SWEET!!! Perserverance pays off!

Perseverance [pur-suh-veer-uhns] –noun : steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement

Earlier this week I thought about obtaining another line on our cell phone plan. I went on to the At&t site to look at our current plan and also looked up our bill since I was all signed in already. Well, one of the things I noticed was that it said that we were eligible for a 12% discount. This puzzled me since in 2004 we were signed up through our employers plan and we got a 20% discount at that time. I am POSITIVE of this because at that time we added a line for my husbands parents and the amount the 20% gave us it paid for that 3rd line ($11.99).

I called At&t and spoke with quite possibly the least knowledgeable employee employed by At&t. He told me that is showed I was entitled to a 12% discount. I asked when this had changed and he said he didn't know but my husband should have been notified through work. Looking at my page it said something on the top corner about BP Cooperation fan#XXXXX. I thought maybe this was a special link for BP employees so I didn't pay attention to it since BP means NOTHING to us other than we occasionally buy gasoline from there. At this time I did find out that if I wanted to get another line, we would have to change plans (ours is outdated) to less minutes for the same amount of money. I also inquired as to whether we have a contract, and no we don't.

I tell my husband when he goes to work to check out the discounts for ALL cellphone carriers through his work. He sends me back an email they get a 15% through At&T and 20% through Verizon....I do what it says for the At&t and suddenly I notice it says my husbands employer on the top of the screen where it said BP before. I call At&t and inquire what is going on. This next heavy accent person tells me that I only qualify for the 12% discount and pretty much lets me know there was nothing he could do. I end up getting off the phone more confused than when I called plus angry. I called my husband and told him what was going on and basically he tells me that he is glad I am taking care of it because he doesn't want too.

I go and take a walk then shower and think about everything. We are on the right discount now, but for me that isn't good enough. What about this other 8% for the past who knows how long? When I call I ask how long this has been going on for and they tell me they can only go back 3 months which I don't understand, I can go back 14 months on line-all of which have different numbers as credit adjustments. They raise how much they charge us for stupid things for instance right now I pay $1.20 per line for who knows what (this is not taxes that is a separate category) and 1 year ago we were paying $.53 per line. And the main line always has a negative number on it, I assume because that is where the discount is shown. It really is confusing when you don't have a paper bill and there is no breakdown of what these little charges are (they are not for phone calls we have the bare necessities plan).

I decide I am going to call one more time and see if I get someone else and I am going to ask a specific question and hope I have someone with half a brain. I make the call and I get Casey (a female this time, I feel better already) and specifically say "I would like to know when I was changed from Employer X to BP." Then told her everything that had happened to this point. She is very helpful. Proceeds to tell me I was getting NO discount and I ask her questions and she tries to help. She knows her limitations and tells me that there is nothing more she can do to figure out when this was all changed BUT she will fill out some paperwork to have it investigated and to expect a call in a week.

Today I notice I have a voicemail on my phone. I listen to it and it says that they investigated and have fixed the problem and have credited my account. I log into my account and sure enough there is a $120 CREDIT!!! I was so excited, that pays our phone bill for 1.3 months and we are now getting the 20% we should have been getting all along!

So long story short, it took 3 phone calls to get someone to actually help me but perseverance pays off!