OMG Crakeur....You have some amazing patience.

I swear, you and my father must be friends. No joke. My father would've handled it the same way (with an impressive vocabulary of bad words that I didn't even know existed)...especially with the Dead Employee Excuse.

I know that Telus (The CDN cell company I'm with), and RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) and other Companies record all their calls for "Quality Assurance and Training Purposes". Someone should listen to that call and give that employee extra long, permanent holiday time.

The kind where you empty your desk and learn how to write a resume again.

- Carrot

Certainly not to the same extreme but it makes me wonder what customer service is about.

I was in the UK last week and before I went I added an international calling plan to my phone and my husbands. And I already have an international texting plan on my phone. I made sure I knew how to make the international calls, as it turns out a blackberry doesn't know what country it is in and to call the US from the UK you don't need country codes but to call the next town over in the UK you do....anyway I had been in the UK for about 5 days or so using the internet freely (when it felt like cooperating) and emailing away, when I got a text from AT&T telling me I had a high amount of data use and it was going to cost me a lot and if I didn't call a certain number my service could be cut off. Let's just say emailing pictures costs.

I call this number and speak with a woman who asks me to hold on (she is in Bombay btw) and I tap my fingers and wait and wait... I finely ask if she could hurry up since this is a toll call and she corrects me and says it is toll free. I say no...I was warned when I dialed I would be charged...funny how that sped her up. I add the international data plan at $50 for unlimited usage and am told they can't apply my previous usagae...thanks for nothing but I agree to pay and continue to enjoy my vacation. ( which was great )

I just called AT&T and asked why I wasn't told about this plan since I had already asked to add every other international service to my phone, and blackberry users are inclined to use the other neat options on the phone and she didn't know but applogized. (she is in the US this time) She added notes to my complaint and said it would be passed on to those who decide if I am worthy of a credit or not. I have dealt with those people before and after bending over was given some satisfaction.

Wish me luck...or my vacation may turn out more expensive than I planned...maybe I can get to the bill before the husband sees it.

they might not give you a full credit but they will probably offer you a credit on the account. if the first one is $25, fight it. tell them that the customer should be coddled and treated like a child when it comes to options and plans and everything should be spelled out for them so that they are always happy with the service being offered. when they agree with you, tell them that they did not do this. tell them that you think it was intentionally done to ensure that you ran up big bills.

never lose your temper but always sound confident and firm. try to always show some level of respect for the person on the other end of the call. if you lose your temper and spew some foul language or say something over the line, apologize to the person, tell them you know this isn't their fault, that they didn't pull the scam on you but you are frustrated etc. I've found that this allows you some leeway in venting, it shows them how pissed off you are and, yet, it manages to show that you are not a complete (insert adjective of choice).

Are you implying I may lose my temper? Actually I usually do have to bite my tongue when speaking to these "sorts" could explain why I work nights and NOT in customer service.

I was the model of decorum today, but was told to call after I get the bill and remind them to take a look at the comments she made on my account. So apparently I have to remind them to do their jobs. I will let you know how much they ripped me off... I mean mistakenly over charged me.

Spoke to AT&T today. They didn't want me to go to complaint dept so "helped" me again...charges apparently now posted and over $200 so she sent for total credit minus fee for international data plan. She said that would be $64 and I said I was told $50 seems I was right. I have an amazing 24% discount thru my job. Way to go about time it did me a favor. Anyway still want credit for the call to Bombay. 5 to 7 days till I know if I am worthy of a credit at all. What a racket.

I got the text from AT&T and after a long drawn out statement bottom line is I got the credit on my account. It may take a couple months to show it all but at least they took the money off relatively hassle free.

So Crakeur whatever happened with the phone?

Did you get the BlackBerry Storm?