Taxes exist and have always existed on your bill, you dingbat

Before I share the deets, I just want to say I’m soooooo glad surveys don’t count against us at our center currently. This lady got one and I’m pretty sure it’s a fail related to her complete and utter ignorance.

Call started like many others — ‘why is my cell phone bill higher this month?’ I do my best let me see response and pull up both of her most recent statements. At a glance, it was higher from taxes/surcharges off one specific line. When I mention this, she got defensive — said to exclude the international calls and see why *all* of her lines went up.

After looking at what her next bill was supposed to be, the most recent billing statement and the previous statement, nothing went up. At all. The only difference her other lines had was 1 surcharge that went up 2 cents while another dropped by 2 making a difference of naught. Increase in price is still related to the one phone making international calls and having higher surcharges/taxes as a result.

I try to explain, she gets more upset. She then spews off the number $84.01 as an example of one of her lines that’s supposed to be $78.75 a month. Quote taken directly from her bill said it’s the same $78.75 for October just like it was for September. With both bills side by side, I pointed out there was no increase of service cost any of her existing lines — that the only increased amount were an increase of taxes and surcharges. She gets even more upset with me. This is when I asked where she’s getting her numbers from. She said her bill online.

Checked out her bill online remotely and see the number $84.01 on one of her lines. Told her I found the number she mentioned — she briefly is less annoyed with me. When I expanded for more info on this line, guess what? It said $78.75 + taxes and surcharges pushing it to $84.01. Told her that her previous bill shows the same amount. She is now annoyed again.

Note: The physical bill shows the total taxes and surcharges. The tool customer’s have access to online shows the individual break down of those charges per line while also comparing to last month for easy comparison. This is why I didn’t see the numbers she mentioned initially, but I did find the break down which still proved the point nothing changed.

Eventually I asked her bluntly to log into her account online and I will *SHOW* her these charges. I texted her where to navigate as well. She goes silent, I feel she’s finally calming down to look with me. Apparently she forgot her online password (after just checking it to complain at me, how convenient). We banter back and forth a bit, the entire time she keeps reminding me to not factor in international calls, to explain *why* her prices went up because her family is also pissed their bills went up suddenly. Our dog with food in front of her is more attentive to what I’m saying than this lady is and my dog is a distracted crackhead. (Far more cute, though! ♥)

After trying to explain to her for the umpteenth time that nothing raised at all on each line barring the line with international charges, that her lines always had individual charges, that taxes are in fact very real. She cuts me off with I’m not helping her, that she’s going to her mall to get real help. She’s 100% amendment that she’s suddenly being charged individual taxes per line on top of the overall taxes…from the same lines that total the same damn amount. Good luck convincing a sales rep at your mall to deal with your loopy self. I can’t help stupid. I held her hand every step of the way to show something simple and she still wanted to fight.

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Her and her entire family are irredeemably stupid.