This is in regard to a wireless account I've had with AT&T Wireless. I've been with this company since 2000 and have only in the past year experienced issues in the billing and customer service departments.
I recently went out of town and before I did, I called AT&T to be sure that I was going to be able to make calls from where I would be and was told by a customer service representative that I would be.
When I returned from my trip to Atlanta from Washington DC, I received a wireless bill for $555.06. I was livid and confused by this. I promptly called customer service to find out what was going on.
I was told that the bill was so high due to roaming and long distance charges. The plan I was on was one that included free long distance and I saw that all the calls I made were mostly made at night which shouldn't be a problem since I have free nights and weekends, too.
That representative told me it was because I wasn't on the AT&T tower, that another network had picked up the calls. I told her that my phone never read "roam" and she said there was nothing she could do.
When I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was told he/she was in a meeting and so I asked if I could have the name, email address, regular address and/or phone number of a corporate representative or someone with authority. She said she couldn't give that information because it's customer services' job to handle these issues.
So I hung up and called back to speak to another representative thinking I would be put through to someone more competent. Naturally, I received the same response. I called and spoke with a couple dozen representatives easily in the next several days and easily used up many hours of my time. Not once had I been given a root to dissolve this dispute and a few times, I was even yelled at and hung up on.
I have asked for a copy of my contract twice now, once through a regular representative and the second time through someone with the correspondence team and almost two months later, have yet to receive it. One person even told me, "you don't have a contract". None of the people I've spoken with have been able to cite in my agreement with AT&T where I am contractually obligated for these charges either.
Then I decided to go through the channels provided to me and I wrote a letter to the correspondence team. I was finally contacted by one of those staff members more than a week later and she told me that she didn't have the authority to do anything and I would have to go through customer service.
When I told her that they had told me to go through her branch of service, she just kept telling me there was nothing she could do. Every time I've asked to speak to a supervisor, they were always mysteriously missing or "in a meeting".
Another note I'd like to make is that most of the reps I talked with were unwilling to give me their name or their employee number until I told them it was against the law for them not to.
My real issue here is that my phone never read roaming. When I was told that the problem was that I wasn't on the at&t network when I made these calls, I asked why my phone read "at&t". Then the response was changed immediately to, "you were outside your calling area." Keep in mind that I had called before I went out of town to be sure that I wouldn't be.
I recently paid this bill as not to ruin credit, and because I was basically lulled into a state of near apathy through all the nonsense and runarounds. When I tried to set up a payment plan with them, I was told I couldn't even do that until my bill was past due. I couldn't afford to have my service interrupted as this is the only phone I use for business purposes and when I told them this, the man replied that I could pay them a little bit every week. This is just completely absurd, unethical, and I think against the law. Surely we have rights as consumers!
Another thing AT&T depends on is not giving people accurate information on how many of their minutes they've used. All other wireless services offer this and it's accurate. I've used their website to manage my account and relied on it to be accurate reports of how many minutes I've used.
When I received bills that stated I had gone over on my minutes the customer service department responded with, "it's not our fault, if another wireless tower picks up your calls, they're not obligated to give that information right away." Both those times, I've not been credited or given any real explanation as to why they're unable to provide a service that everyone else does.
Consumers Unite! Join the consumer advocacy group begun by a couple of the users on this website and be heard.
Iman
Falls Church, Virginia
U.S.A.
0 comments