AT&T Community Forums

Worst billing system, should be investigated

I was a long time customer of AT&T (over 10 years) and recently switched to a new provider after years of putting up with at&t's awful billing system. There are ridiculous hidden charges and a serious lack of transparency. I had to call countless times to discuss new charges on my bill that would pop up out of nowhere. I got so sick of it sometimes because of how time consuming the process was that I ended up overpaying so as not to deal with this horrendous company. Had it not been for At&t's contract with apple, I would have left long ago.

Even now, I continue to be billed by at&t after having terminated my plan 3 months ago!!! my online login was immediately blocked after termination, and I was not able to stop to autopays. To date, I have been charged over $300 in fees for absolutely nothing. This is beyond frustrating. When I even hear the name AT&T, i get upset because of all the wasted time and stress i have endured. Not only that, the customer service was never helpful. I had to call 8 times just to get my phone unlocked (luckily accomplished by the only useful customer service rep). Managers never called as promised. Even the customer service has improved, at&t is still far worse and far more expensive than other service providers.

The purpose of this posting is to vent my ten years of frustration and warn google searchers to steer clear of at&t until they get their act together. Hire some consultants to help you with your ludicrous billing program that qualifies for investigations into fraudulent activity. I have been rallying all my friends with At&t to leave. I am so much happier with my current provider who charges 50% less while giving me unlimited minutes, data, and texting. however, i'd even pay double at&t rates to reduce all the stress they give me.

Responses

Accepted Solution

christopherjones

Scholar

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121 Messages

10 years ago

Here's the funny thing... I've found out that most big carrier's (AT&T, Tmobile, Verizon, Sprint) actually use the same billing system.

These billion dollar companies are obviously going to have a billing system that works. The only bottle-neck in this situation is the customer and not understanding fees / extra charges.

Have some common sense:
Do you think billion dollar companies are going to risk (adding on pennies, dollars, or smaller amounts onto customers bills) and risk the event of getting caught. They would: need to pay back the customers in the amount that they "scammed", and they would need to pay a hefty fine. Obviously not a sound business tactic (because this doesn't exist with AT&T nor the other carriers... because they're not stupid)

Another funny thing, is that AT&T does add on some extra small charges.. but they explain what all the extra charges are for (on the website).

Another funnny thing is some of your friends might have early termination fees, so if you rally them they might have to pay these fees.. so you might wanna think that out too.

Here's a copy of my last bill and some of the "fraudulent fees":

Surcharges & Fees
Administrative Fee$0.61
Federal Universal Service Charge−$0.35
Municipal License Surcharge−$0.26
Poison Control Surcharge$0.07
Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge$0.62
Relay Service Device Fund Surcharge$0.05
Utah Universal Service−$0.06
Total Surcharges & Fees$0.68
 
Government Fees & Taxes
9-1-1 Service Fee$0.08
City District Sales Tax - Telecom−$0.05
City Sales Tax - Telecom−$0.07
County Sales Tax - Telecom−$0.06
Local Wireless 911 Surcharge$0.61
UT State Sales Tax - Telecom−$0.34

Yeah, these are definitely fraudulent and we should definitely get the FBI and the FCC involved.

If you're so stressed about a simple bill, then maybe the bill isn't the problem, you may want to rethink your life as well as what ELSE you might be stressing about.

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Official Solution

Fl_retire

ACE - Professor

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3K Messages

6 years ago

When I moved from Maryland to Florida my state communications and city communications taxes increased. ATT has to collect the taxes at the rate dictacted by the state and city. My neighbor across the street outside of the city does not pay the city tax. Subdivision going up close by and the city will move city limits to make the extra money from everyone.

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MAKDM1

Contributor

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1 Message

10 years ago

Seriously? Your fees from your last bill were truly that low? My typical monthly bill is about $86 and my fees are much more than just a few cents. What kind of plan are you on? The $10 a month former AT&T employee plan?

BILL BEFORE EXTRA FEES: $74.99

MY LAST MONTH'S SURCHARGES, FEES & TAXES

Administrative Fee 0.61

Federal Universal Service Charge 2.09
Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge 0.26
911 Service Fee 0.50
City Communications Tax 3.08
State Communications Tax 4.41

TOTAL FEES & TAXES $10.95

Actually, as government fees, taxes and surcharges go, these one's on my typical bill are fairly reasonable.

Now get a load of this month's bill, which is not typical by any means. This one was for a total of $230.28...

BILL BEFORE EXTRA FEES = $181.99

THIS MONTH'S SURCHARGES, FEES & TAXES

Administrative Fee 0.61

Federal Universal Service Charge 19.71

Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge 0.52

911 Service Fee 0.50

City Communications Tax 11.09

State Communications Tax 15.86

TOTAL FEES & TAXES $ 48.29

Of course, before you say "the extra fees are higher because the overall bill is higher." Yes, that's true. But look at the numbers. This month's bill is nearly 3 times greater than last month. So even if I were to multiply last month's fees by 3, they still don't seem to add up to what I'm being charged.

$10.95 x 3 = $32.85

Okay, so I tracked down the current percentages myself for the really high amounts:

Federal Universal Service Charge (determined quarterly by the FCC)

15.7% (for 3rd qtr 2014).... 16.6% (for 2nd qtr 2014)

City Communications Tax (for my specific city/county)

5.94% (for 2014 in Florida)

State Communications Tax

9.17% (for 2014 in Florida)

WOW, THAT'S ALOT OF TAXES... TOTAL: 30.81%

If you use these rates to determine what the charges would be for each month based on the cost before the fees are added, you'll find that this month's extra fees actually do total (kind of) around the listed amounts with the exception of the FUS, which would be $28.57 instead of $19.71. Whew-- at least there's a savings there... I think. But apply the same percentages to my typical $86 bill and the amounts are actually way off-- like perhaps I should have been charged a lot more for last month's fees. So it makes me think that AT&T or the state & federal governments must be adjusting these fee amounts by some other way than just their posted flat percentage rate.

So how do they really figure these amounts we get charged? Are we really paying 31% or more in extra fees & taxes? AT&T says they have no control over the fees or the way they are calculated and charged (even though we get our bill from AT&T, and not the government). Of the 4 customer service people I spoke with today, none could really even give me a straight answer on what the percentages were, nor how exactly these charges are calculated, other that it's on a "state by state" basis. Aparently these numbers "just come in" to AT&T from the government "ether" and they pass them directly on to the consumers.

I, for one, want to know how these extra fees, taxes and surcharges are really calculated. Is there a sliding scale of some sort? Is it based on your number of minutes used? Who and where you call? Whether you're a Democrat or Republican? Or do they just consult the Magic 8 ball and a number pops out?

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/contribution-factor-quarterly-filings-universal-service-fund-usf-management-support

https://pointmatch.state.fl.us/General/CommunicationsServicesTaxRates.aspx

http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/taxes/cst.html

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l2EGrEtATandT

Tutor

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2 Messages

10 years ago

I have the same problem. I am looking into various government agencies and researching a lot of this stuff on my own recently. Trying to develop and exact rubric for these charges.

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HugeLarry

Tutor

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4 Messages

9 years ago

Most of the frustration with AT&T's surcharge fees/taxes is not that people think they are being intentionally overcharged. It is that there is no clear explanation for how those fees are determined. Even that link AT&T sends folks to input your zip code and look at the fees for your state--that is not helpful. What we would LIKE to see is specific calculations/details for HOW these percentages are being applied.

When I compare my bill to other friends bills with similar plans in the same county/state..mine is twice as high in Surcharge/Taxes and i still have not been given any type of explanation why.

Lets use the earlier mentioned Florida as an example. Lets say I have a $126.99 plan which includes a 3GB shared plan with 2 phones... and 1 phone has device protection for $6.99 a month. $40 "rate plan" + $40 "access fee for phone 1" + $40 "access fee for phone 2" + $6.99 device protection. Total bill BEFORE mysterious taxes is $126.99....

Florida Communications Tax is 9.17%. Great! How EXACTLY is that applied to my bill? Is it applied to the FULL rate plan? or just the "Rate plan" portion of the rate plan? (Thats a debate for another day with the absurd way they apply their corporate "discounts" by only applying it to the $40 portion called 'rate plan'.... but not the other $80 "access fees" that ARE included in the "Rate plan" when taxes are applied.. LOL...save that debate for a different thread....$4.00 discount? haha)

Anyway, back on topic... Florida communications tax.

Is this 9.17% tax applied to the total $126.99 (including the device protection) and then divided in HALF so it shows the same on both lines?

Is the 9.17% tax applied only to the $120 portion and NOT include the $6.99 device protection?

Or, if AT&T billing had any decent consistency, is this tax applied ONLY to the "Rate plan portion" of the bill, which, according to discount definitions, would be only $40...since the other $80 dollars in access fees are not technically "rate plan" (at least not when it comes time to offer your corporate discounts)

Which is it? An answer to this example would likely explain the answer to all other surcharge/taxes questions since everyone can see the states tax percentages up front. I am well aware Florida residents are getting shafted due to 4th highest wireless tax in the country...not looking for a handout here AT&T--just transparency on exactly how these fees are calculated.

-HugeLarry

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formerlyknownas

ACE - Sage

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117K Messages

9 years ago

Since you didn't post the amount of taxes billed, I can't do the math for you.
So if you multiply 9.17% by $120, do you get the right amount of tax on your bill?

This is another good reason for my choice to pay for my phones in full, outside of AT&T, so I get the lowest price on my bill, no Bloatware on my phone and I have no contract tying me down.

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HugeLarry

Tutor

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4 Messages

9 years ago

lizdance,

Here are the numbers if you feel like trying the math. I have already tried several permutations of the math, and cant get the numbers to match.

We have 2 lines, so it looks like they split it in half and charge each line the same:

Line 1 Charges:

Surcharges & Fees

Administrative Fee--$0.61

Federal Universal Service Charge--$4.26

Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge--$0.52

Government Fees & Taxes

911 Service Fee--$0.50

County Communications Tax--$1.84

FL State Communications Tax--$8.07

Total Line 1 Charges: $5.39 + $10.41 = $15.80

Line 2 Charges are EXACTLY the same for everything--literally a carbon copy

Total Charges on every single bill = 2 * $15.80 = $31.60

So, in summary, until someone can explain exactly where/why/how these taxes come out to be this much, I will have issues. Ive been on multiple other carriers and the % of taxes/fees has never been even close to this high. (31.60/120 rate plan is well over 25% in taxes...on tmobile my bill was 80 bucks plus TEN dollars tax for a total of 90 dollars each month, and i lived in same state/county)

-huge larry

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formerlyknownas

ACE - Sage

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117K Messages

9 years ago

According to my 8th grade algebra skills, you are being taxed 9.17 % on a total of $176.
If your total bill is $126, then either the tax rate is wrong or someone has even worse math skills than I.

I have to agree, the taxes seem very high. I pay much less taxes in Connecticut for a much larger bill.

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formerlyknownas

ACE - Sage

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117K Messages

9 years ago

I checked my billing. I have 5 phones and 2 tablets and pay taxes AND fees totaling $23.16.
I suspect it has to do with local taxes. If I were you I would not start an account in Florida again. Yikes!

According to a little research, Florida cell phone taxes total to about 22% of their bill, while Connecticut totals about 13% That does add up correctly on my bill. It seems it also does on yours.

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Jerita

Contributor

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1 Message

6 years ago

I moved from As over 2 years ago and they have my address but I usually don't check my bill. I don't get a paper bill. Anyway I noticed my bill was higher this month and got on line and checked. They have been charging me As surcharge. I called and they gave me a whole $20 credit. I haven't checked my tablets, 2 tablets and 2 phones. But I know I was being charged the surcharge on 2 phones. It isn't my fault they didn't change it.

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