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ramsaso
Premium Member
join:2014-01-04
Houston, TX
ARRIS SB6183

4 edits

4 recommendations

ramsaso

Premium Member

[General] There's now a discount on POTS/Telephone service

NOTICE: This is only for people who still have REGULAR PHONE SERVICE through AT&T and its subsidiaries. This does NOT apply to those who have U-Verse Voice/ AT&T Phone(VoIP).

So I was looking at the guidebooks on »cpr.att.com and I noticed that they are now trying to make POTS service cheaper (with the stated discount plus an additional $4 off) and this began from October 15, 2017 until January 15, 2018.

Complete Choice Enhanced Retention Trial Offer
Between October 15, 2017 and January 15, 2018, customers newly qualifying for the Complete
Choice Enhanced Retention Offer will receive the $8.00 bill credit, described above, for 12 months
plus an additional bill credit of $4.00 per month for 12 months (total monthly bill credit is $12.00) per
eligible line, on a maximum of two lines (a maximum monthly bill credit of $24.00). Beginning
January 16, 2018, the additional bill credit of $4.00 will no longer be available for customers newly
qualifying for the Complete Choice Enhanced Retention Offer. During the 12-month benefit period of
the trial offer, all other terms of the Complete Choice Enhanced Retention Offer apply.

$10 off for 12 Months Access Line Retention Trial Offer
Between October 15, 2017 and January 15, 2018, customers newly qualifying for the $6 for 12 Access
Line Retention Offer will receive the $6.00 bill credit, described above, for 12 months plus an additional
bill credit of $4.00 per month for 12 months (total monthly bill credit is $10.00) per eligible line, on a
maximum of two lines (a maximum monthly bill credit of $20.00). Beginning January 16, 2018, the
additional bill credit of $4.00 will no longer be available for customers newly qualifying for the $6 for 12
Access Line Retention Offer. During the 12-month benefit period of the trial offer, all other terms of the $6
for 12 Access Line Retention Offer apply.

If you have Complete Choice Enhanced, a POTS line with NO FEATURES whatsoever (such as unable to use pay-per-use three-way calling as in, once you hang up your receiver, the line will instantly return to a dial tone) or Complete Choice Basic, call up retentions and DON'T use any claims like
quote:
The telephone bill is too much! Please reduce the price a bit!
quote:
I don't have any cell phone (bullshit, the majority of Americans do) service but the price of home phone service is too much!
etc.

Just state to the CSR that you would like to check if any discounts are applicable to you and they will do it for you.
If they don't, thank them, hang up and call again until you get a discount on your bill.

Below is what Complete Choice is and how much it costs (Applicable to all customers in Bellsouth and pre-SBC merger territories)

What is Complete Choice Enhanced?
Basically, Complete Choice Enhanced (CCE) a package which includes a flat-rate phone line and includes these phone features stated below such as

- Calling Name and Number Delivery (Caller ID)
- 3-Way Calling
- Call Waiting
- Call Waiting ID
- Call Forwarding (*72/72#/72, number. If call doesn't answer, hang up and try again. You will get a stutter dial-tone, indicating that your calls are now forwarded)
- Call Screening (Selective Call Rejection)
- Speed Dial 8 (*74, any number from 2-9, then the number you want to put in as Speed Dial)
- Call Return (*69)
- Priority Ringing (may be named differently in other states)
- Selective Call forwarding
- Touch-Tone Calling Service

and as of 2017, costs $38 $40 before taxes and fees. With the $12 and $10 discount, the cost discount will offset the taxes and fees incurred by having a POTS line.

What is Complete Choice Basic?
Complete Choice Basic (CCB) is a stripped down version of CCE which only includes these features (and that flat rate phone line)

• Caller ID Name and Number
• Call Waiting

and costs $34 $36 (post December 2017) before taxes and fees. With the $10 discount, it will offset the taxes and fees.

A regular phone line costs $27 $28 and with the $10 discount, it will offset the taxes and fees.

Also, if you have the ALL DISTANCE package, which includes CCE plus Unlimited Long Distance provided by AT&T Long Distance, you could ask the representative for discounts on long distance too.

EDIT: People who have obsolete plans such as Select Feature Package are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to upgrade their service to Complete Choice Basic or Complete Choice Enhanced because I don't think that there is a discount applicable to those who have obsolete plans as well as taking advantages of phone features you could use on your service.

Also, AT&T is increasing rates again.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

2 recommendations

NormanS

MVM

Re: [General] There's now a discount on POTS service

said by ramsaso:

A regular phone line costs $27 and with the $10 discount, it will offset the taxes and fees

My POTS is only $10.00 a month; granted with another ~$10.00 a month in taxes and fees.
FlatWorld
join:2016-07-11
US

2 recommendations

FlatWorld to ramsaso

Member

to ramsaso
Thank you! I need to call. My POTS bill last month was $84. I have Complete Choice Enhannced + Voice Mail.
ramsaso
Premium Member
join:2014-01-04
Houston, TX
ARRIS SB6183

1 recommendation

ramsaso

Premium Member

Voicemail costs around $6-8 (speaking as someone who just recently subscribed to AT&T unified Messaging until the costs was unjustified; just bought myself a Dialogic analog card and connected my second line to the computer to pick up the line if I'm not available) so if VM is not used that much, you could keep the costs down too.
Whoozits
join:2014-01-15

2 edits

2 recommendations

Whoozits to ramsaso

Member

to ramsaso
Thanks for bringing this up - something really needs to be done. For whatever it's worth, I think the FCC may consider a formal complaint about service price to be a valid one; if you talk about this on the "tell us your story" link, they'll reply saying it's a valid thing to complain about. The executive customer service people that respond to this can definitely reduce your bill. The real question is whether or not they will.

That being said, I tried calling customer service to get the cost of the All Distance package reduced, and all they did was waffle on about Uverse.

If it comes down to it, maybe it'd be cheaper to get Complete Choice Enhanced, and unlimited long distance through a third party. For whatever it's worth, I think MCI will still do this, but only with resold local service: »consumer.mci.com/TheNeig ··· ault.jsp . Might be worth calling about. Centurylink also offers a third party long distance service, for whatever that's worth. Whether they'll offer unlimited to residences outside of their native footprint/for how much is certainly worth wondering about.

mackey
Premium Member
join:2007-08-20

1 recommendation

mackey to ramsaso

Premium Member

to ramsaso
said by ramsaso:

Call Forwarding (*72

FYI, around here the codes are 72# etc not *72. at&t Los Angeles.

cHarley
join:2013-07-10
Boynton Beach, FL
Motorola MB8600
(Software) pfSense

4 recommendations

cHarley to ramsaso

Member

to ramsaso
It works.
Just called and asked about the availability of a discount on my Complete Choice Enhanced plan. After some back and forth offering me bundle deals, he came back with this discount, although my discount was $8 + $7 (??). Dropped my $56 bill to $41 for 12 months.
FlatWorld
join:2016-07-11
US

1 recommendation

FlatWorld to ramsaso

Member

to ramsaso
What number do you guys calls for landline billing? I can only seem to get through to someone who wants me to switch over to VoIP.....
ramsaso
Premium Member
join:2014-01-04
Houston, TX

1 recommendation

ramsaso

Premium Member

Just the regular number : 1 800-288-2020.
FlatWorld
join:2016-07-11
US
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro
Ubiquiti U6-Enterprise
Alcatel-Lucent G-240G-A

3 recommendations

FlatWorld

Member

I was able to get in touch with someone finally after being transferred a few times. The U-VERSE department kept getting my call and tried to push me off to VoIP over Fiber. No, that’s not why I called...

Anyways. They were able to lower my bill to $60 a month for Complete Choice Enhannced, Long distance, and Voice Mail.

We actually use voicemail quite a bit so I decided to hang on to it.
ramsaso
Premium Member
join:2014-01-04
Houston, TX

2 recommendations

ramsaso

Premium Member

That's great! I'm glad that this guide actually helped someone reduce their payment to AT&T!
FlatWorld
join:2016-07-11
US

1 recommendation

FlatWorld

Member

Yes! I was paying over $80 before so thank you very much!!
Whoozits
join:2014-01-15

2 recommendations

Whoozits to ramsaso

Member

to ramsaso
So I spoke with MCI and Centurylink today. Unlimited long distance, including taxes and fees, would be roughly $35 a month. Depending on how much it costs for CCE, you might be paying roughly the same amount as the All Distance package, maybe slightly more or less. I'll try to do a little more digging when the executive customer service people call me back.
FlatWorld
join:2016-07-11
US

2 recommendations

FlatWorld

Member

That's quite a bit of money for long distance. I pay $15 a month for the All Distance package, and then I am now getting $8 off that $15.
Whoozits
join:2014-01-15

1 recommendation

Whoozits

Member

Yeah. The idea is if you're in my boat and they're refusing to give you an All Distance discount, but CCE discounts may still be an option, the expensive third party long distance option may actually save you a bit. Still waiting on the AT&T Executive response, though; it sounds like they're contacting people by postal mail instead of phone now, so this might take a while.
FlatWorld
join:2016-07-11
US
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro
Ubiquiti U6-Enterprise
Alcatel-Lucent G-240G-A

1 recommendation

FlatWorld

Member

said by Whoozits:

Yeah. The idea is if you're in my boat and they're refusing to give you an All Distance discount, but CCE discounts may still be an option, the expensive third party long distance option may actually save you a bit. Still waiting on the AT&T Executive response, though; it sounds like they're contacting people by postal mail instead of phone now, so this might take a while.

Do Dial-Around long distance codes still work? I wonder if they are even affordable or worth anything today lol.
Whoozits
join:2014-01-15

2 recommendations

Whoozits

Member

Yup; hence the carriers I talked to; they use the same Feature Group D trunks as you'd be using for the unlimited plans. The rates are kinda 1998-tastic without a subscription, but they're out there.

»www.1010987.com/rates_us.html
»1010321.com/
»www.startec.com/us/en/su ··· 0-10-719
»www.10-10-220.com/rate_d ··· tic.html
»www.excel.com/residentia ··· 811.aspx
Whoozits

4 recommendations

Whoozits to ramsaso

Member

to ramsaso
So I just got off the phone with AT&T. After raising the issue with the FCC, they added an $11/month discount for the next year, and a $20 credit "as a show of good faith", as they put it.
Prof_Tech
join:2007-06-30
Quincy, IL

2 recommendations

Prof_Tech to ramsaso

Member

to ramsaso
Thanks a ton for the tip! I'm in Illinois and the price for service just took another $2 bump due to the recent passing of a so-called "budget" in Illinois.

mt999999
join:2016-06-16
East Liverpool, OH

1 recommendation

mt999999 to Whoozits

Member

to Whoozits
Try TCI long distance. I found this company after a good bit of searching. They have no unlimited plan, but my rate is only $0.05/min with crazy cheap standard international rates. No bullshit $2.5 "access recovery fee" or whatever they call it. Only a $0.79 statement fee and maybe a buck of tax/surcharges. My standard usage bill is $5/mo.

»www.tcild.com/LongDistan ··· nce.aspx
mt999999

3 recommendations

mt999999 to ramsaso

Member

to ramsaso
I called in today to lower the POTS bill and got the $6 off... I was too slow for the $10 off, but the nice lady back-dated the credit for another billing cycle. Apparently there are other discounts such as free non-listing in the phone book or free voice mail that they can give, as applicable.
ramsaso
Premium Member
join:2014-01-04
Houston, TX

1 recommendation

ramsaso

Premium Member

Really? That's interesting, I should give them a call!

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA

3 recommendations

NormanS to Whoozits

MVM

to Whoozits
I pay $40 a month, plus taxes and fees, for voice service. No extra for long distance, no LD charges.

(Stupid format fail for quoted bill.)

mt999999
join:2016-06-16
East Liverpool, OH

2 recommendations

mt999999 to ramsaso

Member

to ramsaso
Probably all depends on the rep. I may have gotten lucky, rep told me she worked for the company for 16 years. I got to a "customer loyalty / retention" department in Chicago, IL.

Seems that the easiest way to get to a knowledgeable person is tell the initial automated system "I'd like to disconnect my account"... rather than arguing with the automated system about which department to get to, the automated system shuts up and transfers you. Lol
ramsaso
Premium Member
join:2014-01-04
Houston, TX
ARRIS SB6183

1 edit

3 recommendations

ramsaso

Premium Member

Note: If you have issues with your service, please call the repair center that is specific to your region.

•Most regions, excluding California, Nevada, and the Bellsouth states can call 1-800-246-8464 for repair service.
•California and Nevada: 611
•Bellsouth regions (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee): 1-877-737-2478

If you have AT&T Long Distance, the repair number is 1-800-580-6576. Press three once you get the IVR.

I hope this thread can be stickied so that people who have phone service with AT&T can save, even though this is only describing phone service, not internet.

I do know that if you have AT&T as your DSL provider, calling up retentions will get you an offer on $20 if you have 6/768k ADSL should your bill run high due to internet.

Also, Lifeline service will be discontinued sometimes in June or July.

mt999999
join:2016-06-16
East Liverpool, OH

1 recommendation

mt999999

Member

That DSL credit is good to know! Does anyone know the full DSL rate for line share after the $15/mo. promo falls off? I bet it's something scary, like $50/mo.

If I upgrade to complete choice basic from standard flat rate, do you know if the $6 and $8 credits are stackable? I don't even care about Call ID, but call waiting would be nice.

Also, does anyone know the technical details about the Complete Choice packages? As in, are they literally only basic POTS lines with discounted bundled features, or are they some kind of digital POTS phone line Frontier digital voice plans?

Thanks!
ramsaso
Premium Member
join:2014-01-04
Houston, TX
ARRIS SB6183

2 recommendations

ramsaso

Premium Member

I'll answer your questions in numerical format.

1. The full DSL rates exceed $50.

2. Yes, they are stackable. HOWEVER, in order to qualify for the $8 discount, you have to choose Complete Choice Enhanced because the Complete Choice Basic package is not eligible.

3. Complete Choice packages are just unlimited local calling, just with features that, by itself, would exceed $10. If I'm not mistaken, having Caller Name and Number ID is $10.99, looking in the guidebook last time.

CBLMorphis
join:2001-02-25
Riverside, CA

1 recommendation

CBLMorphis

Member

I cord cut because I was pay 74.00 Business and for me to drop to residential they said 40.00 before taxes. Got google voice free, and a cell phone for 30.00 a month vs their high prices.
ramsaso
Premium Member
join:2014-01-04
Houston, TX
ARRIS SB6183

1 edit

ramsaso

Premium Member

said by CBLMorphis:

I was pay 74.00 Business

Then why the hell did you pay business class service for a residential area user? That makes no sense whatsoever.
FlatWorld
join:2016-07-11
US

1 recommendation

FlatWorld to ramsaso

Member

to ramsaso

Re: [General] There's now a discount on POTS/Telephone service

Dang. My bill has been a consistent $75 for the last few months and they can’t seem to get it any lower.