When an MCI WorldCom representative showed up at my husband's work, they presented an offer we thought was great for our needs. A free Nokia 5180 was dangled under his nose and a $10.50 re-occuring credit was pitted against their regular $24.95 a month service charge. For 150 minutes at $14.45 a month, this was a cell phone service that fit right into our budget.

My first inkling that something was wrong was when I mentioned MCI's name to a friend. Her face crinkled up and she shook her head.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"Customer service stinks and they never honor the deals that they supposedly set up."

Uh oh.

Then my husband mentioned a funny little thing. On our copy of the contract, there was a note in the remarks section that did indeed mention the $10.50 per month reoccuring credit. But on the copy that the MCI representative took back with her, there was a nice blank in the remarks column. My husband, being a typical male, merely shrugged it off as a minor thing. After all, we had the copy of the contract that spelled out the details.

Fast forward to the first month's bill. Say what??? $34 buckaroos for something that was supposed to be $14.45 plus tax?

We checked it over and discovered they did not properly credit airtime charges and there was no mention of the $10.50 credit. A phone call to MCI quickly resolved the problem. They promised to credit us properly.

The second bill arrived. The $10.50 showed up, but the airtime charges were still there and another monthly charge of $24.95 with no credit applied to that.

A little peeved, my husband made a phone call. A representative was quite nice, asking him to fax a copy of the contract. Of course, they were showing nothing in their contract about the reoccuring credit. My husband dutifully faxed them and they were to phone him back.

Days went by, no phone call. My husband called again, asking to speak to the same representative whom he faxed the contract to. "Sorry, she's not available." Another call placed, another fax sent, another day goes by and no phone call.

Finally I called. Never mess with a woman who has PMS, three cranky children and spilled soup on the floor. A representative answered. I asked to speak to the three previous representatives to whom we dealt with before.

Surprise, surprise, all three of them were unavailable.

Fuming, I requested a supervisor. Explained the problem.

"Can you fax me a copy of your contract right now?"

Furious, I told her no. "Go find your two employees who received our previous faxes and ask them to show you a copy."

So off she goes and returns. "I'm sorry ma'am, we have no copy here."

So I asked her to give me her name and address so that I could send a copy via mail. I even requested a face-to-face meeting at her office with the contract in my hand.

"Sorry, we do not meet with our customers directly."

So folks, I've had it with this service. The sad part is, three other employees at my husband's work are experiencing the same problem with their contract. Something's fishy here.

I've sent a copy of our contract and given my phone number. They have exactly one week to correct this and then it's off to some legal action to get out of this stinky contract.

Maybe a 2 x 4 upside their head would work better.

Update: It's a year later and WorldCom has gone under. Is it any wonder?

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 14.45