Naked (or “dry loop“) DSL is generally considered wonderful, especially among people who haven’t had a landline since, um, wait… oh yeah, never. But it seems that although AT&T was forced to offer it by the FCC as part of their merger with Cingular, they haven’t yet realized that it’s a product that they sell. Reader Brent just wanted to cancel, but AT&T said no. And then they said yes. And then they told him he never tried to cancel. And then they sent his account to collections…

I wanted to tell you about an experience I had with AT&T recently. I signed up for their “Dry Loop” DSL service (which you mentioned in a recent post) back in September.

I didn’t have any issues with signing up for the service. However, when I attempted to cancel the service in December (I was moving from my apartment), I ran into several issues.

When I called to cancel, the Support rep informed me that I could not have DSL service with AT&T because I did not have a landline. After trying to explain the “dry loop” service several times to the phone rep, she placed me on hold. When she returned, she informed me that she had successfully canceled my service, and that I would be receiving a final bill in the mail (pro-rated for the days I did not use the service).

About a month later, I received a bill for an normal month’s service. When I called, the stubborn support rep told me that there was no record of me calling to cancel my service, and that I would be obligated to pay my bill in full. I asked to be transferred to a supervisor. She understood my situation, and told me that AT&T would honor the cancellation date, and that they would credit my account for the additional service days.

A month later, I received an additional bill, with a late fee tacked on! After about four more conversations with AT&T supervisors, I was FINALLY able to receive an account credit. However, they had submitted my account to a collections agency.. and the agency had started reporting negatively to the credit bureaus!

My advice to your readers: Don’t purchase the dry loop service. It’s more of a hassle than it’s worth!

Yuck!

(Photo: jetsetpress)

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