John, sorry to hear about your problems with SBC...I had a few run-ins with them in the past. But, I have to say, I had the best experience with them on the phone yesterday (2 representatives too) when I cancelled my DSL line and changed some stuff on our phone line. I think what it comes down to is, it really depends on who you get on the phone. If you feel like things are going bad, tell the person on the phone that something just happened and you will have to call them back. Then take a few deep breaths, walk around the room and call them back. Hopefully the next customer service rep will be different.

If that doesn't work, come here and let everyone know about it.

By the way, I just got a great deal on DSL from Speakeasy. I have a few geek friends like myself, who have used them for a few years now and they swear by them. The one point they have all made is the customer service. So, I am going to give them a try. If someone is interested in [url=http://www.speakeasy.net/]signing up[/url] and you don't mind me getting credit, let me know via PM and I can get you hooked up as well.

What ever you do don’t get SBC!! they are the absolute worst company I have gone through for internet services, and I have used a few; AOL, CompuServe (which sucks too, but at least they had my info in right away and didn’t charge me after the fact) WMConnect, verizon DSL and now Roadrunner.
I had SBC ...had being the key word there...I signed up in January, I turned it on as a free trial thing for one month, well right of the bat they put a dollar hold fee on my bank account...what that is I have no clue, well anyways I call them to find out why they put the fee on my account and they proceed to tell me that they don’t have any of my info. On me I’m like WTF and so I couldn’t do anything; the person I spoke to tells me to call back in 2 weeks; my account is new and my info should be in by then.
Well needless to say I call back in 2 weeks 1 because my installation disk didn’t show up in the mail and 2 because of the fee, well they still don’t have none of my information in the system (but they charged my account...go figure) anyways they take my info. say they will send me the disk and re add me to there system. I have some technical issues with my pc a week later and I call back and guess what still no info on me (and no disk either…I Downloaded the program from the internet.) so I’m fed up with the run around and tell them to cancel my account....well they cant because...guess why....they don’t have my info. I was like well your service states that I can cancel at any point before the month trial period is up ...and there like well there is nothing we can do. So he tells me to call a part of there company that runs through verizon???...don’t ask...any ways they couldn’t do anything ...they don’t have my info, UGH!!
So call back in Feb. they still have no information on me (they have charged my account again this time for the full amount of services, with out my knowing and over drew my account) and the rep says well we still don’t have your info. So why don’t we re-sign you up and we'll refund your money and then cancel your account...I agreed thinking that my account would finally be canceled, HA!!
Well 2 weeks ago I received a disk (finally...not that I want it now) in the mail and a welcome letter saying that I signed up but no letter stating that the account was cancelled (and might I just add no money was put back into my account) still so I called them back yet again and now they have my info. and the guys says were sorry it wasn’t put into the system we'll cancel your account and refund the money and gives me a confirmation # for the call (the only one I received through all my calls with the company) and the account was closed.
BUT today I call the bank and guess what ....money was still not deposited it in my account...UGH!! So I call them back up, now they say oh well the money was sent but it takes up to a week to go through (BULL) and so I ask her about the service charges to my account ...and she says well sorry there is nothing we can do you can fax us a coy of your bank statement or you can dispute it with our company, and I am like well every week I get a new 28.00 charge for I explain to her that as long as my account is over drawn and being that I only use my account as a hold for my checks till I pay my bills my account is empty most of the time and now it is over drawn and each week 28.00 is tacked on to what they took out until I deposit my money in it, and at that time they will take my money to pay it. Well she didn’t seem to comprehend that and well needless to say I got no where with it so I am stuck with paying for a fee that is there fault....this company SUCKS!! Big time!!
Anyways I left out a few of the menial b***h calls in between but I think you get the gist of how much of a pain in the A** this company has been to me. And why i could never recommend them to anyone.

Easiest way to explain my issue is to paste the complaint letter to BBB


ATTENTION ESCALATION – FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION


SBC Billing



CC: Better Business Bureau


Whom it may concern:

On Thursday, April 21, 2005 SBC closed my dial up account due to billing issues. The issues appear to have arisen when I transferred my phone service from SBC to another company. Your billing department claimed to not have billing information for me because the phone service was disconnected. However this is not the case. My account has been billed on my debit card since February. The exact amounts billed are as follows:

4/25/05 $15.95
3/25/05 $15.95 041699
2/26/05 $15.95 034797

In working out the billing issues, your dial up billing team drafted an additional $55.25 from my debit card on 4/25, in addition to the monthly bill of $15.95. The $55.25 is an overcharge that should not have been drafted. As a result of your overcharge, my checking account was thrown off balance. Due to your error, my bank is now charging me $120 in courtesy fees to cover other payments. The fees will continue to accrue in $30 increments with each transaction that I have outstanding. The existing courtesy fees are detailed below:

4/27/05 $30
4/27/05 $30
4/26/05 $30
4/25/05 $30

You dial up department has not allowed me any escalation points other than this fax number to get a resolution to my problem. I have received horrible service from this team during the past week. When I work with your DSL billing team, I get representatives who are sincere and helpful, and attempt to take ownership of the problems. When I work with your dial-up billing team, I get transferred around and no assistance.

I would like to receive a credit immediately for my $55.25, plus the $120 courtesy fee that you have caused me to incur. If the credit does not process today, your company will be financially responsible for the additional courtesy fees incurred until this issue is resolved. Please understand that with the additional charges I am now facing, it is becoming more economical for me to contact a civil attorney resolve the financial situation. This has been on-going for over a week and I am now losing money as a result of your company’s poor customer service.

I expect to hear from someone in your corporate office today who can truly assist me with this issue. Please contact my business number below