On 7/8/17 we went to Encinitas AT&T cellular to sign up for wireless cell phone service as part of our AT&T bundle for internet, cable, & wireless. At that time we purchased a flip phone and case. Upon arriving home my husband tried to use the cell phone for several days, never receiving or making phone calls successfully. We contacted customer care and they advised us to go back to the store. The first time we found that when the sales person activated the phone & put the cover on they never took the plastic off over the speaker, so we left thinking that is why he couldn't hear calls come in or make them. The problem persisted, so back to the store we went after more consultation with Customer Care on the phone. This time we were told that the speaker on the cell phone was blown so we needed a new phone. They had none in stock so they sent us to the Oceanside store where we obtained another one. The problem persisted.
My husband called technical support where he learned that Carlsbad had only one cell phone tower in our area for everyone to use and per tech support it cannot supply service to all of the customers. We then talked with Customer Care and they said they would extend our 14 days return until 8/18/17 under buyer remorse and we were to return the phone. At that time Customer Care reversed our payment to them of $236.35. We went to Verizon and changed over our cell phone service to them so we could have service. Right after that we went to AT&T to return the phone and they said they couldn't help us because we changed over the phones and now they couldn't see the account, plus the store is unable to return the phone, even with buyer remorse. Again we contacted Customer Care and they said after the billing cycle we would see a zero balance. They advised us to return the phone and cover to the store. We gave the phone & cover to the store manager, Skyler Blum (619-208-9801), even though he didn't want to take it because he said that the store had no way to return a phone after 14 days even with buyer remorse.
On Friday we received another bill from AT&T for $236.35. We called Customer Care once again and they said we had to pay for the service we received that billing cycle. We told them we had no service. The next day I called again and Customer Service said that the buyer's remorse did not go through because we didn not return the phone & cover. I told her we did. She instructed us to go back to the store and have the manager put a note in our account that the phone & cover were returned and we would be credited We have had so many conflicting stories from AT&T stores, Customer Care, and technical support. Also we have spent hours upon hours trying to correct this. And lastly to receive a letter from AT&T saying if we don't pay the bill we will be turned into an outside collection agency. We do not have their phone & cover, and received no cellular service during the time we were with AT&T in our house and Carlsbad area. My husband has medical issues and it was a matter of health and safety and AT&T did nothing to resolve it besides passing it off from Customer Service, technical support, and their stores. Please help us. We have invested so much time and have just been run around in circles. Thank you