You can't get there from here, or AT&T blues

Just so we can be reassured that some UK traditions have passed on to the USA:

When I went to phone NZ on Saturday, I got a message saying the phone was tollbarred. I phone the number given and was informed that I'd exceeded my credit limit for toll calls (not that I knew I had one), and would have to pay the bill of $475 before they'd unbar it. I phoned the accounts department to do this, and they demanded my Customer Code, which is printed on the bill they send out - but, we've only had the phone a couple of weeks, so I don't have any bill & don't know what the Customer Code is: and they couldn't possibly take payment until I gave them the Customer Code.

After a full hour of whining, blustering & begging, I finally got them to look up on the computer, and tell me what the Customer Code will be .... so then I went back to accounts to pay the bill, but the first bill will only be for $175: I told them I needed to pay $475 according to the other department, but they refused to accept more than the bill amount of $175, so I paid that, then rang the other department again with the payment code, to get the tollbar lifted.

They checked the code, and then said it was insufficient to lift the tollbar, and I'd have to phone accounts again and pay the rest. I did that again, and ... of course they repeated that they couldn't accept any more payment as there was nothing owing, according to them.

Deadlock.

... and, BTW, wtf is with the $475 in tolls??? I know Cat has spent 2 or 3 hours on toll calls to the UK and NZ, but I haven't made a single call on the landline to date - what rate are they charging, $90/hour or more??? (that is, assuming Cat's spent twice as long as she thought, on the phone).
Oh well, should have this problem sorted next week, we're switching providers (&keeping the same phone number, thank ghu).