What is Digg?Sponsored by Dragon Age: Origins
Can't get enough Dragon Age: Origins? Play the flash game. view!
DragonAgeJourneys.com - Play the free companion flash game to Dragon Age: Origins.
97 Comments
- cannibaljp, on 10/12/2007, -2/+203false advertising... perhaps.
but the rule of thumb is this:
phone company = thief.
period. - Vicissidude, on 10/12/2007, -2/+143Looks like false advertising. You buy the cards for a set number of minutes, but they provide you less than what you purchased. AT&T better prepare for some class-action lawsuits.
- Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+87@hdtvdust (#6548493)
This is from AT&T's own TOC:
For calls that begin and end within the same state, minutes are deducted at the following rates per minute of talk time:
1 minute: DC, IL, IN, MA, RI, USVI;
3 minutes: AL, AR, CA, CT, DE, GA, HI, KS, KY, LA, MD, ME, MI, MS, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PR, SC, TN, UT, WI, WV;
5 minutes: AK, AZ, CO, FL, IA, ID, MN, MT, NC, NH, OK, PA, TX, VA, VT, WA, WY;
8 minutes: MO, ND, SD.
So, in four states, Washington DC and the US Virgin Islands, intrastate calls are billed at one minute for each minute connected. In *every other place,* intrastate calls are billed *at least* three times as much. So if I buy a calling card with 60 minutes on it, and I call instate in Kentucky - I only get 20 minutes. But hey, I bought 60 minutes! WTF? And that's for a 3x state. If it was Missouri, and I bought a 60 minute card, I would get to actually talk for 7.5 minutes.
From TFA:
"In a sign of how far AT&T has wandered from the range, their billing practices have not been followed by either Sprint or Verizon; each charge their prepaid calling card users one minute per minute of in-state talk time."
Sorry, but this doesn't seem like making a mountain out of a molehill to me. Less than a mountain? Perhaps. More than a molehill? Definitely. - Wonderkind, on 10/12/2007, -1/+86I worked for AT&T for ten years. I HATE the company.
Their deception is often seen in statements like:
"Due to Federal regulations, there is a 45 cent surcharge blah blah blah..."
All that really means is that the regulation "allows" them to charge a fee, so they do.
They say it so to sound like a regulation requires a charge.
They manipulate the words to ***** the customer.
Buy from AT&T and they will try to ***** you. - moocow1452, on 10/12/2007, -1/+55So? My mom used to do it all the time.
"In a minute" => 2 hours min. - iWANTmySNback, on 10/12/2007, -1/+55as a cingular customer forced to join the ferderation, I long await the rebellion to free my people.
- Dumbledorito, on 10/12/2007, -2/+53Just wanted to say I love my digital phone service from Time-Warner.
And the more baby bells AT&T gobbles up, the more their logo resembles the Death Star. - dignation, on 10/12/2007, -0/+44@bobbyboi
you say that as if some of them actually care about their customers... - Stochio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+41Thank you for reminding me why I hate AT&T. To date, they have the honor of being the only bad inclusion on my credit report. AT&T Wireless decided to renew my contract without my approval then charged me $200 when I left as an early termination fee. It has been through 3 collections agencies. Guess what? You're not getting one cent. At one point, a negotiator said "Ok, we'll settle it for $40." I said, "I don't think you understand. I'm not giving you anything."
- AKBryant54, on 10/12/2007, -4/+41It Is Only Proper To Type Like This In A Title.
- wazzledoozle2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+33Ma Bell rises again.
- theblackgecko, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31William Shatner got a Digg account?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+251 minute = 551,557,906,200 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
Redefine that, AT&T. - bekeleven, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25...And a 64 hour workday is whose idea of fun now?
- Stochio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+23I do not care if it costs me more than $40. I am imposing costs on AT&T by not playing their game. Every time they hassle me, I call them up and talk to their managers for 15 minutes. I will waste their time. Notice to you: if you own a business and you screw me, I will screw you. I am not a pushover and I will not be exploited.
- MasterChi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24hmm, 1 minute = 8 minutes. So would that mean our days shall now be 192 hours in a day. Sounds good to me.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23Wait for the lawsuit and then everyone will get .5 seconds of free talk time as the settlement.
Of course, that'll be only .0625 seconds in MO, ND, SD. - Stochio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19"oh ya that will show them. calling the people that they pay to deal with you. ya. you show them"
You misunderstand:
#1: They don't pay collection agencies. Collection agencies get those cases for free and pay back a percentage OR they buy the case.
#2: I don't call the agency. I call AT&T directly and waste their time.
#3: I post things like this message in an effort to prevent others from buying from them. - oneoverzero, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17They are probably (part of) using the profits from this to pay for the law suits they expect to get...
- cwshea, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Anyone else see the bell logo on the right?
- Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15@bekeleven (#6548480)
It's more like you work an hour, and get paid for seven and a half minutes. - ehmjay, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14oh man, over in Canada we have a similar service - FIDO. they used to bone me every way possible (pun intended) - including charging much more for my 42 second calls.
- bobbyboi, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17Which iteration of AT&T were you working for? Ma Bell, AT&T, SBC, BellSouth?
- etnu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11More like Jobs is one of those trade federation guys. If you think for a second that Apple is anywhere near the power center that AT&T is, you've been living under a rock. AT&T is the most unholy force to ever lay waste to the telecom industry.
- Toshibi, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13The US Constitution has absolutely jack ***** to do with what a private company charges.
- KF6BBL, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12The true conservatives (not these neo-cons) want a smaller government, and less regulation.
Reagan gave them what they wanted.
If only the public would see how the problems we have now are based on actions 20 years ago, and then take that to the polls. - understudy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10
I also once worked for AT&T and hate the company. They care very little about their employees when it matters.
_ - Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11@robinator08 (#6549159)
YEAH ***** THEM ... is there some code of theirs I can incessantly post to register my disdain for them?
(That was a joke, laugh.) - pauleric, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14The Death Star? But they're partnering with Apple on the iPhone, and that means ATT's CEO is Darth Vader and Steve Jobs is Senator Palpatine. Say it ain't so!
- Dumbledorito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Maybe they're expanding on the theoretical mathematics pioneered by the Verizon billing department.
- ElMoselYEE, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10hdtvdust:
if i'm reading this correctly, you DO have to pay 8 minutes for every ONE minute of talk time. how they can get away with it? i don't know, hopefully they can't. I'm sure everyone is just glad that they no longer have a monopoly. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Thank god you signed you inane ignorant comment. Otherwise I would not know what name to call a ***** moron. Now I know it is Dan.
- jfxberns, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Definitely deceptive business practices. If it's not really a minute, they should not cal lit a minute, they should call it a UNIT and spell out how many units are required to talk for one minute. A minite is a minute and using the term "minute" to describe something else is deceptive. Period.
That's why, if you have a choice, never purchase the services of a company that has been a monopoly or had close-to monopoly powers.
IAny company that has had a monopoly or near monopoly (cable TV, mobile carriers, telcos, Microsoft, etc.) cannot seem to get out of the "let's screw the customer of all we can" mentality.
As long as they have the leverage to screw customers with near impunity, they will screw them.
Hopefully, those days are numbered.
The good news is that once they have lost their near-monopoly status, the mentality is so entrenched that they can never recover and soon, like dinosaurs, they will be extinct.
Wait until wireless VoIP is commonplace and see how many people stay loyal to AT&T. - robinator08, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7***** AT&T
- Lavarock, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7So now it's another ***** "point" or "credit" just like the airline "miles", except more deceptive. They're butchering the english language along with it too.
Why don't they just say "A phone is $40.... thank you sir, would you like to buy the three more 'phones' required to buy an actual phone? Yes sir, it's company policy– a 'phone' is the system of 'points' we use, wherin you may purchase an actual phone, with enough 'phone' points. It's not false advertising, sir." - dignation, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7truthfully, the title made me think they had been studying the rotation of the earth and its speed around the sun and determined that one minute is actually like 60.00000002345712 seconds...
Its not new that phone companies ***** their customers... - catullus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@pauleric: that's CHANCELLOR Palpatine to you
- anachronaut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Wrong. RTFA.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12Hey What's That Button Next To Your User Name Oh Right It's The Block Button Why Don't I Press It Now?
- tech42er, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I suppose Ron Paul would be a good candidate for these real conservatives.
- tech42er, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Ever heard of prepaid wireless?
- besos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I work for AT&T. It IS this bad. With so much more than just calling cards. I hate having to ***** my way through a call and provide legally approved disclosures to the poor people that I talk to knowing what the truth so often is. Unfortunately, I need my job and can't afford to just up and quit, but the day I do I'm giving everybody $100 credits (limit) on their accounts, just because, in a last attempt to redeem myself a little bit.
- ldkronos, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@akbryant54: "It Is Only Proper To Type Like This In A Title."
Even that isn't proper. Words like "to" and "a" should not be capitalized in a title (unless they are the first word). - JasonMaloney101, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@VegaObscura3:
The same rules apply to their long distance calling cards. - vatosplace, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Those fat executive bonus' aren't going to fund them selfs, if they have to do everything legally. Besides the 'loyal bushies' will make any blow back vanish for a small payoff.
- LeeJunFan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Looks like typical monopolistic practices. WTF did our Gov't spend so much tax money breaking up MA bell only to let them come back together of the last couple years now stronger than ever? Damn paid off politicians.
- SmackMyMac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Did AT&T and Verizon go to the same school or something?
Fire that math teacher. - acdcfanbill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Just wait til the employees get ahold of this info and start marking in their overtime based on these figures.
- Satertek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I switched to T-Mobile after the buyout. Never looked back.
- CraigJ, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Ah, comrade, let us save the people from themselves. Contracts and terms of service are there for a reason. don't like them? buy from someone else. Turns out my grandmother was been renting her phone for like $8 a month since 1960 something all the way to 2003 or 2004. ***** companies overcharging for services (or nothing at all) have existed prior to, during and after regulation.
-
Show 51 - 97 of 97 discussions
Browsing Digg on your phone just got easier with our enhancements to the 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is