New Member
•
1 Message
Help closing 94 year old mother's wireless account
Mom will be 95 in May and has had a wireless account in her name with AT&T for years. Payment for her account is linked to her debit card, we think. The bank does not show it as a recurring withdrawal; however, every month you get paid. She is now in a nursing home with advanced dementia. Her cell phone hasn't even been charged for 2-3 years. Please tell us how we can close this account?
sandblaster
ACE - Expert
•
64.7K Messages
4 years ago
The only ways to close a postpaid account is for the account owner to call or port the number to a different carrier. If you have access to the account information and can call and provide the necessary information to convince them you are the account owner, you can close the account. If you tell them you aren’t the account owner, then you’ll need to prove power of attorney. However, since you say the recurring withdrawals don’t occur every month, it sounds like the account may be prepaid. To cancel prepaid, just stop paying. Just cancel the debit card.
1
MicCheck
ACE - Expert
•
14.2K Messages
4 years ago
Even if it's postpaid, cancelling the debit card might be the easiest route. It will probably be easier for you to get a replacement debit card from the bank (if she needs it) than it will be to work with AT&T (sad, but true). Sure, it might leave an unpaid balance, but does she really care if it goes to collections?
1