I understand your frustration, and am sorry that you are having to go through this.

I know it seems crazy to charge a fee to someone to NOT use a service, but you have to understand that your mom's account/line requires special handling for that.

From reading what you wrote, it seems to me that your mother is calling AT&T to request services and, of course because of the dementia, doesn't remember it. Since the account is in her name, they will do what she asks. In fact, you're lucky, actually, that they take instructions from you at all, because a lot of companies wouldn't.

What you should do is have the account put in your name. Ask them to password-protect the account. Tell them they are not to deal with anyone but you. So if anyone else calls who can't give them the correct password, they won't get a thing.

I have a couple of questions:

Who would your mother be calling normally?
Do you have a cell phone that has a family plan?

We got a cell phone for my Dad in Florida and he can call anyone he chooses and it comes off our minutes. He can call us anytime and no minutes are used. This costs us $10 a month plus tax.

We got our grandson, Bobby, a cell phone on the same family plan. His phone we have set up that he can only call or receive calls from the people in his address book and the minutes come off ours. We pay $10 a month for his phone. Also, we didn't pay anything for this phone as I asked at Radio Shack if they had a phone that would do this and it ended up that it was free plus there was no activation fee.

If you could do this for your mom then I think it would solve a whole lot of problems and cost you very little.

HTH's

Acey, are you sure the only service your mother can get is AT&T? Our telephone, computer and TV are all through the same company--Brighthouse. We have several choices, in fact. Hasn't been like the old days with AT&T being the only game in town for a long time (since 1983 as a matter of fact). You might look up the "yellow pages" on-line for her city and check to see other options.

MY guess is that this is what is happening;
AT&T phone solicits their own customers practically daily!
I'm sure they called her to sign up for the extra features you found on the bill this month and that she agreed.
There MUST be a way to stop this, but you can count on lots of aggravation.

I would go the cell phone route.Do you think she would be able to operate a cell phone? Maybe even a pre paid one? I know there are some out there that have the feature of putting in just the numbers she would frequently call for very little charge.

Has your mother's physician given you a written diagnosis of demenia? If so, she can not legally enter into a contract, and any contract made by her would not hold up in a court. Fax a copy of the doctor's diagnosis to AT&T, along with any requests - they should take care of your needs.

Acey, the best advice I have for you is to do exactly as Lindsay suggests, put the account in your name. That way mom cannot change anything. I'm going round and round with Verizon and know that they are dead serious when it comes to dealing with the owner of the account......

A few months ago, I bought a new AT&T phone as I wanted a clamshell. I had basic service and did not order anything else.

The first month the bill doubled from what it normally is. I called the billing problem number, and the gal was not helpful at all and wanted me to pay the full amount. I was stuck. But the doorbell rang and I had to terminate the call.

After I dealt with the neighbor, I called the AT&T number again, and a much nicer employee answered and removed the charges.

The next month the bill was $15 higher than the basic service, so I called again. Seems they were billing me for something else I did not order, but the employee advised I pay the $15 and that there would be a $15 deduction the following month.

They actually took care of it this month.

I think this is a racket. I never ordered any additions to my plan.

SheilaJoyce -- Our cell phone service was Cingular, but it was merged with AT&T and now goes by the AT&T name. Hubs and my phones are each on separate accounts, and each account is password protected. They will NOT speak with anyone who isn't authorized on the account and who doesn't know the password. You can log onto your AT&T cell phone account on their website and password protect it. You should do that right now and then you will not ever find strange, unauthorized charges to your account.

Mom moved to senior community last August. Set her up with AT&T phone service.
I'm assuming you set it up, and then that your name, and only your name is on the account. If that is the case, they cannot legally be changing the service in any way without it being a request from you.

My guess, is that if you choose for her to NOT have a long distance carrier at all, that she will also NOT be able to make any directory assistance calls either. There is no extra charge to not have a carrier, and I think may even be about $5 less as a result.

She could still call free directory assistance 1 800-free-411 (1 800-373-3411). If she had long distance calls to be made, they could be made with a calling card (Dollar Store or about anyplace). The call initially is made to an 800 #, and then the card number is keyed in, and then the phone number. That should solve everything, and there not be any more unexpected charges, once you get it set back up on 'Basic Service', and have them note that there are to be no changes unless they are authorized by you.

Sometimes employees or other residents will take sometimes take advantage of using the resident's phones for their own personal use, when it is convenient.

Sue

Update:
Thanks for all your replies. I got a good gal this time, fingers crossed!

She told me the long distance was added June 4th (I did not do that, so maybe it was a marketer who called her and sold her that package.) The order to block directory information calls that WAS initiated by me was done on June 18th.

She removed the long distance package (unlimited long distance and international which my Mom would never have had the presence of mind to request on her own) that was added June 4th, and will credit the charge. She BLOCKED all sales or marketing solicitations from here on out. We kept the blocked dir. info. which was my request, and kept the number unlisted.

So we should be back to about a $29.00 monthly bill. I will see how this goes for awhile.

I dread to get her a cell phone, as she would lose it, or think it is a remote, or put it away or throw it away, which is why I'm trying to keep her on a regular land line which is familiar to her, as she can't learn new things.

Alzheimer's....It is a frustrating thing.

Acey...Alzheimers and Dementia are not the same.

My mom lives in an assisted community, too. Finally had to have her room phone removed (and as a retired AT&T employee, she is entitled to free services for the rest of her life!) because she was buying from telemarketers and infomercials. She was even able to get a low-limit credit card!

Where Mom lives, all the residents have unlimited access to the house phones to both make and receive calls, any time of day or night. Believe me, it's much nicer this way, but boy was Mom mad when we removed her phone! She got over it, though.

Try having a password put ont he pohone for any changes, additionas, or deletions in service. Don't give your mom the password and then at least she cannot add anything.

Can you speak with the administratrs fo the nursing home- sounds like an employee may be helping themserves to the phone!

They used to have phone plans that only allowed incoming calls (I think there was a charge for outgoing of 25 cents). Mayeb you could get something like that and put a sign up that the phone is "tapped" and only for her use!