When you’re retired you can often lose track of the day? Tuesday seems like Monday or Wednesday, Thursday like a Friday, you get the idea. Heck, if not for daytime television shows many may not even know it’s the weekend.
On a recent Tuesday Fred and Linda Wood were watching "The Price Is Right." A contestant just won more than $20,000 in about one minute, “He won again,” said Linda from her spot on the couch.
That kind of money can certainly make a difference if you’re retired like Fred and Linda, “Oh that would be amazing to win $20,000,” said Linda.
The couple doesn’t exactly have money problems but who would say no to that much. They do have an "alarming" problem that could be costly. A few months ago, the couple signed up for AT&T wireless service, television, internet and home security, “It was a great deal,” said Fred.
That “great” deal quickly became problematic. The home security system wasn’t compatible with what the Wood’s already had in the home. The cell service was apparently spotty and at times wouldn’t even work in their home, and the kicker was the amount they were told they would pay turned out to be a lot more. “We were at the end of our rope, we can’t afford $511 a month,” said Fred.
The Wood’s say the bill they expected after meeting with the sales representative was $380 a month. The first bill was almost $130 more, “This isn’t what we bought in to, we have a problem,” said Fred.
The couple tried reaching out to AT&T but were unable to get in touch with anyone who could help. Fred says he would be on hold for hours at a time and be passed from one representative to another without getting any resolution, “It was incredibly frustrating,” said Fred. The Wood’s paid the first two bills but knew this wasn’t going to be a long term option, “I had to dip into my savings account to pay for it (bill),” said Linda.
It was about that time that Linda remembered our Call for Action Volunteers can often help with situations like this, “I told Fred we need to call 2 Wants to Know,” said Linda.
Fred reached out to our Call for Action Volunteers who immediately started to make calls to AT&T. A representative with the company told us it would investigate the issue and get back to us. It didn’t take long before AT&T sent us an email saying it had “taken care” of the issue.
We then reached back out to the Woods who told us AT&T issued a $760 credit and agreed to close out the account that still had a balance of almost $400, “We couldn’t have done this without you,” said Fred.
The couple isn’t sure what it will do with the money we saved them, but Linda is pushing for a vacation, “Thank you, I appreciate you all very much,” said Linda.