Has anything like this ever happened to you? Sorry, a little long.
As part of a promotion with my cell phone service, I authorized Alltel to be my long-distance (LD) carrier in 2003 with the agreement that I would keep this LD service for a year. After the year was up, I signed up with CenturyTel to handle my LD in March, 2004. I have been with them ever since. CenturyTel sent a notification to Alltel canceling my LD service with Alltel.
In December, 2006, I received a LD bill from a company I'll call XYZ. It seems that they bought Alltel's LD service. Alltel, apparently, still had me listed as a customer. At first I ignored the bill thinking it was just a mistake or maybe a solicitation....I really didn't pay close attention to the calls listed.
In Jan. of this year, I received another bill. I called XYZ and asked why they were sending me these bills and this is when they explained about taking over Alltel's LD. Upon further inspection, the calls are legitimate, I made them but I never authorized XYZ as my carrier. In addition, I have since learned that I was never billed through CenturyTel for these calls. I honestly don't mind paying for my calls - ~$40 (two month's worth of calls). However, CenturyTel's rates are a little lower and I would have preferred to have paid through them. XYZ, on the other hand, is claiming that since I didn't personally call to cancel Alltel's service and I was never billed for these calls through CenturyTel, I am still responsible for the calls.
I was considering paying up until a CenturyTel's customer service rep told me I needed to contact the XYZ and let them know that I plan to contact the FCC, the Better Business Bureau and/or the state's Attorney General's office for illegal and/or unauthorized service. He felt XYZ would then back down on the bill. It's not that I want to get out of the bill so much as it makes me mad that they hijacked this service w/o my permission and I don't want them to get by with it.
What would you do?
As part of a promotion with my cell phone service, I authorized Alltel to be my long-distance (LD) carrier in 2003 with the agreement that I would keep this LD service for a year. After the year was up, I signed up with CenturyTel to handle my LD in March, 2004. I have been with them ever since. CenturyTel sent a notification to Alltel canceling my LD service with Alltel.
In December, 2006, I received a LD bill from a company I'll call XYZ. It seems that they bought Alltel's LD service. Alltel, apparently, still had me listed as a customer. At first I ignored the bill thinking it was just a mistake or maybe a solicitation....I really didn't pay close attention to the calls listed.
In Jan. of this year, I received another bill. I called XYZ and asked why they were sending me these bills and this is when they explained about taking over Alltel's LD. Upon further inspection, the calls are legitimate, I made them but I never authorized XYZ as my carrier. In addition, I have since learned that I was never billed through CenturyTel for these calls. I honestly don't mind paying for my calls - ~$40 (two month's worth of calls). However, CenturyTel's rates are a little lower and I would have preferred to have paid through them. XYZ, on the other hand, is claiming that since I didn't personally call to cancel Alltel's service and I was never billed for these calls through CenturyTel, I am still responsible for the calls.
I was considering paying up until a CenturyTel's customer service rep told me I needed to contact the XYZ and let them know that I plan to contact the FCC, the Better Business Bureau and/or the state's Attorney General's office for illegal and/or unauthorized service. He felt XYZ would then back down on the bill. It's not that I want to get out of the bill so much as it makes me mad that they hijacked this service w/o my permission and I don't want them to get by with it.
What would you do?
