I spent 8 hours trying to figure out a simple question about my phone bill

So last month, my phone bill jumped by $40 for no clear reason. I called customer service, and they said it was a new fee for a service I never asked for. They told me to check my online account to remove it. Simple, right? Well, I logged in and the menu to change it was hidden in a place called 'manage add-ons' under a tab labeled 'billing' that wasn't actually about billing. I clicked around for over an hour. Then I called back, got transferred three times, and was on hold for what felt like forever. The third person finally walked me through it, but the whole thing, from first seeing the bill to fixing it, took my whole Saturday. Has anyone else had a simple customer service fix turn into a full day project? What was your 'quick question' that wasn't quick at all?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry_martinez10d ago

Cmon you gotta see it from their side tho. These systems are huge and not everyone is tech savvy, so maybe they put stuff in weird places by accident. Customer service reps are just following scripts, they don't make the rules. Sometimes a simple thing gets complicated because of old computer systems, not because they're trying to trick you.

ellis.hayden4d ago

But when does a bad system become a sneaky plan?

taylor_hayes2510d ago

That is the absolute worst. Companies make it SO hard on purpose. It's not a bug, it's a feature. They hide the cancel button and hope you just give up and pay. My internet provider did the same thing with a "router fee" that magically appeared. Spent half a day getting the runaround before they finally took it off. It feels like they're stealing your time AND your money.