Beware! Despite their national advertising including TV and print media, there is no adequate Alltel service in the Metro-Atlanta area. Some phones will not connect without roaming fees. Unless they are physically adjusted by an Alltel technician at an Alltel store, which there are none in the Atlanta area!
We purchased our alltel phone service in Beaufort, SC and were with them for over a year. We were aware that we would eventually be moving into the Atlanta area and specifically asked if they had service and stores there before we signed our contract. We were assured there was adequate service both by the salesperson and their publications.
When moving into the Atlanta area, we immediately had difficulty with our service. The transfer into the billing area was botched when two of three phones were transfereed but the third was not, generating two seperate bills for the same plan, essentially double billing us. We eventually got the last phone transferred to the area, but were never properly reimbursed the overcharges. Then we had very poor connection, only 1 in 4 calls actually connected to a tower. The worst part happened with our second month bill and we were charged over $700 in roaming fees. This happened with a more expensive "no roaming" plan, guaranteed to be covered nationally in the areas outlined by their brochures (the entire metro-Atlanta area is included in plan).
We found out that because they did not actually have Alltel towers in the Atlanta area, our calls were being processed through partners such as Verizon. Unfortunately, the towers our phones connected to was not guaranteed. If for some reason an outside tower accepted our call, we would be charged roaming. There was no way to tell via the actual cell phone if this was the case, as all calls were labeled as roaming in the Atlanta area by the phone used. The remedy for this was to update what is called a preferred roaming list (PRL) within the phone's software. This is done normally by calling a number, entering a code and the list on the phone that prevents your phone from calling the wrong towers is then updated. Sounds easy. But if you live in the Atlanta area, guess what, you cannot update this list because it must be done by an Alltel tower (which there are none of here). I called technical support and they confirmed this on several occassions, indicating that it had been a problem for some time. I was then told that I had to take the phone to an Alltel store and they would do it manually. And, guess again, there are no Alltel stores in Atlanta as there are no towers. I'd have to drive over two hours round trip to have this done.
With this huge obstical and the overall dreadful reception resulting in not having any Alltell towers in the area, upon the suggestion of the technical support dept., I then attempted to cancel my service. To do this, I was told that the technical department would have to fill out a report on the lack of service. They did, confirming that there was no adequate service for the operations required and then tech support directly connected me to the department handling the disconnection process.
I was promptly refussed a disconnect without paying a total of $200 per line ($600). I told them that that with no service, there was no contract. They finally told me that I could mail all my phones in for repair and I would get them back within 4 to 6 weeks, and there was no guarantee that they could be fixed. These are my only phones, I have no land lines, I cannot afford land and cell and I chose a cell because I am disabled by a brittle bone disease and desperately need portable communication. Explaining this, I said that their remedy was not acceptable, especially since they guaranteed their service in order to get me to sign their contract. I had been with them for 3/4s of the two year term and then I suggested that I pay 1/4 of the fees. That was not acceptable to them. I then offered to pay the difference for the phones we purchased, that was also not acceptable. I did everything I could to provide an equitable solution for both parties and all I got was an exptremely rude and condiscending individual that told me that there was no other option despite the lack of service.
To sum it up, I insisted that they cancel the service as it was no good to me if I had to have hundreds in roaming fees adjusted every month, in addition to not being able to make a call without dialing repeatedly, only to loose the call within seconds. To this day, after 12 phone calls to various levels of customer service, they have yet to disconnect the service and have since billed me another month even though no calls were made for over two months (our phones were put away after removing the batteries to insure no calls were accidentally made).
So despite overpaying my bills and having no service, my only option is to sue in small claims for the lack of service and fraudulent billing.
E.
Duluth, Georgia
U.S.A.
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