The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland last week was busily helping desperate consumers against holiday-time foreclosures, disputes with big companies that go unresolved, and those in need of basic legal advice until AT&T disconnected dozens of their phone lines over a billing dispute.

According to the Society, AT&T remotely shut off dozens of their lines over an unpaid phone bill that belonged to another customer unrelated to the group, and the phone company said it could take weeks to turn the phone lines back on.

“If you can shut us down in 30 seconds, why can’t you get us back up in 30 seconds,” Margaret Terry tells WEWS-TV. “I mean what kind of organization are they running?”

So far, AT&T has only forwarded incoming calls to another Aid Society in an adjacent county — one with just four incoming lines.

An 6 o’clock news account of AT&T’s foot-dragging seemed to speed things up.  Company officials were promising a resolution by this morning.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WEWS Cleveland ATT phone service problems 12-21-11.mp4[/flv]

WEWS finds out what the problem is after AT&T disconnected dozens of phone lines belonging to the Legal Aid Society in Cleveland — all over an unpaid phone bill that belonged to someone else.  (2 minutes)