Wireless provider billing more than it should

[ipaz]

Country: USA /PR
Hi!
I am a university student, my family has a wireless provider contract that expired on 03/18/09. I wanted to lower the monthly bill of my family and suggested them to show me their cellphone bills to choose an appropriate plan considering our usage. They gave me the bill of 03/18/09 and I saw some additional fees they were wrongfully charging. The fees were about using 200 minute but that account had a plan of 600 minutes. I was able by a phone call credit the wrongful charges to the account. I talked to my family and ask them the older bills, to my suprise I found they have been doing so in the past 4 times. This company made a billing error 08/21/08, 12/21/08,11/18/08, 02/18,09. My father was angry because he had good faith in the company. Upon objecting the bills mentioned earlier the customer service representative told me the 20 days to object already have passed there was nothing I could do.
Because my mother was the one that paid the bills, she didn't notice the error.

the total amount overcharged was $100.12.

It is unacceptable for a company to overcharged randomly its customers and get away with it, like me I know another person who have the same problem and i suspect is common practice for the company to overcharge customers at random times.

What are my legal options ? They have exploited my father's good will and faith and have steal from my family.

 

[FlaRiptide]

A University student? hmm?!

Errors on invoices are a lifelong problem that will never go away. Learn to live with them by reviewing bills prior to paying them. If you had brought the error to the company's attention immediately, I'm sure they would have made the correction. Asking for credit adjustment to old invoices may or may not be handled. In your case the company has a policy of 20 days to object. Why do you feel the company should overlook their policy?

Because my mother was the one that paid the bills, she didn't notice the error.

The company is not responsible for you mother's error in overlooking their billing error.

What are my legal options ?

None

[They have exploited my father's good will and faith and have steal from my family.
/QUOTE]What are they teaching students these days?

 

[ipaz]

Why do you feel the company should overlook their policy?

There are many reasons for this, because

• they accepted it was a billing error made on their part by adjusting the last month bill error, they refused to adjust the other months of the bills,
• they didn't honored the contract terms
• it is stealing ( for example if a company gave me $100 instead of $50 and the company later has proved he gave me that money in error i would be in obligation to give them back the money even if 3 month have pass)
• did i say is morally wrong!?
• (Another example, if a bank makes an error and deposit you $1000.00 they can demand that money for a period more than 60 days)

The company is not responsible for you mother's error in overlooking their billing error.

As you can read in my post, the error was made by the company not by my mother! Not everyone is an engineer and even the bill is structured in such a way for the average customer to not spot errors.

FlaRiptide I find it unacceptable for you to justify such behavior and blaming it on my mother, not everyone have a degree in engineering and Business management (like I'll soon have), the customer should expect a company to act in an honest way in the first place. The company is accountable for their errors and is not up to them to specify for how long even if their policies establish 10 hours after receiving the bills. There were several laws that were broken here.

If you can't give legal options to help me please dont post, as I come here looking for solutions, not getting blame for corporate errors that affect every consumer!

 

[Theresagail]

Call the company back and talk to a manager, the customer service rep can only do so much-- speak to someone w/ authority to handle the situation, if they don't reverse the fee's or at least a portion of it, then maybe your parents need to cancel service with them and go elsewhere. As far as suing them for 100.00 this would be a huge waste of time and $$.
It is wrong that companies do this, but they do-- it is called greed, and you are right they should be called on it- however - this is a lesson learned for all involved watch those bills, if nothing else happens it has taught everyone to watch things more carefully-

 

[FlaRiptide]

You asked for legal options and there are NONE. This is NOT a legal issue. The company did NOT "steal".

the customer service representative told me the 20 days to object already have passed

This is a fairly stardard policy. It is incumbant upon the customer to review their invoice. Payment is viewed as acceptance of the bill.

Don't take it personal as to the blame placed on your mother. Yet, as it is necessary for all people to know how to manage and reconcile their checkbook it is also necessary for them to be able to recognize errors on invoices. A company cannot be blamed for the shortcomings of their customers.

There were several laws that were broken here.

Oh? Which ones? Name the statute, code, or what ever you have.

 

[FlaRiptide]

Theresagail,

I disagree that it is greed. A company cannot spend it's valuable time to rehash old business. They give a reasonable period for which they are willing to make corrections. After this time they consider the invoice closed. For them to look back and adjustment old items would be a burden upon their accounting staff. Thus the 20 day policy.

As you suggested a call to management may circumvent the policy. A reputable company would probably give-in and make the adjustment.

But to say the company is greedy and is stealing due to this policy is just NOT true.

 

[Theresagail]

Policy has nothing to do with billing people incorrectly. It is crazy to think a company has a policy that if they bill incorrectly you must bring it to their attention w/ in 20 days of the error or our policy states that is the way it is??? Hello give me a break--The rep she is talking to does not have the authority to reverse 100$ of fee's.

If it is really written in policy-- then what would you assume about that company? Our Policy is- if we screw up and you don't catch it then too bad? Seems like greed to me

 

[FlaRiptide]

It is crazy to think a company has a policy that if they bill incorrectly you must bring it to their attention w/ in 20 days of the error or our policy states that is the way it is??

Comcast's Policy:

f. Billing Disputes. IF YOU DISPUTE CHARGES ON YOUR BILL, YOU MUST NOTIFY COMCAST DIGITAL PHONE IN WRITING OF THE DISPUTE WITHIN NINETY (90) DAYS OF THE DATE ON THE AFFECTED BILL, OR ELSE YOU WAIVE THE DISPUTE. YOU AGREE THAT ALL DISPUTES THAT CANNOT BE RESOLVED WITH COMCAST DIGITAL PHONE SHALL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING ARBITRATION AS SET FORTH IN SECTION 7 BELOW.


Though I don't have a credit card statement available to me at this moment, I believe a similar statement is made on the backside of all credit card statements. If you don't dispute an error within a certain time frame, then you waive your rights.

What is illegal or immoral about this? It is simply a business procedure.

 

[ipaz]

Thanks all for your replies

I disagree that it is greed. A company cannot spend it's valuable time to rehash old business.

Just wow! The same thinking you have is the one that banks and automakers had, look at them now. If a company wont correct an error made to the customer after the customer notifies in a reasonable amount of time then that its destined to fail a be without customers. A company that thinks that their time is more valuable than treating and correcting the errors they made to the customer is wrong.

Though I don't have a credit card statement available to me at this moment, I believe a similar statement is made on the backside of all credit card statements. If you don't dispute an error within a certain time frame, then you waive your rights.

There are rights that a contract can't override because they lack the executive, judicial and legislative power to override the law. If you sign a contract to be a slave without pay it doesn't mean its legally enforceable.

What is illegal or immoral about this? It is simply a business procedure.

See explanation above.

Anyway i compared your example with the cellphone policy (in the back of the bill) and couldn't see a paragraph saying that if I don't dispute the error within a time frame i would waive my rights, it only specifies objecting up to 20 days of charges and request an investigation without affecting the continuity of service provided.

I contacted the department of consumer affairs and they gave me the mail address of a manager, I'll try that and hope for the best.

Even though the hassle to claim $100.00 of excess payment made to the company is not worth the time and money I'll still do it because of conviction not monetary satisfaction, and if I can help change or be a grain of salt to motivate changes in the company policies I'm sure many other customers will appreciate the energy and time spent in this matter.