AT&T Wireless - ongoing problems with billing - need to get problems resolved

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on August 14, 2002:

RE: AT&T Wireless - ongoing problems with billing - need to get problems resolved

August 14, 2002 AT&T Customer Service

ATTN: National Correspondence Team

PO Box 6028

Cerritos, California 90703-6028 To Whom It May Concern, I am writing today out of pure desperation. If I don’t get some kind of help, I plan to fork over the $150 simply to get OUT of this miserable contract with AT&T. Over the past year, I feel that AT&T has consistently taken advantage of me in numerous ways, and I have spent countless hours attempting to reason with someone, anyone, who sees me as a valuable customer instead of simply another bill. Instead of attempting to summarize all of the problems that I have had with AT&T, I have listed below several incidents that I feel best illustrate the service that I have gotten from AT&T. The man that sold me my AT&T phone and contract lied to me. He told me that my plan came with free roaming. After I had accrued an unreasonably large bill, I discovered the charges, and called AT&T Customer Service. After waiting for approximately half an hour to speak with someone, I was told that AT&T could not be held responsible for the man’s untruth.

The customer service representative gave a measly $25 credit, and explained that the business that employed the man who sold me my contract, had closed and AT&T no longer did service with them.

This incident cost me hundreds of dollars, with a mere $25 from AT&T and no apology. A company must be willing to accept responsibility for the representatives who sell its service. Just because the man was not employed by AT&T does not mean that he did not compromise AT&T’s reputation. When I moved to San Francisco, I was told that I could change my plan to increase my minutes, and the plan would pre-date to the beginning of my cycle. The stipulation was that I had to commit to another year of service with AT&T. Against my better judgement, I agreed. A month later I received a bill that did not reflect what I had been promised by both the representative at the store, and the woman from customer service with whom I spoke. If I had known that the new plan would not pre-date to the beginning of my cycle, I would not have agreed to another year with AT&T. In addition to this massive inconvenience, I attempted to login online. The login screen would not allow me to do so because it claimed that my social security was incorrect. At that point, I had been with AT&T for nearly a year, and until then my social security number had been correct. I, of course, had to wait on hold again for nearly half an hour before finally speaking with someone who was completely unhelpful and told me that there was nothing she could do for me. I offered to fax her a copy of my social security card, my license, and my birth certificate. She told me I had to go to an authorized store.

I went to an AT&T authorized distributor the next day. The employees there were very nice, but very unhelpful and I actually wound up sitting on hold at the store. After my social security number problem was resolved, I sat on hold again with another representative in effort to solve the billing problem. I had recorded both the name of the person who sold me my new contract, and the woman with whom I spoke about the contract via customer service– both of whom had told me that my billing cycle would pre-date.

The representative on the phone put me on hold several times. Finally, the manager of the store told me that he would speak to account receivables and call me on the following Monday. I cannot say I was surprised when no call came. Last month alone, I paid nearly $500 to AT&T. I have been a consistent customer for nearly a year. I have probably paid AT&T over a thousand dollars now. Yet, I cannot seem to get in contact with a single person who is helpful, consistent, honest, and competent. Last week I called simply to inquire about the number of minutes that I had already used on my account.

The representative told me that she did not have access to the information. That statement is absolutely ridiculous. Doesn’t that seem awfully coincidental to anyone else?! Is that some sort of ploy to force your customers to use more minutes– and you can, in turn, charge them more money? As I said, I have literally been brought to tears on numerous occasions out of sheer frustration. I cannot tell you how tired I am of dealing with your company, both its "policies," and its customer service. I have sat on hold for countless hours, and I have been to four different AT&T authorized stores. I have been lied to, treated unfairly, over-charged, and taken advantage of.

I have I refuse to out myself through this any more. I am faxing a copy of this to better business bureaus in California and Illinois, and I am filing a formal complaint. I also plan to send this letter to the editors of several local newspapers. I cannot imagine that I am the only person who has been treated this way by AT&T. Perhaps, with the help of others, I can finally be treated with respect and courtesy. I am tired of dealing with AT&T, and I beg that someone who is competent and helpful will get in touch with me to resolve this problem. Respectfully,