About several months ago I ordered internet service from At&t. I had heard from my friend that At&t had a whole list of problems, one of which was their horrid customer service. Being the trusting person that I am, I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.
The router arrived and I was able to hook everything up, but still no internet connection. So I called tech support and they told me they would send a tech guy over to fix my problem. But I was very wary of the high cost these tech guys charged, so I asked them specifically, "Will I be charged?" The nice phone guy on the other end assured me, "Ma'am, they will inform you beforehand should there be any charges."
Tech guy came over and asked to come in. Doesn't tell me if there is any charges. Fixed my computer by punching in a few buttons, no big deal. Then he writes me a bill for $60. I'm floored. I told him I can't sign this paper since you didn't tell me of the charges beforehand. I get a copy with the signature line filled out with "refusal to sign."
Call up At&t, and very nicely told them my situation. The jerk on the other end had the nerve to ask, "If you took a car to a car mechanic place to be fixed, wouldn't you expect to be charge?" Firstly, that's a stupid comparison. Secondly, a car mech always gives you an estimation (I should know, I have family in auto body). Thirdly, bad business to *lie* to your customer, which the first telephone guy basically did and this guy was just trying to cover his butt.
Anyways, needless to say, this guy *supposedly* puts down a note on my account listing the reasons why I refuse to pay for this service charge.
Next month comes. Bill reads no service charge. I'm happy and naively think the worst is over so I don't bother keeping the copy of the service billing that I refused to sign (I was cleaning up the house). I had good faith in At&t.
The following month I receive the bill with the service charge. Thank you very much At&t for completely ignoring me. I, once again, am forced to call their customer service and repeat my long winded story to another person (keep in mind that I was transfered very often and would have to repeat my case to each and every person I talked to because... Apparently... No one reads the notes in your account). The nice lady sympathize with me and told me that she will transfer this case to labor division for investigation, and, in the meantime, I would not have to pay that $60 dollars. Labor would call me within 3 days regarding the investigation.
Fine.
Next month I get another bill that informs me: You are late on your bill in the amount of $69 dollars. The cherry ontop of the cake? A threatening disconnection notice that tells me if I don't pay they will cut my service and it will cost me at least $100 to reconnect.
This time I get a professional to help me. My good friend Laddi, who has the telephone skills of like God. My voice, being friendly and lenient, gets no where. People transfer me left to right, brushing off the responsibility to the next person. Laddi, however, gets them to see how unfair it is to charge me $69, and they reduce my bill pending the investigation. I thought I won. Couldn't be happier.
I get a letter today, which I will share with you:
Thank you for your recent call regarding charges billed by att. Based on the findings of our investigation, the charges in the amount of $60, billed on your September statement, will remain your responsibility. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to call our office at 18002882020. We value your business and looks forward to serving you again.
I would just like to say that I never got that call from labor division regarding any investigation.in fact, they just concluded the investigation without ever bothering to talk to me at all. Talk about a thorough job.
This is no longer about the money, because I can easily pay that $60 off. This is about the principle.
If At&t bothers to read this, I want to let them know that I will post this story on multiple websites. I have already posted on a few. They can not get away with treating their customer like this, and people are going to know about it.
Thank you and have a nice day.
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