I have recently spent approximately 8 hours on the phone with customer support (between U-Verse and wireless).
I have had AT&T wireless for about 5 years now. I recently (read Jun 2014) moved back to Texas after retireing from the Marine Corps, and now live in a small town outside of Dallas. I opted for AT&T U-Verse for my high speed internet (and nothing else).
This February, I got a bill for $250ish (normal) due by March 24th. And then another bill for $300 due March 27th. This is where the fun started. I had discussions with representatives about "unifying bills" and how it affects billing cycles, etc... He basically told me that I owed $500 in a month because a computer wanted my wireless bill to catch up with my U-Verse bill. I said no way, and told him to de-unify my bill. He said he did, and I thought we were done.
Now comes April, when on the 17th, I was told I was past due, and they would turn off my service. I called and disputed this, as I should never have been past due if I didn't owe 2 months of bills in the same month. He said he referred it to Management, and I wouldn't lose service until they had spoken to me. On the 23rd, I started getting the automated phone calls, and I called AT&T back and they again assured me that I was not in danger of losing service.
On the 24th (Friday night) they cut my service. On the 28th, when they opened back up, I was on the phone again, and had another 2 hour discussion with them, and they insisted that the only way to turn my service back on was to pay the $250 late bill. We argued bitterly, and they decided that I only owed $156, which was exactly what I should have owed, and I paid (they waived the re-connection fee).
On May 4th (today) I got a bill from AT&T wireless for $280... That's more than double my monthly charge. I called and discussed this with the lady, who referred me to the U-verse lady, who said the whole $156 was my U-Verse late charges, and that I hadn't paid my Wireless bill in 2 months, which I now owe (with late fees).
I am a veteran with a Traumatic Brain Injury. It's hard for me to focus, and I have problems remembering. The ladies on the phone, as polite as they could be, just kept spewing dates (cycle dates, and billing dates, and service dates) and charges, round and round. Telling me "you had service during this time, so the charges are valid." But not acknowledging that the bills were always paid ontime, so there should be no reason for two bills to appear at once.
Since September, my charges were (or should have been) $1619.70. I have paid $1642.31. I shouldn't be behind. I pay my bills on time. I don't understand what's going on.
Brandon