Wednesday, November 16, 2005

The joys of the phone tree hierarchy...

Cingular, due to the fact that they bought AT&T, and didn't inform us that our account number and payment address had switched, owed us about $140 in overpayments. (We made two payments to the old account, and then had to make them again to the new account to not get our phone turned off.)

So every month, we would get two bills - one that showed the current balance, one from the old account with the credit balance.

In August, Randall spent three hours on the phone getting the run around. We wanted them to transfer the money to our new account. Shouldn't be that tough, right? They can't do that. They can only cut us a check. Should take four to six weeks.

In September, Randall spent another three hours on the phone. We want them to cut us a check. They can't do that. They can only transfer it to the new account. Should take four to six weeks.

In November, I spent three hours on the phone. They can't cut us a check or transfer the money. We first have to prove that we actually paid the money. Never mind that they have an account showing the credit balance, and the two deposits with dates and amounts down to the last penny show on the account. They don't believe they actually owe us money until we prove that they do.

Well, we finally faxed them our bank records, and they graciously allowed that yes, indeed, it seems they owe us the money. The check came today. And it only took four months and 10 hours of our lives. Good grief. Small wonder Cingular gets an F from the Better Business Bureau.

posted by Birgit
1 comments at 3:44 PM