About a month ago I wrote about changing internet providers. I have since been able to get my new service up and running and said goodbye to the old. Yesterday I sat down to pay a set of bills I usually take care of mid month. It was time to pay that final Comcast bill and most likely time to think about my new bill from AT&T. Because I made the switch mid-month in April I knew I was going to have to pay a portion of April and all of May for both so these bills were likely to be a bit higher than normal.
When I cancelled Comcast back in April I never paid the final bill. Why? Because when I cancelled middle of the month they told me they would need to prorate my bill amount. I cancelled internet with them, but not cable so I needed a new bill with a new amount. With Comcast you pay in advance for your monthly service. I was now cancelling service halfway through the month, yet I had already paid for it. They let me know they would need to generate a new bill for me showing a credit and a new amount due for cable only. So I waited…..and waited…..and waited. Yesterday I was curious why I hadn’t received a new bill so I checked into it. Imagine my surprise when I pulled up my “online bill pay” feature provided from my bank and it showed me that I owed $184! This was not a lesser amount, but rather double in price!
I went to Comcast’s website and looked at a pdf version of my bill with details. It turns out, not only had they not prorated my amount, but they also never cancelled my service and were still billing me for it!
So I picked up the phone and made the call. I sat on hold for a good 15 minutes. Thank goodness I have speaker phone and could multitask while I waited. After the wait was over I explained my situation and the person on the other end apologized and gave me a new amount due. $83.56
That’s quite a jump from $184! It took me 20 minutes to save myself $100 that I didn’t actually owe!
Then came ATT&T. I got an email from them later in the day with my first bill.(Nice timing!) Once again, sticker shock!
| Service | Account ending in | Member ID | Bill Amount | Due Date |
| U-verse | 9555 | $318.91 | 05/31/2012 |
$300+ plus for my first internet bill. WHAAAAAAT! Does anyone have common sense anymore. ARGH! I was a bit frustrated at this point. I looked up my bill online and it turns out they too made a mistake. They billed me for a technician coming out to my house to install the service when in fact, I had opted for a self install. I once again got on the phone and made a call. This wait time was far shorter and after another apology and adjustment in my account, my bill dropped to $150.
So what is my over all savings here?
Comcast – Original amount $184 – Correct amount = $83 (This includes part of April and May cable)
AT&T – Original amount $300 – Correct amount = $150 (This includes part of April and May internet and $100 fee for the wireless device)
Thanks to a little research and two phone calls, I spent yesterday saving myself $250.
I understand people and computers these days make mistakes, but this is QUITE a big mistake. My worry is how many people out there just blindly or automatically pay their bills each month and never ever look at them. You might be surprised at how much money you can save.
I challenge you to start looking at your bills. Maybe you don’t need to pull out a magnifying glass every month on all your bills, but on occasion you should be auditing your bills. I actually pick a new bill each month to go over and make sure I’m paying the best and correct price each month. Last month was internet and cable and it somehow carried over to this month as well. Next month I plan to review my car and home owners insurance.
Anyone else have a billing error story they discovered?
Live Wiser. Spend Wiser. 