AT&T has a habit of quickly stopping payment on refund checks issued to customers moving to a new address and canceling landline service, costing customers not only the money AT&T owes them, but also bounced check fees of $20 or more.

David Willis was an AT&T customer for years, but when he moved he decided to leave his AT&T landline behind. AT&T eventually mailed him a refund check of $5.67 to his old address in Jacksonville that the post office forwarded to his new home in Yulee.

When Willis deposited AT&T’s check, it bounced, despite the fact it was supposed to be good for at least 180 days. His bank promptly charged him $20 for AT&T’s no-good check, losing Willis a total of $25.67.

AT&T claims it stops payment on checks when it learned from the post office a customer has moved to a new address, despite the fact Willis previously provided AT&T with that new address. The company chose to mail the dud check to his old home. A replacement refund check of $5.67 arrived in Yulee several days later, but now Willis is afraid to deposit it, fearing that check might be no good either.

AT&T initially refused to refund Willis the $20 bank fee.

“When you call them they immediately go into, ‘well you changed your address and that caused a series of events which meant stopping the check and therefore it is your responsibility,'” said Willis. “They never at any time told me to not deposit the check.”

Willis told First Coast News, “I want the twenty plus what they owed me all in one certified check.”

With the story all over the local evening news, he got his wish.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/First Coast News ATT refund check confusion causes bank fee 5-1-13.flv[/flv]

First Coast News consumer reporter Ken Amaro: “Everyday I receive a number of complaints, some of them are legitimate, some non-legitimate, some very insidious and downright outrageous.” Hello, AT&T. (2 minutes)