Is this a scam, BellSouth?

I am interested to know, why did you let him in? You knew you had not
called them. You knew your service was working. You knew there was
no need for a tech to even go behind your home to work, let alone come
in. This is confusing. NONE of this would have insued, if you simply
refused the call, if your service was working at this time this tech
came.

I received a telemarketing call on September 7, 2006 from Bellsouth.
The lady asked me how much I was paying for my Internet. I told her
I
paid $15 or so for my AT &T dialup service. She then offered me phone
service, exactly what I have now with no bells and whistles or long
distance plan,
and Extreme DSL 3.0 for $47.95 plus whatever taxes she could not see
in her system. These taxes likely were state taxes local to Kentucky.
The telemarketer
had a thick accent so I made her repeat the offer probably 10-15
times. She also offered me a $75 gift card from Visa or MasterCard to
pay for the modem
and a $125 cash back voucher. While the telemarketer could not quote
me an exact price, she did say that most of my taxes were included in
this rate so
that a price of $50-53 would be reasonably close to a correct price
for my monthly service. She never broke down exactly how much each
service cost but
said that the two together would be $47.95 plus tax. Since I am a
Ph.D. student at a local seminary and since my wife and I are not
overwhelmed with prosperity,
I accepted the offer, and then the problems started. First, when the
e-mail came in, it said Ultra DSL 2.0 instead of Extreme DSL 3.0. The
regular price
was listed, but a link in the message said that promotional pricing
might not be included in this given price. When I called Bellsouth
the next day, a
representative said that Extreme 3.0 might not be available in my area
and said that that circumstance might explain the order. No one
actually checked
to see if it was available; they simply assumed that it wasn\'t; as it
turns out, that was the least of my concerns. I am willing to use 2.0
instead of
3.0; the problem is that the price I was quoted, not surprisingly, is
not what I bgot. I did get the free modem and the $125 voucher, but I
called Bellsouth
the day after the telemarketing call and 2-3 other times to ask them
if their system showed the special promotional pricing. All I was
told, time and
again, was that since I had not!
been billed, they couldn\'t tell. When my first prorated bill came
in, I noticed that I got the normal $32.95 price for the DSL Ultra
with no discounts
whatsoever. I talked to 8-10 Bellsouth representatives this week,
getting bounced around from DSL to residential, back to DSL, etc.
Most of the reps
gave me the same song and dance saying they could do nothing to help
me except for one supervisor in residential who said that I was not
the first person
to call with a complaint like this, that she had received quite a few
calls like mine, and that I should threaten to disconnect my service
and see if that
got me anywhere. Perhaps, she maintained, I could get a credit for
2-3 months of service or at least for $15 a month for a few months.
Admittedly one
or two of the representatives offered me a credit--one for a month of
service at essentially the price I was promised and one for 2 or 3
months of service
at that rate, but I turned them down because I expect them to give me
what I ordered. I already accepted a lesser speed of DSL; I refuse to
pay more for
it than I was told I would have to pay. The reps kept telling me
about \"straightforward pricing\" and \"codes\" which, according to
them, mean that no
one, even the CEO, could change the pricing for DSL. Now I have until
Friday the 13th to cancel the service and owe nothing. I have
contacted the Better
Business Bureau and am contacting you to know what I should do and
also to tell anyone and everyone to, if at all possible, avoid
Bellsouth, cancel their
services, and encourage others to do so. Thank you.
Damage Resulting = At this point, I have lost no money but very well
could if I wait until after the 13th to cancel the service pending the
outcome of the
BBB complaint. I\'m not sure if my time is worth anything, but I\'ve
easily spent 3-4 hours talking with Bellsouth on the phone, rehashing
the story,

I know that it's an awful word to throw around but I find that the
only way to get the phone/water/gas/electric companies to listen to me
is to threaten them with PUCO. Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
I'm sure your state has a Utilities Commission and they may be better
equipped to handle your complaint. Utility companies are required to
abide by certain laws in order to provide service in your state. If
they don't abide by these laws they are fined and could lose your
state's contract if there are too many complaints.

I've rarely have to do this but when I did tell the phone company that
I was going to call PUCO, they shut up, listened and helped me solve
my problem instead of insisting that I owe them money for something I
didn't owe them money for. Good luck with your internet phone. I
have heard bad things about TWC in general. I hope they work out for
you.

"I told him I did not request a service call and the phone was now
working but to have at it."

That's why you're being charged. You gave him the ok.

Good for you standing up to them. Too many times we see complaint
letters that involve the OP making threats and demands, but with no
back-up.

You received bad service and did the right thing by switching
companies.

Great letter!

If the tech did not enter your home, you are not responsible for a
service call. BellSouth is responsible for all wiring up to your
Network Interface Device which is outside your home. Tell them that
you will not pay and that you want to see a copy of the technicians
work order.

If you do intend to dispute the charge, make sure everything is in
writing. Do not just deduct it from the bill. This can come back to
haunt you when they either send it to collections or make an entry on
your credit report.

I agree with everyone else. Thats nuts! I wouldnt pay it either. Good
for you for moving on.

If you didn't request a service call, don't pay for it - you don't owe
it. If they send it to collections, dispute it with the collection
agency, and if they mess with your credit report, contact the credit
bureaus and dispute whatever they put on there.

That is a little ridiculous of them to charge you $31.00 to come out
and waste your time without you having asked first.
However I don't think you should use the word "screw" in your
professional business letter if you want it to be taken
seriously...unless of course your refering to hardware =)