AT&T Wireless hit me with an unpleasant surprise this month — a $268.68 cell phone bill, compliments of roaming and long distance charges of $174.53 plus $46.13 worth of “Taxes, Surcharges, and Regulatory Fees.” My normal bill is under $60. A long phone call to my best friend in Texas racked up a $120 charge by itself.
I’d called AT&T Customer Service from New Jersey on 5/31 to find out what my Roaming Rate was, fully prepared to switch to a National plan, but the Rep I spoke with was quite insistent that there were no Roaming or Long Distance fees on my current plan.
Moron.
Fortunately for me, the Rep properly documented my phone call. After a reasonably painless 20 minute phone call to AT&T CS this morning my account has been properly credited. It was a pleasant surprise to hear a CS Rep acknowledge their company’s mistake and promptly make it right.
Are wireless carriers getting better at Customer Service?
Not that this experience will stop me from switching back to T-Mobile as soon as they offer a worthy replacement to my MPx-200…
FYI: AT&T’s standard roaming rate for Local plans is $0.69/min plus $0.20/min for long distance. The “Toll Free Nationwide” add-on only applies in the Local area, and as best as I can tell every call that I made to Florida and New Jersey while in NJ counted as Long Distance.
Almost makes the rates to call International cell phones seem reasonable.
