AT&T

I was really disappointed to learn that Verizon does not serve my Houston neighborhood, so I had to go with AT&T for phone service. I paid my bill last week (only two and a half weeks after I got the service originally, which seemed excessive to me). My payment was a day late and I got a nastygram in the mail from AT&T threatening to cut off my service, which I thought was just too much. Would any other company out there actually threaten to cut off service after a payment one day late and after less than one month of service?

Today I got an acknowledgement of receipt of payment:

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An Important Message from AT&T Texas
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Dear Valued Customer,

We recieved your recent payment of $64.11.

This payment has been applied to telephone number (713) xxx-xxxx.

AT&T Texas thanks you for your business and the opportunity to serve you.

Wow. The AT&T customer service is not only inefficient (sending out a nastygram after one day) but it also cannot spell. I plan on sending in my payments a day late from here on out, so that AT&T must waste postage on unnecessary nastygrams, and so I can see how long it takes the company to STOP THE SPELLING ERRORS.

**UPDATE 9/16/06**

The actual check with which I paid my bill cleared my account today, and on the reverse it clearly showed processing on September 7, the day the bill was actually due. So, my payment was not a day late after all, and AT&T wasted lots of money having to field my phone calls and sending me a completely unnecessary demand for payment. Wow. Incompetence carried out to the nth degree, with misspellings.

Next up: Historianess's feud with CenterPoint Energy, which provides the gas for my stove. Also a tale of woe and incompetence.