AT&T I Challenge You to a Duel

I’ve owed AT&T $3.75 since July and I don't think I'm going to pay it. That’s all the long distance we use here on the ol’ land line, since our cell phones have free long distance. At some point, you guessed it; they ‘restricted’ our service, meaning they shut our long distance off. God knows when this happened because we don’t make long distance calls. I discovered it today when my cell was low and I knew I might be on hold for some time, instead I got the message that we had been ‘restricted’ and I should phone AT&T at the following #.

I sat on hold until I was told that my service has been shut off and I could pay it with a credit card along with an additional $10.00 re-activation charge… hmm… I say “What if I don’t pay it?” she says “We send you to collections Ma’am.” Can you imagine that dilemma that could create? “I’m sorry Ma’am, you’ve been denied your home improvement mortgage because you owe AT&T $3.75, perhaps you could work out some sort of payment plan with them.” Could we be sued for the outstanding $3.75 + $10.00 to re-activate + Court costs? Could I go to jail for not paying AT&T? Would my bunkmate be at all threatened by my outright refusal to pay my $3.75?

Let me add that the operator started the above conversation with “I see you have AT&T for your long distance – we’d like to thank you for staying with us.” So I say “Don’t you want to keep my business? Just waive the $10.00 and I’ll pay the $3.75” She says with much disdain “Ma’am, we can not waive the $10.00 as your account is four months overdue, you can pay it and then request that the $10.00 be credited back to your account.” Hmmm, if we actually did get a $10.00 credit it would last us the next 15 years of long distance. I say “Let me call you back”.

Later I talk to Dan who says we signed up for online bill pay and they’ve never sent out a late notice, we’d been shut off with no warning. Let the battle commence! AT&T I challenge you to a duel - let it be a clash of wits and bureaucracy at dawn… or whenever I’m done holding.

Yeah, I know I've got time on my hands... but I gotta fight 'the man'.