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Updated 1/29/00 GTE Releases Press Release to the Public Updated 1/26/00 GTE Releases Official Statement to AlaWeb GTE this morning faxed an official statement to AlaWeb concerning the recent rash of mis-charges applied to many area GTE customers' phone bills. Please select the link above and print the GTE statement so that you will have it available when you call the GTE billing number, as all GTE billing representatives have not been made aware of the billing problem as of this writing. From our conversation this morning with GTE External Affairs, we anticipate you will receive an explanation of these errors in the mail as well as instructions as to how your phone bill will be corrected. GTE External Affairs stated "we do not want GTE customers to feel they have to pay an amount they do not owe - we may instruct these customers to pay an amount they feel is correct until credits are applied which will remove any unjust charges from their next GTE bill." AlaWeb wants to thank the Alabama Public Service Commission for their assistance with this problem and are optimistic that our customers' GTE billing issues will now be resolved in a timely manner. You will also find informative articles on this matter by visiting the Andalusia Star-News website via one or more of the links below. These articles are listed in chronological order:
1-20-00 - Confusion about GTE bills continues 1-26-00 - GTE: Local calls do not carry fees 1-26-00 - PSC eyeing GTE billing problem 1-27-00 - GTE: AlaWeb not responsible for billing errors 1-29-00 - GTE says software caused billing glitch
Thank you! Updated 1/24/00 GTE Statement Falls Short of a Resolution for Erroneous Billing GTE this evening released a statement to AlaWeb concerning the ongoing complaints of overcharges recently applied to GTE customers' phone bills. While we had previously stated we would post GTE's release on this site so as to keep you updated, we feel it is pointless to publish today's statement as it falls too short of a clear-cut resolution to the problem. In addition, when customers call GTE's toll-free billing number for a solution, they find that the billing representatives have yet to be briefed of the problem. Due to the confusion, we have made a request to GTE that they setup a special "hotline" for effected customers to call. No hotline number has been provided as of this writing. If you are effected by the now infamous GTE billing problem and have yet to obtain satisfaction on this matter, we urge you to contact The Alabama Public Service Commission at 1-800-392-8050 to log a complaint concerning the overcharges on your phone bill. Should AlaWeb receive a statement from GTE that provides a more definitive solution, we will be more than happy to post it to this site upon receipt.
Thank you! Updated 1/21/00 GTE Customers Still Awaiting Official Statement GTE customers throughout South Alabama are still awaiting an official statement from their telephone company concerning the rash of erroneous toll charges which have recently began to appear on their phone bills. AlaWeb has been working with GTE on a daily basis since this problem surfaced. GTE has confirmed that they were indeed misinforming their callers as to the origin of the toll charges and have since notified their 2500+ billing representatives that "there is indeed a billing error taking place and it has nothing to do with AlaWeb." GTE has also thoroughly checked AlaWeb's lines at all our POP sites and have stated that "no AlaWeb lines are forwarded on busy". Once we do receive their official statement, we will post it on this page. We are expecting that statement soon.
Thank you! Updated 1/14/00
GTE Discovers Glitch With Some Area Phone Bills Since the revamped GTE Calling Plans took effect last November, some customers have been receiving monthly GTE bills which contain erroneous charges. Due to the many calls received at AlaWeb recently concerning customer's phone charges, we have been working closely with GTE to locate the source of this problem. Today, GTE has reportedly discovered the error and has isolated the problem to be a GTE routing error in their call-switching devices in South Alabama. A typical customer complaint would be described whereas the customer dialed a local number to connect to the Internet but, according to their phone bill, appeared to be re-routed to another number that was not a local call. GTE's initial explanation to inquiring customers was that "AlaWeb forwards their calls to another site if one site is busy." This is certainly not the case, as such a practice would certainly result in toll charges. If, for some reason, AlaWeb's lines were indeed busy, the caller would simply receive a busy signal. GTE apologizes for your inconvenience as well as their initial misleading explanation of the cause of these charges. They also state that the billing problem is not necessarily limited to Internet calls, but could include voice calls as well and began with the recent implementation of the new GTE Calling Plans. Should you receive a GTE bill which you believe to be incorrect, they ask that you call 1-800-483-3000 for confirmation that you have been mis-charged as well as their procedure for correction of the bill. Their billing representatives have been informed on this issue as of 1/14/00. Should you encounter a representative who has no knowledge of this, you should ask to speak with a supervisor.
Thank you!
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