AT&T
reviews and complaints

I recently switched from Comcast to AT&T U-Verse. I have had this service for less than a month and have had problems every day. Telephoning customer service is a joke. I have yet to speak to someone I could understand. I tried their web chat and all they want to do is troubleshoot the problem, same process each time I contact them. They apologize and tell me they will help resolve my problems. "NOT YET". I scheduled a service call between 12-4. At 5 I contacted their customer service and was told the technician was on his way. At 6 the tech shows up, checks connections, then changes my HD box (I have two other boxes that have no problems). Tech leaves and an hour later same problem. I have had poor service with other companies in the past, but AT&T is by far the worst.

Here is a list of the problems I have had:

AT&T blue screen (press OK to watch TV)
AT&T blue screen (several options listed to rectify problem) usually a reboot is necessary
Signal lost, again reboot
Intermittent signal or screen freezes, then signal lost, again reboot
Info button on remote - sometimes mutes TV, reboot to get sound back
Info button on remote - sometimes changes channel

Theses problems occur EVERY day. I also have AT&T cell phones. As soon as my "cell contract expires", I will be looking elsewhere far from AT&T.

I ordered AT&T Uverse with a cable and internet bundle and had to wait until a Saturday 3 weeks later to have installation because I work full time. The installer was scheduled to show up between 1 and 3. At 3:45 I called the 1-800 number. I spent more than 45 minutes on the phone (mostly on hold) and was connected to 3 different "specialists". They FINALLY determined that my address was not eligible for the service (even though I had been approved online) and that the technician had driven to my apartment, and left because I live in an apartment complex that is not correctly wired for the service. I received no phone call or notice at all that the service could not be installed. I wasted my entire day waiting around for someone to show up. THIS PEOPLE HAVE NO TRAINING IN CUSTOMER SERVICE. DO NOT CHOOSE AT&T FOR YOUR CABLE SERVICES!

Starting at the beginning of 2011 AT&T started to upgrade the tower the covers my home to 3G. Although in the city I had 3G, I only had Edge at home, which didn't bother me much. However, with the upgrade came lack of coverage. I had 4 lines with AT&T, 2 of which were iPhones. Problems with reception started around February. Calls would drop, or would never make it. Inbound calls never reached our phones, and half our txt messages failed. Around June it got to a point were it was so bad I called AT&T.

I reached their tech support dept. where I explained the issue. The first agent informed me for this situation it sounded like a MicroCell would fix the problem. He told me that I could go to the local AT&T store and pick one up for free and that it would be noted on my account. I got to the store where they pulled up where I was told to go to the store and get one, but that the agent didn't note on the account it would be waived. They wanted $200 for the MicroCell to fix the problem. While in the store I called customer service, I got an agent who was a bit sarcastic and told me that they don't waive the fees for MicroCell, and that if I was having reception issues I need to contact tech support to troubleshoot the phones. The store manager also got on the line and explained the store could let me have one if they noted it on the account. The customer service rep still refused. I walked out of the store a bit ticked off and empty handed.

That night I called tech support and spent an hour on the phone doing just basic things like turning off the phone, removing the battery, etc. The agent would have me do something then ask how many bars I had, which would almost always be 'No Service'. Finally after all troubleshooting had been attempted without resolving the issue, the agent sent up an investigation to have a tech come out and troubleshoot the tower for my area. A few days later I received a text message the investigation was complete and to call them back. I was informed upon callback they discovered the issue was with the upgrades on the tower for my area. Although they had been working on it for months, the tower was still not expected to be completed till Oct 2011. I was then told that I had 2 options. The first was to wait it out, which was unacceptable since we didn't have home phone service, or a MicroCell. I explained how I was expected to pay full price for the device. The agent then confirmed that although in tech support they can't waive the fees, he will note the issues on the account and I should be able to go to the store and have them pull up the notes to get the device for free.

Once again I drove up to the store where I was told the same story as before. Called customer service again where I got the same run around. After asking for a supervisor, I was informed there weren't any on shift at the time. The agent suggested I call back on Monday to try and get with a higher dept. to see if they would have the authority to do so. Called Monday and got to the business care dept. After explaining everything to the agent, this agent informed me that AT&T will not waive or let me borrow a MicroCell during the outage. I was told that if I qualified, AT&T may mail me a rebate for a free M.C. Other than that I was asked once more to patiently wait out the rest of the outage. Asking if if any of my bills would be credited resulted in a quick no, that I was still obligated to make the full payments.

After a few more calls and visits that got me no where, I decided AT&T wasn't going to help me and doesn't want to keep me as a customer. t called the accounts dept. and asked for information about my contracts. All 4 lines were under contract. I explained everything to the representative and asked if they would be breach of contract. The agent informed me that yes AT&T was in breach of our service agreement that I agreed with since they were no longer providing me with the service they promised. Although that agent couldn't waive the early term fees, they connected me to a higher dept. that could. Once again I told my story, the agent brought up the notes to confirm it all, but surprisingly did not find the notes where I was informed about the breach of contract. That agent determined in my case they could try and waive the early term fees since they still could not provide a MC or reception. The agent submitted the paperwork to have the fees waived and told me I could start porting my numbers to Verizon.

One by one over the next 2 weeks I ported 3 lines to Verizon and had one more left. After canceling my first line, I was locked out of online access to my account since the account had been cancelled (I still had active lines with AT&T). I knew I still owed the last month so I called and spoke with billing. My main reason for the call was to turn off paperless invoices since AT&T wouldn't allow me to manage my account online and to have the final bill mailed to me. Of course during the call the rep asked a few times when I was going to send a payment, to which I answered each time that I had one active line and that payment had not even reached due date yet. I told the agent I was dropping the last line soon and I would pay the final bill when it came, to which the agent replied by threading to suspend my account for non payment. Ignoring the agent I asked if they could check into the early term fees. The agent confirmed that 3 early term fees had been applied and the account was credited for the fees as well. Happy that AT&T was finally helping me, I ported the last number over which ended my account.

A few weeks later, I still had not heard from AT&T about my final bill till one day I received an email stating that for a short time I would be allowed access to my web account so I could pay my final bill online. Upon signing in, I was taking straight to a payment page stating I owed $937.60. No invoice or pdf bill was available, just the amount owed. Questioning this amount I called AT&T once again. Speaking with billing, I asked if they could give me a break down of all the charges since a billing statement still could not be provided. That's when the agent informed me I owed for the last month (which I knew I owed) and for 4 early termination fees.

I was shocked and asked why the fees were there when I was promised they had been waived. Of course the agent had to connect me to accounts receivable where they would be able to discuss it. Explaining to the next agent everything that happened got me no where. I was informed that they saw where the application was sent, but had been rejected. I asked why I had been lied to, to which the answer was there are no notes on my account that state I was ever told anything like that. I was also informed that AT&T policy was that they fees would only be waived within 30 days of your death, or for military leave. Breach of contract is not covered. At this point I am beyond disgusted with AT&T and that so many of them can lie like that. And to add insult, AT&T still refuses to provide me with a billing statement or discuss further in depth the charges against my account.

On july 11, 2011, I called at&t and cancelled the above number, effective july 23, 2011. The reason: my new residence uses comcast throughout the building, and so I changed to comcast also. The representative gave me key numbers to use in case there was a problem. The key numbers/words were 8232 and sinatra.

Last night I called that number and it was still connected. When I called at&t today and asked for a manager they sent me to a voice mail to report the problem. I have been billed $27.14 for services I did not use. My address at that time was 4756 clayton road - concord, ca 94521.

My address now is 1700 tice valley boulevard - walnut creek, ca 94595. My new comcast telephone number is 925/300-3757.

Please help me with this problem. It is almost impossible to speak to a manager at at&t. Speaking to a voice mail is unfair. They have now disconnected that number for which I was billed, but I should not be billed when I had already cancelled that number.

Thank you for any assistance in this matter.

Joan h. Young
925/300-3757 (E-mail address: [protected]@sbcglobal.net

If this should be an fcc complaint, then please let me know.

Tracy Berry called me in October of 2010 wanting to sign me up for a year internet advertising. Said it would be for the year 2011, a 12 month contract, first payment starting in Jan 2011. They started billing me in November. She lied so many times, everyone I talked to lied! I tried to get this straightened out and Kenneth the supervisor was suppose to call me back...never did! I agreed even though I was decieved and lied to to pay 6months service. I am still getting bills in the mail and they are calling me now! They lie and bleep out the recorded agreement. I am not going to pay them any more. AT&T is a large business that teaches their people to lie, decieve the people. I will not send them another penny, let them take me to court! They are rude, pushy, leave you hanging on the phone for over an hour! I'm not playing thier game! I am throwing their bill in the garbage and not taking their calls! JoAnn, Erinn and Heather from AT&T are LIARS and no good people...not dealing with those sick minded people anymore! They can stick it where the sun don't shine!

I contacted at&t for their uverse package for my home in april 2011. I was quoted i'd receive the u450 & 12mg internet for 97.95 per month. That package would have allowed me access to all the movie channels and very high speed internet. They were to set up 3 tvs, no contract, they waived my activation fees due to poor customer service experiences that I had as well. I was also told I would get a 250 cash back bonus within 4-6wks. By the end of april I received a bill that was completely inaccurate for much more than we agreed on. The rep I spoke with originally even contacted me 4/27 and promised to contact me 4/29. Finally I spoke to a rep on may 16 that agreed at&t made an error and promised I would get the u450 and 6meg of internet for 6months and after my bill will go up to 102.95. She gave me her rep i'd number and promised the changes would occur. On july 14, 2011 my service for cable channels was disconnected again! I spoke to a manager 7/18 in the retention dept that they cannot honor that price. I asked to review the recorded conversation and she refused. I only want what I was promised on all the separate occasions by the company and they clearly did the bait and switch on me! I highly suggest another company to do business with! My matter continues,

On 4/20/11 I ordered U_VERSE internet service. On 4/21/11 I cancelled because of deceptive pricing. On 4/21/11 equipment was delivered to my home. As per instructions, I returned equipment to UPS store and UPS tracking number states that equipment was returned on 4/23/11 to Memphis, Tenn. Three weeks later, I recieve a bill that says I owe for equipment. I have been calling every 2 weeks since then to straighten this out. Each time I get a different answer and talk to someone in a different state. It is now July 14, 2011 and I received a call and bill from a collection agency. I called AT&T U_Verse again and they said it would take 4-6 weeks to investigate and in the mean time, my credit is being jeopardized.

I have had phone line issues for almost a year. Eight techs have come out and worked on the problem. One replaced everything for the outside phone box to and including the gateway. But the problem still is there. For the last two days I have been without home phone, internet and TV for hours on end. I lose connection in the middle of the night causing my home alarm to signal loss of dial tone waking my family. Techs have put me in contact with their supervisors who will not call me back when I leave messages. Calls to the Uverse support number only gets you voice prompts and the automated system detects a problem and schedules a tech. The tech start at square one and retrace all the last 6 or so techs have done. But since the tests they perform while they are there do not show an issue at the moment they leave without doing anything meaningful to correct the real line problem.
It seems that my home is serviced by a cable that is more than 30 years old and my connection to it is by a buried "bonded" connection. Two techs have said that the problem is the cable but it is very costly to dig up and install a " pedestal".
I have a lineman coming out this morning (the second in a week) to check the cable. Want to make a bet that the lineman does not find a problem!
Overall when everything is working Uverse is a little better than my past experience with Charter Cable. Dish HD has a much sharper picture. ATT picture freezes a lot and the boxes are very slow to respond to the remote control since a recent software upgrade.

Where do I start. I thought that you get better rates and plans when you are in a contract with your cell phone provider. Intially I was under the impression thats why some people had to pay deposits. All depending on your credit. Well I didnt have to pay a deposit thank goodness but that doesnt make my issue any better. You see as my dad and I have been talking he mentioned he was with straight talk. Immediately I assumed he was getting ripped off and starting checking my options to get him added to my plan. Low and behold I discover he has better set up then mine. I pay $96 a month. All I have is 900 anytime mins and unlimited text messaging. No internet or nothing. Plus I have a $2.99 monthly subscription to look up numbers I dont no. Please tell me why my dads straight talk gives him unlimited talk and text and unlimited internet for $45 a month. I was livid when I found this out. Of course glad my dad wasnt getting ripped off but Im getting a new one tore into me. So why am I obligated to be in a contract with these conartists when Im getting a worse deal than any average joe who doesnt have to have credit. Not to mention the cheap ### changed your upgrade from every year to who knows at one point it was once every two years. Next time it was a year and a half. I dont think they no. Ive been with them since 1999. Thru there flipping back and forth from at&t to cingular and back again. Ive remained loyal but its obvious they dont give a ### bout loyal customers. Just like with your roll over minutes you can have a million saved up but it does you no good bc if you change you plan they take them all back. If you dont use them in a year you lose them anyways. If they wanted to keep customers happy then those minutes we paid for in advance but never used set up a program where you can use your extras towards a new phone or money off your bill or something to let their customers no they wouldnt have a job without us. Im so stupid because like probably 2003 I didnt understand my bill so I called customer support. Well lady was super nice and helpful but somehow as we were talking I joking said you being an employee do they pay for your phone or have some kind of flat rate plan for you guys. She laughed and said nothing of that sort. She said I cant afford the deposit so Im prepay. I was beyond shocked bc thats how you take care of your own employees I shouldve known they damn sure wasnt going to treat there customers any better. Ive been so enraged bout this Im at a lose as to what ima do. Bc I hate change but if that change is going to save me money Im looking into other carriers so I can wash my hands of at&t..

Three weeks ago, I called At&T U-verse to move my service from my apartment to my new house. An installation date of June 30th was set up and I was told they would be here between 1-3 in the afternoon. By five in the afternoon they had not shown up and I called the customer service number. Two hours later, I was still on hold. I was finally told that there was anb internal error on their end that had cause a problem with my order and that I would receive a call the next morning with an update. The next morning, no call, so I called them back that afternoon. After another hour and a half on the phone, they still had not made any headway other than to "escalate" my order. I was told, again, that they woujld call me the next day with an update. Nothing. I gave it a rest over the Fourth of July weekend and called them again on Tuesday and spent another two hours on the phone to be told that they are working on it and someone would call me the next day. Wednesday? You got it... no call. I have spent a total of 7 and a half hours on the phone just trying to move my existing service to my new home. I am at my wits end. Any suggestions?

I got the deal (or so i thought) online, AT&T 6.0Mb DSL service for 24.95, Went down to the Kiosk and bought the modem, so no need to pay monthly fee of whatever for modem lease.
First billing cycle- 89.97, 2nd billing cycle- 47.95, I called them, and also sent an email for my record, and told them about the overcharge, and the false advertising for 24.95, even in the fine print, it does not tell you that they will bill you on your first few cycles in the amount over 24.95- the lady online was rude, stating i should have read the fine print more closely, and then the same remark when i spoke on the phone with them, i asked for the manager, and the lady said it did not warrant being elevated enough, since i was a new customer. with that said, i went ahead and told her to cancel the service. Meanwhile, an email comes in- copied and pasted on here,

This is their response-

Thank you for taking the time to contact AT&T regarding account number 6xx.9xx.13xx. My name is Karen and I appreciate the opportunity to address your inquiry today.

Listed below are the terms and conditions regarding the $24.95 promotional pricing offer that appear online:

$24.95 Intro Pricing Promotion: Customers purchasing new FastAccess DSL Direct 6.0M will pay $24.95 per month for 12 months after application of bill credit. First 2 credits will appear on same bill within the first three bill cycles. After 12 months existing standard rates apply. Residential customers only. Other conditions and restrictions apply. Offer expires 7/16/11.

As stated above, it typically takes 2-3 billing cycles before your promotional pricing starts. I apologize for the confusion.

Your first charge in the amount of $87.95 consists of the partial month of service from 04/06/11 thru 04/30/11 in the amount of $39.96 plus the first full month of service from 05/01/11 through 05/31/11 in the amount of $47.95.

I hope this information helps. Should you need further assistance or have other questions, please reply back to this e-mail and I will be happy to help you.
We do appreciate your business at AT&T and thank you for your email. I want to personally thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you with your request as it has truly been my goal to provide you with outstanding customer service and hope that you are very satisfied with the service I have provided you today.

Sincerely,

Karen Cook
AT&T Online Customer Care

So, after making a phone call on the 3rd month, after being billed again and overcharged at that, i called my bank up, and had a stop put on my account to prevent them from taking or charging my account for anything- they have to send me a bill, after they pay me all the over charges that they owe me.
Best bet is to go with a small time local dsl, a little higher, but, at least they are up front with all the cost, and what your first bill will be- i chose windstream, and i have had good service thus far from them, even their CSR were nice and sympathetic enough and up front. i don't mind paying extra, but don't trap me into a deal thats supposed to be 24.95 (no hidden charges, or gimmicks- [censored] !)- don't tell me the first bill will be 24.95 plus tax and then take 89.00 out of my account, and then do it again for lesser amount each month- if a turd cost 24.95 and i want it, i am only going to pay 24.95- these people are really just trying to make their bottom line look good for the quarter, and once the people wise up, and cancel the service, and then are told that they are going to be charge a penalty of 150.00-
BS... i rather this end up in collections, just so i can sue them for not holding their end of the deal, and false advertisement.

I am writing you today because your company at&t violated the fair credit reporting act by running my credit report without my permission. I called at&t on june 11th, 2011 and spoke with ms. Daniel and she signed me up for uverse internet and tv service under account # [protected] with and installation date scheduled for june 27th, 2011. I called back on june 13th, 2011 to cancel the service. I called at&t on june 15th, 2011 to sign up for uverse internet and the home phone service. The employee told me that the previous order under account# [protected] is still in the system and hasn't been cancelled. He told me to call and cancel the previous order and he would give me a call back. He stated that the new account# for the uverse internet and phone service is # [protected] and he stated that he would give me a call back. The employee never mentioned that he would run a credit report. The employee didn't call back as he stated that he would. I received a letter in the mail on june 21, 2011 from at&t stating based on my credit history they have imposed certain conditions or restrictions on the service request. The employee from at&t didn't state that a credit report would be ran to establish the uverse service. I am already an at&t customer under your cell phone service and dsl high speed internet. I called at&t on june 22nd, 2011 and spoke with ms. Wilder a manager at at&t to file a formal complaint. Ms. Wilder was very unprofessional during the call and acted as if she didn't believe me when I told her the situation. She also didn’t give me the correct information to contact the corporate office to file the formal complaint and she gave me incorrect information about at&t practices in regards to their procedures. She stated that I should have known that they would run a credit report even if the customer service representative didn’t mention it on the call because I gave him my information. I told her that every time I call at&t I have to verify my information but it doesn’t mean that they are going to run a credit report. She also stated that the calls are not recorded when I asked her to pull the call to verify the information. I told her that every time I call at&t they state that the calls are monitored and recorded for quality purposes. I am very upset and disappointed with the way that I have been treated by at&t.

I checked my email on july 5th 2011 and I received an email from at&t uverse stating that an order was placed on july 5th, 2011 under account# [protected] for uverse internet service and they will send me an email when the order has shipped. I received another email on july 6th, 2011 stating that the order has shipped. I didn’t place the order with at&t for the service. I called at&t on july 6th, 2011 and spoke with mr. Ransom with at&t uverse and told him that the order needs to be cancelled. He stated that I need to speak with someone in account services and he transferred me to andrew conder with at&t cell phone service. I told him that I need to cancel the order for the at&t uverse service that was placed on my account. Andrew was very polite and transferred me back to at&t uverse and I was on hold for about 7 minutes. Karen came on the line and stated that I need to speak with someone from the state of tennessee. I was on hold for another twenty minutes and the line was picked up by sean in west, va and he stated that he worked for the home phone dept. I asked to speak with a manager and he told me that they were in a meeting and he would transfer me to at&t uverse. He transferred me again and after being on hold for another ten minutes total call time using my cell phone minutes 42 minutes I had to hang up the line. I called back and spoke directly with judy in cancellations and told her the situation and that the order needs to be cancelled. She stated that she has been cancelled the order as requested and she doesn’t have a confirmation # for the cancellation. I also asked her about the pending charge of one hundred and thirty six dollars for the at&t uverse and the activation fee that should not have been there due to the fact that we didn’t actually place the order. Judy stated that my account will not be charged. I thanked her and the call ended. I am very disappointed about the incompetence of the at&t employees that I have encountered as well as someone running my credit report and placing an order without my permission.
I would like a response back within thirty days of receiving this letter. If I don’t receive a response back within thirty days I will be taking further action and possibly seeking legal counsel.

Sincerly

Former at&t customer

my dsl internet service has been out or disrupted (20) times since june 6th, 2011. They say the problem is in the (3) miles of outside lines. As of July 4th, (today) the issues still exsists. I want my service restored. I filed a complaint today with the Federal Trade Commission. I recommend everyone who is have a problem with DSL connectivity do so.

After I became unemployed I tried to start a small one person business. I was looking for an advertising solution online and I stumbled on to ATT Adsolutions. I was not very familiar with online advertising. I ended up talking on the phone with an ATT rep who got me to agree to a 1 year contract over the phone. I was tricked! I didn't know I was signing up for one whole year. Now I'm getting billed monthly to the tune of $200 which I absilutely am unable to pay and there is now way that I can get out of it. I've pleaded with ATT to allow me to cancel the contract and they will not. They said I have to fulfill the full one year contract even though the income generated by my business is nowhere near the fee that they are charging me. ATT sucks - they are a large of separate web entities that perfected the art of scamming regular Joe's.

They have a commercial where a woman sees a spider's image on the phone and then starts screaming at the top of her lungs. The screaming is horrible to listen to.

Att uverse advertises that you can have 4 hd tvs, with 4 hd receivers, that can record up to 4 tv shows at the same time. Not true. Only 3 tv's can watch a hd channel, the 4th has to watch standard definition, then you cannot record a hd channel.
This was not told to us when we ordered the service

Unacceptable

Telemarketer called and convinced me to switch from cable to a bundled package of Uverse, phone, and internet. My internet and phone service got hooked up okay, but I never received Uverse equipment. I called in and was told that the order wasn't placed because I live in an area that is not serviced by Uverse. They convinced me to sign up for DirectTV to keep the bundled price. Told me all the plan prices and features were the same. After getting DirectTV installed, I found out this isn't the case. LOTS of fees for standard services under Uverse. They credited some, but after arguing on the phone / sitting on hold for about 5 hrs. total, I'm still going to be paying at least $350 more for less service. Lesson learned; it doesn't matter what AT&T says over the phone. Unless you record all your phone calls, make them send the info in writing before committing to anything. Or better yet, hang up and save your time and money.

I work in the customer service department of a small town bank. I have had several customers call me to inquire about a strange debit on their account payable to 12525 Cingular Way Alpharetta GA. More research revealed that the debits were to AT&T and were debited using the customers debit cards. One account was hit for $301.10 and $456.18 within about a two week time frame. None of the customers said to have authorized the debits or have any idea why AT&T would have debited their account because their phone bills were current. The recieved little to no cooperation from AT&T. I'm wondering if it isn't some scam using AT&T's name. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up on what little I know.

Call in March and April to conceal Yellow pages, was told must be in writing in there format. Requested format four times. Tried by email fax and letter none. Called again from Mach to September as book comes out i n September. Than started to receive bills, I said no to the bills as i requested no automatic contract. Then turned over to collections again i made the contract. Still fighting, turned over to Allen West. Please i filed with State utility commission, FTC, FCC still no help.. Please we need some help from the Fed's. AT&T so bad

We had AT&T U-Verse installed less then 10 days ago. so far it has not worked for a full day at one time since the install. We've had 4 troule tickets resulting in 7 different people come out and look at it. The first 6 technicians which included 2 senior techs and 1 lineman all agreed that it was in the lines comming to our house, somewhere between 1500 and 2000 ft. from our house. The lineman that came out toda in a bucket truck said he could find nothing wrong. It's still not working, so we're having it uninstalled and everything we had before hooked back up. Now I have to call Dish Network to come out and repiar the cables that AT&T cut to put their stuff in. I haven't been very satisfifed with the service or the customer service. I will not do any business with this company again. I rate their customer service very low as they would never send out what they needed to fix the problem and all of the techs complained of lack of training on the new technology that AT&T is using to boost the U-Verse signal. I find it very hard to believe that they won't even repair the cables to my Dish that they cut. I would not recommend AT&T U-Verse to anyone!