JRF

Just looked at my BellSouth bill, and on August 1, MCI raised their 7c per minute rate (on the 5c/7c plan) to 9c. On top of it, they raised the monthly fee for the service 5/7 plan but I am not sure how much, as it is bundled in with other charges. No notice, I just happened to have two calls made around the same time, one on the last day of July and one on the first of August, so I noticed the difference.

In the past, I have been told on this board I am too cheap for bringing things like this up. However, this is out and out fraud. I am a telecom engineer and billing expert. I find the behavior by MCI repulsive, as they are required by law to advise me of rate increases at least 30 days in advance.

I called MCI and they said, "yes, we did raise the rates, and no, we did not notify you as you are billed by Bell, we only notified customers billed by MCI."

I asked to close my account and was told I cannot do that through MCI, I have to call Bell. Now, I know there is a 50/50 chance if I do that the monthly fee will still keep billing, so this could get messy.

I will write the FCC and complain as well, if there is an online complaint, as I am not going to spend the money on a postage stamp. Will also call Bell and dispute the entire MCI portion of the bill and tie up MCI resources on this as long as I can. So much for MCI, they go on the “not again for three years list.”

BE WARNED!!!


[This message has been edited by JRF (edited 09-13-2000).]

Tute84

That's funny, my invoice doesn't reflect an increase.

gowest

I had a similar problem. They switched my plans without notice and told me the same thing since I was billing thru Bellsouth as well. Here's what I did:

1. To document my cancelling the phone service, I sent an e-mail from the MCI website with "Please cancel Residential service - (###) ### #### " on the subject line. You can get a confirmation e-mail sent to your address, but only the subject line gets sent verbatim.

2. I filed a complaint to the FCC and my state Attorney General's office with this e-mail and my phone bills which billed for service after the date on the e-mail.

3. I called MCI and let them know about this. Its been 40 days and I haven't seen any MCI charges on my new bill

Now, a couple of days later an MCI manager called me and told me how MCI misses my business http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif and that MCI will give me 10K miles to have me back along with the super low deal. I told him that I'll consider his deal only if he mails me a notarized letter specifying the deal in clear words with his signature on it. He Hung up http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Wombat18

I had a similar situation with MCI where I had to call USWest, my local billing carrier, and have them get MCI on the same line - then I let them fight it out who would remove the charge. Within a minute (amazing) they had it solved !

Of course, USWest has been taken to court by the State of Montana for poor customer service, so they are trying to avoid any more complaints !

bdschobel

I had the same situation, except that I am billed by MCI. When I inquired about the increase, I was told that a notice appeared in my last bill, but it must have been in the tiniest type, because I didn't see it.

Anyway, I said that I would rather cancel my service than pay the higher rate. They said, "OK, we have another plan that's 5 cents per minute 24 hours per day. The monthly fee is slightly higher than the regular plan." I switched to the 5-cent plan.

MCI is really a bizarre company. I have to call them nearly every month to get billing errors corrected, and they keep me on hold for 20-25 minutes each time. I think their system is set up to keep people on hold that long, in the hope that they will give up and go away! I don't do either; I stay on the line and get my small credits (usually $6-7, but sometimes a lot more) month after month.

JRF, you aren't cheap by my standards!

Bruce

davidlee

Discovered MCI raised fee to $5.95 from $4.95 as well as out-of-state calls during week from 7cents to 9cents. I called MCI and although $5.95 monthly was continued, the per minute increase was removed(back to 7cents per minute weekdays. Also, they agreed to give me one hour of "free" out-of state calls each month for the next six months. I will carefully check to make sure all this happens. If not, "goodbye" to MCI. They really have become sneaky as can be. But it is certainly worthwhile to call and tell them you will change service if they don't make necessary concessions. By the way, the 5 miles(United) per $1 spent still continues.

JRF

They refused to give me back the old rate, but offered me one free hour of long distance per month. I cancelled the account, which they refused to do. I have filled out the complaint form on the FCC web site, as they seem to have raised the rates for all MCI customers.

QuietLion

Yup, MCI is just fine until the slightest little thing goes wrong, at which point you discover they are unimaginably evil.

SJC2ISP

MCI is a nightmare. We were using them for long distance and international calling for an year spending $250 pm. Then we also switched our local service from Bell Atlantic to MCI and all hell broke lose. When they switched they did not carry our plans over and billed us at 5 times the plan rate ($900 vs $180). Then the next bill also had a partial problem, then the international plan rate was changed, then I was confirmed on the older plan and but the new plan still remains on the bill. I have switched to ATT but now MCI is my local carrier and they have not switched us though two weeks have elapsed. I am thinking of switching our local service also back to Bell Atlantic. Aaaghh MCI. They sucked big time a couple of years ago; with the web billing and all the service has improved. But I think at their heart they are a dishonest and unethical enterprise. They try all kind of nasty tricks to fool you. AT&T, is definitely Magic compared to MCI; smooth billing, excellent customer service and a level of trust and comfort you can never get with MCI. Just waiting to be switched to AT&T. And now that we can earn OnePass Milage the incentive which originally got me to MCI is also gone...

keithnj973

ROFLMAO

macbravery

It is NEVER a good idea to have your local phone company bill your long distance to you.

This will only serve to delay your biling and make it more difficult to get billing issues resolved. It puts you local phone company and the long distance company in cahoots.

The local phone company tries to tell you they're doing you a favor (or convenience) by putting it on your local bill, but the truth is they get a commission so they're happy. The long distance company gets a mercenary bill "bull dog" to do their billing dirty work.

They both benefit from this dirty deal and who gets screwed? You know who!

If you have a dispute with the long distance company and refuse to pay, they may even try to hold the threat of shutting off your local phone service over your head (even though this is illegal).

Do yourself a favor and direct bill from your long distance company, or better yet have them bill to your credit card and you'll be able to do a chargeback if there is a dispute that they don't resolve satisfactorily. And of course you'll get the miles from your affinity credit card.

Mac

------------------
Via con Dios!

[This message has been edited by macbravery (edited 09-18-2000).]

Butcher Bird

You tha man, MacBrave.

Always have your long-distance company bill you directly, preferably with a charge to your credit card. You have much more control, access and potential charge back rights.

Carberry

I, too, just noticed an increase from $0.07/min to $0.09/min during the week. When I called to complain, the rep said that I had been notified on my August bill that as of Sept 1 my rate would increase.

Well, I looked where she said the notice was located. Here's the "so-called" rate increase announcement:

"You enjoy 5 cents per minute on all your state-to-state weekend and evening calls from home. And, it is only 9 cents per minute all other times. So call your family"

And it ends there with no punctuation...maybe there's more but my bill doesn't show any other text.

THIS IS NOT A NOTICE OF RATE INCREASE, MCI!

I'll file a complaint with the FCC on this.

The rep credited my account for $24. And, she switched me to a $5.95 + 7c/min 24/7 + international plan.

I'm curious about the 5c someone else mentioned above. I'm going to call back and ask about that.

I hate MCI. But I hate ATT, too (see BA thread). And Sprint won't give me low US weekday rates in the same plan as low intl. rates. Anyone know of a low cost provider BESIDES the 3 majors?

Carberry

bdschobel

I'm the guy who was offered 5 cents per minute 24/7. They just made the offer; I didn't know that they had such a plan. It seems to have a higher monthly fee, but they waived $2/month for 6 months.

I also hate MCI, but I hate AT&T more. I owe AT&T about $5, and I let them mail me a bill every month, just out of spite. I'll never pay it.

I was switched to Sprint without my knowledge (I forget what that's called) a few years ago and refused to pay their bill. They switched me back and forgave the bill (about $40). That's my only Spring experience. Remember that MCI is trying to merge with Sprint, so that switch might not pay off in the long run.

Bruce

CaliforniasCentralCoast

It is interesting how MCI can seamlessly credit one's monthly mileage earned right away, but it mysteriously takes 30-60 days after the first bill (so a "net" of 60-90 days after switching to MCI) to credit any bonus mileage. What nonsense.

Well, I can't say I wasn't warned by members of FT Board. I still have not received my bonus miles 2 months after switching. Looks like a program I will be most likely chasing the supervisors at MCI Customer Service every month for the next several months.

One way or another, we earn our miles.