AT&T Wireless Consumer Reviews - Page 6
I have been with AT&T wireless since before the buy out by Cingular. I would like to make it clear that I was the second wave of customers to join, the first being the one on the analog system. I started and am currently on a GSM plan. I pay less than customers joining today because I have nights free after 7pm with no extra charge and my overall fee is lower (a plan based on 1200 minutes, they only offer 1400 now).
So to get to the point, my service is slowly deteriorating every day, one with the customer service people and secondly the actual signal of the phone. Some may say why is your signal going down, well the reason is I am on the old computer/sim chip system and they separate me from the new customer computer system, so when I send a message my message is sent through an old computer base (slower) rather than the new ones. Meaning I receive my messages up to 5 hours later sometimes.
I know this is different than other people on AT&T because I was sitting next to a person with the new plan and we used a third phone to send messages. He got his right a way, I got mine an hour later... Anyway back to the signal problem. The towers are being upgraded only to the new sim chips (I have an old one). Meaning my phone is getting less service... This is my theory and I have gotten the same impression from many mobile stores that I talked to.
So you ask why don't they give me a new chip that will work, I am AT&T customer, I am entitled to their services that even they claim are better than the one I have now. Well they won't cause my plan is not in the new computer base and they refuse to put me in the new computer base at my paying price, instead they want me to switch and pay more $$. Every time I call them they tell me the new rates and talk about how it is financially better for me to switch, usually I ignore it and tell them (for my 26th time yesterday) to reset my messages cause the buildup in their old system.
However on occasion I listen hoping they could tell me I could save money. After 30 minutes of worthless chatter we arrive at the same conclusion, switching makes no financial sense. So they refuse to give me the quality service they give their new customers who sign with them today and continue to hurt the ones that have been with them for over 6 years!! AT&T claims to rebuild themselves. Well they have changed for the worst destroying not only their name and morality but setting a standard that it is OK for American corporations not give a ** about their loyal customers.
In Europe my dad has been with a cell phone company that has switched ownership 7 times. He has constantly been called and thanked for staying with them and continues to save money every year getting free phones and bonus packages as he shows loyalty.
The biggest thing that upsets me the most is when I walk into an AT&T store they cannot help me because I am not in their "new" computer system. Instead I must only get help from faceless phone support. And if I wanted to get a new phone... Well AT&T won't sell me one that will work unless I switch. I would love to hear what anyone has to think about this.
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SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS -- I have been a customer of Sprint for as long as I can remember. However, I travel abroad often and the GSM technology most convenient for my purpose is not offered through Sprint, therefore I switched companies to the "New AT&T" that's when my cell phone nightmare began. I shopped around on the internet and found the phone that best suited my and my family needs. Instead of accepting the discounted offers offered over the internet, I called the AT&T customer sales department.
The sales representative was very friendly and seemed at the time very knowledgeable of the products and services I was requesting. We talked a little more than 2.5 hours. We discussed the plans and options that were better suited for me; one of which was a data plan. He explained that because I was purchasing 2 PDA phones (one for me and one for my wife) that a data plan was a requirement. The data plans were 29.95 per phone per month which I accepted as it was “a requirement”, but had he not told me, I'd have purchased one just the same because that was the purpose of the phone.
I'll take this opportunity to say that I also purchased my daughter a phone (rzar). She knows not to go on the internet, but I know how she likes to text message, therefore I purchased the unlimited text message plan for her (same as I had with Sprint). Better yet I purchased the unlimited family text message plan which I later found out is not necessary if you purchase the unlimited data plan which I did for the PDAs. I also purchased the 1400 minutes not that we ever use that many, but as a precautionary measure. I purchased the nights and weekend package to start at 7:00 pm for an extra fee, I think around $10.00.
There's no way to make this long story short; dreams are short; nightmares last forever. Upon receiving my phone I called the number in order to activate the phone as instructed by the sales person and as included in the instructions received and started using my phone. About two weeks into the service my wife decided that the phone was too bulky and complicated for her and thought that she'd return it before the 30 trial period expired. We called customer service and they told us that we could take it in to a corporate store and they gave us three convenient locations.
About a week later we took the phone in and they gladly exchanged it. During the exchange the sales person asked if we wanted any options on our phones re, data plan, nights & weekends, text messaging, etc. I told them that we'd just keep the options we had and at a later date we would change it if we needed additional or less services. He then told me that we had NOTHING on our plan just the 1400 minutes. I asked him about the current charges but he told me that there was nothing he could do but he could add options at that time and we could call customer service once the bill arrived to make the necessary adjustments.
Had I known at that time what customer service's response and reaction was going to be I'd have returned all the phones right then and there as the 30 day trial had not expired. But a week later I received a bill a whopping $957.00. OK no problem; because I know there's a mistake so I called customer service as instructed and I seem to have gone through the same routine that all the other complaints have voiced. I was bounced around from one customer service rep (CSR) to another. Two CSRs had no idea that a data plan was a requirement when purchasing a PDA and told me that it must have been a promotion or some sort.
I requested to speak to a supervisor but during my 2.5 hour hold/conversation time I had my wife get the local AT&T store on the land line. They told me they too require a 3 month activation of a data plan upon the purchase of a PDA. Only now does the supervisor conveniently remember the policy. OK, but now she insults me by saying that she can “give me a $200.00 credit.” Like I'd rather pay a $700.00 phone bill.
Secondly, I don't want her to give me anything. What I want is to be accurately charged from day 1 of with the services and options that I requested. It's only obvious that if the first phone salesman failed to apply the required data plan then he more than likely forgot to add the rest of the options that were requested upon purchase. After a long drawn out discussion the supervisor has one other option and that is to file a case. But in order to do that she would have to remove the credit “She so graciously gave me."
So I'm on hold for another hour from this point as she sums up her account of what's happened to me ummm. She returns to the phone gives me the case number and notifies me that someone would be calling me within some specified time period, but at this time I'm really not hearing what she has to say. The very next day (while I'm at work) I receive a call from someone that wants to give me a $416.00 dollar credit.
Again, I had to explain to him that's not what I'm looking for. I want to be charged according to what I've used and in accordance to the options I've purchased. He then got very argumentative and if I weren't at work I'd probably have argued back, but instead I told him I was not going to pay as a result of AT&T's incompetent and under trained staff. He further stated what proof I had that I ordered any options.
Well let me see; is it a requirement that the data plan be applied to the account upon the purchase of a PDA? Was it there? Now what proof do you have that I didn't? I further want to say that AT&T if this is one of your ploys to detain customers; it's not working. Why be so greedy up front? I was hoping we'd have long-lasting relationship. And don't you know I was even thinking about dropping Time Warner (stupid me)?
For one, I don't have the means to pay this amount and wouldn't pay it if I did. If anyone wants to contact me or has a similar story my number is ** that is until “The New AT&T” cuts me off for not paying this outrageous bill. If they do cut me off you can reach me a **. SPRINT, I sincerely apologize, but I have a feeling I'll be back soon.
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By rbrown5518 - HOUSTON, TEXAS -- I wish to complain about the level of service at AT&T. It's bad. My Blackberry 9900 (BB) was purchased in February 2013, so it's currently under the one year warranty. October 19th I went to an AT&T store in Napa, CA to replace my malfunction BB, and was told to go to Device Support Center and they would be happy to help.
On Sunday October 20th I went to the AT&T DSC store San Francisco, and was treated with what I can only call disdain. I was given a battery to for malfunction BB and later sent a refurbished BB that is not working. I took the first BB to the Market Street store on October 26th and informed the management a staff that the unit is NOT updating with my emails, calendar, etc., not syncing, and the apps are no longer being supported by BB for many key functions. It was stated over and over again the same mantra about replacing my unit with the same unit Ad Nauseam! This Market Street crowd would not even mail the refurbished phone back.
At the same time this is happening I'm trying to remove myself from the family plan to my own plan and using my company discount. I was told to call an 800 331 0500 number to accept the transfer on Saturday and was shifted to an endless prompt to push a series of numbers which lead to nowhere special. I pushed 0 and was told that 800 number only work on the weekdays, which is not true, because it was not the right number.
After many agonizing calls and hours dealing with AT&T's trained staff (NOT) I got my number migrated to my number but I could NOT use my company discount which make little since to my brain. While on the phone to your equipment specialist I begged and groveled for a different phone. Your specialist repeated ad nauseam the same policy dogma.
After I repeated for the 8-10 time that this BB is not function with my work email, calendar, and apps just are not keeping up. But the worst part was my hour plus conversation with a (manager) in the South Florida area somewhere who said many things but none were helpful at all. The Manager would not allow me to talk to anyone above her in fact she said there was no one above her to handle my issues. She would not offer any workable solutions beyond I should go out and buy a phone and figure out how to get the SIM card to work.
Although there were a lot of other things that I could not possibly put on this one-page note, I really want one source to deal with AT&T to handle my Mobil phone issues. NOT ten people for ten issues. I would like a different phone as a replacement. I would like my phone migrated without starting a new 2-year plan, I would like to use my company discount, and not pay a transfer fee. I would not like to be treated like an idiot by your staff.
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By lunaplia - SEATTE, WASHINGTON -- This company is really, really stupid at all. First they make promises that they don't keep. Secondly and most annoying thing is that, some associates, especially the one on the phone does so many things that makes you happy just for the sake of making you happy. Then you think everything is fine and you will call some other time for some reason and the associate this time tells you that they can't do what the other associate did for you last time and he has no clue at all.
Then you ask how their service varies from associate to associate? Remember this is not customer service, this is a technical specification policy that the company agreed with its customers' to offer. So then we went to this store. 600 Pine St. Seattle WA 98101.
Really the guy doesn't have a clue at all. I was short with words explaining how the system is set up. He was so surprised about it and didn't believe that the company he is working at provides that, so we call the 611 from the store.
Just like other days, luckily, we met an associate on phone looked up my account and told me she will ship me a new device. Then she knew that I was in the store and she asked me, why they didn't offer it to me in the first place, so she asked me to speak to the associate and I handed the phone to him. As she was explaining to him what to do step by step, his answer was, "Yeah... okay okay okay okay...." So after this I was expecting that I will get help, then he hung up the phone and say he is confused and called his manager.
His manager is a female which has really like him, I recommended for them if they really work in retail, they can work in a mattress store. So since they are all confused and didn't know what to do, they want me to call the 611 customer care again.
I spent 20 minutes with him in my first lecture + 45 minute on phone + 15 minute with the manager. I left with anger, and was told to cancel my plan and get another phone, went back in and call the manager and told I'm going to cancel the phone and she didn't even try to work through again, but told me she is not the one who can cancel my phone and called one an associate.
I told them this is not the service I expect from them after being with them for 4 years. And they don't care at all, so I left the store since I am not able to control my anger with their attitude. Like I told them they all fa... and was told not to come to their store. Funny.
Then we went with one of the customers who saw all things about what happened to me, and went to broad way store. The store was EMPTY. I knew, ONLY PEOPLE WHO MAKE A MISTAKE AND DON' T LISTEN TO OTHERS go to AT&T. A Chinese associate was way welcoming dude and went on private chat and told us we were the first customer after 4 hrs of opening and noticed 4 guys who work there are standing far from the door and were taking about football loud enough.
If you read this far, I will give my own review, run, find other alternative, there are so many choices that you get from other providers. Think again before you stuck in a 2 year plan and upgrade when you are told to upgrade and not device maintenance unless you purchase the insurance. This is world where you can get the best, think wisely don't be cheated and stuck in a contract dead end.
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By bigz2 - COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA -- I've been with AT&T for 6 years now. It all started when I got sick and tired of paying BellSouth $30 for dial up access through AOL. When I moved to a new house I accidentally dropped my desktop computer's CPU and broke beyond repair. I already thought about high speed internet before, but my old computer couldn't handle it so when I got my new one I did decide to look into it. AT&T seem like the best price for the best speed, so that's when I signed up and the nightmare begins.
First they tell me I would qualify for free equipment and installation $150.00 value, I got charged $50 for the installation and $100 for the equipment, and something else the representative told me over the phone that there would be no deposit but there was. I had to run go to an AT&T store and pay a deposit in person. After calling and complaining I got the installation charge waived, especially since I installed it myself, but I couldn't get my money back for the equipment because I didn't qualify that was a lie.
They took my hundred dollar deposit and told me after 12 months I would get 10 dollars of it back each month as a credit on my bill and it would happen automatically, well safe to say I don't have them anymore and they stole my hundred dollar deposit. After going through all that sign up nightmare everything was fine for two years I lived in that house.
The second house and moved into my service transfer went a little bumpy. They cut my internet off two days before I told them I wanted to cut off and transferred to the new house. Other than that it was okay, it still got transferred. When I successfully moved into my second house that's when the real nightmare begin. The house I moved in was so old the wiring in it wouldn't support any internet service. I found that out when my DSL box kept giving me an unable to connect message.
AT&T said they had an appointment that Friday to come hook up my internet service. I didn't have to work that day and I spent the entire day home. No one came out at my house but they said that my service was hooked up and working. I rescheduled another appointment for that Wednesday. A service technician came out to my house, looked around a little bit and said that he had an emergency down the road and will be back in 15 minutes.
Well apparently my entire house phone line had to be rewired to support DSL service from AT&T, and all I need it was new line and jack just for the internet modem in the dining room. The whole house didn't have to be rewired and apparently he was just too lazy to do it.
2 hours after he left I called AT&T. He said that he successfully hooked up the service and the appointment was over. I told them that there is an emergency down the road and he left and never came back, and they tell me that there was no emergency. After getting another service appointment later on that day someone did stop by. It took about 45 minutes to get my service up and running. The new technician told me that the other technician must have been too lazy to do anything, all he had to do was install the phone box and run some new line which only took 45 minutes. When he left my service was working.
Two weeks later my service started going out 5 times a day for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, and when it was working it was about as fast as dial up and I had upgraded to the six megabit plan when I moved into the new house. After restarting on my computers, equipment, my phone and the router itself the problem still persists. I called AT&T. They said that they were working on some lines and said everything should be back to normal by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but the problem still persisted even after 7 full days.
Calling AT&T again and setting up another service appointment. Someone showed up, worked for about 15 minutes, and my service was work again perfectly. Now it's the day before Christmas eve and I have a lot friends and family coming over to my house to celebrate Christmas with me even though I live by myself.
I used my internet to Skype and look up some recipes about 7:30 a.m. that morning. I went out to buy the Christmas dinner at my local grocery store, and came back to Skype with some more friends and family, but found out my internet wasn't working at all. I started cooking dinner and waited about 2 hours after 11 p.m. when it stopped working. When it still continued to not work I called AT&T and they told me that my service has been cancelled. I was confused, I never called and asked for it to be turned off.
Then that's when they tell me. Some woman by the name of the ** called and cancelled my account. I asked a woman if it could be restored. She said "Yes but not until next year." I asked "Why?" She told me I would have to upgrade to the new U-verse service which was in my neighborhood now. Because they're not signing up anymore basic DSL members only U-verse members now. I asked "Why would I have to wait?" The woman told me that someone would have to install the service by installing new lines and I would have to wait for the equipment. I told her "No I don't want it," and then I hung up on her.
AT&T have been harassing me ever since I moved into that house about getting Uverse service, none of the other neighborhoods I've ever lived in had it and today they still don't have it. I've heard plenty of reviews that the new Uverse service sucks, and even some of my neighbors who were forced to get it switched companies all together and that's all it is.
AT&T deliberately cut my basic service off and forced me to sign up with U-verse, and on top of it they demanded a credit card which I don't have. Only a debit card. They refused to take that, so I refused the new service and got a new company.
AT&T is just a selfish and greedy company. They're so badly corrupted, lying, cheating, and stealing from their customers. I just don't see how they stay afloat today. Today I still get charges saying I signed up for U-verse and even had equipment show up at my door. But I never opened it.
AT&T keep sending me bills for $400 and U-verse charges installation equipment and two months worth of service. They attempted to put that on my credit but I had that stopped immediately, but to this day they still say I owe them $400 and will make me pay that if I attempt to get any service even cell phone service in my name from them. Yep everyone says AT&T is a total nightmare and I completely believe it.
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By lainblade - CALIFORNIA -- I decided to order Uverse on my land line at my home. It was new in the area, so I was surprised that the representative said it was available, and could set me up with a seemingly great price of $120 a month for 12mb Internet, unlimited home phone, and 200 channels after the introductory discounts. We discussed at length what I would and would not be getting and I confirmed multiple times that my land line number was to be used and what my address was. The installation was set up.
I received a confirmation e-mail and to my horror there were serious mistakes. The representative had set up the installation at my AUNT'S house, which is 50 miles from here, and on my grandmother's land line 1 city in the other direction! I called AT&T back right away. After a while on hold listening to advertisements with intermittent music interruptions, I was connected to a representative. I explained the situation to her. I had ordered Uverse for X address at X phone number, but the confirmation of the order said it was being installed at Y address for Z phone number.
After much holding and looking into the account, the representative mused that it seemed that my address did not, in fact, qualify for Uverse service, but to make the sale anyway, the previous representative had plugged in phone numbers and addresses of people in my call lists until one worked. Never mind the logical thought process that the installation would happen at the wrong address, I suppose. She also told me that my off-discount rate would have been about 2x what I had been told it would be by the sales representative.
I told the customer service representative that, in light of these circumstances, I wanted the order cancelled without charges. The order was cancelled, then, since they are obligated to do so, she had to sit there and try and get me to sign up for Uverse. I felt embarrassed for her that she had to do that to keep her job.
All in all, AT&T is just like every other mobile/Internet/TV provider out there--services that are oversold and taxing their systems providing a mediocre experience for all customers at a hefty price tag. The pressure their phone reps have to sell must be overwhelming if they're willing to lie and cheat the system in order to get a sale.
(Why AT&T must force their customer service representatives to sales pitch us every time they come into contact with us, I do not know, but I find it agitating. What I've already spent money on is experiencing issues, why on earth would I pay you more money!? I hope corporate takes heed of this, because it truly drags down the customer service to be sales pitched at every opportunity).
Now I get 6 phone calls a week from an AT&T representative telling me that there's good news, Uverse is available in my area, and they see that I cancelled an order for it before, would I be interested in switching to that? I politely refuse the offer, and tell them firmly to cease calling me about this product. That never seems to do any good. I loathe AT&T now. As soon as I get the money, I'm ditching them.
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By tbaber - INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- March 5th 2012, I saw an online offer from AT&T and I wished to add home phone line service to my existing internet account. I placed online order and after receiving the email confirmation, I wanted to check the order status online but couldn't login with the code provided. I called AT&T to inquire about it and was told that due to an error in the order, it didn't get processed and she would be happy to place the order via phone.
On further discussion it turned out that I will not get the benefit of the order that I was trying to sign up for. Frustrated by their deceptive advertising, I decided to cancel the order on which the representative said that since it didn't go through the first time, there is no need to cancel. Next day I decided to cancel my internet service as well and called to cancel it and insisted that I want an email confirmation of the cancellation. The service representative promised to send the email and after few hours, I received an email THANKING me for placing an order with AT&T.
Appalled and frustrated, I called again to inform about my cancellation request and was promised once again that an email will be sent and the order has been cancelled. There was never a cancellation email sent but instead, I received a phone call that someone wants to come to my residence to install the phone line. I informed the caller that I do not have a service request and he needs to straighten it out with AT&T and his response was “I am just told to go and install the service, you have to call for cancellation".
I called the 3rd time, and whoever is familiar with AT&T knows that each call lasts more than half hour including wait and transfers from one department to another. I explained the whole situation to the account department and also got fraud department contact to tell them that someone is ordering on my behalf. I once again asked for cancellation email that never came in spite of the promise. I never made time to call the fraud department.
In the meantime, my husband placed order under his name and got his services up and running on the same residence. I didn't get another phone call or email but today, on April 7th, one month since that drama, I receive a bill for $75.15 for the new internet and home phone service.
For having such a large customer base and a big name in domestic services, AT&T should be ashamed of using such unethical and fraudulent methods to rip off people's money and valuable time. Not only I do not wish to pay a single cent for services that I never ordered or used, I want AT&T to pay for my time that I have spent on fixing it's issues and dealing with corrupt, incompetent and clueless customer service staff who does not understand the difference between Cancellation and Activation.
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MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA -- For the past five years, yes, 5 years, I have paid for 6x DSL service, promoted by AT&T as the fastest DSL speed which can be used by a small business or privately owned computer. So for 5 years I paid the bill in spite of problems which were 'solved' by sending out a replacement router/modem, unlimited number of hours wasted on the phone while the DSL technician went through AT&T standard procedures to repair the problem with beginner instructions to open here and type there, then again it was declared a modem problem, and so on for 5 long years.
At the end I was determined to drop the service and return to dial-up. It was at this time a high ranking employee came to find the 'internal' problem, repair it, and charge me for the repair. The good man spent almost 3 hrs. in total, dutifully running tests on my computer and when that failed he began moving furniture to get to jack and test them to find the problem. None was found. So the AT&T DSL staffer said to me he had to report this to a higher up, my home was blameless.
An hour or so later a phone call came in, this person introduced herself as a high ranking AT&T employee who was coming to look at the wiring as she could see why there was a complaint. I had been dropped 12 times the previous evening *at best I was dropped 3 times a night* and she'd be in touch. A knock at the door came an hour and a half later. She introduced herself, I invited her in, she sat at the computer as well, she stood to leave and a short conversation over the problem began.
AT&T had sent, at no cost to me, one of their best, a person with an unblemished 30 year record. I could see she did not like defeat. She chatted more and in the middle of a sentence she stopped herself and asked to see my bill. I handed it to her and I can laugh at her first comment - "Oh, look at all the ads they put on them"- and I watched quietly as she read it to herself, then she turned it over to read the rules of service on the back of the bill. She cried out - "I know why you're having problems, it's right here on the bill; you've been signed up for 6x DSL service and there is no fiber optics line in this place, it's all copper."
So you can't get 6x and what it's been doing is interfering and cutting you off. You need the lowest speed DSL and even that might give you problems. SUMMARY: for 5 yrs I paid more than $3.000 for an non-existing service. ADVICE from others who've had this experience, who got more than the standard 3 month reimbursement policy and have been reimbursed, please share with myself and others how to proceed. Thank you.
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On MONDAY 6-6-11 my Uverse went out, and it includes all three services. It was approx: 2:00 pm, and I called immediately. I talked to a person in I'm sure some other country, and was advised that there was nothing available for today. I understood this, and set up an appointment for 6-7-11 between 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm. Approx an hour later I received a voice mail stating that my problem was due to an outage and should be resolved soon, and my appointment was placed on hold.
The next day I called to verify the original appointment, and was advised that the appointment was all set, no problems, and this was at 12:00 pm. Knowing that things go wrong I called at 2:00 pm, and was advised for some unknown reason that my appointment was cancelled without explanation. I was advised by an unknown person they were very sorry, and they would try to fix the situation. Well I was called back and advised there was nothing they could do, and I would have to set up another appointment. I set up an appointment between 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm again, and the next day I again called at 12:00 pm and was told that everything was all set.
I waited and heard nothing by 2:00 pm so I called again, and was advised that my appointment had been cancelled again for an unknown reason. This time I was very upset, but I knew that the person on the other line had nothing to do with the situation so I remained calm, and she said she would do whatever she could to rectify the situation.
A supervisor came on the line named KATHERINE, and she said she would do whatever she could to get me taken care of today. She then called back later, and stated that there was nothing she could do for today, but would personally handle my situation, and guarantee that I would be taken care of on Thursday between 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm.
I was a police officer for a very large city for 30 years so I knew that KATHERINE had nothing to do with the whole situation, but I vented. I said, "if I was late with my payment every month would AT&T let me slide?" and she said, "no" and the way the situation has been handled was highly unprofessional, and that I would be complaining to someone. She stated that she was taking the days off my bill. Big deal, I'm 60 years old and I don't need the drama, and that 4 days off the bill would not even come close to compensating for my time, and having me stay at home for 4 days straight.
The next day I received numerous calls confirming my appointment, and at 3:20 pm my saviour PHILLIP showed up I almost kissed him. It took him 10 minutes to fix the problem, and all of the services were up and going. Well I will get off my soap box for now, and thanks for the forum to vent my frustration.
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