EDITOR: I reported my telephone to AT
&
amp;T
’s repair service as being out of order on Dec. 30, 2003. I
explained at the time that I am a senior citizen, living alone, and
that I have a heart condition, and asked for repair at the earliest
time. The technician confirmed finding a problem on the line. He
told me that I could expect the probl
em to be fixed by that evening or, in the worst case, by the
following morning.
EDITOR:
I reported my telephone to AT&T’s repair service as being out of order on Dec. 30, 2003. I explained at the time that I am a senior citizen, living alone, and that I have a heart condition, and asked for repair at the earliest time. The technician confirmed finding a problem on the line. He told me that I could expect the problem to be fixed by that evening or, in the worst case, by the following morning.
At 10 a.m. Jan. 3, five days after reporting the problem, a repair person from Verizon arrived at my home and explained that his company is under contract to AT&T for repairs in this area. After checking the outside wiring, he told me that the trouble was on the inside wires (possibly a short) and that he needed to check the wiring under my house (a mobile home), and that since I did not have a contract for the service, the charge would be $85 for the call and an hourly charge of $86 to trace the problem on the inside line.
I had been told by my AT&T (customer service representative #04070, named Ian) that there would be no charge for that service.
I had had to send the technician away without the repair, since I am a senior citizen living on my Social Security benefit and the minimum charge (based on one hour’s labor to fix the problem) would have meant an expenditure of $171 and I simply cannot afford that amount. Therefore, I expect to be without service for at least several more days because all business offices are closed and I will not be able to pursue the matter with AT&T until Monday, and I once again explain my financial situation and my medical circumstances and remind them that they said that the repair of inside lines would be without additional charge.
It is my hope that the state Public Utilities Commission will send a directive to AT&T regarding priority of repair services. I also hope that the PUC will take up with them the matter of having advised that my inside-line repair was a covered service and then having their contracted repair service tell me otherwise.
Ursula Palmer,
Morgan Hill
Editor’s Note: Two days later Palmer’s phone began to work again; AT&T called and said the cause had been on the outside line all along.
