Tag Archives | IDT

Shame on You, IDT – Part 3

Just when you thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse, I learned that IDT had actually stopped the service in July but continued to charge my father a monthly fee from the money that he had sent them in error. IDT REALLY. I can’t begin to tell you how angry that made me. My father had been telling me for the past few months that he couldn’t call me but I thought he was just playing because he wanted me to always call him. Now I feel bad for not following up earlier.

Now for the good news, I think. After another round of calls and faxes saying that we would not go after the money in any other way, they have agreed to return my father’s money and also the fees that they collected for the past few months when he was not able to use the service. They will be forwarding the check within the next week. And that’s a good thing because it’s almost time to pay that big gas bill again. I’ll let you know when he receives the check. ps!

Shame on You, IDT – Part 2

Last week I told you that the long distance phone company, IDT, had almost $800 of my fathers money that he had sent to them in error last winter when he mixed up the payment $8.50 monthly bill that he usually sends to them with his gas bill and they were dragging their feet about returning it. They have instead opted to give him a credit on his bill. (That’s almost 92 months of payments or almost 8 years!). He had been requesting the return of the money for months but it was not until last week when I called in that it was escalated. I feel silly now because I thought escalating something meant that they would actually do something like realizing the errors of their ways and return the money. But not so with IDT.

After a week of follow-up phone calls we are not much further in the process. Someone from the Finance Dept finally called but instead of calling me as requested they have opted to call my father who is almost 90 years old to try to negotiate with him.

Here is the latest twist in the story: They want to send him a form to sign and he (the finance dept guy) said that this form declared that he would not go back to the money order company and request the return of his money once they sent him a payment. Please correct me if I am wrong but I have never heard of anyone being successful at going back to a money order provider and requesting their money back months after it has been cashed. And how is that different than if he had sent them a check? Also, they do not want to return the money in one lump sum. They want to break it up in two payments and send him another form to sign once they send the first payment. Another delay tactic and what is in that form that he would not send to me?

PEOPLE we are talking about $800! I am starting to seriously doubt the solvency of this company that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (IDT). Why are they fighting so hard not to return $800 that does not belong to them?

Next Steps: Here are some next steps, I am considering: (1) Lodging a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. (2) Checking with AARP to see if they have had similar complaints about IDT. (3) Finally, if that has no impact, getting an attorney to get the money back. This is getting to be the height of ridiculousness. IDT, do the right thing. Just return the money and be done with it. ps!

A little advice here: Which one of the three options do you think I should pursue first?

Shame on You IDT

This is a follow up to Friday’s post regarding IDT and the almost $800 of my fathers money that they are stalling on returning. For the past few months they have ignored my father and my mothers request to return the money that was sent to them in error so I called on Friday and the request was escalated and I was told they would not have any info until Monday.

Here is what happened yesterday (Monday):

I was on hold for almost an hour. Hung up on twice. Apparently asking to speak to a supervisor is code for hang up or transfer to purgatory where you can remain on hold forever, but I finally learned to maneuver around this ploy.

At the end of the day, after numerous calls, here is what I found out. It seems that they just can’t write a check and return the money. They need to have their bank transfer the money to a holding account which could take 24-48 hours. Then they need to decide how to return the money since my father sent them a money order. They do not deny that they have the money, they just can’t quite seem to decide how to return it.

Wow! A multi-million dollar company who has to go through a bizallion steps to return an $800 check – UNBELIEVABLE. That just seems so wasteful. I know they have wasted enough of my time. But I will be calling back again today. Stay tuned for the next installment of this IDT saga. ps!

Tuesday’s Update:

In keeping with my promise to keep calling until I get a resolution – here is my update for Tues.  Not a lot of progress, they are still waiting on their bank, Wachovia, to either set up the special account for the money or decide how to return it. I got conflicting messages along with a promise to call me as soon as any news comes in. So I will be calling back tomorrow. ps!

If Your Parents Are Seniors, You May Need To Step Up To The Plate

I don’t know when I have been so angry. I just found out that my father’s long distance carrier (IDT) is keeping a large sum of money that he sent to them in error. My father, who is almost 90, mixed up his gas bill payment and his phone bill payment last winter. So IDT received a $300+ dollar payment for an $8 service. I’m not sure of all the details but he asked them to return his money and they said they would. But the check never arrived. In the meantime, they sent him a bill that said that he had a $300+ credit on his bill. He misunderstood and thought he owed them $300+ dollars and sent them another payment. At this point they have almost $800 of his money and they have started to give him and my mother the run around asking them to call back day after day. I found out about this today and I called the company. They said the the finance department was closed and they could not give me a resolution until Monday. This has been going on for months and they still want to play. I will most assuredly call back on Monday. It is just unconscionable for any one to treat seniors this way, especially a veteran on veteran’s day.

On a calmer note: If your parents are like mine, they want to be independent. And that’s great but this incident tells me that I need to be prepared to step in more often and to not only help my parents remain independent but financially healthy because there are so many companies and scams out there that prey on the elderly. Also, there are a ton of decisions they need to make and they need guidance. I have been pretty good with the guidance stuff, but I have always tried to stay out of their current affairs because they are really private people. But maybe that position needs to be moderated. Maybe what I need to do, and you need to do also if you have elderly parents, is to take on a watchdog persona, whether it’s in the forefront or behind the scenes. Our parents need us more than ever, so this is not the time wimp out or declare that we are just too busy. They were there for us, now it’s our turn to be there for them.

Has something similar to this happened to your parents? What are your ideas on this topic? Tune in Monday for my IDT update. ps!

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