collection for imcorrect billing amt

[lllcoolcc]

I opened a cell phone acct. Jan1, 2001. From the very first bill I was billed for a plan that didn't exist. (the sales woman who sold me the ph & plan basically put 2 plans together to seemingly meet my needs.) When I contacted the company to correct thie issue, they credited the acct and a new plan was chosen. Within a few months there was another problem with the billing...I was still being billed outrageous amounts for -again- a plan that I didn't agree to. I wrote a letter and received a response that my acct would be adjusted and a new plan was suggested. Within week of receving the letter, I called cust. serv. to change my plan...reading exactly what was written on the letter I just received from them. For the next 3-4 months (Aug-Nov) I was billed $1800 for airtime use! My monthly plan was to cost $55...I was being charged for roaming and peak-airtime minutes when I was told the plan that was suggested to me would cover my needs based on my past phone use pattern. I stopped payment once the charges became ridiculous and the customer service reps became beligerent. I was reported to collections and was also charged a fee for ending my contract early. Last fall I started paying monthly amts to the agency, since they were listed as one of my creditors on my consolidated loan plan. I have paid $258 total, but have removed them from my monthly pmts. I'm ignorant as to what my legal options are in clearing up this matter and I know that I do not owe $1800. I'm looking for some offical direction here. thanks

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Originally posted by lllcoolcc:
I opened a cell phone acct. Jan1, 2001. From the very first bill I was billed for a plan that didn't exist. (the sales woman who sold me the ph & plan basically put 2 plans together to seemingly meet my needs.) When I contacted the company to correct thie issue, they credited the acct and a new plan was chosen. Within a few months there was another problem with the billing...I was still being billed outrageous amounts for -again- a plan that I didn't agree to. I wrote a letter and received a response that my acct would be adjusted and a new plan was suggested. Within week of receving the letter, I called cust. serv. to change my plan...reading exactly what was written on the letter I just received from them. For the next 3-4 months (Aug-Nov) I was billed $1800 for airtime use! My monthly plan was to cost $55...I was being charged for roaming and peak-airtime minutes when I was told the plan that was suggested to me would cover my needs based on my past phone use pattern. I stopped payment once the charges became ridiculous and the customer service reps became beligerent. I was reported to collections and was also charged a fee for ending my contract early. Last fall I started paying monthly amts to the agency, since they were listed as one of my creditors on my consolidated loan plan. I have paid $258 total, but have removed them from my monthly pmts. I'm ignorant as to what my legal options are in clearing up this matter and I know that I do not owe $1800. I'm looking for some offical direction here. thanks

Here's the way I see it. How did you rack up $1,800 of bills for airtime use? A plan that covers your "pattern" would typically be one that deals with the time used in the past few months. Did your usage of the phone go up? I'm not sure you have a defense if you used the phone and the bill was for your actual minutes of the plan that you agreed to for the months of August and November. Whatever happened in the past is not relevant to determining whether your current usage pattern would equate to such a large bill. If you used a lot more minutes then you should expect a larger bill!