AT&T customer slapped with $24,000 monthly bill

An 83-year-old AT&T customer in the Los Angeles area is struggling to deal with a $24,000 phone bill after the enormous fees were linked to an AOL account.

Ron Dorff told the Los Angeles Times when he contacted AT&T about the $24,298.93 bill, they were adamant that the responsibility fell on the customer, and told him to pay up.

The bill was for a land line in his house, which he used to go on the Internet using an AOL dial-up subscription. The Times reported 2.2 million people use AOL for the same purpose.

Dorff paid $51 a month for the service, but in March received a bill for more than $8,500. A customer service representative said they would send someone to his home to check it, someone who never showed.

The next bill was for $15,687. After that one, a technician did show up.

“He said there must be something wrong with my modem,” Dorff told the LA Times. “And that was it.”

After the LA Times got in contact with AT&T, it said $24,000 in fees would be waived, and Dorff finally got an explanation. Apparently, the AOL dial-up accessed a long-distance number each time, raising per-minute charges.

AT&T was reportedly working with Dorff to get rid of the extra fees.

Contact Kristen DeSilva at 702-477-3895 or kdesilva@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @kristendesilva