Complaint Review: AT&T Cell Phone - Internet Select State/Province

 February 2013: I contacted AT&T to bundle my home phone and cell phone, not knowing those could not be bundled. The customer service rep sent me a phone that I was unable to unlock. I tried repeatedly, using their online chat and customer service line. The service was down when I tried, so I kept the phone and kept trying to unlock it.

I finally called AT&T and explained my situation. I have an ada-covered auditory disability that makes it difficult for me to understand speech over the phone, but also makes me extremely sensitive to sound. The AT&T advertizing beep that answers each call is painful (dentist drill painful) to me. The musical hold is always too loud and at such a pitch that I go into sensory overload by the time the call is answered. The woman I spoke with said that she would walk me through unlocking the phone, but the service went down halfway through. I was done trying.

March 2013: I managed to contact a very nice person who honestly tried to make things right. He even gave me his full name and employee number, plus the "decision flow" for my case. I carefully packed up the phone per Jorge's instructions and sent it back to AT&T. He said that all the charges would be dropped. This 150.76 adjustment would be credited to my account immediately upon receiving the phone.

April 2013: I received a notice from AT&T that they were going to cut-off my service and send a collection agency after me for unpaid bills. I called in a panic because I never used the service they are charging me for and I always pay my bills. The customer service rep was so rude and condescending when I asked about the credit. He said up on my next credit card statement.

May 2013: There was no credit on my statement.

June: I called again. I got another person who had no interest in the "decision flow" concerning my case. She told me to fax in my credit card statement because their records did not show any charges. I did so.

I called to check on the case and was told it was closed. The "research team" decided to close my case because the phone restocking charges made them owe me nothing.

Each time I contacted AT&T customer servie, they had another excuse for the refund being delayed. At no time during this period did they tell me that I was not getting the refund.

Instead, they put me through 6 months of being strung along. Each time I called was extremely painful with the sounds in my ear and I had to explain to these ill-manner discourteous people over and over again and they each gave me a different line from their scripted responses.

Six months of this and now they tell me the case is closed. When I began crying in frustration, the woman called me irate, (when one is called names, it tends to make us irate) told me there was nothing anyone could do, and in a snotty voice thanked me for calling AT&T and hung up on me.

I know I should just let it go, but I am in the right. I am not asking for anyting that is not rightfully mine. I was told I would be refunded 150.77 and I believed that lie for 6 months. If I'd have known they had no intention of refunding me the money, I'd have kept the phone and given to my kids.

August 2013: All in all, during that six month period, I called or online chatted with about a dozen customer service individuals. Out of that 12, only 2 or 3 were actually civil.  I took names, but some of the people I spoke with had strong accents and spoke so fast and used such jargon, that I could not understand their words.

My conclusion: AT&T steals from their customers and trains their customer service reps to read scripted responses and lie to their customers. AT&T does not confom to the FCC regulations concerning disability access, nor to the Americans Disability Act. I am certain there are other violations concerning how I was treated, but I will let someone else do that documentation for me.