Learn from my mistake!!
Written: Sep 13 '02 (Updated Sep 13 '02)
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Pros: Nationally recognized.
Cons: Recognized as BETTER than they are.
The Bottom Line: Internet service is nothing special, long suffix for email address, you will pay and pay and pay in the end.
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| kiminnc's Full Review: AT&T WorldNet |
I was a little surprised to find such high ratings here on AT&T Worldnet ISP service. I feel a need to report my unhappy history with AT&T.
BACKGROUND: I still had a bad taste in my mouth from my long distance phone service with AT&T several years ago. I was persuaded to get a calling card that I wanted for my husband (military) to use when he called me from an overseas country. I was told by the rep that the calls would be 7 cents per minute. After an entire month of calls (about 10-15 at 10 min. each) from him using this card, I received a bill for $750!!! When I called them about it they just insisted that I was misquoted and had to pay up or else. My husband and I spoke to several customer service managers and NONE of them were willing to bend, despite our long term patronage. Needless to say that after 10 yrs. of AT&T long distance service, I switched to another long distance company.
LOOKING FOR AN ISP: Fast forward to 1999 - We have moved and are no longer in the range of our favorite local provider, so I need to find a new ISP. After reading several comparisons on various website, it seemed that AT&T (while more expensive at $21.95/month), was the favorite for reliable service. We had a 56K modem at that time, and I went ahead and signed up with AT&T Worldnet and agreed to have $21.95/month for unlimited hours, deducted from my credit card. Being a former "debt" recoveree, I wasn't thrilled with this being the only payment system, but realized that many of the ISP's do this now. Additionally, we were given a SUPER long email address suffix that NO ONE would remember.
THE SERVICE: The internet service was okay, but not outstanding. When I was having trouble with the service, and I tried to find a customer service number for help, I had to search forever online and finally ended up calling on the phone NOT TOLL FREE!! The service person was NOT able to solve my problem and blamed it on my computer! I finally cancelled my service, and the customer service rep I spoke with said that they'd cancelled my automatic payment and I was all set. We've had two dial up services since then that were superior to AT&T Worldnet and are now happily surfing away on RoadRunner Cable service.
STARTLING CONCLUSION: It's been over two years since we ditched the AT&T Worldnet service. I opened my mail a few days ago and received a letter from a third party collection agency saying that I owed AT&T Worldnet $21.95!! I had never, in the past 2 years, received anything from AT&T Worldnet stating that we had an outstanding balance. What I didn't understand was why there was an outstanding bill when AT&T had access to my credit card all along and that the credit card had plenty of balance left to cover the payment? When I'd disconnected my service, the AT&T Worldnet rep never mentioned anything about sending in another payment, and had told me I was all settled up. I called the collection agency and spoke with them about this matter. The collection rep was surprisingly pleasant, but explained that they'd JUST received this collection notice and were just doing their job as usual. She was all sympathy when I explained my situation, and recommended that I refute the bill on their online site. What I really WANTED to do was to send AT&T Worldnet a letter saying that they could shove their $21.95 payment up their modem, but the collection rep explained that this account would be on my credit report soon if we didn't go ahead and settle the outstanding balance. She explained further that any disputes with them or with AT&T Worldnet wouldn't be settled until AFTER this account was put on our credit report and that getting THAT account removed would take even longer!!
BOTTOM LINE: AT&T Worldnet is expensive, and has a history of tacking on charges that don't exist. Disputing any charges with AT&T is a bit like the David and Goliath story. Go ahead and dispute, but in the meantime they're going to take legal action against you and, in the end, you're better off just coughing up the cash. Smart, huh? Okay, they've figured out a way to scam you, but PLEASE do not get yourself into the same mess with them that I have. You won't win this battle and the internet service (at least a couple of years ago), isn't anything special. It's possible that our submitted dispute (via the collection agency) will be considered and settled, but what's AT&T's incentive when we've already paid out?? Save yourself a lot of heartburn and look elsewhere for an ISP. I'm VERY happy with RoadRunner cable service, so maybe you should check out their availability in your area? They DO have real life customer service and their virtual customer service is friendly and helpful also.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 21.95/month
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Epinions.com ID:
kiminnc
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Location: North Carolina
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Too much of a good thing is wonderful!---Mae West
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