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AT&T Wireless (formerly Cingular) Fraud New York, New York
I am writing this out of extreme frustration with AT&T Wireless. I have owned a small business in California for 16 years and have had this same phone number through all of their corporate changes the entire time (to Cingular, back to AT&T, etc). I am the sole business owner.
I admit that I haven't had any problems with this account or with AT&T up until now. Approximately November of 2009 I received my usual email to pay my bill online and I logged in to pay it. My password wouldn't work. I phoned AT&T to clear this up and they refused to give me any information saying that I needed to contact my company Administrator. Growing more frustrated I kept stating that I was the only person on the account and they stated that no, they had a different name listed but they refused to give me the name. They said I was only an authorized user. Well, about ten phone calls, which included AT&T reps hanging up on me, AT&T reps leaving me on hold forever, AT&T reps promising to call me back and then never returning my calls, it became clear that an AT&T employee, by the name of S. Zomorrodi had put his or her name down as the owner of my account. The account rep stated it, was "no big deal" and just a mix up and that he would put it through to be fixed. Well, fast forward to almost April of 2010. It has NOT been fixed. I still cannot access my account yet I am expected to pay for it. I feel like I have been beating my head against a brick wall of sheer and utter incompetency.
They seem completely incapable of being able to merely look at my account and determine that I did not, as the ONLY authorized person on the account WITH A PASSCODE did NOT authorize this. So far I have five months of billing that I have paid and I have NO BILLING STATEMENT for them as I had signed up for paperless billing and was accustomed to downloading them. I can't change to regular paper billing because I'm not authorized. For my own company.
I have called AT&T every single month and have gone through the same circus act of being on hold, being told it was being "researched", being promised a phone call back, being assured it would be resolved and, oh, I need to pay my bill in the meantime or my phone will be shut off.
Is there anything else I can do?? I'm going to go into the physical store and see if any real life people can help me but I was told on the phone not to bother doing that, that they would just call the same phone numbers I've been calling.
I can't believe I am this TRAPPED. I NEED my cell phone and current phone number to remain as is for now as I have over 200 business contacts in my contact list. Due to the nature of my business I can't just arbitrarily switch providers and thus numbers. I would love to though! I would love to tell them where to stick it and have them forward all future bills to this "AT&T employee"'s house. I investigated this person's identity and I have their home address and phone but so far when I call their home phone it just rings. I may go to a private investigator to see if I can get more information on this person and demand they fix their mistake. Maybe contacting them in their off hours will shock them enough into taking action.
THIS IS INSANE.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Robin
Santa Rosa,California,
USA
Problem finally corrected.
#6Author of original report
Sun, October 17, 2010
I wanted to come back and update and say that AT&T finally did correct my account about two months after my last update. It was all thanks to the ONE customer service representative that actually seemed to care named Missy and I'm not sure what her last name is.
The AT&T employee who put himself down as the account administrator said he had no idea how that happened and finally confirmed that he had no affiliation with my company.
Missy, to her credit, immediately reinstated myself as the only authorized owner, re-sent me passwords and access to all of my accounts. In all fairness to AT&T there were no hinky charges or usage during the time I was blind to my billing statements, so at very least my account wasn't being used for nefarious purposes.
I'm grateful to Missy for finally clearing it up, but once my contract has expired I am so done with AT&T forever. I will never do business with this company ever again. This should have been such a simple thing, the employee should have been fired and/or brought up on fraud charges but, as it turns out nothing happened, he played innocent...I'm not sure how that is possibly a valid defense, but if AT&T wants to employ unscrupulous employees, I guess that's their business.
So thank you to Missy, whomever you are for actually having a heart and doing your job.
As for AT&T, screw you.
Robin
Santa Rosa,California,
USA
Back to the original deduction. *sigh*
#6Author of original report
Fri, May 14, 2010
To Missy's credit, she actually called me back, which puts her miles ahead of all the rest of the drones. but Missy was a supervisor, maybe that's the difference.
Robin
Santa Rosa,California,
USA
Shocking. Still not resolved as of 5/14/2010.
#6Author of original report
Fri, May 14, 2010
I just called AT&T to make a change to my account and perhaps get online access so that I could at least pay my bill.
Robin
Santa Rosa,California,
USA
Thanks for the reminder...
#6Author of original report
Wed, April 07, 2010
Of why this is one of the most maddening companies to deal with on the planet.
This e-mail is a follow-up to our previous conversation on 3/24/2010 to ensure your needs were serviced correctly.
On 3/24/2010, Useless Drone* processed the following changes to your account:
1. Account Status Changes
Thank You and Have a Great Day.
Please allow 1-2 bill cycles for this transaction to reflect on your next bill and account summary. If you have further questions about your AT&T business needs, please refer to http://www.att.com/business or by calling us at (800) 331-0500.
Sincerely,
Useless Drone
Business Markets Group (BMG) Customer Services
(800) 331-0500"
Customer_Rep_27
United States of AmericaYou need to go to the store.
#6UPDATE Employee
Wed, April 07, 2010
I understand you are probably very frustrated right now and may feel trapped, I would too, however you need to look at this from the rep's position as well. I work from AT&T will tell you that if you were only listed as an authorized user on the account, and didn't know the passcode, I wouldn't give you access either. If it hadn't been you that had called, someone else, and were alllowed complete access to YOUR account, you probably would not be very happy. Those policies are put in place for your security, to limit unauthorized access to the account. I can't speak for the other reps you say hung up on you, however I can tell you why you were not given a callback-you couldn'y verify the account, if the caller does not verify, than for security purposes we can't call you back. Remember when you call customer service you are on the phone, the reps can't see you, have no idea what you look like. At this point your best bet would be to go to an AT&T corporate store, not a retailer, an actual corporate AT&T store, take your driver's license or other form of government ID with you, along with some sort of official form, tax documentation, bills, something to prove that you do own that company, and if you do have an old AT&T paper bill or something that includes your name and account number, take that too.
As far as this other employee whom you've stated put his own name on the account, I don't know how that could have happened, and if it has been proven that he did so, is probably no longer with the company. However, calling him at home, going to his house, making demands in person, that will do you no good, but may get you in trouble for harrassment. Calling him on his "off hours", making threats that you have his address, that can all be seen as harrassment or even stalking and the only thing you will get then is a possible prison sentence.
I know you're frustrated and want this fixed, but take my advice, go to the corporate store and let them handle, they can physically see you and any documentation you bring, whereas the call center reps cannot. Leave the other employee whom you say did this alone, if it is proven then there are other legal ways of handling it, and may have already been when his supervisors found out what he had done.
I hope this all works out for you, just be patient and remember, don't blame the other reps you spoke to after the fact, it was not their fault that this had happened.