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Sunday, December 11, 2016

Beaten at its own game, AT&T discounts the bill I DON'T owe 'em

Update 5/1/2019 - My savings for not having a phone are now approaching $4,000. 

Update 10/26/2017 - AT&T has further reduced the bill I don't owe 'em - this time to $59.05 -  and the bullying thugs aren't one bit closer to getting one cent outta me. No surprise that a bully like AT&T sponsors LGBTQQIAAP activities

Life jus' doesn't get much better. I chose to allow AT&T to discontinue my "service" (rather than be bullied into paying their fabricated bill) on 5/13/2015, and I've had FUN GALORE ever since. Not to mention the heavenly peace n quiet that comes with not being bombarded by robocalls. Bicycling to use a computer at the library, shopping n running errands along the way, and using a pay phone has worked out FAR better than I ever DREAMED.

But wunna the ABSOLUTE BEST experiences came a few weeks ago when I got a letter from Afni, Inc., wunna AT&T's collection gangs, discounting my "bill" from $118.09 to $64.95. Not that I trust AT&T or its "enforcers," and actually, over the past year and seven months, I haven't gotten many collection letters from any of AT&T's thugs. Once the goons realize I don't have a phone they can incessantly ring, they back off quick.

Ah, the SHEER DELIGHT of sockin' it to a crooked bunch like AT&T, ANOTHER CORPORATE SLOB that thinks it can kick ALL consumers around with impunity. A gang that uses robocalls and charges exorbitant, deceitful fees to force folks to give up their landlines and buy cell phones. Just for the record, AT&T, if there's anything I HATE, LOATH, AND DESPISE, it's a cell phone. And from asking around, it appears that I've got WAY more company than your presstitute mainstream media friends would have the gullible American public believe.

It'll be such a pleasure to send AT&T and their lapdog, the SC Department of Consumer Affairs, links to this post. I'm not givin' AT&T ONE RED CENT, and along the way, I've discerned a few things that I'll take this opportunity to point out.

If anyone owes anyone anything, AT&T owes ME for at least a year's worth of home phone (landline) and Internet for the $34.95 per month CONTRACT they entered into - IN WRITING - with no mention of any additional fees, taxes, etc. At this point, I'm willing to overlook their illegalities and the inconvenience they've caused me, in exchange for the few months they billed me correctly for, only to fire up their nonsense again, which ultimately led to their cutting off my "service" entirely after attempting to intimidate me with extended periods of "partial service." 

Then there's that threatening collection letter they first mailed me, pointing out that unless I forked over the amount they came up with (I still can't figure out how they arrived at it), I would be responsible for attorney fees, court costs, etc. when their fleet of scumballs - er I mean lawyers - took legal action. Of course, once they realized that I was SERIOUS about not having a home phone, and could actually pull it off, their tone got a lot less threatening.

And factor in over a decade's worth of robocalls (the precipitating feature of this whole matter), which had gotten so bad I usually didn't even bother to answer the phone. AT&T owes me an allowance for all the harassment, essentially cutting my "service" in half. 

I have a suggestion, AT&T.

Let's do what you initially threatened to do. Tell your gang of lawyers to file charges, haul me into court, and let's see what a jury of my peers has to say about the bill you cooked up. I'd LOVE to present that e-mail you sent me with the itemized charges guaranteed for a year, neatly summed up, without further ado as a GRAND TOTAL.I'll even act as my own attorney.

So PUT 'EM UP, AT&T. Yer not scared of a 71-year-old and his antique, steel-framed, easy-ridin' 10 speed bicycle... 

ARE YA?

9/14/2017 update - AT&T solicited door to door again last Saturday. Always such a JOY tellin' 'em how much money I've saved - now over $2,800 - and how DELIGHTED I am not watching TV and not having a landline, a cell phone, or home Internet.

5/14/2017 update: TWO YEARS without home phone or Internet and I like it all the more as time goes by. Applying a bit of creativity, including rare use of snail mail, I don't even need pay phones. And that's a good thing, since a dumbed-up American public has permitted crooks like AT&T to eliminate pay phones. So far, I've saved about $2,500 and I've also noticed a decrease in junk mail.