ninjatutle
Premium
join:2006-01-02
San Ramon, CA
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| hmmm
The rumor mill still turns...Whatever happened to the ATT Wireless data caps that were reported here?
»'Unlimited' AT&T Wireless Data Plans About To Be Capped? |
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NicoleDiana
Unexpected
Premium
join:2003-10-10
Lake Park, GA
clubs: 
 ·Mediacom
| Really?
I cannot say that I'm surprised by this. I've long abandoned "in person" dealings when possible, as I wound up paying more to do so (Mediacom, AT&T/Cingular, etc.) This goes for purchases, account activation, payments and pretty much everything else.
I pay bills online but if there is a disputed charge, I phone in. So now what? I'll have to call to get the bill corrected and then go online to pay it to avoid a charge eventhough I was already on the phone with a rep?
Gotta love it. This is exactly why the employees (and business owner) here have already left AT&T. Our business is pulling the plug at the end of this quarter.
Sayonara AT&T.
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I would like to change the world but nobody will give me the source code. |
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rcdailey
Dragoonfly
Premium
join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA
| AT&T: Human Contact Costs Extra
I pay my bill electronically via my bank. My mother still pays hers by mail, and probably couldn't figure out how to pay it over the phone. Of course it's more expensive to provide a live contact person than an automated system. That's always been true. So why is it only now that they are deciding to charge for the service? Maybe because the cost of fuel is going up?
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No one is always right or always wrong, unfortunately. |
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Doug135
join:2008-01-12
Laredo, TX
clubs:
 ·AT&T Southwest
| This doesn't...
..surpirse me at all. Should of figured AT&T was going to do this. I'm surpised they didn't implement it when they merged with SBC. I'm just waiting for the other charges like paying in person or by mail like comcrap and just leaving only internet pay available. |
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MyDogHsFleas
Premium
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX
 ·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Southwest
| I'm actually all for this
If you take off your "greedy evil corporations" blinders and actually break it down, it makes sense for people like us.
If you're like me, you almost always do routine transactions over the Web. And, the service provider saves money on transactions like this, because they don't have to pay for the human in the loop (who simply inputs what I tell them on the phone into the same system, after all).
If the service provider rolls the cost of human customer service evenly across all their subscribers, then I am paying extra for those subscribers who aren't like me.
Therefore, AT&T charging extra for paying your bill by phone actually benefits me by keeping my subscriber price down. |
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JSRoman
Premium
join:2005-03-10
Callahan, FL
| Lather,Rinse,Repeat
If the company provides you a fee-free alternative to paying in person then what is all the crying about.
Free alternatives-
Company website
Company IVR
Mail
Your bank's online billpay area
I'll help grandma pack her bags! 
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»www.seabee.navy.mil |
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jtudor
Xm 60's On 6 Freak
Premium,MVM
join:2002-12-07
Morganton, NC
| AT&T Charges for everything - nothing new there!
AT&T's policy of charging for everything is why I took my long distance service away from them about 4 years ago. They were charging a fee for everything including a fee for having the LD service billed to me by BellSouth.
The last straw was when my Long distance service for one month cost me $17.95 in fees and I made NO (0) long distance calls that month.
What a rip off, $18 just for the privilege to dial long distance!
AT&T is evil!
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Best of luck
"Do, or Do not, there is no try!" Yoda
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msuguy71
join:2005-07-10
Haslett, MI | only saving their profits...
The problem with this is that even though they implement this to "save money" and prevent passing higher fees off to their customers, they raise their prices anyway. |
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MyDogHsFleas
Premium
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to NicoleDiana
Re: Really?
said by NicoleDiana  :I pay bills online but if there is a disputed charge, I phone in. So now what? I'll have to call to get the bill corrected and then go online to pay it to avoid a charge eventhough I was already on the phone with a rep? No, they will credit you on your next bill. You don't have to pay over the phone to dispute a charge. I've done this myself.
I am careful to make a note of the date, time, person, person's phone/extension, and what credit they promised, because sometimes it doesn't show up on the next bill. Then you just have to call again.
And, sometimes, oops, you get double credits that way! I retain these as inconvenience fees for making me call twice. |
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Dydion
join:2001-03-07
Baton Rouge, LA | Want to cut costs, AT&T?
Then quit making your management multi-millionaires!!!
Another sellout of America by an American company. |
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MyDogHsFleas
Premium
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to JSRoman
Re: Lather,Rinse,Repeat
said by JSRoman :If the company provides you a fee-free alternative to paying in person then what is all the crying about. Free alternatives- Company website Company IVR Mail Your bank's online billpay area Actually the easiest is autopay from your checking account (or credit card). You just give AT&T your account info and authorize it, and your bill is automagically paid on the due date. Easy as pie. This how I pay all my bills. |
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rcdailey
Dragoonfly
Premium
join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA
| reply to MyDogHsFleas
Re: I'm actually all for this
Of course this is the same reasoning used by banks way back when they introduced ATMs. They said it was going to save money, but some analyses showed that it did not really save money because of the cost of servicing and maintaining the equipment. On-line billing is different, of course, since there is not much additional hardware involved as with a host of ATMs. Nevertheless, one consequence is fewer live persons to handle customers. The banks reduced the number of tellers and this has led to longer lines inside the banks when customers really needed (or thought they needed) to handle transactions in person. I've had this happen when I found that an ATM could not accept my deposit because the check could not be read by the scanner. This necessitated a drive to a branch office and then more fooling around. Automated systems don't always make things easier, and may not save as much money as the company estimates. |
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Authority
Obama Biden '12
join:2000-03-29
Beverly Hills, CA
·AT&T Yahoo
 ·Packet8
·magicjack.com
| reply to NicoleDiana
Re: Really?
I rarely need to talk to a live person, but for the few times I do I'd happily pay to speak to someone in the US. I hate out sourced third world support to India, Canada, Philippines, etc. Who can understand those people?
--
Installing OS X on PC hardware is not a "illegal"! |
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Austinloop
join:2001-08-19
Austin, TX | Another rumor
How is this a news article? This is a rumor started by an unnamed (alleged) AT&T employee. How can we call it news without substantiation??? |
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supergirl
join:2007-03-20
Pensacola, FL
·Cox VOIP
·Skype
·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southeast
·magicjack.com
| reply to ninjatutle
Re: hmmm
Cox charges $4.95 here for paying over the phone.
Honestly, I wouldn't give payment information to somebody in India.
--
Saving the world keeps me busy. However, I find Earth very primitive from my home planet of Krypton.
-Supergirl |
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goalieskates
join:2004-09-12
Knoxville, TN | Another reason we'll never go back to AT&T
(or Comcast) |
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MyDogHsFleas
Premium
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to rcdailey
Re: I'm actually all for this
I agree that ATMs are more of a feature than a cost savings. I also agree that "on-line billing is different", companies with millions of subs (as AT&T has) save TONS of money by (a) not mailing out bills and (b) allowing online payment, keeping the human out of the loop (either phone or opening mail with a check in it).
Regarding your ATM not accepting your deposit because it couldn't scan your check... doesn't your ATM have an envelope deposit feature? I thought they all did. I use this all the time. If I were in your situation I'd just mail it in rather than wasting time and money driving to the bank. Or, I'd open a free checking account at a bank that had a branch very near me, so I wouldn't have to go out of my way to deposit checks.
PS -- I hate checks. Aren't they a pain? My mother-in-law lives in our town now and she insists on writing us little checks all the time when we shop for her. Then she freaks out if we don't deposit them right away because she can't deal with outstanding checks beyond one statement period. arrgh... (sorry for the diversionary rant) |
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trebzon
join:2001-09-03
Grandville, MI | reply to Authority
Re: Really?
Yes. Those crazy Canadians are so hard to understand. |
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LowRider
join:2006-06-23
Dallas, GA | English Speaking?
could this mean english speaking people? if i'm paying i want English speaking people |
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jt44
@comcast.net
 from:
Cabal
| reply to Doug135
Re: This doesn't...
comcast does not charge to make payments my mail. next time get your facts straigh. poeple like you are spreading stuff around that are not true. comcast charges to make payments over the phone with a live person or at the cable store. you can pay your bill for free by mail,auto pay,through you bank,website, and their phone system allow you to make payment without getting a live person on the phone. |
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