AT&T Complaint

Dear AT&T,

I am not paying this bill. Basically what this boils down to is a customer

service issue, but the details are below:

The trouble began when I first signed up for the service. Due to the 4 hou=

r

window that the servicemen are allowed to show up in, I had to take a day

off work to be home. Except that the guy never showed up. When I called to

complain, they said they had lost any record of me calling to make an

appointment for installation. As if I would make that up and inconvenience

myself like that.

So I had to re-schedule the appointment and take ANOTHER day off work.

Installation man was late. And on top of that was there for SIX HOURS. It's

finally installed, my roommates and I thoroughly enjoy the service, etc.

We had signed up for a 3 month special and 3 days before the 3 months were

to end I called to bump the service down to the lowest price program. Also,

I was moving shortly thereafter so decided that I would have the service

switched over to my roommate. Apparently it is your policy to not allow me

to transfer the policy to my roommate. No, I had to cancel my policy and my

roommate had to call and schedule new service. Nice customer retention

policy there=85On top of THAT, I had to MAIL BACK the U-Verse equipment and

someone had to come out and re-install NEW U-Verse equipment under my

roommate's name. If this isn't the MOST ridiculous thing I have EVER heard

of. Why not save everyone (including yourselves) time and money by just

allowing me to transfer the service to my roommate?! So we did what anyone

else would do at this point: formed an intense hatred for all things AT&T

and vowed NEVER to sign up with them again. Oh, and we also told all of our

friends (and I am very close to starting a blog about this all=85). Thank

goodness we were able to get Comcast service=85

But the trouble doesn't stop there=85No, it gets worse.

My roommates sign up with Comcast and I call to cancel the AT&T service an=

d

they tell me that boxes will be sent out shortly for me to mail back the

oh-so-special U-Verse equipment. Ok, no big deal. Two weeks go by without

any sight of the boxes. So I call again. The person mentions that there is

no record of me asking the boxes to be sent out. One would think this would

be automated, no? Customer X cancels U-Verse service =3D empty boxes get se=

nt

out. So I request boxes to be sent.

And I wait.

And I move to another city.

Old roommate complains that the boxes still haven't been sent.

So I call AGAIN. And I get transferred to 5 different people. And I tell m=

y

story all over again. And this person assures me that the boxes will be sen=

t

out.

And I wait.

And the boxes don't show up.

So I call AGAIN. I waste another 30 minutes of being put on hold, being

transferred, and finally someone comes on the line and says that she doesn'=

t

know what happened. That someone made a mistake. Great. Fix it. Don't let i=

t

happen again. That is customer service. She assures me boxes will be sent

out.

And I wait.

And the boxes still haven't been sent out. TWO full months have passed by

at this point. I (and my old roommates) are on the verge of selling the

oh-so-precious equipment on eBay or tossing it in the garbage.

Today was the last straw=85I call again. Am only transferred once this tim=

e

(yay!) and the gentlemen says they were sent out on 9/17 and to allow ten

business days. Well, ok, fine. Further into the discussion, he tells me tha=

t

it was addressed to me and that they got the street spelled wrong. Two

problems with this: I explained in my previous attempts to please address

the boxes to my roommate who currently lives there as I don't and if you

address it to me, it will be forwarded to my new apartment in San Francisco=

.

The second issue is that how on earth do you spell the name wrong (Saint

Rose vs. Santa Rosa) when that should be the ONLY address on file and that'=

s

where you sent all the bills?! So apparently the boxes are being forwarded

to my new San Francisco address. The gentlemen doesn't understand the issue

in this, and I explain that I am NOT driving to Oakland to drop off EMPTY

boxes when this is their problem. He tells me that they can not address the

boxes to anyone else but the account holder. I reiterate that they can not

address it with my name as it will get forwarded to my new address (why is

this so difficult to understand?!) so they need to send someone to come pic=

k

up the equipment or we are trashing it. After a long conversation with his

manager, he explains that he can put in the notes to address it to my old

roommate, but as he is not the person that sends out the boxes, it may not

happen.

Great.

After that issue is (hopefully) resolved, I explain I want to talk to the

billing department as I am not paying my last bill because I have been

dealing with the box issue for the last two months and believe that I am at

least owed a waive of the bill. So I get transferred to someone and while h=

e

is looking at my account (and I had just looked at the clock and realized

I'd been on the phone for 30 minutes) I get disconnected.

And so you get this letter.

This has been the WORST customer service experience of my entire life. And

I am a patient, kind person who has worked in customer service for many

years. But this is inexcusable. I will never sign up for AT&T, even if AT&T

is the only service offered in my area. I would rather go without TV and

internet service than to go sign up with you again. I honestly don't know

how you run a nation-wide company with this sort of customer service.

Please make sure the following things get resolved:

-

Clear any balance on my account;

-

Ensure that the boxes get sent to (erased to ensure privacy);

-

Reevaluate your customer service policies;

-

Have upper management contact me to discuss the problem and how to

resolve it.

-

Sincerely,

Kim L******

415-***-****

Comment On This

Well, it seems as if the rude and confused are not just limited to the At&t phone personnel. I have had many problems with my DSL and it is always fun to get ahold of someone from another country who can't speak english but today I vowed not to use At&t either.

A few weeks ago the city put in a new sewer line in my yard. Shortly after a phone wire was placed across my driveway and my yard making it impossible to mow. The neighbor said it was a temporary line. Fine, I can live with that. Well after a month of trying to mow around this cord, I saw a repair man next door in the empty lot working on one of their boxes. I quickly got out of my car and asked the man when they would move the line. The rude butt man said he didn't know anything about it. I explained the situation and said it was there line and I wanted it moved. Again, he said he didn't know anything about it and said it was probably a temporary line. Fine, I said. How long is temporary and when will it be burried? That is when rude At&t repair man J.D.had the nerve to yell and me and say he didn't know anything about it again and asked me what I wanted him to do. His attitude really ticked me off since I am the property owner and just want to be able to mow. That is when I asked for his name. J.D. RUDE ASS.

So, I come in and call the phone company, got spanish the first time. I still don't understand that one. I live in the U.S. and speak ENGLISH. Anywho, I finally get transfered around a couple of times and get told that someone will come do something with the phone line lying on the ground. I ask the little man on the phone if I can have the number to the complaint department. He gives me the number 800-422-0499. Happily I call and am prepaired to complain. To my surprise I get a voice recording (wow, what a surprise) that tells me I can't call that number from my area code. Then I get online to find a real number to the complaint department and low and behold I can't find one.

But I did find this sight and I hope more and more people get cell phones and let all of those rude butted people with At&t loose their jobs.

TC in Arkansas