Contesting your phone bill allows you to avoid unfairly paying any charges on your bill. Many times, a phone call to your telephone company will be enough to solve the problem.
Steps
Step 1. Prepare a copy of your bill, which you always have in front of you while you are on the phone so as not to be caught unprepared
Step 2. Decide in advance which solution would be ideal for you, and possibly what you would be happy to get from the telephone company
In any case, resign yourself: if the charges are legitimate in all respects, you will get nothing.
Step 3. Call your telephone company's customer service telephone
By pressing 0, in some cases, you will be able to make your way faster through the menu maze with the recorded voice.
Step 4. Start with “I would like to ask a question about my phone bill”
Opening with an accusation, the company will immediately take a defensive stance. Ask yourself politely, simply asking for a look at your bill and illustrate your problem. It is possible that immediately after having pointed this out, the error will be immediately recognized without you even having to ask - possible, not probable.
Step 5. Write down the name of the telephone operator you are talking to, and write down any requests made to you
Legally, a customer service agent is not required to provide their full name or ID number, thanks to CPNI regulations. If the representative gives you an "extension number", be sure to get the call center prefix as well, so that the extension number is really useful.
Step 6. Explain the specific problem and explain why you believe the mistake is on the company's side
Focus on one problem at a time to make the conversation more understandable, and consequently faster. Often, when one problem is solved, all the others are immediately solved.
Step 7. If it is your fault, explain that the extra charge you received is really heavy to pay on your part and ask for help
Often, by acting politely, you can reduce your charges, but don't expect the company to take responsibility for the use of your telephone line. It is also very difficult to receive similar services more than once in a period of less than 12 months and very often the credit obtained will not actually be a refund of the rates as requested but of the free call minutes, much cheaper for the telephone company..
Step 8. Ask to fix the problem your way
If you can't get even the slightest bit of what you asked for, negotiate civilly.
Step 9. If you are unable to solve the problem due to a particular telephone operator, call during another time slot
In any case, this technique, also called "choosing the operator", generally does not work, unless the next operator called completely ignores the notes entered on your account by the previous operator. Each trader has the same obligations, resources and guidelines to follow.
Step 10. Try talking to a manager, only if the operator was unable to solve your problem satisfactorily and only after having examined all the other possibilities
Alternatively, you could ask the operator to speak to a manager on your behalf, since many managers have limited time to talk to their customers. In addition, if the operator in particular is competent and courteous, spend 10 seconds to point this out to him with a compliment, so that he does not report negative things about you to a supervisor.
Step 11. Send a letter to the company and a reminder a few weeks later in case you still haven't received a reply
Generally, with all companies, this is the slowest and most frustrating method. Answers written by the company are typically cold and terse and hardly ever answer a specific question. Some prefer to contact the BBB and the FCC to resolve the issue faster.
Step 12. Contact the Better Business Bureau only as a last resort
A reminder letter will be sent to the company asking for a formal explanation. Some companies attach great importance to their reputation within the Better Business Bureau and will be more than willing to make the required changes.
Step 13. For truly useful actions (usually within a month), contact the Federal Communicatrion Commission (FCC)
It's easy: https://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html. The FCC regulates companies; therefore, telephone companies certainly do not wish to receive complaints from the regulatory body. By contacting the FCC you will help the agency to detect problems in companies, as well as helping your personal situation.
Step 14. The latter method, however, will not really solve the problem, but if you want to repay the company that has treated you badly as it deserves, you could file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission
They generally do not intervene in these cases, but use the complaints of users to draw a perspective of the operations of the companies. When a company receives enough complaints, the FTC begins to investigate.
Advice
- Keep calm. Be kind, courteous and friendly. Say "please" and "thank you". Compliment the manager on a job well done and keep a very friendly overall tone.
- Ask about the executive department. Customer service generally does not have enough privileges to make the corrections on the bill you would like. The executive department generally has more power and can help you better.
- Don't keep calling the phone company with every little problem believing you can get credit and refunds. All telephone companies keep track of their customers' behavior and accumulated credit-debts. When a customer's accumulated credits start to become excessive, the company will be much less inclined to give more.
- Sometimes, a correction to your bill can take weeks. Ask for the estimated technical time and keep in mind that credits are not always applied to your current budget but could instead go towards reducing the debt on your future bill. Either way, getting instant credit or paying a lower bill in the future is the same thing.
- Nextel (now merged with Sprint) outsources its customer service to external companies. These operators enjoy the privileges of the same Nextel operators, but do not enjoy the same search tools. Sometimes, the lack of information will work out in your favor, but also be prepared to wait longer technical times to, for example, switch promotional plans, get free minutes or similar operations.
- Maybe you intend to accept a new contract or extend your current contract. Let customer service know if you are willing or not.
- Ask an operator to reanalyze and reread the active options on your account so you don't have any surprises on future bills. Sometimes, an option is not immediately listed on the bill because it is still in the promotional period, only to appear a couple of months later.
- Always write down the problem, the solution, the name of the person you spoke to and the date of the conversation. If you can, get the internal number or the operator ID.
- Ask the operator to write down any promised credit corrections on your account. This is the only way to prove what you were verbally told during the call. Notes are standard procedure for most telephone companies, and operators can be penalized if they fail to write down an account information correctly. You, for your part, should separately note the date and time of registration and the person you spoke with each time you called, including the operator's ID or extension number. Write down any details revealed by the operator about your situation and write down any case number that has been communicated to you.
- Telephone companies calculate the profitability of each customer based on the contract, rates and discounts given for any service or equipment. This means that the most profitable users are those who typically get the most credits and discounts.
- The contract you signed contains the details on the debit and the crediting of money to your account. For example, all the major telephone companies re-credit an amount equal to 100% of the amount charged by mistake when the problem is on their side, but they could re-credit you only 50% or less if you willy-nilly provided incorrect information.
- Customer service agents continually attend business training courses so that they are able to promptly help you with any inquiries, provided you provide clear and complete information.
- If you don't have a contract (and are therefore not tied to the company for X years) you generally have more control.
- At Sprint, don't ask for the manager, ask for the team leader. The group leader can modify the credits of the users and assign bonuses. Sprint has 2 different types of customer service. Some of the operators you are put in contact with are not Sprint employees but work on behalf of Sprint by another company. These operators do not have all the privileges of an internal Sprint operator. Ask the operator if he works for Sprint or another company.
- Pay your bills before they expire so you can be seen as a good customer.
- If you are in a GSM network and all the other steps have not worked, you can ask the operator to send you not only the bill but also the list of your calls. In some countries, the operator has a legal obligation to provide these lists, and may actually decide that it is cheaper to give you credit immediately than to search for all your called records. Don't settle for the mere bill listed, ask for the Mobile Application Protocol (MAP) register.
- Point out that you have been a customer of the company for X years and have always paid your bills on time. Saying this always works better than threatening to change companies.
- Try taking your bill to a service center in your city. Clerks in these centers often have privileges to give credits or discounts as a local support team, and it's often easier to explain your problem in person than over the phone.
Warnings
- Call only if you have a valid reason. Most customer service agents can tell the difference between a truly struggling user and someone who is just trying to save money.
- Calls roaming outside your coverage area can be charged for up to 60 days late. In general, disputing these charges is of no use.
- No service provider is responsible for overshooting the limits set by the contract. They only provide the service and it is up to you to use it diligently. Learn to control the usage of minutes or Internet data during the current billing period. This can generally be done from the company's website. For AT&T Mobiliy enter the number * 646 # and press the send button on the mobile device to receive a free text message reporting the use of the network for the phone in question. Shared plan users will need to check their account individually. For T-Mobile rate plans you can dial # 646 # and press enter to see the call minutes usage while you will need to type # 674 # plus Enter for text messages received and sent during the current billing period. No provider promises more recent usage reports of 24-72 hours, although usually the information received is correct.
- Apparently, asking for bill corrections via email doesn't work.
- To check the minutes Sprint uses the * 4, while for Nextel it uses the 612.
- Avoid threats, scams and reduce yourself to begging customer service to fulfill your request.
