Verizon review: scam charges 92

My great uncle went into an assisted living home in November of 2010. Before he went, he wanted to close out his Alltel account. He spoke with someone over the phone whom informed him that on receipt of his payment, his account would be shut down. Everything was paid for and we thought done with. January of this year, my uncle passed away. Afterwards we began recieving bills from Alltel saying that my deceased uncle owned money on his cell phone account.
My father sent them a letter telling them that my uncle was no longer alive and even had a copy of the state death certificate to prove it. We just got another bill from Alltel today with a total of almost $200 on it, TWO MONTHS AFTER HIS DEATH! The bills never come from the same office, sometimes they are from Phoenix, Arizona, sometimes from somewhere back east. Someone needs to get rid of these crooks and put them out of business.

I have gone into your local Alltel business places and they always say they have fixed the problem but it never ends. People will call me on my phone and if I don't answer right away the calls goes to a fellow by the name of Shannon whose phone number is [protected]. He said he also had been complaining at his local Alltel stores and they wanted my number which I gave him. I am not receiving any of my messages. I have tryed to be patient but have been losing my cool. Would it help to get a new number or a different phone? Am not a happy camper as I rely on my phone alot with my work schedule etc. Sandy Knuth [protected] PLEASE HELP!

First they said my first bill would be higher than those that followed, but before I even got my second bill, I got a call from Alltel saying my service was about to be interrupted because I had excess charges for downloads and text messages. Right then I paid them 134.26 without even seeing a bill, believing it would cover the overages my son had racked up. The next day I get another call saying my service would be interrupted for more overages on the same text messages I just paid for. Alltel says I only paid for the downloads so I asked why the lady told me it was for downloads and texts? The response was that she was mistaken. Their explanation was so confusing that I asked if I could see this information on my online account, because it wasn't showing when they called the day before. She said I could verify the figures onlilne. Not only could I still not see what she was talking about, but the first bill that I had paid two weeks earlier still showed that it was unpaid! When I called Alltel back, I was then told that this current information (about the downloads & texts) would not show up for a few more days and that the representative was mistaken for telling me that I could see it. Not only that, the lady I was now talking to said she couldn't see it either and that she didn't know why it sshowed the first bill was unpaid! She added that it might not be updated yet. To no avail, I asked her what good it does to have an online account if it still isn't updated after two weeks? Then I went to the local office and still couldn't get satisfaction. One person said I was charged for partial months since my account began in the first week of the month, and another said I had partial months for the next bill too. No one seemed to be able to tell me why I had partial bills with only 6 weeks of service! After three visits and two more phone calls, I still couldn't see why they were charging me 200 more dollars, in addition to the excess I'd already paid! My family plan is supposed to be 79.99! Everyone I spoke with told me that the previous person had given me misinformation and that I just had to wait a while before I could see my bill. By now I had become furious and to this day, I still have not seen either an electronic or paper bill! Not only that, my dog chewed the cord to my charger in two so I went in to get another one. The salesman gave me a price that I thought was too high and I asked if there wasn't something else that went with it. He mentioned a package price for a home charger, car charger and phone cover for a few dollars more, but I asked him some more questions about other products. Finally I decided I would get the package deal and suddenly it only contained one charger and a phone cover. When I asked him what happened to the other charger, he said "I made a mistake and shouldn't have told you that." I don't believe that, and have come to suspect them of lying through their teeth!

Ok, for anyone intrested, lets review alltel customer service. its amazing.

First off

the previous month, i called alltel complaining about the bad service, and no possible way to booste my signal, they said i was able to drop my service, without any penalty's.

So i had no problem with that, i decided to pay my next bill, find a new provider, and move on into AT&T, oh btw, anyone using AT&T in marquette area, they are great, no issues.

Ok back to the story, so i call them today, and they tell me i cant cancle my service even though its noted in the account, so i begin to wonder.

the customer service rep, continually cuts me off, and in agravation you best bet i was calling him every name in the book, its hard to be civil with a company that treats you like a ###.

Ok so anyway, even though its noted in my account that i can do so, they still refuse to cancle it for me for no service charge, they refuse to transfer to me to a manager, also they claim and his exact words "well sir, if you move down to another town, a different state, or down a street and you don't get good service, you are still liable to pay for the $200.00 cancellation fee, so i begin to wonder, what exactly constiutes mobile service, if i cant drive down the road and get service i would be liable to still pay for something that doesn't work... WHY WOULD'NT I GET A LAND LINE FOR alot cheaper.. so after tell him im going to wipe my.. well you know what with his $200.00 contract fee, and i refuse to pay it, he trys to be all nice, give you that blah blah, we thank you for choosing alltel, blah blah im a dirty.. yea you know the story.

So the morale of the story don't chooose alltel, they are a terrbile service, and are going to continue to merge into verizon and provide even worse service there.

Also

Please note

- Conusmer information code

1. Disclose rates and terms of service to each new customer.
2. Make available maps at the point of sale and online showing where service is generally available.
3. Confirm contract terms and charges when a customer renews or upgrades service.
4. Allow a 14-day trial period for new service.
5. Provide specific disclosures in advertising regarding material charges and conditions related to advertised prices.
6. Customers' bills will distinguish between monthly charges for service and taxes and other charges remitted to the federal, state or local governments.
7. Provide customers the right to terminate service within 14 days after notice of material changes to their service.
8. Customer service contact information will be provided to customers on-line and on billing statements.
9. Promptly respond to consumer inquiries and complaints received from government agencies within 30 days.
10. Comply with state and federal customer privacy laws.

2. Make available maps at the point of sale and online showing where service is generally available.

Did anyone else get this map that says if i drive 10 minutes you wont get any service at all? i personally didn't but of course this isnt grounds for them to end the contract, so please if you want to waste your money on nothing pay for alltel other wise, go to a decent phone service

-Thanks everyone
Have a good day.

I bought Alltel's air card and was assured I would have speeds equal to or above DSL. After I signed the contract and got it home, I had to have a man come out to get it to work and purchase an extra antenna fro 48.00.

Since then I have had dial up or slower speeds and have had to take Alltel to BBB and Attorney General in an effort to get treated fairly.

They refuse to give a refund and they still sell their product telling everyone they will get high speed and yet they know the area has a low ranged tower and can't get high speed until 2010 when Verizon will update them.

So they are knowingly misleading the consumer to sell their product.

We recieved in the mail a postcard for free phones to sign up for Alltel service. We had been thinking of getting service for our two children. We called and said we wanted the service. I did not think this was a good idea but my husband wanted to do it anyway. Well about 15 minutes after he got off of the phone with them I talked him out of it. We called them back and they said they could not cancel it but all we had to do was when we recieved the phones to return them unopened and it would be taken care of. We are now recieving bills for service and phones we never had. If anyone out there can help me I would be grateful, especially an attorney. I can be reached at dinocol3@gmail.com

I have been with Alltel for years, but you talk about bad Customer Service they have to be #1 on the list. I bought 4 phones in December, as advertised on tv and Internet buy 1 get 1 free so go to the store to purchase these phones the unprofessional Alltel ediot that waited on us was holding his bottom lip while asking me questions and when I couldn't understand him and asked him to repeat what he said he seemed to get perturbed with ME! Stupid Eliot, then he told me the cost of the buy 1 get 1 free deal... NOT WHAT THEY ADVERTISE!ended up costing over 400.00 for the phones up front, but after mail in rebates the phones would end up costing around 140.00. We muddled thru all the setups, he handed me all the forms that had to be sent for the mail in rebates that could take 6 to 12 weeks to receive you checks. I sent everything off checked my email and there it was all but one was REJECTED! Was I surprised heck no I relished the bait! I called ALLTEL and then they give me the rebate phone number. The rebate guy said that one of the problem was that the wrong form was sent,well I don't work at Alltel it wasn't my fault that Mr.Lip gave me the wrong form that went to that phone! He fixed it and said my rebate will soon be mailed,then on problem #2 didn't send a copy of the bill, well you received the bill that went to the other phone it all came in the same envelope.The problem was that the other two phones are on 1 bill family phones you know you get the same bill stupid people. Okay the nice guy fixed that one! The real problem started on the third phone which by the way was my sons phone which he in on my plan using my minutes there for only need my bill. So I called again and the intelligent ALLTEL EMPLOYEE said I need to fax them the bill I said you already have the bill because the other rebates were approved try as I may she just couldn't get! She told me fax another bill and then call them back and tell the Smart Alltel Employee to go to the fax and get the bill! Nope won't do it I did my part I am not an Alltel Employee, I will not call to make sure that they do their JOB! Anyway when I finally ask to talk to supervisor and when I SAYED THAT she fixed the problem!

Hello my name is Shane.I would greatly appreciate your help. I signed a one year unlimited wireless contract with ALLTEL about two months ago. I received a phone call yesterday saying that the end of my contract would be the 29th of June of this month. The reason I was given for the early termination was I was not using there tower. I explained to them that there contracts should state unlimited if you use a ALLTEL tower and she even agreed with me .I feel greatly wronged .If I did such a thing I would be charged a fee. I feel that we have a case of fraud, as well as all out bad business .How do I determine where my card picks up a signal .I would love to tell the world how ALLTEL does business.

I purchased a prepaid plan and from from ALLTEL on their website. It prompts you for a zip code. When I put in my zip code it had phones and prepaid service available. However when I got my phone the number was not local. They will not give me a local number. My complaint is that NOWHERE and their website did it say it's possible I would not get a local number. If it would have, I would have checked first and gone with something else. I've contacted them, I've submitted a BBB complaint and they still have not changed their website to add a statement saying it's possible you will not get a local number and they will not give me a refund. Alltel stated if I got a different plan a local number would be available. BEWARE that before you get prepaid make sure they have a local number available in your area if that is important to you.

Alltel has got to be one of the WORST companies I have ever dealt with. It is dificult to tell if their horrible service and dishonesty is merely severe incompetence or outright theivery. I have been their customer for 2.5 years, and am no longer in a contract. First of all, they do their billing really screwy. you pay your monthly service fee for the upcoming billing period that you haven't used yet. While you pay overages and fees and minutes in arears for the past billing period. Purposely misleading perhaps but not illegal. However, four out the last five months they have made errors on my bill, all in their favor of course. It has become routine, every month i call them to fix my bill. The usual overage they try to charge me is around 100$. So I have to waste an hour of my day to call them up and get them to correct a mistake they never should have made. Here's an example of their latest funny math on my bill:
included in my plan: 500
Used: 1,446
Overage: 269
charge: 107.76$
Now I never used anywhere near that many minute, and they did correct it, but I shouldn't have to keep calling them to have it corrected. Also they overcharged me on my service charge. It's supposed to be 39.99$ per month, instead they charged me 59.99$ I asked them to correct this and they said it would be added as a credit on my next bill but I would have to pay it now to avoid damage to my credit. So let me get this straight, they admit the charge is bogus, but they refuse to remove it and demand i pay it, and they will refund me later. So apparently now Alltel has the right to use me as their personal bank! able to extort loans whenever they want, only to say "oh, we'll credit you later". ###! I don't want them collecting a cent of interst on my money. I have no problem paying for a service that I've used. However I refuse to be robbed. Alltel you are an example of what is ruining America.

I checked my bill on the phone today and it says it was 420 dollars. My bill has never been that high so i called to ask why. The only explanation was I had been using the internet on my phone a lot but guess what according to my phone I DON'T HAVE INTERNET! It ask me to do a one day pass which is like 5.99 i think. The woman at Customer Service said i did it and i never did but still how is that going to run my bill up to 420 dollars. GOOD QUESTION HUH. But after she said i bought a one day pass then she says i have unlimited internet because i have unlimited text messaging. What kind of sense does that make? Then what beats it all is if i had unlimited internet (which i don't cause i don't have internet period) How could my bill go up cause its unlimited? She says its cause it would take it away from your minute plan. Ok so how is that actually unlimited? Your guess is probably as good as mine. It doesn't make any sense at all. All it is is a big scam. They think people out here in the world cant figure out what kind of a business they are running. Thats why everybody i know is going to Cricket now. The customer service people just kept trying to find a reason for why it was so high but never could find a good one. She just wanted to keep blaming it on some internet that I DON'T HAVE! Please if you don't have service with them already chose someone else cause they are no good.

I have been an Alltel customer for many years, having paid my monthly bill on time and had no issues with Alltel, other than despising the waiting line inside the store. But in July, 2008 I experienced a very dissatisfying encounter at the Alltel store. Having been a victim of robbery, the evening previous to my store visit, I had my purse stolen, including my checkbook, driver's license, and cell phone. I visited the Alltel store, to have my phone replaced, as I am one of those folks who gave up their home phone and depend on my cell phone service.

Once finally getting to a representative, I explained I had been robbed and wanted to replace my cell phone. I was asked for ID, which of course, I didn't have. After working through that issue by answering a series of questions, I was able to get set up with a new phone. As I got ready to leave, the rep asked me for $50 to pay for the phone. Of course, with no cash, checkbook, credit card, etc. I did not have one single thing in which to pay for the phone. My credit card accts were closed, my checkbook was closed, my debit card gone, and of course, my cash. The rep asked the store manager if an exception could be made by charging the phone to my account and she was told it could not.

I left the store, embarrassed and insulted. I understand the ID issue, but I could answer all the privacy questions I was asked. I offered to call the bank to verify my situation or whatever was needed to please allow me to charge the phone. In the end, I left as a very insulted customer who felt violated once again. It may seem petty to you but being assaulted and robbed is a very violent offense and I felt the one time I needed the security of my cell phone, I was let down. The robber had the keys to my home and car, and I was now left without a phone in the event I needed it. It may seem petty to the store manager but it would have felt different if were her.

What I would like to see happen, is for future events be managed differently. As a customer in good standing with Alltel, I would expect to be treated in a more understanding and respectful manner. There is always an exception. Don't treat me as a criminal and send me out of the store to come back with $50 in cash, after being traumatized the night before. Most women carry most of their credit cards and ID, inside their purse. I have certainly learned a lesson regarding that, but it didn't help me feel better at Alltel. If not for a current contract penalties, I would remove all 3 of my phone lines and convert to another service.

As for a positive remark, I had a very pleasant Alltel experience a week or two after the above one. Once paying the $50 and getting a "used" phone, I found no one could hear me talk on it so I had to again return to Alltel for a replacement. A young lady named, Nicki, waited on me. Pleasant, understanding, courteous and efficient. My praises to her.

Thank you for listening to my story. I hope it will help other customers in the future.

Denise Buckner.

Saying the customer services Alltel provides is horrific is an understatement. Their in-store service and customer service from headquarters leaves EVERYTHING to be desired. I wrote a letter to headquarters complaining about the lack of service and they called me promising to get back after verifying the facts. I've tried calling 3 times in the past 2 months to follow-up and no one returns my calls. They overcharge on the bill; don't honor their warranties; and headquarters, billing and the stores all have different ways of interpreting their service contract. As soon as my contract is over I'm out of there!

There was a time when business's operated in a professional and ethical manner. Today, many businesses care only about making a profit. They don't care for the little man. If he gets stomped on or pushed a side to make a profit, well that's just too bad.

Recently, I stopped using my cell phone and wrote cancel on my phone bill from Alltel in October 2007. One month later, I received another bill. I wrote cancel my cell phone service and sent it back to Alltel again. I received another bill in December which I refused to pay.

My mother paid the bill out of fear of the corporate giant. When I found out that she paid them, I contacted them and asked them to return the money. They refused.

I am asking that everyone boycott Alltel. We must send a message out that says large corporations can not treat people any kind of way.

We must always stand up for what's Right. Even when the odds are against us.

Recently purchased Razr VE20 to replace broken Razr V3 that was used as modem for laptop. Now trying to get download for driver for VE20 and they don't have it available, don't know when it will be available but should be "soon"... very frustrating that they cannot even have software available to support equipment they are selling. Had to work thru rep that handles company's account - she is no help and has no interest in offering customer service. Any advise to get access to this info for download?

Trying to make my Alltel bill smaller I canceled data and made the voice plan lower. They retroactively charged me $45 a month for data that I did not use. I asked if I tried to use the data would it have worked? No. So I was charged for a service that I could not have used. Their answer was I had a Blackberry, and I had to have data (if it works or not). They claimed they could fix it. After giving them a couple more months of money without resolution, I canceled the service (with $175 cancelation fee).

I have been an Alltel customer for 5 years. I recently moved to an area that is still serviced by Alltel and I am able to get 1 bar (sometimes) at my residence. I have called Alltel and was told they can't guarantee service, yet won't let me out of my contract due to the inability to use my phone. It seems I must pay for a service that I cannot use. The service rep even looked up my address and admitted to poor serivce in my area. I have her admission recorded because I called from work and we have voice recording for quality control purposes.

I am shocked at the poor customer service (or rather NO SERVICE) from Alltel. The "too bad, so sad" attitude I received made me even more angry!

My company has over 4 dozen phones with Alltel and an average monthly bill of over $2300. Today I made an appoitment for a sales rep from Cellular One to meet with me so we can begin the process of changing our carrier. thank God, we don't have a contract for our business phones!

I changed from a regular plan to a Pay as you go. I asked what I would lose in service. I was told I would lose nothing but on rare occasions I would have to dial the number twice. This rare occasion lasted for 734 miles between Louisville, Ky and the Florida state line. I was also told the number of minutes I purchased in advance would, based on my previous usage would last me 8-9 Months. Today I discovered my minutes expire every 2 months. Since I am now retired and not on the road very much, I won't need the service as much. I was not told the truth by a service rep. in your Invernace Fl. office.

I am now stuck with a service I would never have accepted and locked into buying minutes I don't need. Why are your people so poorly trained and why wasn't I told everything when I changed from one plan to another. I had the previous plan for over 4 years.

Unfortunately, about a year and a half ago I convinced my family to switch to Alltel... Biggest mistake of my life! The service is obsolete. It really doesn't work to any degree. I don't receive calls, or even get the sign of a missed call, and rarely receive the voicemail sent to me after friends think I'm ignoring them. When people call my phone they either get voicemail or rings, but on my end of the phone, I get absolutely no notification of a call or missed call.

So once in a blue moon when my calls do work, they drop, 95% of the time. It's like too bad At&t doesn't follow me around because those commercials with the awkward moments when the phone drops are the story of my life. My phone promts me by displaying "Signal faded. Call lost." and there goes my conversation.

All in all, I can't rely on my phone. My employer thinks less of me because I don't receive her calls, my grandma thinks I don't want to talk to her, and my friends and family think I'm ignoring them or mad at them. It's really dampened my social life.

Right before smashing my phone into a million little pieces, I thought Alltel may be able to help me out, so visited the store. They told me the software wasn't updated and then pushed a few buttons and sent me off. No change whatsoever. I returned, and they did the same thing, not listening when i told them they already did it. After about 8 visits, and half my time spent sitting in the Alltel store, they finally decided to send me a refurbished phone, saying my phone must have been defective. (The rest of my family is having the same problems, are all our phones defective, or is the service, hm?) So i get the phone in the mail two weeks later, it was supposed to be 3 to 5 days, and found no improvement. So now I'm on my third phone and they aren't even refurbished, they are half broken, and my service still sucks. Sweeettt. My mom wanted to get another one too when they said that it was just the phones that were defective, but they told her her warranty was up. Which is weird, because we bought our phones on the same day and activated them on the same day... so why is one warranty longer than the other? I'd guess only Alltel would know, but when i asked the customer service agent, he got angry we asked him because 'he doesn't know and it't not his responsibility.'

I'm counting down the days till november when my 2 year contract runs out. ALLTEL IS THE WORST CELL PHONE COMPANY EVER!

Awful company Complaint Rating: 0 % with 0 votes Company information: Alltel United States alltel.com On October 19, 2007 I sent Alltel a cashier's check for 284.50 along with a letter explaining the $200 was for contract termination and the $84.50 was to pay my currenht bill. In the letter I explained they could stick their cell phone service up their southern side, that I wantedf nothing to do with Alltel anymore period. Now in 2008 I am getting bills from Alltel for service which I had not used but did pay for since way back before October 2007. The store owner where I bought the service has sold it, preferring to get into a more honest line of work. The current store owner could not even tell me the physical address of the Alltel legal department. The previous store owner is a good friend of mine. But he was still the store owner when I sent my cashier's check to Alltel and told them what they could do with their service. So, If I cannot get through to a responsible Alltel corporate officer, my only choice is to take this to small claims court. Since Alltel was represented by my good friend and since Alltel corporate is somehwere in Arkansas and not in Texas where the service was sold to me that would mean I would have to list both Alltel and my friend in the court papers. I would love to take Alltel into any court, small claims or otherwise, but am hesitant about taking my friend to court also, although I have warned him about this possibility.

On December 27th I stopped by my local Alltel Company and inquired about changing my service. The gentlemen ask me what I was looking to do. I told him I wanted to purchase a Iphone on this same day and wanted to know if it was ok and would there be any additional charges other than the monthly fee. He looked on his system and told me no, I was eligible for making changes as of December 8th. He gave me the information that I need to get new service and I left. Then about 4 days later I receive a bill for $433.00 $400 for early termination. When I called the company and spoke with 1 employee then 2 different supervisors and tell them what had happened. The second supervisor almost called me a liar that there was no record showing I had stopped by any Alltel location. I then ask for another higher up supervisor. First of all had they given me the correct information I would have this problem. The supervisor told me I could actually make changes until March 2009. But that I could upgrade in Decemember of 2008. I told her if he had told me that in the beginning I would have waited until March. No one would fork out $400 for termination if they knew it.

Our service was switched from Midwest Wireless to Alltel much to our dismay. As soon as the change took place, customer service and phone service went down hill. We had dropped calls with most every conversation - even dropped calls to customer service and sometimes no service at all. Every call to customer service received a different answer - none of them correct. Being told to go to an Alltel store to fix the service problem, I drove an hour to the closest store only to find that they could not fix the problem either. Store staff informed me customer service did not know what they were doing.

After switching to a different provider, we can not get Alltel to end service to our old phones. The contract has ended but the phones are still usable. We have made six phones calls and written one letter regarding this. We do not want to be billed for any additional charges.

I would like to report to you the most unsatisfactory help line experience I have ever had: Today (Sept. 15 2007, 10:30-11:20am, Sat.), I called your customer service line [protected], which connected me to someone in India:

1) I waited for more than 20 minutes to get one who answered my phone call;
2) The lady on the line was not knowledgeable and helpful: she told me that the account number was my cell phone number. -- I told her that it was wrong. She said "yes"
3) Then, I said "now please go to www.alltel.com", click on "Register now" link on the home page;
4) then I showed her that on the AllTel website, the account number and cell phone number were different - it was like that I needed to teach her on AllTel website and operation, rather than her to provide help service to me, a Alltel customer;
5) then she said "hold the line" please, and disappeared and held me online for more than 5 minutes;
6) after she came back (maybe asking help from her friends there?), she said "ok, please use your phone number and PIN I give you now to log in". - she gave the PIN: 1279
7) I followed up her instruction to log in using my cell phone number and PIN, and tried 3 times, but rejected by the AllTecl website. So I told her that I tried it according to her instruction 3 times, but failed.
8) She became inpatient and said "Sir, can you keep trying according to my instruction?" (it sounds like "you are so stupid, even cannot key in your cell phone number and PIN number correctly!")
9) I was afraid now, so I asked and tried to get the confirmation from her: "is your given PIN the same as the Password that was asked by the AllTel website?". She replied "of course, it's the same!" (she used her term PIN to replace AllTel's term "Password" to confuse customer, but she put the blame to customer, "are you so stupid not to konw this common knowledge?!").
10) I was so nervous (and also felt in my mind that I was so stupid like many ordinary and kind American customers would think), and carefully followed up her instruction to key in my cell phone number and PIN (must be PIN according to her, AllTel was wrong to call it "password") she gave me, but the website rejected me again - I kept trying it for other 5 times, and again all failed.
11) Then she said "at least I got it through when I tried it" (if I would have the privilege as a system administer as her, I can surely access to any account as well!). Then she said "ok, please hold the online and I'll connect you to our technical help line!"
12) after about 30 minutes, she received my help to teach her the difference between Alltel account number and Alltel cell phone number, and she "successfully put a blame" on me not to know that PIN and password were actually the same thing (only Alltel used password to confuse customer and she used the right one "PIN" to show her rich knowledge to use the right term), and she "forcefully" asked me to try keying in my cell phone number and PIN (or password?) for more than 8 times (my typing sill has been improved substantially as a result, thanks to her, an excellent Alltel Call Center helper!)..., she finally gave up to help me (because a customer like me, so stupid and knowing little about so advanced IT technology like ordinary stupid American customers do - ironically my job is to teach IT for living in US! I felt so shameful that I knew so little when I talked with a young Call center lady who appeared to know so much more!), and wanted to connect me to the technical service line.
12) What a relief to me - at least I have a new chance not to be considered "a stupid customer"! Maybe I could have a chance to report this unusual customer service (or a better name for it to be "customer torturing") experience to AllTel, so other "stupid American customers" like me may not have to experience it again next time.
13) the service line rang for about one minute with beautiful music for me to enjoy (unfortunately, I felt so shamed and guilty myself, no mood to enjoy such superb and high class music provided free by AllTel).
14) Suddenly, the line was cut off and left me with all deadly silence - I was really silenced totally ... I didn't have another chance to talk with another service person of AllTel (maybe she/he will a really good and qualified person providing quality customer service and I could provide feedback to her/him), but no chance was given, unless I wanted to spend another more than 50 minutes to call Alltel customer service helpline again? Will you?... I won't!
15) So I decided to spend time to report this most unusual customer service experience in my while life to the public, so other "stupid American customers" like me may not have to experience it again next time.

Thanks,
an ordinary customer of AllTel.com

I had been a customer with Alltel for many years. In 2007 I took a trip to Las Vegas, NV and also made a stop in Arizona to visit some family. Before I went I spoke with someone at the 800# as well as someone in the store. Both of them advised me that I did not need to change my plan or add anything on and I would not be roaming in the locations that I would be traveling to. Well when I got back and received my next phone bill...hundreds of dollars in roaming charges. And best of all... I appearantly made a call in Sacramento, CA and then another call in Seattle, WA three (3) minutes later. So I called Alltel and they told me that I should have known I was roaming there due to some light on my phone. Well I never saw a light on my phone for that or even knew one was on there. And when questioned about the charges for calls made 3 minutes apart that Superman himself couldn't pull off, they said I made those calls and they could not do anything about them. I tried explaining to the representative as well as a supervisor that it is not possible to make those calls 3 minutes apart and especially if you have never been to either of those places. I told them I no longer wish to do business with a company that is going to give me false charges. They then canceled my contract and charged me $200 some odd dollars for that. When I received the next months bill they had also charged me for another month. When I called and confronted them again they refused to do anything about it. They have the worst customer service and horrible judgement. Alltel is the WORST company I have ever dealt with! They need to learn to rectify situations when they are in the wrong!

As background, I am a Media Relations practitioner in Ohio, and a former employee of Alltel (Writer for Alltel Publishing, Hudson, Ohio). I am representing my daughter and son in law in a matter involving a non-working one-month-old phone that they purchased and subsequently returned to Alltel only to be told that it had “water damage” and they would have to buy new phones. They are honest, forthright adults, progressive citizens and truthful people to a fault. My son in law is a war veteran and as upright a person as you would ever want to meet. I trust them implicitly when they tell me that their month-old phone was not damaged by any activity or action on their end. They are 100% positive that the phone was flawed upon receipt.

We are seeking a new phone at no charge immediately. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the recently purchased phone was either damaged at the store where purchased or is a factory flaw. Here are the facts, stated for the record and for future pursuit:

Chad and Leah Smith renewed their contracts and bought 2 new phones on July 13, 2008. About a month later Leah called a customer service representative when the screen on her phone began to disappear and a symbol began appearing stating that she had voicemail when she did not have a message. The service rep at that time informed Leah that Alltel would place her name on a ticket and that there were multiple tickets from the region expressing this very same complaint. The rep very clearly indicated that it was some sort of regional problem experienced by many others in the area who had purchased those phones. The rep indicated that she would call Leah back in 24-48 hours. The rep never returned that call.

After having a hard time using the phone, and frustrated with no action on Alltel’s part, two weeks ago Chad and Leah made a special drive in to the Alltel office to explain this problem live to a representative. Unfortunately they had received no return phone call from Alltel to correct the problem. The customer service representative stated that they should mail the damaged phone into Alltel’s customer service department and that they would then receive a replacement phone in the mail for free. She did not say this was a possibility -- she said that this is what they would do. Yesterday, Sept. 22, Leah received a letter from Alltel stating that the phone contains liquid damage and there is a corroded component specified by the display lens. She was informed that this alleged “water damage” could be from water submersion, exposure to rainwater, exposure to high humidity, or liquid intrusion.

Leah is 100% sure that she never got this phone even slightly wet. It went from her purse to a DRY counter daily…with no rain, no water ever exposed to it. She called the customer service support service supervisor (for the record she spoke to ID rep number [protected]) and was informed that there was “nothing that she can do about it”and that she would have to purchase another phone for an additional $100-plus dollars. Chad then made yet another special drive to the ALLTEL store where he was also told “so sorry…pay for another phone.” He was advised to call Motorola and did so on Sept. 22. Motorola said they would call back between 24-48 hours. Of course, there has been no return call.

It is time for the utility companies to stop dumping on the lower middle class. This young married couple – a war veteran and both struggling to make a living in a marginal at best economy in a depressed area of the country – paid good, hard-won money for their phones. They have been responsible in paying their bills. But it appears that Alltel, has rewarded their diligence with a flawed telephone, endless customer rep conversations that go nowhere, more bills for a phone they cannot use, and finally a notice that they must buy a NEW phone after only one month. This is unacceptable.

We have no idea where this alleged “water damage” came from or when it occurred. But this we know…it did not happen as a result of this young couple’s negligence. This phone did not get dropped into water at any time nor was it kept in a bathroom or any other place where water would accumulate. If the phone is so cheaply made that “humidity damage” is an issue, then I would maintain that it is incumbent upon ALLTEL to improve the quality of their phones to withstand moisture -- not put the burden on the buyer. Humidity is not a factor the buyer can control.

For the record, my husband and I are both Alltel customers. We switched from Cingular (AT&T) last winter and after switching from Cingular phones to the Alltel phone, noticed right away the inferiority of our Alltel phones. We purchased the lower priced ($100 or more if I recall) phone that came with a refund, but never did get our refund as we missed the deadline date. We’ve only had them a few months and already my husband’s phone does not open easily and the audio flares very loud periodically. What…moisture damage there too? I certainly would not return my phone for another one, as most assuredly I would expect the same abysmal treatment as my daughter received…you keep my phone and expect me to buy a new one. This smacks of racketeering.

No one should be forced by a corporate utility to pay $100 for a phone, then pay it again a month later because of a malfunction that was not caused by the customer. This young couple made two frustrating and costly trips into Alltel and have been on the phone with customer service representatives for hours to resolve this. They’ve asked my assistance, and I’m glad to help, because I believe businesses (yes, even my business as a media relations practitioner) are responsible for delivering QUALITY service and products. And when they do not, it is their responsibility and privilege to make it right. Responsible is the key word. Please forward a new phone to this young couple to replace the flawed phone. We believe somewhere a mistake was made, and it was NOT on the part of the customers, Leah or Chad Smith.

I would hope that Alltel has not devolved into a corporation that pads its own pocketbooks with substandard technology then would ask a struggling customer to repurchase when the technology fails to deliver. The Alltel I remember from working there 10 years ago would send this young couple a new phone. I would appreciate your response and attention. This is the kind of unfairness and persecution from corporate America to its customers that gives utility companies an increasingly bad reputation. We will pursue a fair ending, I promise you, and are prepared to advance this issue to media, utility regulatory channels and business avenues. You also stand to lose six customers right off the bat if this is not resolved fairly. We are small, but we will fight for right.

Sincerely,
BH

Went to a corporate Alltel Store in Tifton, GA. Bought 400.00 worth of phones. (one blackberry, two motorola hint's). One of the Hints died after 4 days. Had to drive to Tifton, then to Valdosta to get a new replacement. 25 days later, the replacement Hint also died. Called Alltel, and was told, that a refurbished phone would be provided as a replacement.

Now, I signed a two year contract for this phone, paid full retail price, and 29 days in, I don't have a new phone, I have a used, refurbished phone. Alltel refuses to discuss the issue. My past experience with alltel and their refurb phones is that they last for 30 to 45 days and fail. My contract is for 24 months, and now I'm stuck with a used phone that I paid full, new price for. And Alltel doesn't see any problem with this.

This is a phone that retails (without a contract) for 300.00, and the warranty is 30 days? My coffee maker has a better warranty than Alltel provides!

My partner and I decided to switch to a local carrier, Alltel; as soon as our Verizon contract ended. We needed to have 3 phones in our account, so we were advised to have the Family Plan that also had 1000 Text messages included. During the first month of usage I signed up to monitor this new account on their "Official Website". I recognized that this was a fairly brand new account, I gave them time to update customer usage information on the website. Two weeks passed and I used their e-mail feature for customer support. Never got a reply back. I call their 800 number, and after punching numbers to get any type of usage; which at the time my usage totalled "zero" minutes used. I kept pressing button to speak with a live person. When I expressed my concern, that still Zero minutes still shows in my lines. The representative connected back to the automated service. All To my horrible surprise, their website does not monitor any of my usage. All it contains are ways to look at bills and ways to make payments. The only time you are able to see any usage, it's when it;s too late and they want payment. The even sent text messages to notify that the bill is due, they don't even send an alert that the limits to my plan have reached, they just want the customer to be ignorant of the usage, so the bill get higher and higher. The only call I got from them was to inform us and threated us, that the current bill due is over $500 for overages charges, and if it was not paid at that moment the service will be interrupted. I still haven't seen any bill from them and, the website does not have my supposedly current or past usage. How do they expect me to monitor my usage if their system does not allow any customer to monitor any usage whatsover, only after the bill cycle had ended and we are stuck with a huge $$$$ amount bill.

unauthorized charges

I was signing up fro the rebate from Alltel then had to submit a pass code from the internet on the rebate directions. Next thing I know I started receiving jokes on my cell phone. I texed back put me on the do not call list. a text message came that said subscription renewed @5.99 /weekly or 23.96 a month. I texted back refused. They sent back a text that said sorry ur command is not recognized. This is a bogus way to add charges. It should be told to others that it is a scam! I would appreciate the opportunity to cancel this ASAP.

Alltell overcharged me on my phone bill every month they double and triple charged me and when you call to get help they don't even try to help. I got help from one person and a reference number for fixing it and the next bill was tripled and when i called with the refrence number they said that it doesn't matter and they won't do anything about it. terrible company.

A charge to my daughter's Alltel cell phone from Reverse Auction Bid for $9.99. No such call was made but Alltel says it was for an internet charge and we had to call the number and text STOP to get them to stop charging her phone.

Bought 4 phones in Jan 09 from Alltel, still have NOT received rebates. Alltel rebates center keeps saying "another 4-6 weeks sir!" I still haven't received my rebates from the phones I purchased in Dec 06.

Altell unlawfully did a credit report lookup on my account in August of 2008, I had been their costomer for 2 years prior to that and they checked it for unligitimate purposes. This is illegal and you can find out who's been looking at your credit report by calling Equifax, TransUnion and Experian to request your credit report.

I have had service with Altel for over two years with no complaint. Now after upgrading to a so called better phone the service sucks. I can not have a simple conversation with out it cutting out, also they do not keep very good records. I was required to pay a deposit of $500 and now after over two years they claim no deposit was made and cannot find any record of one ever being paid. The phone would not have been turned on with out it.

i am beening charged 5.99 for something i know nothing about it has happen 3 times already and i want the money put back on my phone.

My account is being charged for services never requested!

On October 19, 2007 I sent Alltel a cashier's check for 284.50 along with a letter explaining the $200 was for contract termination and the $84.50 was to pay my currenht bill. In the letter I explained they could stick their cell phone service up their southern side, that I wantedf nothing to do with Alltel anymore period.

Now in 2008 I am getting bills from Alltel for service which I had not used but did pay for since way back before October 2007. The store owner where I bought the service has sold it, preferring to get into a more honest line of work. The current store owner could not even tell me the physical address of the Alltel legal department. The previous store owner is a good friend of mine. But he was still the store owner when I sent my cashier's check to Alltel and told them what they could do with their service. So, If I cannot get through to a responsible Alltel corporate officer, my only choice is to take this to small claims court.

Since Alltel was represented by my good friend and since Alltel corporate is somehwere in Arkansas and not in Texas where the service was sold to me that would mean I would have to list both Alltel and my friend in the court papers. I would love to take Alltel into any court, small claims or otherwise, but am hesitant about taking my friend to court also, although I have warned him about this possibility.

Does anyone on ripoff know the physical address of the Alltel legal department.

Do not use ALLTELL. They never sent me a correct bill.. charged for "FREE" calls and finally ended service when they failed to post a payment. My canceled check did not result in restoring service. After a week without a phone I switched to SPRINT. Alltell doubled my bill and added a hefty cancellation charge .. this is clearly breach of contract and FRAUD.

When you use Alltel.com to order new service, phones, etc. You should know that all the promotional items are actually being offered by Let's Talk. Alltel.com showed a promotion that showed free activation. I ordered two phones and a $59 plan. When I received the first bill from Alltel, it showed a $50 activation fee for the two phones. I called Alltel and I was told that the free activation was actually provided by Let's Talk and that I would have to pay the fee and after a couple of billing cycles the $50 fee would be refunded. I did manage to get the fee removed from my bill but I felt it necessary to advise everyone that Alltel.com is actually being controlled by Let's Talk and free on the website is not necessarily free when you get your bill.

IMHO this is deceptive advertising and I intend to contact my state attorney general to advice them of the misleading sales practices. If phones are purchased through the Alltel website, they cannot be returned to an Alltel store. They must be shipped to Let's Talk in Texas.

I do not advise using Alltel.com to purchase phones or plans, if you need to return them within 15 days to nullify the contract, it can be a hassle to return the phones clear to Texas and you will be charged for service even while the phones are enroute to Texas. Buyer Beware!

I just talked to someone at Alltel because I was charged 9.99 for some reverse auction bid and at first he wasn't going to credit it and also said it was a third party billing but by the end of the conversation he agreed to credit the 9.99. He said it would take 24 to 48 hours to go thru which is fine. He also told me to text the 5 digit number which in this case was 23687 and type in STOP in the text section and send it and that the third party people would stop any further charges. He did try to tell me in the beginning that there wan't anything he could do about it which was a bunch of BS because I knew he could. In the end it seems to have all turned out good. We will see on my next months billing. Good luck to anyone who is having this problem! All I can say is be persistant with the Alltel customer service rep because they CAN fix it!

To cancel a contract you have 3 ways to do it, the ways are explained in the contract you signed. If your friend did not supply you with a full contract you can find that information online if needed.

Call Alltel customer service and request the contract be terminated.

Go into an alltel corporate store and cancel it with them.

go into an agent location and have them call Alltel for you. You will still need to speak with Alltel customer service on the phone though.

your bills normally go to a payment processing center, not to customer service.