‘It has to be a mistake': LA-area couple's AT&T monthly landline bill jumped to $1,200

A Simi Valley couple had the shock of their life when their landline bill jumped from $50 to a whopping $1,200.

Cheryl Robles runs a gardening business with her husband. For 37 years, customers have reached them on their landline. 

“My husband wanted to keep a landline. He's very old-fashioned. I wanted to change to a cell phone. And he didn’t want to go that way,” she said. 

When their bill jumped from double to quadruple digits, the couple just couldn't believe it.

“It has to be a mistake. It has to be a mistake,” said Robles.

But it wasn’t. Robles said she called AT&T and was shocked by what she learned. 

“They were no longer going to support landlines. Or they didn’t want to support landlines. And that’s why the price increased,” she said. 

Ana Maria Johnson, with the public advocates office at the California Public Utilities Commission, doesn’t know if AT&T is increasing rates to bump residents off landlines. But she does know the company wants to stop providing landline service to nearly 500,000 Californians -- some of them in areas where there isn’t another provider. AT&T is asking the PUC for permission to dump these landlines. Johnson’s office is urging the commission to say no, largely for safety reasons. 

“Californians across the state rely on these phone lines to make sure they’re able to dial 911, receive alerts. So these communication lines are essential and a lifeline for many,” said Johnson.

The I-Team asked AT&T if it’s planning to pull back its landline service in Southern California. Initially, it didn’t respond, but after our story aired told us:

1. We are not cancelling landline service in California, and no California customer will lose access to voice service if the CPUC approves our filing. The filing simply seeks an approved plan to help consumers transition from outdated services to modern services, but that plan will not begin right away.  
2. Our commitment is that all of our customers will have access to voice communications service during and after this transition. All customers will continue to receive their traditional legacy phone service until an alternative service becomes available by us or another provider. 

After the I-Team reached out, AT&T did reduce Robles’ bill back to $50 and said in a statement the bill was due to an “internal billing system error.”

As for Robles, it’s all roses now – she dropped AT&T and her landline. 

“So I told my husband that this is what happens because we stayed with a landline. It’s time to change to a cell phone,” she said.