT&T Rate Rant

POSTED BY: DREAMTROVE
UPDATED: Friday, May 13, 2011 19:19
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Friday, May 13, 2011 6:51 AM

I recently had to call a number which turns out to be across the border in Canada, which does not require a country code. Essentially, this was for me to listen to a sales pitch. For this, AT&T charged $1.33 per minute plus a another $0.20 a minute or more, unknown "connectivity charge." After four calls, the end of the deal was no deal, but AT&T charged me $700 for the calls.

I searched and I could not find this absurd rate charge anywhere on AT&T's website. The most I could find was $0.05 per minute with a calling plan, or $0.08 per minute. I called and AT&T's customer service rep confirmed that the information was not available, and that there was no way to know the rate that you would pay.

Consider in this modern age the concept. This is not even a cell phone call, it's land-line to land-line. The end of my debating with the phone company was a $200 reduction in my bill, which is not enough to prevent me from writing this story.

Warning: According to what I just heard from my AT&T Rep: An account with AT&T is an open ended liability. They just said so themselves. If you open an account with them, or have one, there is no way to avoid unlimited liability. Avoid at all costs.

Other reasons to avoid AT&T:

Some more information to add to the story: Anyone can look this up, but AT&T is a bogus company based on a bogus patent claim. The patent that the company is filed under is not actually a workable device. The telephone was invented by Gray and Barton of Western Electric. Bell actually bought their silence by subcontracting to them for the govt. contracts that they received, but the reality is that Bell was forced to do that because they had no idea how to make a telephone.

Additionally, while I've found trying to deal with Verizon much like beating my head against the wall, and I think Verizon is still charging me for the account they failed to set up. I can however aver to the poor service of AT&T on cellular data.

Also, both AT&T and Verizon record your web browsing history and submit it to Homeland Security.

If anyone can recommend a telephone service that actually has some concept of customer service, please post it here. Some people have recommended foreign services, I don't know how to do that. Otherwise I'm recommending avoiding such services.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Friday, May 13, 2011 7:15 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by dreamtrove:

If anyone can recommend a telephone service that actually has some concept of customer service, please post it here. Some people have recommended foreign services, I don't know how to do that. Otherwise I'm recommending avoiding such services.

I use Google Voice. While it has no customer service, at all, it has a great price: http://voice.google.com/ Free calls & text messages to the U.S. & Canada. Use a single number that rings you anywhere, regardless of which phone or carrier you have - for free.

www.pcworld.com/article/167424/google_voice_5_reasons_to_use_it_5_reas
ons_to_think_twice.html

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity", where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Friday, May 13, 2011 9:24 AM

DREAMTROVE

Can people call to your google voice?

I've used skype but it's patchy, even on wifi.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Friday, May 13, 2011 9:51 AM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

Quote:
Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Can people call to your google voice?

I've used skype but it's patchy, even on wifi.

They can call you, you can call them.

It may not seem obvious, but you do NOT need to use a computer to make a Google Voice phone call. All you need is anybody's phone and your personal Google phone number and password. You don't even need the password if you're calling from your home phone, cell phone, work phone. Dial your personal google phone number, wait for an answer, dial the person you want to talk to in Canada. The operator will say, "This is a free phone call."

You get to pick your own personal google phone number from the list of available numbers in a specific area code. Google says about area code availability -
"Our goal is to offer numbers from nearly every area code in the U.S. We're expanding this footprint frequently, so if your area code is currently unavailable, please check the Google Voice site for updates." www.google.com/support/voice/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=115066

There's more information www.google.com/support/voice/
Videos

The Joss Whedon script for "Serenity," where Wash lives, is
Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/two

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Friday, May 13, 2011 1:23 PM

SIMONWHO

I'm afraid my sympathy for you evaporated when you chose the word "rape" to describe your overbilling.

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Friday, May 13, 2011 6:01 PM

MYOWNKNIGHT

likewise. phone companies suck. its nothing new.

"I don't wanna rain on your crazy parade, buddy. But I don't think we can fix this thing."

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Friday, May 13, 2011 7:19 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

Look into Credo Mobile if you like. They might be a bit "socialist" for your tastes, though.

Oh, wait - they do contracts. You'll likely be forced into "burner" phones, then. No contracts, pay as you go, etc. Maybe Cricket? I think I remember them not having contracts...

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