A Texas first responder’s recent switch to AT&T’s FirstNet service took an unexpected and frustrating turn when he was hit with a jaw-dropping $6,223.60 bill—far higher than his typical monthly charge of about $260 for a four-line plan. The incident, shared on Reddit, sparked outrage over AT&T’s billing error and the difficulty in resolving it.
Unexpected Bill Shocks Customer
The customer, a police officer in Texas, was stunned when he received an email on December 11 detailing his bill for the month. A charge of $5,956.92 was tacked onto his account, linked to “Data Pay Per Use” at a rate of $2 per megabyte (MB). Having used around 3GB of data that month (roughly 3,000MB), he was slapped with an exorbitant $6,194 charge.
“I’ve been with AT&T for over ten years on unlimited plans, so I knew this had to be a mistake,” he wrote in his now-deleted Reddit post. He went on to explain the emotional and financial toll this error took on his family during the holiday season.
Frustration Mounts with Customer Service
Upon noticing the mistake, the customer immediately canceled his autopay, set for December 15, to avoid the steep charge. He then called AT&T customer service, hoping for a swift resolution. However, after spending over an hour on the phone, the representatives could not locate the correct bill in the system. Instead, they insisted his balance was only $205.
The next day, he visited an AT&T store in Dallas. Although the staff was shocked by the bill, they were unable to fix the issue and advised him to escalate the matter to AT&T’s president’s office.
Escalating to the Top
Initially, the president’s office redirected the customer back to the store, but after further contact, they agreed to investigate the issue. It took another two days to get a response. Meanwhile, the customer, understandably stressed, worried about late fees or service disruption.
“I don’t understand how this wasn’t handled right away. This whole experience has been incredibly stressful for me and my family,” he said.
Resolution Comes After Days of Waiting
Nearly a week after the issue first arose, AT&T finally rectified the billing error, wiping the $6,223.60 charge and offering the customer a $205 credit for his trouble. In a statement, the company apologized for the mistake:
“We understand how frustrating this must have been for the customer, and we have apologized for the inconvenience. We have resolved his concerns about the bill and are investigating the system error.”
However, AT&T did not clarify why the $2-per-MB charge was applied, as it is not typical for FirstNet customers. While similar charges exist for international data usage and some business plans, this rate was not expected on a standard domestic account.
Criticism of Customer Service
Despite the resolution, the customer voiced disappointment with the overall customer service experience. While the store employees were sympathetic, he described the phone and in-store support as indifferent and unhelpful. “The agents seemed unfazed by the issue,” he said, noting that it took days for the president’s office to reach out.
The customer speculated that a one-day mistake occurred when his account was migrated to FirstNet, inadvertently placing him on a pay-per-use plan. While this partially explained the error, it didn’t justify the lack of urgency in resolving the situation.
“How does something like this even happen? Shouldn’t there be a way to catch such glaring errors before they’re sent out? How many other customers has this happened to?” he questioned in his Reddit post.
A Sigh of Relief, but Lingering Doubts
While the customer was relieved to see the error corrected, he remained wary of future issues. “I’m glad it’s finally fixed, but this whole ordeal has been terrifying,” he said. As a result of the mishandling, he is now considering switching to a different carrier, despite the FirstNet discount.
“The customer service was pretty terrible,” he remarked. “I’ll likely be moving to another carrier soon. I can’t keep dealing with this kind of stress.”
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