AT&T Wireless Sucks
We’re dropping our service from AT&T Wireless, because they’re being utter jerks about a dead phone. So this is more of a placeholder with a complete story later.
T-Mobile or Verizion or Cricket, here we come.
Niki started to have problems with her phone yesterday. This would make the 3rd time…. The first few times were within 30 days of purchase from AT&T Wireless and each time they had no problem exchanging the SIM or the Phone. So I called up AT&T-W and sat on the phone for about an hour and a half trying to figure out the problem. Multiple times we powered down the phone, popped the battery out and removed the SIM. Each time we got the same thing.
Now before I go any further in this story, let me say that each time I or a family member had a problem with a phone, the cell company had no problem sending us a replacement for no charge. AT&T Wanted $24.95 to act as a middle-man with the phone’s manufacturer. This was a little too much for me. We spend about $75 a month with AT&T on two phones and plans, so I really can’t see why they wouldn’t drop this charge.
I asked the rep, if they couldn’t drop the charge. Since we’re still under contract and this has happened multiple times. She said they could drop it, but I would still have to pay shipping & handling. Then I thought about it, and asked, “I can drop my service right now and get a phone for free”.
Now in the grand scheme of things $900-1,100 a year isn’t much for AT&T to lose. That’s probably one of the phone tech’s salary for two weeks, if not for a whole month. But when faced with the decision to drop a phone and lose a customer, they decided to still stick with their charge. Part of my problem, is that I ship with UPS, like they do. And know that phone doesn’t cost more than $6 to ship and box. $24 or even $10 is a rip-off.
So, we’re looking at new companies for our phone service. AT&T was the only group who lost clients when number portability took effect and now that they’re with Cingular, the service is only going to get worse. It’s not something I’m looking forward to. So we’re taking our numbers and will hopefully deal with a better company.
*Update – Later*
We wound up replacing Niki’s cell with a land line. I was really hoping that we could wait until Vonage had 423 area code service (they have all the other TN area codes), but we couldn’t wait. So I called BellSouth and we had a full setup within 10 minutes.
Vonage would be the ideal solution. For about $10 less per month, we could use our broadband line as our phone line. Which would be a better solution.
My cell will either be transfered to T-Mobile, Virgin, or Cricket. They’ve all been great, as far as service goes. And don’t have a problem sending me a free phone.
I guess my largest problem, is the amount of time this has taken up. My time is money and for Niki to not have a phone costs as well, not to mention the time scheduling replacements…..is costing us more than we’re liking. So AT&T Wireless, you guys suck.
I’m leaving this thread open for as long as possible, so those of you with AT&T Wireless problems can vent and be heard. My advice is the following, “Run. Run as far away from Cingular & AT&T Wireless as you can.”
March 16th, 2004 at 10:03 am
You might want to browse some forums (such as http://www.howardforums.com/) before you switch. The important point when shopping for a new service is not how happy they are to offer you a phone in order to win you as a customer, but how happy they are to offer you a 2nd phone if it breaks once you’ve signed a contract. (In this regard, Verizon, which is my company, is no better than AT&T. I ended up buying phone insurance when I switched from AT&T to Verizon)
March 17th, 2004 at 9:03 am
Thanks, Beth. I read through the HowardForums…after I went out last night and purchased a phone at Target. It was free, thanks to the gift cards I received for my birthday. That’s a good resource…now one of my bookmarks.
I’m moving my personal phone to Virgin, who sublets from Sprint. Now the largest problem with Sprint, was dealing with the lack of coverage in Downtown Chattanooga. I’ve spoken with others who use Sprint, and they didn’t have an issue. But one person, who had my exact same phone, has the same problems. Now I have a new phone, so we’ll test this out.
One of the +’s with Virgin, is that I don’t have a contract and I pay for what I use. If the phone dies, then I buy another one knowing I have no connection with the company. AT&T would rather charge for a dead phone under contract than ship you one for free. And from my dealings with AT&T, the Virgin people have customer service together.
Niki decided to completely drop her cell phone service. She works less than a minute away from home and we now have a land line. Plus, when she does drive around, I know she’s in a new car. I, on the other hand, need a phone…mainly based on the last of modern transportation. The car is fine, but I’d like some sort of communication when I travel…which is around 60-80 miles per day.
March 17th, 2004 at 9:03 am
BTW, this is the phone I purchased
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/catalog/phoneDetail.do?skuId=VMKE43KYKITK7N
March 18th, 2004 at 11:03 am
Good Companies
It’s been busy back in the Drumblog HQ, but I wanted to take some time to talk about good customer service. Rhythm Tech did DCI forum member, BZ, great. He had a 15 year-old Rhythm Tech tambourine that broke and…
April 7th, 2004 at 3:04 am
I just sign up with ATTWS in Feb. and I wish I had not. We were looking to get a Family Plan and that’s why we picked AT&T because they were giving out a lot of free phone and they charge only 9.99 for additional lines so we cave and got AT&T
Well service in my area is fine but I can’t stand Customer Service. I just wish I could reach through the phone and slap some of them. I can’t really believe what they say sometimes because we were having some issue with our calling plan. So when I call to str8en things out they said everything is set now… but when I call back in the next day they say that I never called in or that the issue was still their… well after 2 months I think that we just ABOUT got the plan fixed!
I say off with AT&T heads and take your number some where else. I am glad AT&T Wireless will be no more… Cingular isn’t good either… 1 bad apple + 1 bad apple = 2 rotten apples…
April 22nd, 2004 at 12:04 pm
your think you have problems. at&t has prepaid phones called Free2GO. I have had one for years,
they have a website where you can put your visa card info and get automatic renewal every 28 days. normal renewal is 45 days. they said I can change the date they charge my credit card online and they charged it 3 times. finally after hours on hold they issued my refund and then refused to take my visa card because my unlisted phone number is not in my visa card profile. they said they would refund my credit balance and NO longer wished to do business with me. I thought their were federal laws where i did not have to give out my phone number if I did not want to.
April 23rd, 2004 at 2:04 am
You think you all hate AT&T Wireless. well I work for a company who does 3rd party vending for AWS customer care. its not that cc reps are stupid it is just policy to act stupid. it does not matter anymore we sued AWS to get out of contract and will be doing Sprint CC soon. SCREW AT&T Wireless
Unfaithful Care Rep
April 23rd, 2004 at 12:04 pm
Yes, AT&T has problems. I’m currently trying for the third time to have mMode and VoiceDial removed from my bill and credited back to January. In December 2003, I upgraded to a GSM phone, and the rep told me those features were free for the first month, and that I’d have to call to have them canceled after that. I forgot to call right away, so I understand I have to pay for January. But the charges continue showing up on my invoice every month! This is a deceptive and misleading business practice and you can bet I’ll be filing complaints with the state attorney general and the Better Business Bureau!
April 29th, 2004 at 2:04 am
everything in life isnt free…. or replaced for free…. however, there are services that are offered to you and myself as consumers…. i tried to deal with a cell phone manufacturer directly. my phone needed repair, and they weren’t going to just send me a new phone or even a loaner phone… they wanted to keep my phone and repair it… which could have taken over 2 weeks plus replacement fees… getting my phone replaced through the service provider ended up saving me time and money. i believe people have a hard time distingishing the cell phone service provider from the phone manufacturer… including yourself… works the same way with a majority of companies if you really think about it…are you really avoiding this type of issue if you switch service providers? they all go by the same policies/guidelines of the manufacturer, dont they? for example, if i have a nokia with Cingular and switch my service to verizon with a similar type of phone, i havent proved any point of switching providers…. on the other hand, if i had horrible service with cingular and received better call quality with verizon, that proves a point… why dont you make a huge web page detesting the phone manufacterer for not replacing the phone? wouldnt that make more since?
May 15th, 2004 at 8:05 am
I just had similar experience with AT&T. I bought 2 Sony Ericsson T616′s. First one had problems with softkey and joystick, replaced it following week. Second one had same problem, replaced it 3 weeks later. Now it’s been more than 30 days since then, and both of the replacement phones are having the exact same problem. AT&T is basically saying, “screw you, it’s a manufacturer’s problem.” I was never even able to get the rebate because we kept having to replace the phones.
I’d be curious to know how much the guy who sued to get out of his contract spent on legal fees.
May 27th, 2004 at 12:05 pm
AT&T Wireless TOTALLY sucks! In my six-month relationship with that wretched behemoth, I dod not receive even ONE accurate bill – I had to call every thrity days to have false charges remnoved from my invoice!
June 18th, 2004 at 4:06 am
I have you all beat. I just quit my job with AT&T Wireless because all of you are correct in your complaints. The equipment replacement issues, the billing issues, and most of all the comment posted by JD about calling to have the feature removed. JD’s comment is one of the big reasons I left. We, as sales reps, are required to sell so x-amount of “bolt ons” each month. A bolt on is one of the extras like the text messaging, mobile to mobile minutes, or internet service with the GSM phones. To help boost these sales AT&T now uses what they call bundeled rate plans. These bundeled sheets they use don’t tell you that you don’t have to have all the extras. A little inside info – all accessories can be exchanged up to 1 year with reciept. You can try as many different phones as you want as long as you do it each time within the 30 days and have all packaging. I would love to tell more but I’m hoping to air all the out on Dateline.
July 14th, 2004 at 2:07 am
ATT WS SUCKS! I was paying my bill online, when i checked payment history it listed that i paid twice today and one on monday. Well first…my fault for being forgetful…but i called and talked to two customer service reps and a “resolutionist” and was told that they CANNOT cancel the two transactions today because their system is not capable of doing that!!! SO IS IT A DINOSAUR SYSTEM! Unbeleivable. And that’s not all…they will process the three payments that I did and refund me the two after 15 days of clearing my account!!!!
I feel defeated … I don’t want to put a stop payment from my back because I get charged and ATT will charge me $25 for NSF!!!
I will move to T-Mobile!!!!
Thanks for letting me vent.
July 25th, 2004 at 7:07 am
I have been with AT&T wireless for about 2 years now and just within the last 6 months I hate them more than ever. I have had to replace 3 NEC 525 phones with paying the so called “Shipping and handling” and the only thing different is that I am $25 short. I don’t think any one else is happy with their service either. I have a large circle of friends, who unfortunately are using ATA&T. Onece a week we get together over dinner to “BITCH” about AT&T. It is absurd how these people are cheating customers out of money and time. O M G the time, the long hours I have spent on the phone with the Customer Service and the so called “Supervisors”. Any ways in short this company is going down and I want to make sure people don’t go down with it.
July 26th, 2004 at 3:07 am
OMG!!! I freakn HATE AT&T Wireless. My fiance and I have had issues with AT&T Wireless from day one. Our calls get dropped, no service or there is static. The billing is just as bad…..Turns out At&t had also over charged my fiance’s account and reimbursed him over $300. This month they messed up on my minutes used(overage charges) my bill came to $223 from $90 a month. Still battling with them. I called and have asked that they waive the Termination of $175 and ofcourse “Customer Care” refused to let me speak with managment. We feel that it is the least they can do for the headache they’ve caused us. From their “Service”, “CustomerCare” to their “Billing”.. it all sucks. We are switching to Verizon. grrrrrrr
August 3rd, 2004 at 12:08 pm
Hi, my name is Jim, I have been a victim of at&t and I would be more than happy to share my opinion of at&t, unfortunately after all the abuse, this will be a long letter so I will sum it up to “AT&T SUCKS!!!!!” for those of you who are in a hurry to go out and sign up immediately with the phone company that makes hell look like an amusement park! It all started out on July 28, 2003. I had one new digital line, just received the phone and noticed that the time and back light were not working on my new Nokia 3560. So I decided that I better call them and get this taken care of right away before they blame me for it and make me pay for a new phone. My first call was placed at 2:30 PM that afternoon. After being on hold, disconnected during transfers and fed full of crap from them for 7 hours, I was again disconnected while on hold waiting for the confirmation from a supervisor so I could return this broken phone for a new one that I would receive not in the 24 hours as promised in their back round music commercial while you are on hold, but instead, more like a 8 days. I realized after the last disconnect while on hold that I was not getting anywhere, so I decided that I would make one more call but that this call would be the last one to at&t for sure. So when I finally did get through to a representative after being on hold for another half an hour, I explained that I was mailed a bad phone and that I wanted it replaced, but I was told that I needed the approval of a supervisor. So he told me that he would forward me. Well after being forwarded and on hold for over seven and a half hours that nice sunny afternoon already, I decided to speed things up. I gave the representative an offer he could not refuse. I told him that I was on hold all afternoon and that I would give him a choice, either he solved this problem in 5 minutes, or the damned phone was getting packed up and shipped back that same day and he could shove both the phone and at&t where the sun don’t shine. Well guess what, for some reason after offering my preposition, surprisingly within 2 minutes, I was talking to a supervisor, and within another 2 minutes, I was on my way to getting a new phone and was writing down the address as to where I could send the other phone back to. I don’t know if it was something I said or what but all of a sudden, I was starting to think at&t maybe wasn’t so bad after all. That was until June 29th of this year when since my son wanted a cell phone, and me and my wife decided to add another line so we would not have to share the existing phone. So since I already had one line, I decided to check into at&t for these additional lines even though the incident I had only a year earlier with returning the other phone was still on my mind for the main reasons why I hate at&t. Not to mention the sketchy and poor service in buildings and low lying areas. But I decided to give them another chance and I found this great deal on what they call gsm phones. Not knowing what gsm stood for, but figuring that if it was something new and described as even better than digital, it was the way to go. I ordered 2 phone services with phones from their web site. I received them only 2 days later but unfortunately, I was NOT unable to use these phones since the map was deceiving and we did NOT have gsm service in this area. Even though I was promised by the representative that they would work, and how at&t was being so mighty white and adding new towers in my area right now while we were speaking? I was fortunate enough to have service in my house but if I drove a mile from my house, there was no service anywhere in this area which is the area where I would be using the phones all the time. I also had service in my front yard, but not in the back. (Much better than two tin cans because there was no fear of getting the string slammed in the door and breaking!) So here is what happened. I received the phones on Thursday afternoon, found out the phones were totally useless, called another representative from at&t and he agreed that gsm phones only usually work in major cities and along interstates, and was again assured that there were new towers going up everywhere as we spoke? Fortunately, I just happened to have vacation that next day which was a Friday, so I immediately tired to correct this problem. I called one of the representatives, who was very polite and actually apologetic about this, and had offered that since I ordered the phone in June, when they had the $9.99 special offer on ALL phone lines including TDMA phones, she would switch me over to the other service with the same benefits and then I would get that plan at the June price of $39.99 plus 9.99 for the second phone line. The only minor problem was that the phones I had were for gsm service so she also offered a trade for the same type of phone in the TDMA service at the same price which was free after the discount and would set this up immediately for me also. So I would be going from the Samsung 426 to the Motorola V60c. All she had to do was forward me to get this simple problem dealt with? Well, this was at 1:30 in the afternoon. I sat on hold for about 20 minutes and I was disconnected. Then I called the same number back, ( (800) 388-3235) After that, I was forwarded from one department to the next, until finally someone supposedly knew how to get me that deal in July which was no longer available since it was a June offer. His name was Juan and if anyone had any questions, to contact him. This was at 7:20 p.m.. Only 6 hours after I started my journey to a waste of my day of vacation, a waste of gas since I had to drive 100 miles for nothing and not to mention that I got no where with getting my problem solved. So here is what he did, he “SAID” that it would only take a few seconds to change my account to the correct account and supposedly the account was all set up after a few minutes, but I would have to keep the same numbers so it would be billed correctly. The only thing I had to do was drive 50 mile (100 mile round trip) to the nearest AT&T COn Store to pick up the two new phones for free, and return the other two phones with the return mailing label that he was going to get right out in the mail for me. (By the way, it took 5 calls and 2 weeks to finally receive these return labels.) I asked if that would work for me to walk in the store and just get two phones and he confirmed it would. So I get to the store at 8:15p.m., only to find a not so very pleasant sales person who was already contacted by Juan and she told me there was nothing she could do but to sell me two new plan at a higher price, or I would have to pay the full prices of the 2 phones which were $169.00 and jaun would have to reimburse the money? So I told her that this was not what I was told and that it would be even a bigger joke trying to get the $350.00 back from at&t than the joke they already pulled by making me drive over 100 miles to pick up nothing. So then she huffed and puffed a few times, picked up the phone, dials a number and hands me the phone, I asked her why I was on the phone and she said that I would have to talk to then again. Well, I can tell you right now that I knew I was not going to be so fortunate as to talk to Juan again. So now I am at the store for an hour and a half on hold, I finally get through and they transferred me 2 more times with being on hold with each brief discussion before I was transferred to the “CORRECT” department that could set this up for me and confirm it with the salesperson at the store. Well, at 9:55 the salesperson realized that I had gotten no where and explained that the store closed at 9;00 and the mall doors had to be locked by 10:00 or the alarm would go off. Wow, what a bummer, and I was finally being forwarded to the “CORRECT” channel so that they could set me up with the correct plan, and I was told that I had to leave because the store was closing. Anyway, I was able to briefly talk to one more representative who was polite to give me the number of the direct line of somebody, possible the president of at&t even. She did not say who, she just told me it was the
number to call. The one who could fix this problem once and for all. When she gave me the number, guess what the number was? It was the same number that I started out making my first call of the day to, only 10 hours earlier. So I told the representative this and surprisingly, she read off another number that I could call on the next business day. So my day of vacation was finally over and the bottom line was I had 2 phones that did not work in my area, I wasted a day of my vacation, actually 10 hours of the day, drove 100 miles and still did not have any thing accomplished or any phones that will work in my area. Since it was the July 4th weekend and at&t was closed on Monday, I waited until Tuesday to continue my venture but was sure that I would finally get this problem solved since the last person I spoke with on the phone that Friday gave me the secret code, better than the number for the Bat Cave, even better than a number for the red phone. Yes, It was a “Direct Line Supervisors number”! But after calling them at noon that Tuesday and sitting on hold for another 45 minutes, I had just about had more than I could handle with at&t when the out of no where a “Friendly” voice greeted me and the nice gentleman said that he would have this problem solved in just 5 minutes. all I had to do was wait on hold until he set it all up for me. Well guess what, after the 5 minutes which actually turned into about 35 minutes, everything was not taken care of and all I had to do was be forwarded one more time to have it all set up? At no surprise, the ‘Just forward’ turned into another 25 minutes. After finally actually talking to the lady who could finally create this miracle at at&t, I asked the lady if she could read off the promotional deal just one more time so I could verify that it was correct. Well guess what? It was not the deal I was promised. Actually, it was a digital share plan with a whopping 450 minutes only instead of 1000. Did not include the friendship minutes and night and weekends were limited to 1000. All this for only an additional $25.00 a month more versus the original plan I was offered with 1000 minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile and nights and weekend included. At this point I realized that I had totally had it with at&t. So I told her that this again was not what I was offered, so she politely offered to forward me to another department to set it up correctly. As she was looking up the number, I told her that I could make it really easy for her and that I knew how to solve it. Then like a dumb ditz, she replies ‘how’? So I told her that I wanted to take these existing 2 lines plus the other line that I had had now for 11 months already and cancel them all. That they could take at&t and shove their service up their you know what. Well not to any surprise, her next words were- – - – “I am sorry but I can not do that, I will have to forward you to a different department that can handle this for you’! This was probably the first time I laughed that day since the nightmare began. I will have to forward you to a different department to cancel????????? Anyway, after being on hold another half an hour, not surprised since I did not expect any speedier service in the cancelation department, I finally was a relieved man and the 2 lines were canceled. I did have to listen to the “No, You don’t want to leave at&t and the the good old tower raising speech”, but the abusive nightmare was finally almost over, (I though). Also, unfortunately since the 3rd line still had 22 days left for the 1 year contract to expire, I was not able to discontinue that one without paying a $175.00 early cancelation fee. Even though I offered to pay for the last month without the privileges of using their limited signal phone service, but she said that would not be possible. I guess she was hoping I would forget to cancel on the 28th of July at 12:01 A.M.,( the first minute that I could finally wash myself from the hell fires of at&t!) and that they could automatically sign me up for another year. You can mark my word, I sat up on the eve of the 27th just so I could finally cancel that line, figuring the trauma would finally be over once and for all. But like Jason and Freddie, They just keep coming back! Only 5 days later on August 2nd., I receive this bill in the mail. I open it up figuring it must be for that last line I canceled that previous Wednesday, but it ended up being even another big shock. It was the bill for the two gsm services that I use from 2:00 PM on July 1st. through 1:00 PM on July 2nd. when I called to have these 2 lines canceled. Now guess how much it was for? An unbelievable $133.90. Not bad considering that I was promised by both the representatives both on that Friday when I canceled, and also the representative again that following Tuesday when I reconfirmed that these phones were canceled that there would be no charge since these phones came with a 30 day no fault return policy meaning that I would not be charged as long as the phones were returned in good condition within the first 30 days, and especially since I only had these phones for one day, that there would defiantly be NO CHARGE what so ever. I bet you will never guess what I did when I got home from work on August 2nd., 2004? That’s right, I sat on the phone with at&t! First for 30 minutes before I was actually talking to a representative, and then for another 15 minutes while I waited to talk to a supervisor since she could not remove those charges, even though she was willing to remove the activation fees. (The activation fees were waved before I even purchased these lines. It was part of the promotion) Then for another 45 minutes after I had a very sweet talk with the supervisor, they were finally removed!At first the supervisor refused to remove the charges, but after a little persuading, he surprisingly changed his mind. Guess it must have been something I said to the supervisor about promising to start a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT if the charges were not dropped that changed his mind! All he had to do now was forwarded me back to a department that WOULD remove the charges which was another 45 minutes and I was finally released from the evil at&t torture chamber. The only thing I wonder now is that even though I was promised that these charges were dropped, I can not wait until next month when I will have to go through all this again because I am sure that somehow these charges will reappear, not to mention that I am sure that the other line that I canceled last week I am sure will haunt me for months to come, maybe even longer because I am sure they will figure out how to send a few more bills for that phone too, even though I have not used it all month already. So I hope after reading my adventures with at&t, it will help you make up your mind about ever purchasing anything from at&t wireless and I am sure that you really do not want to hear my final decision about their services, but I am sure you can guess it! By the way, What does gsm stand for anyhow. I am sure the ‘G’ stand for ‘Garbage’, But what about the ‘SM’? Or is that a spelling error by at&t and should it instead be ‘BS’ but no one at at&t knows how to change the name in the computer? But out of all actuality, the main reason I wrote this long letter is because first of all, it did not take nearly as long as the time spent on the phone with at&t, but the main reason is that I do not want to see anyone else be taken down like I was!
August 4th, 2004 at 8:08 am
Hi, my name is Jim, I too have been a victim of at&t and I would be more than happy to share my opinion of at&t, unfortunately after all the abuse, this will be a long letter so I will sum it up to “AT&T SUCKS!!!!!” for those of you who are in a hurry to go out and sign up immediately with the phone company that makes hell look like an amusement park! It all started out on July 28, 2003 after purchasing their service through the at&t internet store. I had one new digital line, just received the phone and noticed that the time and back light were not working on my new Nokia 3560. So I decided that I better call them and get this taken care of right away before they blame me for it and make me pay for a new phone. My first call was placed at 2:30 PM that afternoon. After being on hold, disconnected during transfers and fed full of crap from them for 7 hours, I was again disconnected while on hold waiting for the confirmation from a supervisor so I could return this broken phone for a new one that I would receive not in the 24 hours as promised in their back round music commercial while you are on hold, but instead, more like 8 days. I realized after the last disconnect while on hold that I was not getting anywhere, so I decided that I would make one more call but that this call would be the last one to at&t for sure. So when I finally did get through to a representative after being on hold for another half an hour, I explained that I was mailed a bad phone and that I wanted it replaced, but I was told that I needed the approval of a supervisor. So he told me that he would put me on hold and forward me. Well after being forwarded and on hold for over seven and a half hours already that nice sunny afternoon, I decided to speed things up. I gave the representative an offer he could not refuse. I told him that I was on hold all afternoon and that I would give him a choice, either he solved this problem in 5 minutes, or the damned phone was getting packed up and shipped back that same day and he could shove both the phone and at&t where the sun don’t shine. Well guess what, for some reason after my offer, surprisingly within 2 minutes, I was talking to a supervisor, and within another 2 minutes, I was on my way to getting a new phone and was writing down the address as to where I could send the other phone back to. I don’t know if it was something I said or what but all of a sudden, I was starting to think at&t maybe wasn’t so bad after all.
That was until I received my first bill. All of a sudden my plan went from a one year plan to a two year plan. I immediately called at&t to correct this problem and they told me that at&t does not even offer a one year plan, and that I had definitely signed up for a two year plan. I totally disagreed with them and after about 25 minutes of them dissecting my bill, they offered to forward me to a supervisor who finally agreed to switch my plan to a one year agreement. There was only one catch though, I had to pay the ‘Free Activation Fee’ of $35.00? I explained that the plan I purchased was for one year, and that also included the free activation already, but they told me there was no way that they could offer it to me for that, and that the only thing he could do was change the plan from a two year to a one year plan. So I opted to pay the ‘Free Activation Fee’ just so I would not be locked into something I would probably end up regretting since I did have several problems with signal in some of the areas where I live. After that call, everything seamed to be going aright with at&t for the next 10 months. (Even I still see ads listed on the at&t website today that offer free activation with a ‘One Year’ contract.)
That was until June 29th of this year when since my son wanted a cell phone, and my wife and I decided to add another line so we would not have to share the existing phone. So since I already had one line and figured it would be more convenient to pay just one company for service over getting a different carrier, I decided to check into at&t for these additional lines even though the incidents I had less than a year earlier with returning the other phone, the false advertising of a one year plan with ‘Free Activation’ were still on my mind for the main reasons why I hate at&t. Not to mention the sketchy and poor service in buildings and low-lying areas. But I decided to give them another chance and I found this great deal on what they call ‘gsm’ phones. Not knowing what gsm stood for, but figuring that if it was something new as described, as even better than digital, it was the way to go. I ordered 2 phone services with phones from their web site. I received them only 2 days later but unfortunately, I was NOT able to use these phones since the map was deceiving and we did NOT have gsm service in this area. Even though I was promised by the representative that they would work, and how at&t was being so mighty white and adding new towers in my area right now just as we were speaking? I was fortunate enough to have service in my house but if I drove about a mile from my house, there was no service anywhere in this area, which is the area where I would be using the phones all the time. I also had service in my front yard, but not in the back. (I do have to admit, it was much better than two tin cans because there was no fear of getting the string slammed in the door and breaking!) So here is what happened. I received the phones on Thursday afternoon, found out the phones were totally useless, called another representative from at&t and he agreed that gsm phones only usually work in major cities and along interstates, and was again assured that there were new towers going up everywhere as we spoke? Fortunately for me, I just happened to have vacation that next day which was a Friday, so I immediately tired to correct this problem. I called one of the representatives, who was very polite and actually apologetic about this, and had offered that since I ordered the phone in June, when they had the $9.99 special offer on ALL phone lines including TDMA phones, she would switch me over to the other service with the same benefits and then I would get that plan at the June price of $39.99 plus 9.99 for the second phone line. The only minor problem was that the phones I had were for gsm service only so she also offered a trade for the same type of phone in the TDMA service at the same price which was free after the discount and would set this up immediately for me also. So I would be going from the Samsung 426 to the Motorola V60c. All she had to do was forward me to get this simple problem dealt with? Well, this was at 1:30 in the afternoon. I sat on hold for about 20 minutes and I was disconnected. Then I called the same number back, ( 800) 388-3235) After that, I was forwarded from one department to the next, until finally someone supposedly knew how to get me that deal in July which was no longer available since it was a June offer. His name was Juan and if anyone had any questions, to contact him. This was at 7:25 p.m. Only 6 hours after I started my journey to a waste of my day of vacation, a waste of gas since I had to drive 100 miles for nothing and not to mention that I got nowhere with getting my problem solved. So here is what he did, he “SAID” that it would only take a few seconds to change my account to the correct account and supposedly the account was all set up after a few minutes, but I would have to keep the same numbers so it would be billed correctly. The only thing I had to do was drive 50 mile (100 mile round trip) to the nearest at&t Store to pick up the two new phones for free, and return the other two phones with the return mailing label that he was going to get right out in the mail for me. (By the way, it took 5 calls and 2 weeks to finally receive these return labels. But I knew that I had to keep on them so they would mail the return address labels to me, since I already figured out their plan of waiting until the 29th day so that I could not get them back within the 30 free trial period and then I would automatically be locked into their service and stuck with two phone lines that I could not use for another whole year.) Anyway, back to Jauns bright idea, so I asked if that would work for me to walk in the store and just get two phones and he confirmed it would. So I get to the store at 8:15p.m. only to find a not so very pleasant sales person who was already contacted by Juan and she told me there was nothing she could do but to sell me two new plan at a higher price, or I would have to pay the full prices of the 2 phones which were $169.00 each and jaun would have to reimburse the money? So I told her that this was not what I was told and that it would be even a bigger joke trying to get the $350.00 back from at&t than the joke they already pulled by making me drive over 100 miles to pick up nothing. So then she huffed and puffed a few times, picked up the phone, dials a number and hands me the phone. I asked her why I was on the phone and she said that I would have to talk to then again. Well, I can tell you right now that I knew I was not going to be so fortunate as to talk to Juan again. So now I am at the store for another hour and a half of being on hold, transferred and disconnected. I finally get through and they transferred me 2 more times with being on hold with each brief discussion before I was transferred to the “CORRECT” department that could set this up for me and confirm it with the salesperson at the store. Well, at 9:55 the salesperson realized that I had gotten no where and explained that the store closed already an hour ago at 9;00 and the mall doors had to be locked by 10:00 or the alarm would go off. Wow, what a bummer, and I was finally being forwarded to the “CORRECT” channel so that they could set me up with the correct plan, and I was told that I had to hang up because the store was closing. Anyway, I was able to briefly talk to one more representative who was polite to give me the number of the direct line of somebody, possible the president of at&t even? She did not say whom, but I was sure it had to be someone important and she just told me it was the number to call. The one who could fix this problem once and for all. When she gave me the number, guess what the number was? It was the same number that I started out making my first call of the day to, only 10 hours earlier. So I told the representative this and surprisingly, she was shocked so she read off another number that I could call on the next business day. So my day of vacation was finally over and the bottom line was I had 2 phones that did not work in my area, I wasted a day of my vacation, actually 10 hours of the day, drove 100 miles and still did not have any thing accomplished or any phones that will work in my area. Since it was the July 4th weekend and at&t was closed on Monday, I had to wait until Tuesday to continue my venture but was sure that I would finally get this problem solved since the last person I spoke with on the phone that Friday gave me the secret code, better than the number for the Bat Cave, even better than a number for the red phone. Yes, It was a “Direct Line Supervisors number”! But after calling them at noon that Tuesday and sitting on hold for another 45 minutes, I had just about had more than I could handle with at&t when the out of no where a “Friendly” voice greeted me and the nice gentleman said that he would have this problem solved in just 5 minutes. All I had to do was wait on hold until he set it all up for me. Well guess what, after the 5 minutes which actually turned into about 35 minutes, everything was not taken care of and all I had to do was be forwarded one more time to have it all set up? At no surprise, the ‘Just forward’ turned into another 25 minutes. After finally actually
talking to the lady who could finally create this miracle at at&t, I asked the lady if she could read off the promotional deal just one more time so I could verify that it was correct. Well guess what? It was not the deal I was promised. Actually, it was a digital share plan with a whopping 450 minutes only instead of 1000. It did not include the second line for $9.99, but instead, $19.99. It did not include the friendship minutes and night and weekends were limited to 1000. All this for only an additional $25.00 a month more versus the original plan I was offered with 1000 minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile and nights and weekend included. At this point I realized that I had totally had it with at&t. So I told her that this again was not what I was offered, so she politely offered to forward me to another department to set it up correctly. As she was looking up the number, I told her that I could make it really easy for her and that I knew how to solve it. Then like a dumb ditz, she replies ‘how’? So I told her that I wanted to take these existing 2 lines plus the third line that I had had now for 11 months already and cancel them all. That they could take at&t and shove their service up their you know what. Well not to any surprise, her next words were- – - – “I am sorry but I can not do that, I will have to forward you to a different department that can handle this for you’! This was probably the first time I laughed that day since the nightmare began. I will have to forward you to a different department to cancel????????? Anyway, after being on hold another half an hour, not surprised since I did not expect any speedier service in the cancellation department, I finally was a relieved man and the 2 lines were canceled. I did have to listen to the “No, You don’t want to leave at&t and the good old tower raising speech”, but the abusive nightmare was finally almost over, (I though). Also, unfortunately since the 3rd line still had 22 days left for the 1-year contract to expire, I was not able to discontinue that one without paying a $175.00 early cancellation fee. Even though I offered to pay for the last month without the privileges of using their limited signal phone service, but she said that would not be possible and that I would have to call back on the 30th. of the month. I guess she was hoping I would forget to cancel on the 28th of July at 12:01 A.M., (the first minute that I could finally wash myself from the hell fires of at&t!) and that they could automatically sign me up for another year. You can mark my word; I sat up on the eve of the 27th just so I could finally cancel that line, figuring the trauma would finally be over once and for all.
But like Jason and Freddie, They just keep coming back! Only 5 days later on August 2nd. I receive a bill in the mail. I open it up figuring it must be for that last line I canceled that previous Wednesday, but it ended up being even another big shock. It was the bill for the two gsm services that I use from 2:00 PM on July 1st. through 1:00 PM on July 2nd. when I called to have these 2 lines canceled. Now guess how much it was for? An unbelievable $133.90. Not bad considering that I was promised by both the representatives both on that Friday when I canceled, and also the representative again that following Tuesday when I reconfirmed that these phones were canceled that there would be no charge since these phones came with a 30 day no fault return policy meaning that I would not be charged as long as the phones were returned in good condition within the first 30 days, and especially since I only had these phones for one day, that there would defiantly be NO CHARGE what so ever. I bet you will never guess what I did when I got home from work that night of August 2nd. 2004? That’s right, I sat on the phone with at&t! First for 30 minutes before I was actually talking to a representative, and then for another 15 minutes while I waited to talk to a supervisor since she could not remove those charges, even though she was willing to remove the activation fees. (The activation fees were waved before I even purchased these lines. It was part of the promotion) Then for another 45 minutes after I had a very sweet talk with the supervisor, they were finally removed! At first the supervisor refused to remove the charges, but after a little persuading, he surprisingly changed his mind. Guess it must have been something I said to the supervisor about promising to start a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT if the charges were not dropped that changed his mind! All he had to do now was forwarded me back to a department that WOULD remove the charges which was another 45 minutes and I was finally released from the evil at&t torture chamber. The only thing I wonder now is that even though I was promised that these charges were dropped, I can not wait until next month when I will have to go through all this again because I am sure that somehow these charges will reappear, not to mention that I am sure that the other line that I canceled last week I am sure will haunt me for months to come, maybe even longer because I am sure they will figure out how to send a few more bills for that phone too, even though I have not used it all month already.
So I hope after reading my adventures with at&t, it will help you make up your mind about ever purchasing anything from at&t wireless and I am sure that you really do not want to hear my final decision about their services, but I am sure you can guess it! By the way, what does gsm stand for anyhow? I am sure the ‘G’ stands for ‘Garbage’, but what about the ‘SM’? Or is that a spelling error by at&t and should it instead be ‘BS’ but no one at at&t knows how to change the name in the computer? But out of all actuality, the main reason I wrote this long letter is because first of all, it did not take nearly as long as the time spent on the phone with at&t, but the main reason is that I do not want to see anyone else be taken down like I was!
August 5th, 2004 at 2:08 am
Update:
I called AT&T to issue me a refund…well guess what…it will take 4-6 weeks for a refund because YOU DO REALIZE THAT IT WAS YOUR FAULT THAT YOU PAID TWICE RIGHT!!! THe nerve of that freaking bitch…Sorry!
Lizette
August 16th, 2004 at 8:08 am
can you guys worrie less about cell phones please….stop being ass’s to us btw. It’s not our fault the company screwed you.
August 25th, 2004 at 8:08 am
Don’t use Verizon either, they’re misleading and fradulant. They charge you for airtime when you’re not even connected.