A Mill Valley, Calif. woman was overcharged by more than $3,000 after AT&T removed her company retiree discount and refused to reimburse her for its own billing mistake.

Tes Norlin and her husband travel the world and make a lot of overseas calls using their AT&T cell phone along the way. It wasn’t much of a surprise when the couple began receiving AT&T bills for more than $600, but when their travel was finished, AT&T wasn’t — the Norlin family continued to see surprisingly high bills.

Tes is a victim of autobill complacency. The convenience of automatic bill payments has too often given people an excuse not to scrutinize their monthly bills, as long as the amount seems somewhat reasonable. It is only after an unexpectedly high bill arrives when customers finally begin to investigate.

The Norlin family bundles every telecommunications service they have with AT&T – cell phones, broadband, and television service. For that loyalty, and because of Norlin’s former employment with AT&T, she qualified for a substantial discount — $263 a month. AT&T mistakenly removed that discount when it deleted her Social Security number from the account… 14 months earlier.

“And [that discount] amounted to over $3,000 which is a substantial amount of money,” Tes told San Francisco television station KGO. “$263.88 times the 14 months, basically. Then you can do the math.”

AT&T did its own math. Despite more than two dozen calls to AT&T customer service and executive customer relations, the company’s final offer was a courtesy credit amounting to three months of the missing discount AT&T admitted accidentally removing.

The phone company says it’s the customer’s fault if they don’t analyze their AT&T bill and promptly call attention to billing errors.

“Rules are rules,” said AT&T.

Of course, AT&T wrote those rules and when KGO threatened to tell the story on the evening news, a full refund was quickly on the way.

“We provided an adjustment for the full amount, as requested, after discovering that the customer had been removed from the database of former employees eligible to receive this discount,” said AT&T in a change of heart.

Customers who don’t have the backing of Channel 7’s investigative reporter are much less likely to win that outcome so a word to the wise: even if your account is configured with autopay, always scrutinize your monthly bill for mistakes. Many cell phone companies are deleting employee discounts for customers that do not respond to employer verification requests. The re-verification procedure is detailed on the bill you may be ignoring.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KGO San Francisco Woman struggles to get employee discount from ATT 7-9-14.flv[/flv]

KGO TV’s consumer reporter helps wrestle a substantial service credit from AT&T over a discount the company accidentally deleted from a customer’s account. (3:24)

Lovett – Paid nearly double his 2010 salary for even worse results.

The man hired specifically to improve dismal customer satisfaction ratings for Charter Communications has walked away from the company with more than $20 million in pay in 2011 after just over two years at the helm, even as the company’s ratings grew worse.

Michael Lovett assumed the CEO position at Charter after the company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, 2009. Lovett was charged with cleaning up the company’s lousy reputation for customer service, service quality, and pricing.

He resigned this past February leaving Charter with an even poorer customer satisfaction rating. Now a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission discloses he walked away with $1.3 million in salary and $19.24 million in bonuses, golden parachutes, stock awards, and other resignation-related benefits — almost double the pay he received in 2010.

Charter is legendary for billing errors, disinterested customer service representatives, Internet Overcharging schemes that limit broadband consumption, poor quality repair and installation work, and inadequate infrastructure.

In July, 2011 Atlantic magazine named Charter the 5th most-hated company in America, and only received a satisfaction rating of 59/100 in the American Customer Satisfaction Index.

This year, the “don’t care bears” of cable did even worse — achieving the rank of 3rd most-hated company in America, stiffing customers with bait and switch promotions customers never received, even shoddier customer service and dodgy billing practices.

“I’d rather have AT&T, and that should tell you something,” shares Thom, a Charter customer in St. Louis. “You can’t believe how bad a cable company can be until you’ve dealt with Charter. You have a better chance of being dealt with fairly in a mob-run casino.”

“Shareholders must be among the dumbest people in America to watch this company flush more than $30 million down Lovett’s bank account for two years and accomplishing the amazing task of actually making things worse,” Thom writes. “He’s proof that throwing money at a problem does not work, no matter how many press releases Charter puts out.”

Charter is now being run by an ex-executive from Cablevision Industries, who has spent his tenure luring other Cablevision mid and high level executives to join him at Charter. President and CEO Tom Rutledge, chief operating officer John Bickham, and chief marketing officer Jonathan Hargis — former Cablevision executives now show up for work at a New York office Charter opened specifically for them.

“Nothing ever changes at Charter,” says Thom. “Instead of spending money actually improving service, they’re opening new executive suites in expensive New York just so the top brass need not slum it here in St. Louis. It’s good to know they have their priorities straight.”

The Better Business Bureau has processed more than 5,000 customer complaints against Charter in the past three years, most eventually resolved through Charter’s executive escalation office in Simpsonville, S.C.

Charter Communications reported a net loss of $94 million in the first quarter ended March 31.

AT&T wireless customers grandfathered on unlimited wireless data plans might want to think twice about calling to protest billing errors, because the company is using the occasion to strip off unlimited data plans from customer accounts.

Stop the Cap! reader Jess DeSanto is one of thousands of Florida customers who discovered AT&T has a tendency to add “extras” on wireless lines without the customer’s consent. DeSanto had been paying $2.99 a month for “Roadside Assistance,” part of her phone bill since the day she signed up for AT&T, and she never asked for it. She only noticed when a lawsuit required the company to notify customers the service was optional and offered refunds to those paying for the plan without realizing it.

“We always thought it was just one of those fees AT&T puts on our monthly bill, because we have been paying for it ever since we switched to AT&T from T-Mobile,” DeSanto shares. “When we finally learned we should have never had to pay for a service we did not order, we contacted AT&T to have the service removed.”

DeSanto said AT&T promptly took the service off her account, and even refunded more than a year of charges because she never used the service. But the company also quietly stripped the DeSanto family of its grandfathered, unlimited use data plans in the process.

“When I was reviewing the bill, I saw the credits, but I also saw we were suddenly placed on 3GB usage-limited data plans — the unlimited data we had was gone,” DeSanto writes. “Boy was I mad at AT&T.”

DeSanto had to endure a lecture from a customer service representative about how the unlimited use plan and the 3GB plan were essentially identical. (AT&T throttles the speed customers receive on the unlimited plan after 3GB of usage per month. AT&T will charge customers overlimit fees on the 3GB plan if they exceed their allowance.)

“I told them I don’t want to deal with a sneaky phone company switching my services without my permission in such an underhanded way,” DeSanto said. “It’s like buying a car off the lot and after you sign the papers, they drive up in a different car.”

A manager finally agreed to switch DeSanto back to the plans she originally signed up for, but she is still seething over the affair.

“If you are an AT&T customer, you better scrutinize that bill real careful every month, because you have no idea what they will pull next.”

DeSanto is not alone. A blogger named “Michael” reports his unlimited data plan was also eliminated when he called about another AT&T “billing error”:

I’ve had one of AT&T’s unlimited data plans since I first got an iPhone 3GS not quite three years ago. You can thus imagine my surprise when I checked my bill last month and discovered that I had been switched to 3GB/month limited data plan.

[…] When I finally got a rep on the line, I learned that they had made the change on March 22nd when I had called in about another billing error. As it turns out, when I upgraded my phone, they not only renewed my contract, but they also added roadside assistance ($2.99/month), phone insurance ($6.99/month), and something called the “enhanced mobile protection plan” ($3.00/month). (Note that none of these charges were reflected on my signed contract.)

When I called back in March, I had no trouble getting them to remove the unwanted services and credit me for the charges, but… they apparently took this opportunity to also switch me from my beloved unlimited data plan to a 3GB/month limited data plan. Without my permission.

Michael had no trouble getting his unlimited plan back when he complained. In fact, he was suspicious because it seemed “too easy.”

“[It was sort of]  like they’ve been making this “mistake” on purpose and are ready if/when people notice and call in to complain,” Michael writes.

Upgrade or else.

AT&T is now forcing some of their customers relying on the company’s traditional DSL service to upgrade to AT&T U-verse or face service suspension.

The latest customers impacted by AT&T’s forced upgrade are in parts of Connecticut.

“This is a reminder that within the next 30 days, your current service will change to AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet,” reads the letter mailed to customers facing the mandatory transition. Unfortunately, customers have to call AT&T to arrange for new equipment if they want their service to continue uninterrupted — existing DSL modems don’t work with U-verse.

Callers who dial the toll-free number in the letter get to order the U-verse equipment for free, but they routinely endure a hard sales pitch selling U-verse video and phone service as well, at a corresponding higher price. Customers are sent self-install kits at no charge and are offered the same rate they currently pay for DSL, sometimes with faster speeds on the U-verse network. But after one year, regular U-verse prices apply, and they are often significantly more expensive than traditional DSL service.

A Broadband Reports reader in Conn. shared a copy of the AT&T U-verse upgrade letter posted on that site's AT&T forum.

The promotional prices offered to Stop the Cap! reader Ralph were not as good as what he was currently paying for basic DSL on a promotion he purchased earlier.

“I am now paying $14.95 a month under the promotion I am on now and AT&T first tried to sell me a plan that cost $5 more,” Ralph writes. “They quickly agreed to keep my current promotional price after I told them about it, but what they will not tell me is what I will pay after the one year is up, nor can I find U-verse regular pricing on AT&T’s website.”

This special offer bundle comes with a surprise after the promotion ends -- a much higher bill.

AT&T is currently promoting Internet-only promotional pricing as follows: Basic Internet: $19.95, Express Internet: $19.95, Pro Internet: $19.95, Elite Internet: $24.95, Max Internet: $29.95, Max Plus Internet: $34.95, Max Turbo Internet: $44.95. We could not find a disclosure of what the regular prices would be after the one-year contract expired, and that bothers Ralph.

“I realize they are going to match my 3Mbps service on U-verse, but somehow I suspect the regular U-verse price is going to come higher than the DSL service I have been using,” he says.

Ralph’s intuition is correct. Stop the Cap! called AT&T at the number provided on the letter and spoke with a customer service representative at the AT&T Web Sales Center. Although AT&T will ship the required equipment (a wireless router/modem combo) at no charge, AT&T will eventually make that money back charging customers higher prices for Internet service.

Current regular pricing for Ralph’s DSL service after his promotion ends will cost him $24 a month for 3Mbps service.  U-verse charges $38 a month (off promotion) for the same speed service — a $14 monthly difference.

“That sucks,” Ralph said after we shared the news. “Why should I have to change what works fine right now?”

AT&T says keeping DSL in certain U-verse upgrade areas is not possible. In fact, AT&T’s letter warns, if customers do not call to arrange for the U-verse “upgrade” by a certain date, their broadband service will be suspended. That could be a problem for customers who also use their broadband account with an Internet-based phone line.

“There goes 911 or any other emergency calling,” Ralph reminds us. “Thanks, AT&T.”

Some customers who have completed their U-verse upgrade report AT&T messed up their subsequent billing, charging full price instead of an agreed-upon promotion. Slickdeals members report AT&T often requires constant reminding to fix billing errors that generally hand customers higher bills than they expected.

“I am trying real hard to figure out how this represents the ‘next evolution of communications’ AT&T writes about in their letter,” Ralph concludes. “All I am going to eventually get is a much higher bill for a service I don’t want or need. I guess it’s time to call the cable company again.”

A Hartville, Ohio grandmother is upset after learning she has been paying Time Warner Cable for a box she claims she returned six years earlier.  Now, the 85-year old former subscriber is appealing to the cable company for a refund totaling more than $600, which represents nearly six years of rental fees.  Her son called Time Warner, who at first admitted they had made a mistake, but only offered to credit Florence Nichols $100, not the $600 she spent on a box she claims she never used.

“I just could not believe it was a bargaining thing now,” said Florence’s son Randy. “Whatever happened to the part about where [Time Warner says] we made a mistake [and] we’ll make it right?”

Several weeks later, the cable company reneged on its earlier offer and refused to give Florence any credit at all.  WEWS-TV in Cleveland called Time Warner, who produced an invoice they say shows the cable company installed two boxes in her home, and she was not entitled to any refund.  Nichols claims she never used two boxes and was only billed for one.  The cable company records claim they picked up her “second box” in 2011.

Nichols is done talking with Time Warner, and is now taking her case to the Ohio State Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau.

Nichols wonders how many other customers are paying for phantom cable equipment and for services they don’t actually receive.  Cable customers are advised to scrutinize their bills carefully, paying careful attention to equipment rental charges and service fees.  Time Warner generally includes the first set top box in the price of certain cable television packages.  Extra boxes cost more.  DVR equipment can carry an equipment charge and a separate service charge, which can really add up.

The longer you wait to protest a potential billing error, the more difficult it will be to obtain a full refund, even if the problem was the company’s fault.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WEWS Cleveland Hartville woman disputes cable billing 1-20-12.mp4[/flv]

WEWS-TV in Cleveland covers the story of an 85-year old grandmother in Hartville, Ohio who is fighting Time Warner Cable for six years of fees charged for a cable box she claims she returned.  (2 minutes)