Oct 14, 2009 9:53 pm US/Pacific
Call Kurtis: Hung Up Over A Whopping Bill
WESTLEY, Calif. (CBS13) ―
A Westley mother got quite a shock when she received a $1,700 plus phone bill. She was sure it was a mistake. When her phone company told her it wasn't, she called Kurtis.
She has phone service with Frontier Communications but she uses AOL for her internet. Everything was fine for 10 months. Then in August, she got a whopping bill.
Patricia Ware lives in the small town of Westley, with her husband, Alex, and two young daughters.
Last fall, she signed up with Frontier at $39.99 a month.
Patricia also uses AOL for her dial-up internet service. So, she asked Frontier what local phone number to use for AOL to avoid getting charged.
"I read her all the numbers, she told me that the number I chose was a local number, that I could use it and I signed on with that number for 10 months," says Patricia.
For 10 months, everything was fine. Her average phone bill was around $55. Every time she signed onto AOL, there were no charges from Frontier.
Then in August:
"I was shocked when I opened the mail and it said $1,700," says Patricia.
Frontier charged her $1,793.31. The majority of that came from signing onto AOL.
"They told me I was signing on with a long distance number and it wasn't a data package so they were just going to charge me for it," says Patricia.
Sure enough, she was charged for calling that number in Modesto, which is about 15 miles from Westley -- a long distance call.
"I was so upset, I didn't know what to do," said Patricia. "That's so much money, I really can't afford to pay."
Patricia called Frontier again. This time, she says a supervisor admitted it was their mistake for telling her to use that number but the company would only credit her half the bill. Patricia felt that wasn't good enough.
"I just don't want to let them get away with it," says Patricia.
We contacted Frontier and asked them why Patricia wasn't charged until 10 months later. Frontier's representative tells us her account went through a random audit in July.
"It was our mistake for giving her the approval to use a local number that wasn't in fact a local number. And that's why we're happy to credit her back and make sure we straightened it out for her," says Stephanie Beasly, Communications Manager for Frontier.
Finally, it's fixed.
"Yes! Thank you so much! It's great, I am so happy," says Patricia.
Frontier also apologized and offered Patricia six months free internet service. They say they're using this case as an example to better train their customer service reps. To avoid making this mistake, they recommend you call your local Frontier office instead of a call center, which could be in Arizona or Florida.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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