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AT&T Long Distance USA Complaint - Customer Service Rep Lied About Everything - DSL
DSL - Complaint
DALLAS, TEXAS -- In mid August I signed up with AT&T DSL by telephone. I spoke with a Customer Service Rep (ie; salesman) who said DSL cost $35 and when I protested that I had friends paying $25, he lied and said "That's what it costs now". This is incorrect. If I could have gone online I would have seen there are four tiers starting at $19 for Basic emailing speeds then, $20, $30 and up to $35 for Pro online streaming game & video playing speeds.
He said that I would have to have a phone line as well. I have found out since that this isn't true. He also neglected to inform me the line was a measured line which means I could only make 25 calls on it a month for free and then would have to pay by the minute.
He asked if I wanted long distance and I said I didn't unless it didn't have a monthly charge. He said I wouldn't be charged unless I used it. This was also a lie.
He said I would be eligible for a $200 rebate. This was a lie. I would be entitled to a $50 rebate for the modem which I did receive without any problems. However, I discovered from the next representative that was trying to straighten out this mess, I could only receive an additional $100 for switching to AT&T internet. When I checked with the rebate department, they had no record of it. I had to call a forth time and speak to another representative and told him the situation and he allowed the credit. I have received this $100 credit finally.
The last thing was the most maddening. This lying representative said I had to give a credit card to secure the account. Now I had never heard of this before and felt very uncomfortable with it. I thought of hanging up (trust your instincts folks) because it "felt" so wrong. I told him I have perfect credit and have never had to even pay a deposit for telephone service. I had had a AT&T phone account in the recent past which I had cancelled. They should have known I was dependable but he insisted that "was the way they did it now". This was his biggest lie.
He had signed me up as a high risk account without even running my credit information. I told him I wanted to be billed monthly and he said the credit card was just to establish the account. This was all a lie. The credit arm of AT&T called me because he had written down the wrong account. That was when I discovered he had signed me up for an automatic monthly withdrawal from my credit card account.
To unravel this I have had to make several calls to AT&T customer support. We had to effectively shutdown the previous account and they credited me the long distance charge except for $.80 for the service and $3.00 of taxes and surcharges.
I left messages on the "supervisory" line twice in order to make an official complaint against this employee who lied to me over and over again. No one has returned my call. I will write the headquarters in San Antonio and the FCC to complain about these business practices and this particular representative who should be fired.
My advice to others.: Keep calling and keep complaining until you get what was promised you. If you must sign up for AT&T for any of their products, signup online. Perhaps you will receive an accurate representation of the services and charges you can expect. Print out a copy of all their promotions and keep a well defined paper trail. Overall, I would recommend avoid doing business with AT&T. Why rely on a company that lies to its customers if there are other choices?
Verizon Vios is coming to my area. I had Verizon telephone where I lived before and found it to be both a straight forward and reliable company. Friends have Vios for DSL and rave about its speed for DSL and clarity for cable. Something to keep in mind for the future.
He said that I would have to have a phone line as well. I have found out since that this isn't true. He also neglected to inform me the line was a measured line which means I could only make 25 calls on it a month for free and then would have to pay by the minute.
He asked if I wanted long distance and I said I didn't unless it didn't have a monthly charge. He said I wouldn't be charged unless I used it. This was also a lie.
He said I would be eligible for a $200 rebate. This was a lie. I would be entitled to a $50 rebate for the modem which I did receive without any problems. However, I discovered from the next representative that was trying to straighten out this mess, I could only receive an additional $100 for switching to AT&T internet. When I checked with the rebate department, they had no record of it. I had to call a forth time and speak to another representative and told him the situation and he allowed the credit. I have received this $100 credit finally.
The last thing was the most maddening. This lying representative said I had to give a credit card to secure the account. Now I had never heard of this before and felt very uncomfortable with it. I thought of hanging up (trust your instincts folks) because it "felt" so wrong. I told him I have perfect credit and have never had to even pay a deposit for telephone service. I had had a AT&T phone account in the recent past which I had cancelled. They should have known I was dependable but he insisted that "was the way they did it now". This was his biggest lie.
He had signed me up as a high risk account without even running my credit information. I told him I wanted to be billed monthly and he said the credit card was just to establish the account. This was all a lie. The credit arm of AT&T called me because he had written down the wrong account. That was when I discovered he had signed me up for an automatic monthly withdrawal from my credit card account.
To unravel this I have had to make several calls to AT&T customer support. We had to effectively shutdown the previous account and they credited me the long distance charge except for $.80 for the service and $3.00 of taxes and surcharges.
I left messages on the "supervisory" line twice in order to make an official complaint against this employee who lied to me over and over again. No one has returned my call. I will write the headquarters in San Antonio and the FCC to complain about these business practices and this particular representative who should be fired.
My advice to others.: Keep calling and keep complaining until you get what was promised you. If you must sign up for AT&T for any of their products, signup online. Perhaps you will receive an accurate representation of the services and charges you can expect. Print out a copy of all their promotions and keep a well defined paper trail. Overall, I would recommend avoid doing business with AT&T. Why rely on a company that lies to its customers if there are other choices?
Verizon Vios is coming to my area. I had Verizon telephone where I lived before and found it to be both a straight forward and reliable company. Friends have Vios for DSL and rave about its speed for DSL and clarity for cable. Something to keep in mind for the future.
Comments:
Posted by justcuz3993 on 2008-10-24:
All of these so called 'service' companies have multiple complaints against their customer service. You'll no doubt run into problems with Verizon at some point as well. Your best bet is to do exactly what you posted and keep track of everything and if there is an issue, keep calling until someone listens. Thanks for posting, good information!
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