> ? Customer "Care" ? <-> ? BILLING FRAUD ?<
27 June 98 
---
-27
June 98
Effective May 1, 1998 -- No Unlimited Access
(The Saga continues)
1. 03/31/98 16:00:00 GMT - email from AT&T notifying customers of the change (switch) in the Worldnet Price Plan.
2. 05/28/98 7:37:58PM ? - email from AT&T notifying "me" that my usage was now "...available for viewing online!" and starting "tomorrow" - with the start of my next billing cycle, I would now be subject to the $0.99/Hr surcharge for hours used in excess of 150 Hrs/Mo.
3. 06/24/98 - FINALLY - "One Click" access info to our "Usage Logs"
4. 06/29/98 thru 06/24/98 - Usage Monitoring comments
5. 06/26/98 12:13:32 CDT - Watch your AT&T Reported "Online Time" - was - Re: 150 hours, billing, I'm confused
6. 06/25/98 17:34:35 CDT - Re: Watch your AT&T Reported "Online Time" --- CONTIINUED
7. 06/26/98 20:42:46 CDT - Re: Watch your AT&T Reported "Online Time" --- CONTINUED - MSG #3
8. 06/29/98 20:03:33 CDT - Re: PING: Rick Langdon, AT&T FA's, and Group RE: Watch your Reported.....
9. 07/02/98 4:14PM EDT - AT&T Duplicate Billing Statement - It does "pay" to make waves
email from AT&T notifying customers of the change (switch) in the Worldnet Price Plan.
Subject: Important Changes to AT&T WorldNet Service Prices
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 98 16:00:00 +0000
From: "AT&T Worldnet Marketing Team" <worldnetmkt@att.net>
To: "All AT&T Worldnet Unlimited Price Plan Members"
Dear AT&T WorldNet Member:
We want to let you know about some important news that should significantly improve service access and reliability. Beginning May 1, 1998 the terms and name of the $19.95 Unlimited Price Plan are changing. It will be called the Standard Price Plan which offers 150 hours of AT&T WorldNet(R) Service usage for $19.95 per month, with additional hours billed at $0.99 per hour.
We thought long and hard before moving to the Standard Price Plan, but found that most of our members use the service an average of 25 hours per month, while other members use the service a great deal more than that. Based on this, we've decided to revise our current usage plans to enhance service to all of our members, resulting in improved connections on the first try.
Charges for usage in excess of 150 hours per month for any member on the Standard Price Plan will be waived by AT&T WorldNet Service until your usage is available for viewing online. On May 1, some affected members on the Standard Price Plan will be able to begin viewing their usage online. However, all members will be notified via email when their usage becomes available for viewing online.
For more information about these changes, please visit these Web sites: http://www.worldnet.att.net/care/accounts/capfaqs.html to get all your questions answered. http://www.worldnet.att.net/care/teamattwn/coachescorner/newletter.html for an important letter from the President of AT&T WorldNet Service outlining service changes and improvements.
Responses to this message will be directed to the two sites listed above where you will find the answers to your questions.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support of AT&T WorldNet Service. As always, providing you with industry leading network performance and a superior online experience is critical to our business.
Thank you for using AT&T WorldNet Service. It's all within your reach.
Your AT&T WorldNet Team
email from AT&T notifying "me" that my usage was now "...available for viewing online!"
Subject: Standard Plan Usage Viewing
Date: 05/28/98 7:37:58 PM
From: worldnetmkt@worldnet.att.net
Dear AT&T WorldNet Service Member:
On March 31, 1998 you received an e-mail message and a subsequent postcard from AT&T WorldNet® Service explaining changes that the Unlimited Price plan, the plan you are currently on, will undergo on May 1, 1998. The name of the "Unlimited Plan" will change to the "Standard Plan". The Standard Plan offers 150 hours of Internet access per month for $19.95 with additional hours above 150 billed at $0.99/hour. In both those communications it was explained that charges for usage in excess of 150 hours per month would be waived until your usage was available for viewing online. This message is to inform you that your AT&T WorldNet Service usage can now be seen and tracked by you online! Therefore, your next billing cycle, that begins tomorrow, will be subject to the $.99/hour charge for all hours above 150 in a month.
When your next billing cycle begins tomorrow, you will be able to see your usage online by:
1. Going to the Member Authentication-About My Account page at: http://acct-update.worldnet.att.net/cgi-bin/admauth_dbd 2. Entering member ID and password
3. After the account has been authenticated, selecting: My Usage Information and Monthly Statements
4. Selecting Unbilled Usage to see your usage from the beginning of the billing cycle
If you're unable to see usage, you may be checking before your billing cycle has begun, or you may not have had any usage in this billing cycle, or the system may not have been updated to reflect usage. In some cases it may take 48 hours for usage to be updated, so please check again in a couple of days. (emphasis added)
For more information about the Standard Plan, please visit:
Responses to this message will be directed to the site listed above where you will find answers to your questions.
06/24/98 - FINALLY - "One Click" access info to our "Usage Logs"
Subject: How to get time info in one click ... was ---- Re: Unilateral pricing changes.
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 09:56:10 -0500 From:
Rick Langdon <sideslider@att.net>
Newsgroups: worldnet.help.service-issues.misc
References: 1 , 2
This is the most "useful" piece of information put out since this sorry state of affairs was announced.
Now all that AT&T needs to do is step into the "computer age" and make this "real time" information rather than being 2 or more days behind in their time posting!! (This is NOT acceptable when one gets down toward their last 4-5 days in the billing cycle!)
In any case, thank you Karla for this valuable time saving tip.
AT&T Karla Kimble wrote:
David,
There is a quick way to access your Usage Information and Monthly Statements. In order to do this, you will need to create a bookmark that contains various account information. Since you are creating a bookmark, this means anyone that has access to your computer could get to and change your account information, including canceling your account. So do NOT do this if you are concerned about security. First, go to http://acct-update.worldnet.att.net/cgi-bin/admauth_dbd and enter your email id and email password into the form provided. Click the submit button and wait for the next page to be displayed.
When the next page is displayed (the one that lists all kinds of options), go to View-->Source Find the section of the HTML code that looks something like this:
.... form method=post action="/cgi-bin/billing_dbd"> <input type=hidden name="trans_id" size=28 value="somestring1"> <input type=hidden name="acct_id" size=28 value="somestring2"> <input type=hidden name="sub_id" size=28 value="somestring3"> <input type=hidden name="security" size=28 value="somestring4"> <input type=hidden name="email" size=28 value="somestring5"> <td><input type=submit value=Access> <td><font size=+0>My Usage Information and Monthly Statements</font>...
Copy that section of code and paste into notepad. Then combine the following pieces into a single string (don't forget the special characters like the ampersands and question mark):
http://acct-update.worldnet.att.net/cgi-bin/billing_dbd? acct_id=somestring2 &sub_id=somestring3 &security=somestring4 &email=somestring5
Your final string should look like this: > > http://acct-update.worldnet.att.net/cgi-bin/billing_dbd?acct_id=somestring2&sub_id=somestring3&security=somestring4&email=somestring5
Now go edit your bookmarks and add a new bookmark called 'Online Usage" and for the URL, insert the above string. If you want to use the SSL security protocol, then change the http to https. Now you are just one click away from viewing your Online Usage! Works like a champ and no multitude of web pages to work thru!
Joseph G. Thatcher wrote:
Not only do you change the pricing policy without any input from your customers, you make it easier to go to Katmandu than to try to find out how many hours you have left in a billing cycle before you start charging additional outrageous rates which was not the program I signed up for. At least when I come onto the Internet, let me know how many hours I have spent on the internet in this pay cycle and the amount of hours left and the end of the pay cycle so that I have an idea when you start running the meter and how much outrageous new charges I will incur, otherwise I'll have to keep a log here to approximate the amount of usage and hope that you agree with it. What is all this jumping through hoops for to find out how much additional money you are going to charge me from my original agreement? Do you have people on the payroll that just try to think up ways to make it more difficult for your customers, or does this just come naturally?
Looking for another provider every chance I get. Thanks for the misery.
David
Karla Kimble AT&T Worldnet Services
With my original sign-up date of 29 Sept 96, under the "$19.95/Mo - Unlimited Usage Price Plan", AT&T's NEW "$19.95/Mo Standard Price Plan" (Limited Use, 150 Hrs + additional hours at $0.99/Hr), was not imposed on my account until the start of my first month of service following May 1, 1998. The effective date of this NEW price plan subscription was therefore 29 May 98 - and my first month of service under the NEW price Plan was 00:00GMT 29 May 98 thru 24:00GMT 28 June 98. In addition to subscribing to a second - local - ISP, at additional cost, I was now "forced to" - and did closely monitor the usage of my AT&T Worldnet account. This first month would "allow" an average use of 150Hrs/31Days = 4.838 Hrs/Day.
Because of AT&T's inability (or unwillingness) to allow their customers to see live, or at least "near live", usage data for their accounts and AT&T's 48 Hour or more "posting delay" of this data to the customers "Unbilled Usage Information Report", I did monitor this report closely to determine "average daily use" vs. the allowed average for this month.
1. For customers who have not "been timed" by Worldnet as using greater than 130 Hours in a billing period, or calander month? - for which on-line tracking of login data is not available.
2. For customers who have "been timed" by Worldnet as using greater than 130 Hours in a billing period, or calander month? - are subsequently notified that they have been "put on the clock" - and that starting with their next billing cycle on-line tracking of login data is will be available (with the above noted restriction that the data is retrieved and "posted in arrears") and from that point forward - the start of the billing cycle following their exceeding 130 hours - they will be subject to a charge of $0.99/Hr for time logged in excess of 150 Hrs/Mo.
Subject: Re: Hours Used
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 17:31:57 -0400
From: AT&T Nagib Nahas <nanatt@att.net
Organization: AT&T WorldNet Services Newsgroups: worldnet.help.service-issues.misc References: 1
James Kugelman wrote:
Now that Worldnet has limited us to 150 hours per month without additional charges, when will you add an area on your homepage to allow us to determine how many hours we have used? This would be very helpfull. Thanks
James:
If you exceed 130 hours during a given billing period, you will receive an email notification that you did so and that your time online will thereafter be viewable online from the Account and Billing webpage at http://acct-update.worldnet.att.net/cgi-bin/admauth. You will only start being billed for time over 150 hours on the following billing cycle. -- Nagib AT&T WorldNet Service
-----------------------------------------------------------
Things were proceeding "ok" thru a report run at 09:29CDT 06/24/98, my 25th day of this billing cycle, which reported usage "effective as of 06/23/98" and a final login entry of 06/22/98 at 17:59GMT for 03:43 (3 hours - 43 minutes) - and a "Duration Total" for this period of 112:10 (112 Hours - 10 Minutes) - for an average daily useage of 4.486 Hrs/Day vs. 4.838 Hrs/Day "allowed".
This all changed with the information furnished with an "unbilled Usage Information Report" run at 09:21CDT 06/26/98.
The information included in that report prompted the following contact attempts thru the Worldnet "newsgroup" - worldnet.help.service-issues.misc ..... by email to wnetbill@attmail.com .... and by phone to 1-800-400-1447
Although not specifically identified in the AT&T correspondence quoted above, I did determine that this "newsgroup" and/or the "newsgroup" worldnet..members-forum was the "destination" for feedback, comments, or questions concerning the change in Price Plan, it's implementation schedule, the availability or non-availability for viewing of the customers usage log on-line by customers subscribed under this NEW "Standard Price Plan, and the accuracy or inaccuracy of these "on-line usage logs".
Subject: Watch your AT&T Reported "Online Time" - was - Re: 150 hours, billing, I'm confused.
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 12:13:32 -0500
From: Rick Langdon <sideslider@att.net>
Newsgroups: worldnet.help.service-issues.misc References: 1
Roger Thompson wrote:
> I hope an AT&T representative can provide clarification on the following: ...snip ...
---------- Here's another "puzzeler" folks - I hope that I can also get some clarification from our "friends" at WorldNet.
I may be called "fortunate" by some, and maybe in a way I am. I signed on with AT&T WorldNet Service under their flat rate $19.95/Mo "Unlimited Usage Plan" on 29 Sept 96. Therefore, AT&T did not unilaterialy terminate this plan and impose their reduced benefit, flat rate $19.95/Mo "150 Hour + $0.99/Hr" plan on my account until 29 May 98. My first billing under the NEW Price Plan will be for the period 00:00GMT 29 May 98 thru 24:00GMT 28 June 98.
Now to todays news:
Since coming under this NEW PRICE PLAN I have been closely monitoring the usage recorded to this WorldNet account to keep it under the "allowed - flat rate limit" (150 Hours / 31 days = 4.838 Hrs/Day Avg). My last check on time, prior to today, was at 09:29 CDT on 06/24/98 when WorldNet reported my usage info "effective as of 06/23/98" as 112:10 (112 hours 10 minutes) with the final entry 06/22/98 - signed on 17:59GMT for 03:43. (25 days, avg 4.486 Hrs/day).
I checked again this morming, 06/26/98 at 09:21CDT and received a useage report "effective as of 06/25/98" which indicated a "Duration Total" of 121:06. At first glance this appeared to be appropriate. However, on looking closer:
1. The final "recorded"? login was the same as on my previous "usage statement", with the final "login" recorded as 06/22/98 17:59GMT for 03:43. This indicates that in 48 hours, since I last checked, no additional online time has been logged (which I know to be false) and rather than being 48 hours behind in their posting, AT&T is now perhaps 96 hours or more behind. As I get closer and closer to my billing cycle end date/time AT&T's Usage Information report is more critical but less useful. 2. On examination, five OUTRIGHT DUPLICATIONS have been INSERTED into the "Usage Information Report" to account for the reported time increase from 112:10 (reported at 09:29 on the 24th) to 121:06 (reported at 09:21 on the 26th)
06/04/98 23:50GMT 01:03 06/05/98 01:06GMT 01:03 06/05/98 14:02GMT 02:20 06/06/98 23:52GMT 02:47 06/07/98 15:59GMT 01:43
I am retired, enjoy travel, have developed a rather extensive web site, including the hosting of "Rick & Linda's Travelin' Partners ICQ List", hosted by Tripod. At the time this site was started - despite "promises" - AT&T did not offer web site space. I am a "Charter Member" / Beta Tester for AT&T's offering of Personal Web Space. I do a lot of online communicating with friends worldwide, obtain most of my news - both "normal" headline and world news as well as computer and internet news -- online and subscribe to and monitor about a dozen "Internet Newsgroups" -- all of this has caused me to be one of the "notorious AT&T - 3%". I DO NOT APPOLOGIZE FOR THIS - THIS IS WHAT AT&T ADVERTISED, PROMOTED, AND I SIGNED UP FOR - UNLIMITED USAGE. I have not abused the service that I subscribed for by remaining "logged on" and not "actively using" the connection.
I do, by the way now consider myself (and any other AT&T WorldNet customer who signed up for service under the "Unlimited Usage Plan") to be "injured" by AT&T's unilateral revisions to their Terms of Service and Price Plans. I have obtained a second "unlimited usage" account from a local ISP, at additional cost to me, to assure that I do not exceed AT&T's arbitrarily imposed usage limit.
I also consider myself to be "injured" by WorldNet's online time monitoring utility. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it appears to be not only not timely but also perhaps fraudulent. It's truely unfortunate that AT&T - this "leader" in the worlds communications industry - can provide no direct method of EMAILING their accounting group to "head off" a developing problem and can not provide users with a "true online - live - usage time tracking utility" now that they have SWITCHED their original customers and imposed this limited usage plan on us. I will probably spend HOURS on the phone (on hold - or trying to work my way thru the phone maze) today in an attempt to correct the time insertions and determine "just where" my usage does stand.
Rick Langdon
Subject: Re: Watch your AT&T Reported "Online Time" --- CONTINUED
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 17:34:35 -0500
From: Rick Langdon <sideslider@att.net>
CC: wnetbill@attmail.com
Newsgroups: worldnet.help.service-issues.misc
References: 1 , 2
Rick Langdon wrote:
Here's another "puzzeler" folks - I hope that I can also get some clarification from our "friends" at WorldNet.
------------- THE STORY CONTINUES (BELOW) ---------
Now to todays news: Since coming under this NEW PRICE PLAN I have been closely monitoring the usage recorded to this WorldNet account to keep it under the "allowed - flat rate limit" (150 Hours / 31 days = 4.838 Hrs/Day Avg). My last check on time, prior to today, was at 09:29 CDT on 06/24/98 when WorldNet reported my usage info "effective as of 06/23/98" as 112:10 (112 hours 10 minutes) with the final entry 06/22/98 - signed on 17:59GMT for 03:43. (25 days, avg 4.486 Hrs/day).
I checked again this morming, 06/26/98 at 09:21CDT and received a useage report "effective as of 06/25/98" which indicated a "Duration Total" of 121:06. At first glance this appeared to be appropriate. However, on looking closer: 1. The final "recorded"? login was the same as on my previous "usage statement", with the final "login" recorded as 06/22/98 17:59GMT for 03:43. This indicates that in 48 hours, since I last checked, no additional online time has been logged (which I know to be false) and rather than being 48 hours behind in their posting, AT&T is now perhaps 96 hours or more behind. As I get closer and closer to my billing cycle end date/time (24:00GMT/19:00CDT 06/28/98) AT&T's Usage Information report is more critical but less useful. 2. On examination, five OUTRIGHT DUPLICATIONS have been INSERTED into the "Usage Information Report" to account for the reported time increase from 112:10 (reported at 09:29 on the 24th) to 121:06 (reported at 09:21 on the 26th) 06/04/98 23:50GMT 01:03, 06/05/98 01:06GMT 01:03, 06/05/98 14:02GMT 02:20 total = 08:56, 06/06/98 23:52GMT 02:47, and 06/07/98 15:59GMT 01:43
------------- the story continues -------------
At 15:39CDT this date (06/26) I again checked my WorldNet "unbilled Usage Report" - which AGAIN states it is "effective as of 06/25/98" and find the following entry additions:
06/22/98 23:32GMT 01:17, 06/23/98 00:48 01:09, 06/23/98 02:05 00:46, 06/23/98 16:09 02:28, 06/23/98 19:47 00:30, 06/24/98 01:42 00:52, 06/24/98 13:19 00:54, 06/24/98 14:14 00:22, 06/24/98 14:41 02:05, 06/24/98 16:47 01:18 ------------- Duration Total 132:47
Note: The addition of one more "login" on 06/22 that was not reported by Worldnet on either the 09:29 6/24/98 report or the 09:21 06/26/98 report of "my unbilled usage data". ALSO this latest report still contains the INSERTED DUPLICATION of the five (5) entries noted above totaling 8 hours 56 minutes.
I "suspect" that my corrected usage "effective as of 24:00GMT 06/25/98 is 132:47 - 8:56 = 123:51 (4.587 Hrs/Day of the 4.838 Hrs/day "allowed"). Although with Worldnet "adding" times after reports are issued "effective such and such a date" - I'm not sure.
AT&T "Ken" did respond to a plea for help in providing a Worldnet Billing email address and this message is also directed there (wnetbill@attmail.com). Hopefully this "logging problem" will be resolved before it becomes billing fraud.
AT&T "Ken" also provided a number, 1-800-400-1447 #2 (for Billing Problems) #0 (to speak with a live service representative). In 5 attempts, starting at 12:48 this date - I have yet to connect with a live service rep.
This "posted in arrears" logging system - is a relic from the days of "green eye shades, shirt sleeve garters, and clerks slaving over manual ledgers". AT&T - come into the computer age and provide a real time usage logging system - YOU are the one that has CHANGED THE RULES - the least you can do is provide an accurate and reliable usage log.
Rick Langdon
P.S. I have tried out a few of the third party online time tracking utilities recommended by "WURD" but have found them to be either unreliable (no log entry recorded when the system locks up and I have to shut down and cold reboot) or not consistant with AT&T Worldnet's time accounting methods of accounting and rounding to "minutes" - which, in itself, is absurd with computer clocks synchronized to the atomic clocks of the NBS and recording time to the hundredth of a second, at least mine is - every time I log on.
Subject: [Fwd: Re: Watch your AT&T Reported "Online Time" --- CONTINUED - MSG #3
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 20:52:14 -0500
From: Rick Langdon <sideslider@att.net>
To: wnetbill@attmail.com
This is a follow-up message - posted to the "worldnet.help.service-issues.misc" - newsgroup
I'm forwarding it to wnetbill@attmail.com because - although the matter discussed is not yet a "billing dispute" - the potential for a billing dispute "appears" to be diverted - based on telephone contact this afternoon with "Mike" and his supervisor "Paul" at 1-800-400-1447 2-0-2
Rick Langdon
Subject: Re: Watch your AT&T Reported "Online Time" --- CONTINUED - MSG #3
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 20:42:26 -0500
From: Rick Langdon <sideslider@att.net>
Newsgroups: worldnet.help.service-issues.misc
References: 1 , 2 , 3
Rick Langdon wrote: > SNIP < (THREE TIMES PRIOR TO THIS MESSAGE TODAY)
1. Subject: Watch your AT&T Reported "online Time" - was - Re: 150 hours, billing, I'm confused [at 12:13:32CDT (-0500) = 17:13:32GMT 06/26/98]
2. Subject: AT&T SERVICE REPS - HELP PLEASE !!! [at 13:05:22CDT (-0500) = 18:05:22GMT 06/26/98]
(AT&T KEN - responded to this plea for help at 18:22:59GMT = 13:22:59CDT)
3. Subject: Re: Watch your AT&T Reported "online Time" --- CONTINUED [at 17:34:35CDT (-0500) = 22:34:35GMT 06/26/98]
-- the story continues - again --
After attempting to reach a "live" service representative 5 times this afternoon, only to be put in queue and advised that "a service representative should be available in "x" minutes - at 12:48CDT, 13:32CDT, 14:47CDT, 15:38CDT, and 16:22CDT, I finally connected with a live service rep on the 6th call - started at 17:46CDT. By this time I was "a bit irked" and had placed the call thru the telephone application of my "Aptiva Communication Center", and after hearing all afternoon that "this call may be monitored for quality purposes" - had turned recording on. The service reps name was garbled and illegible as he answeared the call - but I identified myself and advised him that the call was being recorded "for quality purposes". He propmptly advised that he could not accept a call which was being recorded and I said "ok I'll turn it off" - however he had already hung up.
I then placed a 7th call - starting at 17:52, waited thru the queue, and finally connected with an AT&T Worldnet service representative named "Mike".
After the identification process: - the phone number that the account was associated with - I have two and identified both - one was "recognized".
- my "security word" - which i thought was that long convoluted signon password and dug it out of my records only to be told that was not what he "needed" and my email password was not "it" either he needed the "security word" --- but relented and asked if I could give the last 5 numbers of the credit card under which the account is billed.
- Mike was a little helpful here - at least he identified which credit card and i gave him the "last 5 numbers" which was "ok" he then asked again for my "security word" saying "give me anything that comes to mind that might be it - and we'll see if anything matches"
- I gave him my email password - which lo and behold - in my case just happened to match with my "security word".
After all of this ID process, (I'll know next time - if there is a "next time"), which took 6 to 8 minutes digging thru records and running to get my wallet etc. we finally got down to business. And I recounted to "Mike" what I had found in reviewing the "Unbilled - Usage Information Report(s) run at 09:29 06/24/98, 09:21 06/26/98, and 15:39 06/26/98.
i.e. 1. The appearance of an additional "login" on the 22nd - reported on the third report which was not included on either of the prior "reports" - despite the fact they indicated they were "effective as of 06/23" and "effective as of 06/25" with the third also indicating it was "effective as of 06/25/98"
2. The 5 instances, which first appeared on the 09:21 06/26 report and were repeated on the 15:39 06/26 report, of logon duplications being posted to my "usage log" - each one specifically identified and confirmed by "Mike". (These had been reported thru this "Service issues misc - newsgroup earlier, with no responce from any AT&T Rep.)
> 2. On examination, five OUTRIGHT DUPLICATIONS have been INSERTED into the "Usage Information Report" to account for the reported time increase from 112:10 (reported at 09:29 on the 24th) to 121:06 (reported at 09:21 on the 26th) 06/04/98 23:50GMT 01:03, 06/05/98 01:06GMT 01:03, 06/05/98 14:02GMT 02:20, 06/06/98 23:52GMT 02:47, and 06/07/98 15:59GMT 01:43 .... total = 08:56
"Mike" then advised that "he had never seen this" and that he'd have to discuss this with "his supervisor". I said - let ME talk with "your supervisor" .... but he was gone.
On returning, "Mike" relayed THIS as his supervisors resolution of this problem (and identified his supervisor - as "Paul"):
1. If, when billed, I am billed more than $19.95 for this service month, call back and my bill will be credited back to $19.95 for the month. (No indication was given that the errors detected thus far in my "unbilled usage information reports" would be corrected, AND THIS WOULD/WILL be more wasted time at "some future date" to wait thru the queue to resolve a billing error.)
2. If this "situation" occurs again, "Paul's" recomendation would be to close my existing account (which I've had since 09/29/96 and have hundreds of correspondents that know my current email address) and open a new account.
Is this a fine way to run a "world class" service - or what?
Rick Langdon
(stay tuned for more as this "pans out" over the next few days)
On June 29th I revisited my Online usage report, which "indicates" that it should be the final status for my first billing period under the NEW "Standard Price Plan". I also revisited the worldnet.service-issues.misc newsgroup.... and posted the following as a reply to a prior posting:
Subject: Re: PING: Rick Langdon, AT&T FA's, and Group RE: Watch your Reported.....
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 20:03:33 -0500
From: Rick Langdon <sideslider@att.net>
To: This, news, group
Newsgroups: worldnet.help.service-issues.misc
References: 1
Jay wrote: I am posting this to show that Mr. Rick Langdon's post is not an isolated problem and that everyone need's to watch their billing statement, check dates and add their hours up. .....snip .... Thanks Rick for pointing out your billing problem, it made me go look at my billing records. > > Jay
You're welcome. From some other - similar - posts I don't think that these are isolated cases. I have an uneasy feeling, based on the review of my records, that for some reason between about the 24th and 26th the logging system failed, and two days "usage" was "dummied up" ... i.e. the duplicate postings were entered in order to be similar to the usage pattern thus far in the "billing month". My time average for "my" 25 day period (5/29 thru 6/22) was 4.486 Hrs/day x2 = 8.872Hrs .. the duplicated time = 8:56 = 8.933Hrs.
Either - when the true login records were retrieved and input (or perhaps some more creative login accounting "records" were entered, there was a failure to remove the duplicates.
I just ran a "final"? Usage report for the end? of my billing period and the duplications are still included - despite Worldnet being notified - in this group, via phone, and via email (with no responces by the way either in the group or by email).
Looks like 3%'ers are still in for some more corporate harrassment.
---R.E.
(Rick) Langdon
