Complaint Review: AT&T Wireless

I don't pretend to think that I am some big-shot they are likely to listen to (in fact, I have plenty of evidence to the contrary), but I am running out of reasons for why any company would do so much that was so wrong to a customer.

My wife and I became AT&T wireless customers in 1995, sharing a single cell phone while struggling to start a family.  When we could afford it, we expanded to three lines.  Throughout, we used the cheap phones that came with the plan, even paying for insurance on them (how insane is that) because the sales rep advised us to report our phone missing whenever we wanted a new one.  We never did this because I don't believe in lying, but eventually we got some second-hand phones that were slightly more up-to-date (and canceled the insurance).

Earlier this year, we decided it was time to upgrade again.  Our previous contract had ended several months ago, and there were clearly better options now.  Looking online, we found what looked like a good fit: 1400 minutes, four phones, $110/month.  The catch?  It was only for new customers.  Being a faithful customer for 10+ years was actually being held against us, as the upgrade prices were all much higher.  Visits to AT&T stores did nothing to improve the situation; if we wanted a new contract, we were going to pay for the phones where others would not.  Remarkable, right?

We also had trouble finding a simple clamshell model with dial-by-touch buttons.  The one that looked like the best match was only available online.  So I called one of the Internet companies (currently being front-ended by New Egg, which is otherwise a great company) and asked to cancel my existing AT&T account and start a new one.  However the rep convinced me that everything would work better if we upgraded two of our lines first, then upgraded the remaining line and added the forth in a second order a week later.  Bizarre, but straight logic clearly has little to do with cell phone sales.

Within hours I received an email telling me there was a problem, and I needed to call to fix it before the order could be processed.  This is a tertiary line, I was told.  I would have to buy the phone outright for $160 more for the line we have had the longest.  I said no: we have three lines, so change the other one.  Fine, no problem, done and done.

The phones arrived a few days later, and my wife hated them.  We went through the list of what was available again, but it was the best we could get in a simple clamshell.  Reluctantly, we decided to keep the phones.

I did two things next: I ordered the upgrade and new line to finish the process, and I reported that the USB cables I had been promised were missing from our first order.

Predictably, we received another email requiring another call: This is a tertiary line, I was told again.  The connection was bad, so I said I would call back.  In the meantime, I received an email regarding my missing cables: they would not send them, and any further discussion had to be held through their web chat client.  Huh?

I opened up a chat session, and they apologized endlessly for my confusion, but absolutely refused to review the audio from my order to determine what I had been told.  Regardless of what I had been promised, they considered the order complete.

What was being delivered was increasingly short of what had been promised, and this was the final straw.  I canceled the orders, returned the phones, and began searching urgently for alternatives with my wife (AT&T had shut off all of our phones at this point, and never re-enabled them).  She found an identical offer from Verizon, and when we went to the mall a very nice man gladly listened to our tale of woe, and set up a new account for us with Verizon: same price, same coverage, better (and yet less expensive) phones.  When he didn't have enough of the phone we wanted, he drove to another store and got us one.

To transfer the one phone number we were interested in keeping (which would also earn us $50 off), I had to get my account number from the nearby AT&T store.  I took my place in line and waited, only to be told that they were really busy and I should come back another time.  I said no, I simply needed my account number because I had been through a week of hell trying to upgrade my account and was no longer going to be an AT&T customer.  The employee dialed a number, handed me the receiver, and walked away.  Quite a contrast from Verizon, yes?

A few days later, I called AT&T to cancel my account, but they refused: I had to contact the vendor -- who it turned out had failed to cancel my upgrade.  Then I had to wait several days before calling back again.  On my next call, I was told to call back again as the cancellation department was unavailable (I later learned this is untrue they could have canceled my lines themselves).  I called back the next day, saying I unconditionally wanted my account canceled.  Suddenly, I was now being offered free phones and free minutes; I refused (I already had a Verizon account, and clearly had no reason to extend this abuse).  I also asked *more than once* if there would be any further charges.  No, I was told, your account is paid a month ahead.  And no, I was told, AT&T will not return the unused portion of your payment.

I actually thought the nightmare of being an AT&T mobile customer was over.

Weeks later, my wife reluctantly showed me a bill from AT&T for $150.  Another call, and more excuses.  First I was told that I still had two lines remaining, and that only a single line had been canceled.  Next up, the cancellation rep started arguing with me right out of the gate, saying we had used over 1000 minutes (which does not appear on the bill) and refused to listen to me or put me in touch with a supervisor until I resorted to only replying to her with the word Manager.

I briefly explained the situation to the manager, and was told how they would gladly not take my money, if only I had canceled sooner.  It did not matter that they had refused to cancel it twice, and then failed to cancel it again: I was to pay them $150 for service for phones that did not work.  When I pointed this out, the manager offered to help me reactivate the phones, even though I had asked several times again to have the lines turned off.  Eventually, I was told that if I wanted they would cancel the lines immediately instead of just flagging them as needing to be canceled.  Wasn't that what I had asked for EVERY TIME?  

I must be incredibly stupid, because I still cannot understand how, if (starting at the end of August but finally succeeding in the beginning of September) I request that my phones be canceled, and my account is paid a month ahead, and I am SPECIFICALLY told I do not owe anything, why is AT&T insisting that I pay them more money?  Is there anyone at AT&T that actually speaks the truth?  I do not believe so, because every time I made a point, the reasons subtly changed -- dates shifted, rules bent.  Anything to ensure I was wrong.

AT&T should be ashamed.  They converted a steady source of income into someone who NEVER wants to see anyone spend another dime with them.  Bland apologies and endless excuses simply don't stand up when they are failing to cancel my account and charging me for it.  

Imagine a place full of people operating a machine that abuses others, always apologizing but never stopping.  All they can offer is a return to the abuse, and they genuinely expect me to get back on the machine, offering me minutes for phones that don't work and trying to enable phones that were already replaced.  How can they even be surprised?

The sad truth is, AT&T doesn't like honest customers who just make and receive calls with simple clamshell phones.  They like people who text, and browse, and blog, and share pictures because they love charging exorbitant amounts for those things.

What they don't love, clearly, is me.  And after weeks<<<<<< months of mistreatment without recourse, I have to say I feel the same towards them.