Man vs The Corporation

Man vs The Corporation

"Corporations are not people; they are legal fictions." Ralph Nader

So way back in 1965, I got the keys to my first car; it was a beautiful little candy apple red Chevy Corvair with an automatic transmission and the engine in the back. A little after my first ride in my first ride “Unsafe at Any Speed,” showed up as a reading assignment. Ralph Nader’s book investigated corporate accountability by way of the dangerous designed-in flaws of the Chevy Corvair.

I still loved my little red Corvair (not Corvette) and I’d like to think the kid who stole it during my first trimester at USC Dental School enjoyed it too…before its frame showed up in a Los Angeles vacant lot. And I’ll admit the green Pinto loaner did strike automotive fear in my heart. The positive spin: I was transformed into one righteous defensive driver.

Somehow, I escaped dental school. And I still have random recurring nightmares where I park the car knowing it’ll probably be stolen, only to wake up and find out sometimes bad dreams don’t necessarily come true.

My dealings with the corporate world were copasetic for about 30 years. While mentoring high school kids interested in health science careers, I always share private practice financial opportunities and the overhead realities. And even though underwriters will never crack my Top 500, banks have been good to me. U.S. Bank helped me secure an SBA loan following the 2008 economic disaster and were key during our dental practice physical expansion in 2018. Bank of the West helped us survive Covid-19.

Through the early 2000s/Pete Carroll USC Football years I gained the sense that I’d been corporate lucky, or maybe corporate oblivious- but not for long. I overpaid an equipment lease to the tune of $30,000. I kept receiving monthly statements. I finally noticed the lack of an existing balance while preparing for a remodel. I called General Electric with the signed paper in hand proving I was me. The customer service food chain was consistent; rain or shine, they’d return 10% of my own money. An unlikely voicemail led me to none other than the G.E. International Portfolio Leader who asked for my elevator speech; on receiving it, G.E. sent out a full refund the next day. It was hard work finding corporate accountability but, Eureka, I’d found it!

I’ve already shared multiple columns regarding Southern California (SCE) phantom customer service regarding not being billed for 26 months starting a few days before St. Patrick’s Day 2020 and the onset of Covid-19. Dentists have the chance to be financially successful because people with or without teeth need us. Dentists also get a lot of bills. The lights were on and the A/C worked. A little over two years went by and the day after the ink dried on the sale of my dental practice, SCE sent me what I thought was a congrats, until I read a bill for $13,148.24. SCE had been sending bills online to an outdated address. No calls, no visits, no letters, and no smoke signals.

I lodged a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and even wrote my own legal briefs. I didn’t fight the judge, but SCE won. The judge’s decision included a recommendation that SCE should re-examine their billing outreach measures. I wondered how my patients would deal with a bill in the thousands and only one acceptable inflexible route for billing, especially if they’d been patients for 46-years.

And now I’ve come to AT&T, a company that has served me well in business for 46 years and, I thought, at home for the past 11-years. Last week, I put in a call to AT&T Customer Service regarding an eyeball-to-eyeball visit from an AT&T Rep back in April 2025. During the comprehensive account review, I asked for my landline service to be cancelled. As of February 12, 2026, I was still being charged (from Day One, 2014, I’d never used the landline-I’d thought there was an installment charge whether I used the line or not).

I was also curious about an overlap in TV charges. I researched the history of U-verse, the AT&T television service I’d used from the jump until it literally disappeared from the screen. A service technician had me scroll to the DIRECTV icon and click on it. And just like that, I had access to NBA basketball! AT&T had dropped U-verse in August 2021; I was still being charged for U-verse, as well as for its replacement, DIRECTV.

I cancelled U-verse and the landline non-services and asked for a refund of both my over-payments. No problem with the landline, but the U-verse balance was another story.

The customer service individuals with whom I communicated: Supervisors Joan, Valeri, Syomi, and Keona, were thoughtful, empathetic, and professional; their limit was a 10% refund (Again? Still?) I was referred to Manager Matthew who was also professional, and a nice guy; his limit could be rounded up to close to 20%- “the best you can do over the phone.”

I attempted to submit a Dispute online. The form would accept all my digital input except “United States” as my country. I’m hoping AT&T hasn’t retained deportation powers.

Picture this: I diagnose three crown restorations for a long-time patient who pays up front for all three. I only restore one crown before the patient moves to Mesquite, TX. Do I offer a 10% refund of the credit balance? Can armadillos fly?

Am I crazy for thinking I should have all my money back for services unexplained and not rendered? Or am I like Woody Allen (before he went crazy) when he surmised, “Just because I’m paranoid, it doesn’t mean they’re not out to get me.” I’m not there yet, but is there an AT&T Customer Service VP in the house?