Complaint Review: AT&T

On or about Oct. 20th. I called a customer representative to inquire into potentially changing my internet carrier, from Time Warner cable to AT&T.  Iasked about pricing and speed of service, both of which the customer service representative didn't know the answers to based on where I live, (his words).  He said that he will have to get back to me with an informed price and speed via a process request and needed a bit of information.  He took down my cell phone, my address, and email, my birthday, and then to my surprise asked for my SSN.  

I objected to this as I do not give my SSN to anyone.  He assured me that it will be safe, and that it is needed to complete the price check and speed processing request.  - I reluctantly gave it to him, and to my worse fears he misused that information to open a bogus account and bill me a month later with a $80.00 bill that I ...1. Never agreed to, 2. Never was ever infomed of a price I was going to pay nor a speed of internet service, and 3. No service was ever provided.  I called, left emails, spoke for hours with dozens of different representatives, handed off like a football from one customer support person to the next.  Sometimes I was on hold for nearly 2 hours, waiting for help.  

I was purposely put on hold for an hour or more when a customer sales rep found me to be irritating to them, or when I wished to speak to a manager.  After hours and hours on the phone with different customer representatives, I was finally able to reach a woman named Martha who assisted me to get this bogus bill taken off my account.  In all of this I was treated as a someone who was a trouble maker, I was argued to by customer support people like a woman named Andrea who even raised her voice to me over this issue.  Saying I quote..." If you didn't want to get charged you shouldn't have given them your SSN" . 

Since this incident that took days way from my work, hours on a phone line on hld waiting to speak with someone, Anyone!, who would be willing to assist me, and emails to the company, driving into an AT&T store to beg for help, and through my own investigation into this company. I was able to get information as to the CEO, and business address.  I filed a claim with the FTC, and the BBB a few weeks ago.  I sent a letter to the CEO a Mr. R. Stephenson explaining this type of ambush selling and that it is not only a bad business tactic of ambushing innocent people and creating phony accounts, but a potential crime to steal a persons SSN and create phony accounts.  

Stay very clear of this company, especially when they defend such tactics, such as what I wrote above, or if you don't prepare to get a bill for $80.00 or so, in a month for something you will have to figure out, take days out of your life to sort out and correct.  Shame on AT&T and their ambush business policy. 

BTW, no one called me back to discuss this flagrant disregard to professionalism, and abuse of power of a citizen for such an offense to my very being.  

Beware of wolves in sheeps clothings,