doodledee

A couple of weeks back I got this mystery bill from AT&T saying that I owed them like $40 for long distance service. And by 'long distance service' I really mean 'long distance fees not associated with making any actual calls'. I say that because when we signed up for phone service here at the house, we chose not to sign-up with a long distance carrier figuring it's way cheaper to use the cell or - worst case - one of those prepaid 3-cent per minute cards from Target or whatever. Enforced fiscal discipline is the best kind.

Given all that, it obviously came as somewhat of a surprise when I found out that a) we actually do have long distance and b) it's super frickin' expensive considering we don't even use it.

One toll-free call (with 10-minute hold time) later, the charges were reversed. The dude on the phone said that it was some sort of computer error. Ok, whatever, I've heard of those.

Another toll-free call (with 10-minute hold time) later I had everything kosher with Qwest, too. All that was left to do at that point was sit back and bask in the long distance reality I thought I had been living in for years.

Ahhhhh.

Then BLAMO! last week I get ANOTHER STUPID BILL FROM AT&T! Another call and - brace yourself - the problem is related to COMPUTER ERRORS. I get another refund, but now I'm starting to get a little bit suspicious and little bit paranoid.

Now I'm clearly no expert, but at my job I do occasionally come in contact with computers. From time to time I may even try to "program" a computer. And sure, sometimes my programs have mistakes in them. Yet somehow, in all my weeks of trying to "program", I've never screwed-up so bad that a bunch of random people were accidentally charged a bunch of money for something they never signed-up for in the first place. I think that means I rule and AT&T programmers are total doofs. Wait... is that right?

Or maybe it means that AT&T programmers are being used as a pawn in a cutthroat game of Screw the Consumer. Somebody should look into that.

Oh wait... Somebody just did.

Does this mean we're supposed to ignore his cop-beating daughters now?

Minnesota files suit against AT&T [strib]
AT&T accused of false billing [tc]