'Just cheated': Man says phone company has been overcharging him for years
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - A Vietnam veteran says he's been having trouble resolving years of overcharges from AT&T.
"I can't even pin [the company] down exactly what my bill [is] supposed to be running," he said.
81-year-old Duane Shipman said his monthly charges from the telecommunications company were on autodraft for years, until one big bill in particular caught his eye.
"I got a bill and I opened it up and it was [more than] $700," he said.
"I got thinking about it and I said, 'I wonder how many are like that?,' Well, I called my bank and they supplied me with all the bank records. And it's unbelievable."
Mr. Shipman says the egregious charges go back about six years; records just for 2023 show a range of three-digit charges for each month, from $564 to $899.
He enlisted the help of an attorney and friend; the pair have not only called the company several times for help, they've also written four separate, detailed letters with proof to show he's been consistently overcharged since 2018.
Mr. Shipman believes the company could owe him as much as $14,000, just for phone and internet charges, but says AT&T will not contact him back.
"It just seems like me, they don't care. And I think they probably just cheated thousands of people the same way [and] it's unreal that they would treat somebody that way, that trusted them to get the right bill out. And I paid it every time," he added.
An AT&T representative responded to KFOR early Tuesday evening and confirmed they are looking into the overages.
"I'd like for them to pay me, give me my money back, plus my interest that I gave them for all these years," said Mr. Shipman.