Home Phone line charges!

[434Teresa]

About two months ago I cut everything off on out home but the basic line. I wanted to keep it for Dr.s and such. Well last month I notice that the Federal line fees had gone up some, then today I get the new bill and guess what they have went up again. Now those fees are as much as I am paying for the basic line..not to counting the reg tax on the line.

I call the phone co to ask why she says there is nothing they can do about the federal line fees. I tell her then I want to turn the line off. She says we can give a $5 off the basic line charge for 6 months. I siad no thanks just trun it off......Then she says it will make your DSL go up because you will only have one service with us, I lol and said well then I will also be looking for a new place to get my DSL from then. She tells me that she can cut 50% off my DSL for 6 months I said well I had reather you just leave the price where it is and not charge me anymore or any less for just 6 months "I am sorry we cant do that' she says and ask me if I want her to cut the charges for the next 6 months by 50% so of course I said yes...well then she says its done the chages will be $18.50 for the next 6 months then it will go back up and the extra will be added because you only have one service with us.....I lol again and said at the end of the 6 monthd I will be looking into a cheaper place to get DSl threw and if I find it I am gone.....

Now why in the world would they want to lose someone that pays on time and sometimes a month ahead over $8 more a month becuase I only have one service with them, when its really not true for I have 3 cell phone with them also....yes I told her that but she said the cell phones dont count..

anyway the house phone is off that was a total of $32.66 for a basic line becuase of the extra the federal fees has went up over the past two months..I was paying less for line,voice mail,call waiting, and caller id before I cut all that extra off.
and
I get 50% off my dsl for the next 6 months because I fussed about that going up because I only have one service on the bill from them. What a way to to bizz....

[lbrown1618]

From experience with many phone/cable/cell companies, I will tell you.....MOST will renew that "promo rate" if you call back at the end of the 6 months. Nobody wants to lose your business, and some reps know that little secret and some don't, some companies will tell you that and some won't. Worst case, they say no to renewing the low rate, you go elsewhere. But do your research and be prepared to change if need be.

[abond0017]

I hate home phone lines just for this. Fees are always increasing and last time I had one (2 years ago) I had to deal with telemarketers (even though I was on the do not call list)and collection agencies calling for someone with a name SIMILAR to mine or DH's at least 3 times a day. I will never have one again.

lbrown thank you for reminding me that most will give a discount if you call and say you can't pay anymore. Need to do that with my cable.

[Rene S]

OP--I recently called our phone company and told them we were considering cancelling the line because we only used the home line for local calls. They said they'd give us a "discount" for a year and then take $5 off of that. . .

that lasted one month. Now their fees are increasing so it's nearly what it was before I called.

[434Teresa]

So its nice to know that I am not the only one to have "FEES" to go up but mine went up a nice bit for two months in a roll. I took everything "extra" off the line so we could keep the house phone on for Dr.s and such but today is was much as it was before when I had all the extra's on there.
I dont feel that the "fees" should be so high on just a basic line with NO extra's but I guess it is.
I have looked on line and the DSL rate that I am being charged is Regular price so I dont know why it would go up because I have only one service on the bill now, that makes no sense at all being that the rate is online for everyone to see. I also dont show any kind of credit on my bill for having a a second service on the bill.

I am going to be checking dsl prices and stuff so if I have to I will move my service after the 6 months is up.

[434Teresa]

I hate home phone lines just for this. Fees are always increasing and last time I had one (2 years ago) I had to deal with telemarketers (even though I was on the do not call list)and collection agencies calling for someone with a name SIMILAR to mine or DH's at least 3 times a day. I will never have one again.

lbrown thank you for reminding me that most will give a discount if you call and say you can't pay anymore. Need to do that with my cable.

I need to call mine also and see if I can get a discount for a few months. Just enough to get pass christmas would be a big help.

[joshmamabear]

I cancelled my line several years ago when I got tired of ATT "giving me special rates" for just a dial tone. When I forget to ask, they charge me double that amount on basic service so I have to call each time or else I pay the highest rate they can charge The lowest rate they gave me was $10 for a dial tone, unlimited LOCAL calls.

When my bill comes, I have to ask for explanation on how my basic rate of $10 comes up to 22.xx on my statement and they tell me they have no control of all the federal and local tax charges. Fine. Just cancel my landline.

The best decision I've made was to shift to Magic Jack where I can still send/receive fax, make local and out of state calls, free. All for $20 per year. I can live with that.

[meggers]

As bad as the economy is, what made anyone in our gubment™ think it was a good idea to take more money from every household? UGH!

[434Teresa]

I cancelled my line several years ago when I got tired of ATT "giving me special rates" for just a dial tone. When I forget to ask, they charge me double that amount on basic service so I have to call each time or else I pay the highest rate they can charge The lowest rate they gave me was $10 for a dial tone, unlimited LOCAL calls.

When my bill comes, I have to ask for explanation on how my basic rate of $10 comes up to 22.xx on my statement and they tell me they have no control of all the federal and local tax charges. Fine. Just cancel my landline.

The best decision I've made was to shift to Magic Jack where I can still send/receive fax, make local and out of state calls, free. All for $20 per year. I can live with that.

Try like $33 something for just a dail tone..that is it...But what really gets me is then I am told that I have been getting a discount on dsl becuse of the home phine line, no discount on my bill anywhere for that..so when I have to go back to full price for the DSL I will move on if I can find something cheaper to move on to.

[clippyclippy]

We gave ourselves a raise earlier this year when we bought an Ooma device. We'd been paying 40.00/mo for phone service and that just got old.
The Ooma was just under $200 and there are no monthly charges except about $3.50 taxes/fees that the gubment (thanks Meggers...) manages to squeeze out.
So it took 5 months to pay off the thing, and now we are free! (almost).

Wonderful call quality, free long distance using our same phone system.