Big problems with customer service | 7-Eleven Rates and Plans | Consumer forum

I had a problem in that Speakout charged me international rates for a phone call that was local. They charged me 2.XX per minute. The reason was because there was a + sign in the call. I actually have another phone that I had for 2 years where that works so you don't have to use 1 for long distance if you are out of the zone. Heck they even told me I could do that with that phone when I asked a long time ago - it appears to be a function of the phone though instead.

I called to find out where my airtime went and finally determined this and asked for a refund of the difference for these calls as it was not accurate. I was expecting this to be a very simple - yeh sure - don't do it again. We're sorry our system is not accurate and charges irradically in this case but we can't fix it. It was not - it was utter hell to deal with them.

The first day - the "manager" said he would have to investigate and would call me back. He got someone else to call me back and they said - no it's my fault, your responsible - you dialed the number - we didn't. You need to take responsibility for you actions. They said it's "It's international even though it's not international because of the way it was dialed."

Obviously this was unacceptable to me. They just didn't get it so I argued about what country they actually billed me for because the rate was outrageous. They said they can't tell for sure but it looks like simoa??? or something but that the computer really can't tell. It just picked the highest rate. I asked what is the charge for an international call to Canada from Canada. - They weren't able to answer that one but still no refund it's my fault. They actually said it's not their fault I found a glitch in the system.

I was just on the cusp of getting the BBB involved in this. I called back one more time and the Manager who frankly seems like he was on "power trip finally said he would credit $10 back to my account which didn't cover the complete costs but was something. They must be conservative as they reiterated like I was a child that I need to take responsibility for my own actions... unbelievable. He also made up a story about how the call was routed through towers to that "high rate" country - I stopped him there as I used to program these damn cell sites - it was a completely stupid thing for him to say. Perhaps this is why call centers in NA are moving India.

I understand that the + symbol caused the problem and it's me that dialed it but I don't think because I found a problem in their billing system that it's my fault. The call either one should not have gone through - or 2 it should bill me appropriately if it does.

I almost wish I didn't get anything from them so i could raise this to the BBB. It was really a hassle with no purpose.

Hick