Reviews:
 ·Callcentric
 ·Comcast
| charged 90 bucks for less then 2 minute job! I had no dial tone, a while back ago, just signed up with att in october and already they have disappointed me. Apparently my billing date was the tenth according to the person I talked with on the phone, and the out of control bill was because of a 90 dollar charge for a less then 2 minute job. Still no billing statement available as of right now. Between 30 and 40 bucks would of been acceptable. But 90? No way! My advice is, don't call repair service, figure it out on your own or just cancel the service! |
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| I can understand your frustration with having to pay $90 for two minutes of work. However, the way it turns out is that you are not really paying for two minutes of work, but rather paying for the expertise that the repair technician has which makes it possible for him to do the job in two minutes and you are also paying for all the overhead that is involved in getting the technician to your residence such as paying the person that scheduled the appointment, maintaining the system that schedules the appointments, paying the mechanic that maintains the technicians truck, paying for gas for the truck and so on. |
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| I wish I would have been warned, now I will probably cancel the service in order to pay for it, as it is a huge budget buster. |
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 NormanSPremium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
kudos:9
 ·SONIC.NET
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| said by nonamesleft:I wish I would have been warned, now I will probably cancel the service in order to pay for it, as it is a huge budget buster.
I assume you did not accept the wire maintenance plan.
Hmmm. I have to get back to that other thread where the poster mentions plumbing. Meanwhile, how much are you willing to pa a plumber to work on leaky pipes?
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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Reviews:
·Callcentric
·Comcast
| said by NormanS:said by nonamesleft:I wish I would have been warned, now I will probably cancel the service in order to pay for it, as it is a huge budget buster.
I assume you did not accept the wire maintenance plan. Hmmm. I have to get back to that other thread where the poster mentions plumbing. Meanwhile, how much are you willing to pa a plumber to work on leaky pipes? So your telling me this stupid wire maintenance plan that would cost me how much more every month would of saved me how much? |
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| According to Illinois Citizen's Utility Board(CUB), probably not as here is their position:
4. Ask yourself: Do I need Inside Wire Maintenance?
Inside Wire Maintenance (called Line-Backer by AT&T) is an optional phone company insurance plan, for up to $10 per month, that covers repairs to your home's INSIDE wires. However, most telephone problems are not caused by the inside wiring. There's a good chance you're better off skipping such plans. Your yearly savings over time will most likely be enough to cover any inside-wire repairs—if you ever need them done
»www.citizensutilityboard.org/ciT···eBy.html
However, it really is your personal preference on how you deal with sudden expenses. If you are able to put away a couple of bucks every month for something like your recent repair, you would probably be better off. However, some people would rather just have the money taken out of their phone bill every month and not have to worry about it should a repair arise. |
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Reviews:
·Insight Communic..
| reply to nonamesleft
Um, for starters, if you cancel, the charge will still be there.
Your not supposed to be charged 30 days after install, whole warranty on work deal.
Any charges there would of been, you would had to agree to BEFORE being charged.
Sounds like your issue was on the customer side of the NID, and thus billable. |
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NormanSPremium,MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
kudos:9 Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
·Pacific Bell - SBC
| reply to nonamesleft
said by nonamesleft:So your telling me this stupid wire maintenance plan that would cost me how much more every month would of saved me how much?
I was only making an observation. If the $90 repair was for inside wiring, hard to say what would have been saved. But, as rmarynowski  points out, premises wiring isn't always the source of problems; and the newer the premises, the less likely there will be problems.
OTOH, a poster in another thread beat me up about this "insurance racket" by pointing out that premises plumbing, like premises wiring, is not prone to failure. He points out the you don't usually find a "premises plumbing maintenance plan". Hence why I asked you how much you would pay to fix a problem with the premises plumbing?
As a fellow with technical expertise (I spent a few years doing component level board repair for Hewlett Packard), who can troubleshoot low voltage wiring, I can assure there are a very few (one relative, one former lover) people whose premises wiring I would fix for free. If I knew you fairly well, I'd do it for a meal, else I would charge you the going rate: 1/2 minimum charge, no matter if it took just two minutes. But you would still have come out ahead using my services, because even if I figured my rate at $90 an hour (I probably wouldn't go that high), the 1/2 hour minimum comes to $45 for a two minute fix.
They have to dispatch a truck to check at the demarc, but if they determine that the problem is in the premises wiring, they should warn you of the charge, and let you decide if you want them to do the work, want to do your own work, of try to find a certified low voltage electrician who will do it for less than their standard charge.
--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum |
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Reviews:
·Callcentric
·Comcast
1 edit | Funny thing is, I had put down a pipe maintenance plan, but decided against it. So yeah it is stupid, and nothing but a racket anyways.
Funny thing is that supposedly a wire was shorted out, it was disconnected and that was it, no other work was done!
The thing that really pisses me off, is the tech said there is usually no charge, so I think it was highway robbery with the 90 bucks. |
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Reviews:
·Callcentric
·Comcast
| reply to OSUGoose
said by OSUGoose:Um, for starters, if you cancel, the charge will still be there.
Your not supposed to be charged 30 days after install, whole warranty on work deal.
Any charges there would of been, you would had to agree to BEFORE being charged.
Sounds like your issue was on the customer side of the NID, and thus billable.
No really? The point of canceling, is getting the bill lowered enough to be payable, that way I don't have a month of service that I have to pay ahead for. |
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| reply to nonamesleft
What side of the NID was the wire "shorted out" |
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| reply to nonamesleft
Your not going to save as much as you think you will and AT&T will say you don't have to pay x, but if you don't pay the full amount they will tack a late charge on. Regardless AT&T will get you in the end. |
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| reply to OSUGoose
Ask them if they can break it up into payments for you.
Also, they should have let you know there will be a fee if the trouble was on yourside of the Network Interface Device.
Thats why they tell you to go to the NID and plug a working phone in to see if the trouble is outside the premise or inside.
If this wasnt explained to you, then work that angle.
If it was and you just didn't feel like doing it, then why should they send a tech out? |
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| Why are you replying to me? I'm not the OP |
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| reply to nonamesleft
wrong click, does that mean the OP cant see my comment? |
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Reviews:
·Callcentric
·Comcast
| reply to OSUGoose
said by OSUGoose:Your not going to save as much as you think you will and AT&T will say you don't have to pay x, but if you don't pay the full amount they will tack a late charge on. Regardless AT&T will get you in the end.
Att has already got me, not too cool, since I am just coming back! I knew they were creeps, but didn't think it ran that deep. |
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| Have you even called AT&T and asked why you were charged or are you on here raging and moaning without actually asking AT&T to remove the charge? |
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Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to nonamesleft
said by nonamesleft:said by OSUGoose:Your not going to save as much as you think you will and AT&T will say you don't have to pay x, but if you don't pay the full amount they will tack a late charge on. Regardless AT&T will get you in the end.
Att has already got me, not too cool, since I am just coming back! I knew they were creeps, but didn't think it ran that deep. Did they inform you of the potential charges when you requested the truck roll? |
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Reviews:
·Callcentric
·Comcast
| reply to OSUGoose
Ok I called them scammers this morning. No go on getting it reduced. Decided to take my business to cellcom and get the home phone device, someone else was in there getting one too! Hope ATT leaves SOON!
I forgot to mention, att has a bunch of rate hikes planned for january 2013.
They have complete choice basic at 29.00 bucks right now! It use to be like 21 or 23 maybe 2 years ago, now its going to jump 2 bucks for complete choice basic!
So I am just warning those of you out there, beware! |
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 nunyaWho is John Galt?Premium,MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
kudos:8
·Charter
 ·surpasshosting
·voip.ms
| reply to nonamesleft
So. Did you bother to check the NID before you called in the trouble ticket?
Please answer truthfully.
"Inline" is a big waste of money. You are better off just paying the repair bills when they come.
I used to run into people like you on a daily basis (I used to work for SWBT / SBC / AT&T). I still occasionally run into someone like you in my current business.
Let me tell you this: it takes at least $75 to "roll a truck". That's break even.
Just because I was skilled enough to find problems and fix them quickly (which, ironically, pisses people off even though it's saving THEM money), does not mean it was a simplistic problem.
Your rant reminds me of an old story my Grandfather used to tell me (There are many variations of this story):
"Automaker Henry Ford asked electrical genius Charlie Steinmetz to build the generators for his factory. One day the generators ground to a halt, and the repairmen couldn't find the problem. So Ford called Steinmetz, who tinkered with the machines for a few hours and then threw the switch. The generators whirred to life--but Ford got a bill for $10,000 from Steinmetz. Flabbergasted, the rather tightfisted car maker inquired why the bill was so high. Steinmetz's reply: For tinkering with the generators, $10. For knowing where to tinker, $9,990. Ford paid the bill.
You paid for "knowing where to put the X".
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If someone refers to herself / himself as a "guru", they probably aren't. |
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