AT&T Billing Issues with U-Verse Internet

I have been using AT&T U-verse internet for several years now, and overall the service has been pretty reliable in terms of the connection, but billing on the other hand has been a different story. I have already written about my previous issues I have had with the billing on past blogs but of course, this year brings new billing problems.

So my yearly promotional rate was coming to and end so I figured I would call up AT&T to see if I could get a new promotional rate or if they have an new deals going on. After talking with the first person and discussing the different plans, I was able to get the bill down to about the same rate as the previous year by going with a slower plan and getting a new yearly promotion. I agreed to have the plan switched and they explained how it would go into effect and the next bill would show the lowered amount.

A month goes by and I receive the new bill. Guess what? It did not show the change in plan and it did not have the promotion applied.  So I called them up again to figure out what was going on. They said that for some reason it was not applied. I had to talk with more reps at AT&T and eventually they were able to apply the change for the plan that was supposed to happen a month ago.

Meanwhile because the plan did not change when I called a month before, I ended up getting charged a much higher amount that I should have. I called a 3rd time to see if I could get a credit for this additional charge because the plan had not been changed before when I had asked. They said that because I had the higher plan that month that I was not eligible for the lower rate.

I understand they want to charge that amount because it is the rate I had, but the problem is, it was their responsibility to change the plan when I had called the first time. So I had to pay about twice as much as I should have had to pay for the last month.  Now the plan is supposedly switched to the new lower rate with a new promotion so hopefully it will be reflected in the next bill.

I would like to stay with AT&T internet but with the ongoing problems with the billing, the new Xfinity promotions are looking more and more appealing. 

Update 7-30-15: The new bill came in and there was a $25 credit applied. It was not clear exactly what the credit was for, but it looks like it is some kind of prorated amount from overpaying on the previous bill. It is nice to get this credit considering the overcharges from the previous bills. 

The Fort Story - Building a fort with the neightborhood

We as kids had a lot of fun on our block, whether we were playing sports, video games, or trading cards, we always had a good time. One summer, some new townhouses were being built on the lot next to our block. Since we were curious, we would jump the fence and play on the dirt hills and partially built houses when the builders were not there.

They happened to have a lot of spare wood and nails lying around and this got us thinking. Maybe we could use this extra wood and nails to build something of our own. We had tools so we decided to build a fort. Surprisingly, one of the kid's parents allowed us to build it in their back yard. We had the green light!

So like ants, we methodically began bringing planks of wood and 2x4's from the build site, over to our friend's back yard. All the kids on the block were involved. We were out there with our hammers, nailing wood together as we constructed our fort. It was a serious project that took several weeks of daily work to complete.

By the time we were done we had a nice sturdy structure with 3 small rooms, and a 2nd level. We even got carpet in there and a small couch! We were so proud of our accomplishment. We would hang out there and play in the fort every day.

It lasted a long time. I remember when winter came along it was still there. One day I came home from school and forgot my key, so I couldn't get in for about a hour until my mom came home. I was able to use the fort as shelter that day.

Over the months, the fort started to deteriorate. Nails were starting to stick out and it became dangerous. Also, someone must have complained about it to the police so we were instructed to take it down because we didn't have a building permit.

We took it apart and disposed of the wood. All that was left was an area of dead grass and mud in the middle of our neighbor's back yard. Eventually it grew in and all traces of the fort were gone but the memories of the fort will not be forgotten!

2015 Womens World Cup Review and US Womens Team

Soccer has never been as popular in the US as it is around the world, but it seems to be gaining popularity as of late. I recently began to appreciate the sport with the men's World Cup last year.  It was a lot of fun to see all the different countries competing against each other in the same game. The fact that it is teams from all over the world competing together makes it more interesting than just watching a competition between teams of the same country. Even though the US did not get too far in the tournament, it was still fun to watch.

Which brings us to the 2015 Women's World Cup. Historically the women's US team has done well in this tournament and this year is no different as they have been doing great!  I have been watching the games this year, not only the US games but other teams as well. I find the women's World Cup to be just as much fun to watch as the men's World Cup. The US team has a lot of great players and personalities which makes them easy to cheer for.

Yesterday they played the number 1 ranked German team.  It was a great game with a lot of dramatic moments. It was a close match but the US team managed to pull off a 2-0 win to move on to the final game! They play the winner of Japan / England who are playing today in the semi finals.  Here are some highlights from the match:


The final game will take place this Sunday at 7pm eastern on Fox. I will be watching and I highly recommend everyone check it out as it should be a good game and the US team has the opportunity to win the World Cup!

Update 7-5-15: Congratulations US Women's Team World Cup Champions! 

Update 3-16-16: The US Women's National team is now my favorite sports team and I continue to support them as they make their way to the 2016 Olympics in Rio!