Action 9: Family charged double for overseas phone bill

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A local family bought a special phone plan for an overseas trip they had scheduled, which was supposed to save them money.

But, the phone company charged them double and when they couldn’t get the problem resolved, they turned to Action 9 investigator Jason Stoogenke.

Ayman Mihiar and his family were going to Jordan for a wedding and London.

Mihiar didn't want to rack up a charges on his phone bill, so he went with AT&T's Passport plan, which was $120 for one month of service overseas.

AT&T charged him the full $120, but had the plan starting and ending all on the same day instead of lasting the full month.  Instead of correcting that, the company charged him again increasing the bill to more than $600.

"They were double-dipping on their charges," Mihiar said. "I was very disheartened, disappointed with AT&T. I've never had that problem with them before."

Mihiar contacted the company.

"I was on the phone literally for hours and hours and hours."

Then he contacted Stoogenke.

"I've seen you on many of the occasions and I decided to write a letter to you and let you know about the problem," he told Stoogenke.

Action 9 reached out to AT&T and the company didn't explain why the issue had gone on this long, but it erased both charges so Mihiar ended up getting the Passport plan free.

"I thought I would send it in to you guys and I wouldn't get any reply back. But I was shocked when I got the reply back. I was like, 'Well, finally, somebody is actually listening to me,'" he told Stoogenke.

Stoogenke has advice for customers.

“Always check your bill carefully. It's best if you go online and check every few days. Don't just wait for your statement each month,” Stoogenke said. “That way, you can catch mistakes early and have more time to get them resolved (or more time to get in touch with Action 9).  Otherwise, you may have to pay and then fight for a refund, which no one wants to do.”

AT&T released the following statement to Channel 9:

“Great customer service is one of our top priorities, and we value Mr. Mihiar's business with us.  We have refunded him for our billing mistake and provided a one-time courtesy credit because of his inconvenience.”

Cox Media Group