A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall what you NEVER EVER want to see

I went out the the mailbox first thing this morning because I hadn't checked it yesterday. And my first phone bill for the new place was there. I opened it up and had a heart attack. the bill was 610.00 for something called local extended service.

Which is just another way of saying long distance right new door. I was hot. So I got on the phone to this new telephone company and told them I wasn't happy.

They changed the type of plan I'm on and took 533.02 off of the bill but that still leaves me with the biggest bill I have ever had with a telephone company.

Have you ever had a situation like that happen to you. Tell me what companies have given you nightmares.

Ooo that's terrible Tammy! Never had anything like that happen here before luckily....I'm glad you got most of it taken off...My phone bill is usually about $72 a month with the plan for unlimited long distance, caller id, call waiting, and our dsl included. So it's not bad at all.

Tammy ~ I got so fed up with dealing with rip-off phone companies, I went with a bundle plan from our cable provider. It is high-speed internet, unlimited calls, caller ID, call waiting, three way calling, TV caller ID (the name and number appear on the TV screen when the phone rings) and a huge cable package for $135 a month. And they never hassle people.

But I certainly have had companies in the past provoke those nightmares you speak of!


Merme

OH MY Tammy--thta is terriable!!! I have a 'bundle' also.
---I get my land line phone--free long distance, with =caller ID---voice mail--a whole slew of things I do not use,
my high speed internet
and my mid ranged cable.--I am paying 126.-- a month--

which is what I was paying for dial-up and the low end cable & my phone before the bundles.---I could get it $5.00 cheaper but I add the money so that all my mainatance is free.--which $60.00 a year is not free BUT I think 1 house call from them would be higher--but I do agree that some companies try to get away with murder--

We have everything on cable too, computer, 2 TV's with every channel in the world and our phone with unlimited long distance for close to $200.00 a month.

We used to be with Verizon and when my daughter went to Europe to play softball we were told that she could call collect and we would only be charged the couple dollars collect call fee. Our bill was around $4,000.00. We were charged the collect call fee by the minute not by the call.

Sheri!


Merme *Yelping In Shock*

I jsut love it when companies tell you what you want to hear instead of the truth, ya know???

were you able to do anything about the bill? I feel very fortunate that they were willing to change my plan and take off the charges. I'd have been years paying off a bill like that.

direct tv, dial-up, and phone will now cost me 62.00 per month. But it isn't bundled and it isn't high end. And that's what I can afford. The bundled packages start around 99.00 dollars here. I don't like the idea of bundled probably because I don't like cable companies or telephone companies so I don't want them to get a bigger market share than they already have. That's just me. I'm a cranky old woman on some subjects.

I can understand that, TK.

However, With me, my kids, and the rest of my family are all long distance calls--so this all bagan with me trying to LOWER my phone bill--that got me to sign up for the 'free' long distance--that saved me from 50 to 80 dollars a month--plus I had the added bonus of knowing what my bill would be each month so I could budget.=--well the phone company is who provides my internet and my cable----(can you say monopoly???)--so I was paying thru the nose for basic cable, dial-up internet and my 'free' long distance--so when I saw them offer bundles, i ended up paying the same and getting better service.---so I did it.

sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do--but then I guess we all do in this day and age---

so very true, unfortunately once they get a monopoly they start raising rates like there is no tomorrow. And that's what I try and avoid. I've gotten caught in that situation before. It's like with DirectTV. They had this choice package with all the tv stations I like on it just 5 dollars more a month. For the first year that is. Then it went up by about 1/2 again. I always ask about that before I purchase. Because I've been caught in those kinds of price hikes before and I don't like being in a situation where I'm undercontract and the price almost doubles.

Well that's just me complaining. I do that sometimes, sorry.

We pay $130 for basic phone, basic cable and dial up together. I can't wait for high speed to get where we are...just don't wanna know the price though. My dial up is $34 a month already here.

Wow $4000...that's scarey.

TK---I know you are right--but I figure the price is going down soon---because of the offers in surrounding areas.---and while we cannot get different phone & such---we can get different cable from some providers.---I am stuck for another 12 months, at his price though because I had to sign an agreement to pay this much for 18 months---and I have had about 6 so far. so I am thinking i n about 2 or 3 months the price will go down for 'new' subscribers---

I also have the lovely bundle........ I have phone and internet(NO CABLE) for $92 a month. Unlimited calls, call waiting, (call nagging I call it), 3-way calling I never use, *69... bla, bla, bla.

We had a bad time with the cable company. They charge us for internet for a year after I had cancelled it. I would call a complain every month about it and they would remove the $39.99 but on the next bill it would be there again. Hubby had to threaten to sue them in a waiting room full of customers before they would remove it from the bill completely. then the next month I got a bill for $4.00 LOL

So therefore NO CABLE!