AT&T

Date: Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 11:38 AM
Subject: AT&T ConnecTech and 305-xxx-xxxx
To: [protected]@att.com

Telephone Account number 305-xxx=xxxx (AT&T home landline and DSL service)
Account holder & her husband
Address of phone and account holder 10424 SW 115 CT, Miami, FL 33176
Problem: Incompetent service rendered by AT&T ConnecTech Support plus subscription with ETF and possible wire fraud

Gentlemen:

My husband spoke with Rashica of AT&T on Saturday morning November 20, 2010 because AT&T DSL service had allowed the THINKPOINT virus to infect our computer. We were referred to a subsidiary of AT&T called AT&T ConnecTech. He spoke with the sales lady Kathy. She said that AT&T ConnecTechat could remove the virus THINKPOINT from our computer for $129 as a one time charge.
Alternatively, Rashica suggested that I subscribe to AT&T ConnecTech for a year for a cost of $180 and AT&T ConnecTech would not only then remove the virus THINKPOINT from our computer, but also provide expert tech support for the next 12 months. The $180 yearly cost would be paid in monthly service charges to the phone bill of [protected] ($15 per month for 12 months). As part of the subscription, we would receive continued expert tech support for one year for such items as removal of future virus infections, PC tune-ups and advice. We subscribed for the yearly plan expecting AT&T to give us such expert advice and service

What we received from AT&T ConnecTech was poor advice, discourteous service and some advice that was totally inappropriate, worthless and a waste of money, time and electricity.

Continuing with our tale of misery: After subscribing, the sales representative tried to transfer our call to AT&T ConnecTech, but instead disconnected the call. On calling back, my husband had to go through the screening process all over again except for the subscription sign up. Eventually, my husband was able to talk with the tech support person Eric Montee. Mr. Montee came on the phone to say he would remove the virus. He tried to remove the THINKPOINT virus sent to my computer by the AT&T DSL service. Apparently he has some difficulty as he was joined by Steven Telford. The two of them accomplished some sort of a temporary fix, but did not remove the virus as it reinstalled itself when the computer was turned on the next day.

As soon as the computer was running and lit up the screen on Sunday, November 21, 2010, the entire screen was covered with THINKPOINT's label. The desktop was covered entirely. Immediately in disgust, AT&T ConnecTech was called by us at about 6 pm. The AT&T ConnecTech person answering the phone said he would transfer the call to a technician and that the computer should be left on.
The transfer took place and our call was put on hold for over an hour, at which point, we left a voice message to be called back. No one did. AT&T ConnecTech closed hours later without any courtesy being shown. The computer was turned off.
The next morning Monday Nov 22, my husband called AT&T ConnecTech about 9:30. Again he was put on hold for quite some time. The AT&T ConnecTech who tried to help did not. He could not remove the THINKPOINT's label from covering 90 percent of the screen. He opened task manager, but did not stop any processes from running. He was told that Mssrs. Telford and Montee had stopped one or more, and that one of them was probably "hotfix".
Rather he loaded web pages to the screen, which of course was 90% covered by the THINKPOINT's label. After being unable to work the computer remotely since the permissions required were covered by THINKPOINT's label, he told me that Microsoft Vista had to be reinstalled and that our my personal files should be backed up to a thumb drive. The advice was absurd for two reasons:

Thumb drives do not come that large
The back up would have the THINKPOINT virus even if a external hard drive was used.

The technician in charge of service at the CompUSA store (14951 S. Dixie HWY, Miami FL 33176; [protected]) luckily prevented us from following the back up plan. If my husband had followed AT&T ConnecTech's advice of back up and reinstall, we would have wasted money, time and possibly ruined files. On top of that the virus would still be in the computer.

CompUSA fixed the computer at a cost of $119.99. Attached is the receipt. Attached is the bill and payment. I called AT&T ConnecTech billing this morning and spoke with a woman who said that she understood the problems and would cancel the contract, but that we would still have to pay the first month's installment of $15. She was polite and quite good at her job. But when my husband insisted that the first month's payment had to be canceled as well, she said that only a billing supervisor could do so. We were then transferred to billing supervisor Waldo (employee id number ww8910). He said the woman we spoke with had no authority to cancel the contract. He also said that AT&T ConnecTech would not cancel the billing. He said that incompetency on the part of his technicians was not a sufficient reason.
If what he said about the first billing representative's lack of authority is true, we suspect that the first $15 payment she mentioned as being necessary to cancel the contract was just a con game being perpetrated by the AT&T ConnecTech billing supervisors including Waldo. AT&T needs to investigate our suspicions.

The first step to resolve this problem is for AT&T not to bill me for AT&T ConnecTech. Next AT&T ought to launch an investigation into AT&T ConnecTech carelessly or knowingly providing incompetent tech services and the suspected fraud of having its billing representative say the installment contract would canceled if one installment was paid. We suspect that the intent was to have us affirm the contract by making the first payment. Such a practice constitutes wire fraud. Even if AT&T did not know, it should have known.

Please acknowledge receipt of this email. Call or email at your earliest convenience, and in the meantime keep all AT&T ConnecTech charges off our bill.

Sincerely,

Computer stops working and I cannot get back online..I do the usual unplugging rebooting etc. finally I call tech support. Because the ethernet does not light up he says I need a new yellow cord...and there is an outage in San Diego...I notice when I plug the power into the modem it sparks both when I plug it in and remove it as he instructs me. This worries me. I'm thinking maybe the modem is bad. Just what I need a fire! He looks up the closest At&t store and tells me to go there and get a new yellow cord...I ask if they can check to see if my modem is working...he says yes they can...So I pack up my laptop, modem, service dog, and wheelchair and catch the trolley to the AT&T store. I get there and am told that they can swap it outsince I made the trip and they can't check it out. The girl goes to the back and comes out and says they don't have one they can swap out and a new one will be about $100.00...I don't have that...so I leave ...back on the trolley off at Cricket to buy their wireless modem...but my computer won't accept the download and I have to got to Bum F---- Egypt to their corporate store in a lousey area to get that done...so I go home and like the fool that I am I replug in everthing one more time so I can crab at it and everything works.
J____ F____C_____ what is the world coming to and I never swore until I had to listen to our youth under my window day after day ...god help me! and At&T can go to hell...oh and this was an English speakin g guy at tech support so we can't blame india!
Now I need to go and answer the survey he asked me to fill out about his service. I can't wait. I do have to say the ### was polite!
Hey thanks for listening!

I failed to receive my $100 reward Visa Gift Card. AT&T told me to wait 30 days before claiming my reward. I did. It said wait up to 8 weeks for reward. I did. It never showed. I called their reward center. They said it came back undelieverable. They said they put it back and wait another 8 weeks. Never showed. Called rewardcenter again. They said wait another 8 weeks. Never showed. Called again. They said wait another 8 weeks. I feel like its ground hog day movie. After this 8 weeks is up i will call them and they will say the same thing. I think my lesson here is don't trust AT&T rebates. After looking at some of the complaints here about AT&T i will make this my next stop before getting sucked into another deal with a rebate. I hope at least one person will saved from AT&T Reward Center rebate scam.

I was offered, and accepted, AT&T internet service for $19.95 month for a year along with the U-verse service at a $25 discount for first six months. First bill had internet at $40 and no $25 discount for U-verse service. I called, AT&T rep said they can apply the $25 credit, but do not offer a $19.95 rate for internet. After reminding her that all calls are supposedly recorded and that I can assure her I was offered that rate, she put my on hold, came back and said agreed that i was offered the rate and that they will honor it. The bill comes in for the 2nd month. No $25 discount for U-verse, internet billed at $40. I call, go through the entire process again, only am told there is nothing they can do about the internet because they do not offer that rate. I tell them I want to cancel my service and am told that even though they do not have to honor the rate promised (she agreed it was in the record I was offered that rate), I have to honor my one year contract. Through MUCH hell raising, they have finally agreed to give me the internet at $25 a month...but I will be canceling as soon as contract is over. And will be vocal about telling others to STAY AWAY FROM ATT U-VERSE!

I called about at&t u verse and was given a price of $68 - I called within 48 hrs to install and the service was then quoted $38 more-switch & bait practice. I finally go it down with much haggling to 98 dollars. Then when the installation guy came he said I couldn't have it and they were all wrong office with the installation price, I had to more fighting with marketing team. They have no communication or doucmentation what one said and then the other. The installer couldn't care less and I had a alarm system and they didn't tell me I need a regular phone line. I called within 24 hrs and needless to say I waited almost a month with alot of screaming.
I got the bill two weeks ago and it was outrageous 356 for month so again fighting with them. I left comcast for the poor customer service but I would go back in a heart beat because at&t u verse bills for every little thing and couldn;t care less about the customer.
I do have to say at&t cellular phone service is excellent but this u-verse is a nightmare—people don't get uverse, stay with comcast until u verse gets it together marketing switch & bait... Horrible joan chapkanov

I call in about ongoing complaint with dvr and internet problems then wake up and cable internet are all down for the count. So I call in and they leave me on hold then when I talk to someone there telling me to do steps I have previously done. So when I ask for a technician they can't gaurantee anything but tells me anywhere from 24 to 72 hours if lucky I said is this what I pay for and the lady says I pay for the service not support. Uverse is the worst company I have ever dealt with

The rebate my Mother has been confirmed on is for $100, and was to be sent September... it is November!
My $100 rebate should have been able to be confirmed and their online system fails on my ID input.
I have called them 3- times in 3-months.
I paid for this moldem with the condition that I got my $$$ back in the form of this bogus 'rebate'

This DSL service pays them up front for their modem with a promise [in writing] that I will get it back in the form of a VISA card, and AT&T has failed at every step to deliver on two different accounts.

Do I smell a Class-Action Law Suit?!

I am moving to the city of rialto and my current verizon does'nt cover that city, so I when online september 2010 and found att wich is the phone service provider for that area, and oder a dsl/phone service.
There was an offer 12 month of hsi pro for $24.95
And a flat rate line for $16.45.
Ttal. $41.40 + all state fees.
They promise on there website a free hardware for the dsl.
Wich came out to be a big ripoff. I was first billed $65.00 sep. +conection fee etc
Next month I called them to see
Why I was getting billed for $157.03 for the monts of octuber.
Like always they keep me transfering to every representative on their planet. To file the rewards claim form... All got process.
Well now november 6; I have a nother bill for $70.01, called customer service again when trough the whole trasfering... My reward was declaid. I told the lady to cancel all services before they take more money from me, so now I have a $150. Early termination fee.

I think there should be someone to monitors this big guys ripoffs or at least keep all of us inform.

I have been going back and forth with the credit bureau once I discovered that PCC was reporting debt for an old ATT/Cingular bill. I use to work in credit services for a credit card company and extremely paranoid. Shortly after I disputed with the credit agency, I received a copy of a notice of court judgement that did not appear to be real (poor quality copy/misaligned copy with text cut off at the bottom). I ignored it because I am aware of these scams but obviously very ignorant to the scam. I immediately called ATT formerly Cingular Wireless and asked about the existence of an outstanding bill. ATT researched and identified an outstanding bill for 815.76. I asked if I should pay them or PCC because they had sent this notice of judgement. ATT researched and advised that they never assigned the account to PCC and pay them directly or the agency THEY assigned. I paid them directly. I then contacted Experian and my credit protection/alert service and reported this issue and asked them to research. They continuously keep calling PCC and resolving the debt as valid until I wrote Experian's credit protection/alert service with the findings of ATT/Cingular and that PCC was fraudulently attempting to collect old debt and was never assigned to the debt or sold the debt. My credit protection/alert service then issued an fraud alert for to the three credit bureas and I updated my credit profile acknowledging that I was unaware of the collection agency-disputing. Unfortunately, my mistake because today I received a garnishment notice from my employer for 700+ dollars. I obtained a copy of my credit report and PCC's reporting entry balance on my report has gone from 815 to 424...just random crap...plus updated the 424 dollars as a new collection pass due as of May to appear on my credit report till Jan 2013. So, now I have to find an attorney to deal with this bozo and his scam in the next 7-10 days or he will get 700+ dollars through garnishment. I feel so taken advantage of...hard working school district employee that works insane hours as committed civil servant that has been targeted and possibly taken for money I don't even owe...paying twice because I fell victim to a predator collection agency and now have to take off work to address/attorney or worse pay the amount a second time to a scamming bozo thru wage garnishment.

AT&T is unbelievable. We've all seen the commercials about watching HD in several rooms, pausing live T.V. and continuing in another room. Well, I had AT&T DSL, found out they weren't delivering the DSL speed they has sold to me. When I called to complain, they apologized and gave me a rather large credit on my bill. I shopped for new T.V. service when my cable company increased prices and dropped channels. I liked what AT&T was offering, but I was concerned that they could deliver sufficient bandwidth to my location. (that was their stated problem for my poor DSL speed). They assured me they could, they had just put Fiber Optics down the street (but not up to the house). Two weeks after installation I attempted to watch an HD station and record another HD channel. Of course, I couldn't do that. I called, complained, and was told it would take a couple of days but they could switch things to get more HD feeds. I once again asked about the bandwidth, they once again assured me it would be fine. After a few days, I was still unable to watch and record different HD channels. I called, they set up an appointment for a technician to come out. The technician told me everything was fine, and that was "just the way it is." I again contacted AT&T, this time I was told that there wasn't sufficient bandwidth to get more than one HD feed. Wow, it seems they were suddenly able to run a test on the line to verify available bandwidth. It was two days past their "money-back" guarantee. I'm shopping for new phone, internet and television. I GUARANTEE AT&T WILL NEVER GET ANOTHER DIME FROM ME.

At&t u-verse was installed on september 18, 2010. I now have their "cable, " internet and home phone. I have been plagued with problems ever since coming from inside at&t - not with my actual service. It seems that none of these departments knows what they're doing.

I first had trouble with on demand, but I had to go through [3] technicians and a few days before anything was fixed. It was terribly annoying and frustrating because two of these folks didn't know what they were doing. They were clueless. Then, I receive a notice in the mail saying my email account is being shut down. So, had to call.

The person I called in u-verse support told me everything would be okay and it wasn't being shut down at all. He didn't know why I received the notice.

Then, I receive a notice telling my "special promo rate" was being withdrawn for I had canceled my cell phone with them and that that would drop me below having three products with them - what it took to qualify for the promo. Which, my cell phone service with them was the fourth product and now even included in the calculation for the promo. So, had to call again.

This lady assured me my rate would remain and again, didn't know why I received the notice. But, in speaking with this lady, I mentioned receiving the notice about my email address and she said yes, there is a problem. So, she transfered me to tech support and they finally fixed the problem. Had I not by accident mentioned that to this lady, I would have lost my email.

Now it is five weeks since I received a notice that I qualified for a reward because of all the services and to check online - - which I did on oct. 5 and redeemed my reward. Today is november 4th, the day it was to mail but it is showing still in process. So, I call again!

Turns out, customer service has just decided not to give me the reward for I signed up for 3 services and have the promo rate. Uhhhh, didn't you know that immediately when I qualified for the reward back at the end of september? I truly believe with all my heart that this company is deliberately ripping people off from their rewards. I mean, they just spoke about my reward and decided not to give it to me.

That phrase was actually said to me by kathleen in their reward center.

When you go online and sign up for the promotions, you receive a promo rate (The more products you bundle - the less you pay) and it will tell you what reward you qualify for. So, why am I denied? And just suddenly, happenstance so?

As bad as charter her in st. Louis is, i'd stick with them if I were a customer. I am seriously considering totally switching back.

Billing: We signed up with ATT Uverse for home phone, wireless, internet and TV to consolidate our expenses, receive only one bill a month and to save $1200/ year. Video on Demand is a joke, and have only been able to actually view 1 out 3 videos due to choppy reception, slow download and poor video quality and sync. Repeated attempts to view and long wait-times to talk to a 'real person' about reception issues have sent us to Amazon video downloads (half the price and NO problems with viewing). Additionally, both our hardline and wireless services 'cut out', 'drop calls', and have static on the line at least 3-4 days per week---unacceptable for a home-based business. But the MAIN and most annoying complaint is their billing department. Checks sent the day after bills are received and two weeks in advance of the due date are not credited to the account until the due date, but then take an additional 3-5 business days to 'process' and 'clear', so in their words, we are always past due and late in paying! On switching to Online Payments: 6 months of attempting to pay online also resulted in being sent overdue billings because even when we paid online the DAY the BILLINGS came OUT, and received confirmation of payments sent, they still aren't credited to the account until the due date, then take up to TWO WEEKS to CLEAR or show up online as having been paid, and AGAIN we receive past due billings, with AT&T saying that their online services updating can be delayed by as much as 2 weeks? We were in Canada for 3 months and ATT Uverse REFUSED to accept our online payment from an out-of-country-server-address, though we were logged on with password and ID and the money is transferred and paid IN the U.S. from our U.S. bank account. In resignation, we signed up for AUTOPAY in August of this year, but contrary to their letter of acceptance, it did NOT go into effect for October and now they AGAIN say we are two months past due on payments, (even though a phone representative said our October billing would be deducted in October, it was NOT). Each successive 30-40 minute wait for phone complaints to ATT has them saying Not to Worry, you're now up to date... but today, on the due date, we received past due bill warnings by email, by USPS and by phone with threats to cut off our service. Here's the deal: They don't credit funds to your account until the due date, then it takes 2-3 days for it to actually process (So because of their poor billing practices, you're past due). AND they send out new billing invoices before the due date arrives and the ON TIME payment has not yet 'cleared', so you're ALWAYS late. No way to run a business. I certainly can't get away with it. Would lose all of my customers the first month. If there is one more problem with billing, they lose our business and any of our family and extended family we can talk into leaving, as it is not worth the 'saved money', when we lose it spending hours and days of following up every month through email, online and on the phone, waiting up to 40 minutes to speak to an actual person, being shifted around to multiple 'wrong departments', then have it happen all over again the following month.

Att home phone and internet department are the rudest people I have ever spoken on the phone with. They offer no help to all of the bogus charges on my bill. There are many hidden fees when setting up internet and home phone! Also the rewards card they promised me still hasn't come and they assure me it will be here. If they tell you 4-6 weeks they are lying it will be 12 weeks here in another week! Don't get home phone or internet from these people they are horrible!

I call ATT in August to have my phone number changed, and the representative looked at my account and said, you are paying too much for home phone services. I agreed with her and then she start to sell me a bundled service for at&t U-verse. She and I quote said, you can get TV, home phone, internet and wireless for much less. I told her I was interested, she states that my monthly bill for all the stated services here would be 218.98 for 12 months and then 278.98 thereafter. I was stunned and repeated what she said and asked her several times are you sure. She said yes and asked me how many cell phone lines and minutes I used monthly. She sold me, my concern was that I didn’t have a credit card and that previously when I wanted to change I had to have one but she assured me that now they took debit cards and that I would have to have sign under auto pay to get this service. When technicians came to install it was under the wrong apartment number and my neighbor’s existing internet was disconnected and she was furious thinking after a representative at At&t my personal information and convinced her to file charges against me for mail tampering as the only way I could have had her internet shut off. I never have had any problems with AT&T until I signed up for U-verse and to have my reputation degraded like that by an employee of this company that had no proof that I did anything and it was their mistake is appalling. To be sold a bundle not combined services and to not get it is bad business. I was sold a false deal and they ARE NOT LIVING UP TO WHAT THIS REPRESENTATIVE SOLD ME! I want what I was sold: TV, internet, home phone and wireless for 218.98 for 12 months and then upgrading to 278.98, period. I have contacted the company several time and been given the run around. I called today, (10-7-10) and was finally told that was impossible and that nothing could be done. I do have emails from the representative that sold me the bundle.

My wife and I have never gone through such measures to ever post a complaint. But this retail organazation is a joke. Their is a at&t wireless store in the altamonte mall that actually isnt even a real at&t wireless location. Buyers beware if you are looking to get a new at&t phone do not go to the altamonte mall it is not a real at&t store, it is a franchise at&t wireless store. A franchise store does not operate like a real at&t wireless store. My wife and I went in to the franchise at&t altamonte mall store to get a battery for her lg cellphone. The sales person told us that they do not make batteries for her phone anymore, and if they did it was cheaper to to get a new cellphone with a 1 year warranty. Well at the time we agreed. So we get a new samsung phone 42 days later her screen goes out and she can not see who is calling her. We go to the winter park at&t store off 17/92 and they said the phone that we had purchased at the at&t store in the altamonte mall was a used phone which came without a warranty. They told us that their had been 2 previous owners before us that had actually owned the same cellphone that we had received. After making minor adjustments to the phone they had it working again. The winter park real at&t store told us that the altamonte mall store is not only a fraud but that they receive numorous complaints from them and that we should never do business with again. Trust us we wont.

AT&T appears to be running a bait-and-switch with its FastAccess DSL Direct promotion.

I signed up for FastAccess DSL Direct 6.0M at a promotional monthly price of $19.95 from this URL:

http://www.bellsouth.com/consumer/inetsrvcs/promo_unreal.html?src=lftnav

At the bottom of the first box highlighting this service are the words "No term commitment."

Despite this, when I called AT&T to cancel my service, it informed me that a $150 early-termination fee would be charged. I spoke to three representatives (after being disconnected from the first), including a supervisor.

I tediously recited the URL address to the supervisor, pointing out to her where on the page the words "No term commitment" clearly appear, to which she replied she saw no such thing and that they were not on the page she was looking at.

AT&T insisted the service I signed up for had a term and stated I will be billed the $150 early-termination fee after canceling the service today.

I also read aloud to the representatives Section 5(a) titled "Early Termination Fee" of the Terms of Service AT&T mailed me, which reads: "When you purchased the Service, you agreed to a specific price and plan, which may have included a term. You agree that if you cancel your plan before the end of the term, you will pay the early termination fee associated with that plan. If you did not sign up for a term plan, the term for you Service will be month-to-month."

I informed AT&T I would dispute any early-termination charge as it would be in violation of the customer agreement and the law, but am disgusted at what appears to be a blatant bait-and-switch, to which other consumers should be alerted.

For one and all:
At&t is wasting your time and vast amounts of money on useless bull.
1) at&t has "bet the farm" in terms of investment dollars, on u verse service, which is fine in some places, like texas, but utterly sucks, sucks, sucks here in n. Calif. Due to at&t's policy of not replacing or maintaining infrastructure to boost their bottom line. U verse is stupid in large areas because, simply put, the wires it depends on are old and screwed up, they have labor practices and investment policies and budgets that keep it that way, and failing lines are getting more numerous every day.

2) at&t has cut service personnel and customer service to the bone. Consolidation to texas does nothing to serve the california market. Nothing. Reps know nothing, can do nothing, have bad records, lie about appointments to save their ###, and give you ### responses on a consistent, uninformed, corporate attitude basis.

3) I know what I am talking about. I am ex-pac bell. I am a telecom pro in the field and working every day for 40 years.

4) in one week alone this month, I calculate that at&t has cost my company $1200 in lost labor cost waiting for at&t to show with no notice, no schedule, no apologies. Knowing something about their wage structure, and after talking to one of the techs who also got torpedoed on one of the missed appointments, their cost was in excess of $1000. And that was one job out of 3 they ###ed up.

5) field personnel are not the problem. They're mostly service minded guys and gals. At&t corporate is the problem. It's an excess profit over service mind set. They hire mba's to do efficiency studies (Trust me, I have this verified by multiple local people in n. Calif) , all the field guys seriously dislike the way labor is handled and know it's not efficient and really do not like at&t p0licies or that increasingly management is policy driven and not enacted by anyone who has the slightest idea about field phone service issues and manpower. We might as well be in the early 20th century when "efficiency experts" started to re-organize businesses and labor practices for the sole benefit of the god of $$$$$ these people bow to.

6) the one week record for my company:

A) made a 611 repair appointment for a rural address in napa county. At&t mis (Or intentionall mis-) logged it as a "customer will call back with results of premises equipment testing". Such conversation never happend. So, they either don't understand clear english conversation or are lazy or are lying to keep records to a minimum.

B) repair appointment for our company cost us 6 hrs. @ 100/hr=$600 in standby time on one job, $600 on a second. Repair tech on 2nd wasted one full day trying to get access to a terminal and figure out what was going on with screwed up work orders. He was tech #2 on a job that could have been handled by one guy in one hour. Total value to at&t probably over $1000 for wasted time over 3 days.

C) 1.5 hrs. On the phone with (Texas based) repair supervisor and agent who essentially said I was misinformed about an appointment I had a ticket number and time recorded for. More lies. Made a next appt. For this remote gated property for the following monday. On this thurs. A tech called and said they had him scheduled to be there this afternoon! So: either the person who placed the order yesterday for monday did not understand a 30 minute repeated detail request for next monday, or she incapable of entering information accurately, or someone else down line ###ed up for the 3rd time in a row on one simple repair job.

I say this not out of vindictiveness. Having at&t actually care about customers would be an enormous help to our business, but all evidence points over the last 15 years to the fact that they have lowered all standards regarding training, investment, labor practices, and management to a race to the bottom. I used to ### about nynex in nyc... Nothing compared to the bs at&t is up to today.

On August 10, 2010 two representatives from AT&T were canvassing my neighborhood to offer services for the newly run U-Verse lines. The prices were reasonable, better than the service with Charter I already had, so I signed up for the U200 package. The representative (contact number 805*******) set my install appointment for September 8, 2010 with an arrival window of 1-3pm.
On the afternoon of September 8 at 2pm I contacted AT&T customer support via online chat to check the status of my appointment because a technician had not contacted me to give an estimated arrival time. The online chat representative could find no record of my appointment and instructed me to contact the sales department by phone.
Upon contacting the sales department the representative had no record of an order worksheet ever being filled out for me and had no explanation for what had happened to my order. Willing to overlook the incident, I again signed up for the U200 package. The representative was able to negotiate a better rate (a $76.95 introductory rate with a free install for tv service and internet) as she could not locate the package I was previously offered, $97 for the first 6 months, which I was sold on 8/10/10. She was very apologetic and arranged for an installation the following day, September 9, with an arrival window of again, 1-3pm.
One hour later another customer service representative called to say my installation could not be completed the following day because the time slot had been double-booked and someone would contact me by the end of the week to re-schedule. Less than 20 minutes later, a third customer service representative called to apologize and say the previously-set appointment, September 9, from 1-3pm was available. I agreed again to the appointment.
On September 9, I contacted the customer service option via online chat to confirm my appointment as I had not received a call from a technician by 2pm. I spoke with PADMA pm085s who blamed the no-show install on a "facility issue". She said "There was a problem in the outside wiring" and offered to re-schedule my appointment. I agreed to re-schedule and made an appointment installation for September 13 from 1-3pm. I then asked for a confirmation of the rates I received the day previously, for customer service to send an email containing the order worksheet which was written the day before and was told to contact the sales department, again, by phone.
When I reached a representative from sales, the representative could not locate a work order for my name, my account number or the phone contact number I had given the previous day and said there was no pending order for my address and would I like to order new services. Frustrated, I ended the call.
AT&T has lost a customer due to its horrible customer service. Many people I know are frustrated with their Charter services and were shopping for another option, waiting to see whether I was satisfied with AT&T before canceling their current services themselves. I will not hesitate to direct them away from AT&T and encourage them to go without before signing a contract with AT&T.

Enclosed is my online chat with a "customer service representative" as referenced earlier:
SESSION ID: 2418251

System
Welcome Mrs. stephanie hughes.
System
Connecting to server. Please wait...
System
Connection with server established.
System
Technical Support Topic: U-verse Change My Appointment
System
pm085s(PADMA) has joined this session!
System
Connected with pm085s(PADMA)
pm085s(PADMA)
Hello Mrs. stephanie hughes! Thank you for contacting AT&T U-verse Member Support, my name is Padma (pm085s). May I please have the telephone number or account number associated with your account?
You
telephone number - 980*******
pm085s(PADMA)
Thank you very much. Mrs. stephanie hughes, if by chance we are disconnected from this chat session, I would like for you to re-enter our chat service line, and ask for Padma (pm085s).
pm085s(PADMA)
How are you doing today, Mrs. Hughes?
You
i am checking the status of my appointment. i was supposed to have an install today between 1-3pm and no technician has showed up yet.
pm085s(PADMA)
Not to worry. Let me right away check on the appointment of the technician for you.
pm085s(PADMA)
Before we proceed, to ensure the safety of our member accounts I will need to confirm that you are authorized on this account. May I please have the 4 digit pass code for verification purpose?
You
****
pm085s(PADMA)
Perfect! Thank you for the correct pass code.
pm085s(PADMA)
I'm now checking on the technician status.
pm085s(PADMA)
Well, the information from my end says that we need to contact U-Verse Dispatch Center to know about the details.
You
okay.
pm085s(PADMA)
This would take some time for me to get the details from the U-Verse Dispatch Center.
pm085s(PADMA)
I may require 2 minutes to get out the information.
You
okay.
pm085s(PADMA)
Thank you for understanding.
pm085s(PADMA)
In the mean time, how is your day going on?
pm085s(PADMA)
We are now talking to the dispatch team.
pm085s(PADMA)
Thank you for waiting patiently.
pm085s(PADMA)
We are still talking to the dispatch representative.
You
alright.
pm085s(PADMA)
Sorry for the delay. This is taking more time than usual..
pm085s(PADMA)
The Dispatch center representative is looking at the technician status.
You
okay
pm085s(PADMA)
This is taking more time than expected. Sorry about this, Mrs. Hughes.
pm085s(PADMA)
We are still on the line with the dispatch representative.
You
that's fine.
You
i also would like an explanation of why my first order was never received - the install for sept 8 from 1-3 then rescheduled for today and why no technician called with a status for today's appointment.
pm085s(PADMA)
Mrs. Hughes, the information in my records in this regards is just told to contact the U-Verse Dispatch Center directly.
pm085s(PADMA)
Usually, only when we have the less number of technician, this kind of problem occurs.
pm085s(PADMA)
However, it is taking more time for me to get the latest information on the technician from the Dispatch center representative.
You
okay
pm085s(PADMA)
I really appreciate you patience, Mrs. Hughes.
pm085s(PADMA)
The Dispatch center representative stated that there was a facility issue.
You
which means?
pm085s(PADMA)
There was a problem in the outside wiring so that was cleared now.
You
what does this have to do with my appointment?
pm085s(PADMA)
Now that the issue is been resolved, we need to reschedule the appointment date, Mrs. Hughes.
pm085s(PADMA)
When there is an outside wiring issue, we cannot install the services.
pm085s(PADMA)
Because, it might affect the services and the equipment.
You
someone should have contacted me regardless. what is the next available appointment?
pm085s(PADMA)
So, now that the issue is resolved, we need to reschedule the appointment date.
pm085s(PADMA)
Yes, I understand your concern. Sorry for the inconvenience.
pm085s(PADMA)
I'm checking on the earliest appointment date and time.
pm085s(PADMA)
Thank you for waiting patiently.
pm085s(PADMA)
We available date and time on 09/13/2010 9:00 AM-11:00 AM
pm085s(PADMA)
Is that fine with you?
You
if you do not have any available times on the 14th that is fine.
pm085s(PADMA)
I'm sorry, we do not have it on 14th. So, shall I proceed for 13th?
You
are there any later time slots on the 13th? if possible i would also like a copy of the order worksheet with the agreed upon prices from the representative i spoke with yesterday emailed to me before the install.
pm085s(PADMA)
We have another availability at 09/16/2010 9:00 AM-11:00 AM and 1:00 PM-3:00 PM.
pm085s(PADMA)
On 13th, it is just 9:00 AM-11:00 AM.
You
9/13 is fine.
pm085s(PADMA)
May I know the timing on 13th?
pm085s(PADMA)
9:00 AM-11:00 AM or 1:00 PM-3:00 PM?
You
1-3 on the 13th.
pm085s(PADMA)
Sure, thank you.
You
i would also like a copy of the order worksheet with the agreed upon prices from the representative i spoke with yesterday emailed to me before the install
pm085s(PADMA)
I have successfully rescheduled the appointment.
pm085s(PADMA)
We will not be able to send a copy of this order worksheet, however, please contact our Sales Department: [protected] - 7am-9pm Monday to Friday and 8am-5pm on Saturday.
pm085s(PADMA)
The Sales department would be able to send you the copy of the order worksheet .
You
alright. thank you.
pm085s(PADMA)
You are welcome.
pm085s(PADMA)
Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
You
no. thank you.
pm085s(PADMA)
Thank you for contacting AT&T U-Verse Services. We appreciate your time and business.
pm085s(PADMA)
Have a fantastic day ahead, Mrs. Hughes.

I went to ATT to renew my plan and get a new phone. The first phone died on the sales rep right in the store. The second one (same model) died on me the day after.

I went back to the store to exchange. They wanted to charge me a 35! Dollar restocking fee. I started arguing that all the phones have the same problem and I am not willing to pay that. The store manager came out and said he would need to charge the restocking fee but give me a 35 USD credit on my next bill.

I was ok with that.

My bill came in and it was about 20 Dollars higher than usual. I called customer service and they told me that this was an 18 Dollar fee for upgrading to “new” equipment – equipment that died on me and I returned. This fee the sales person “forgot” to talk about. And - the credit that was promised in the store was not on my account.

Also, just as a side note – since we don’t have a texting plan we get charged for every spam message – usually adds for visiting websites. I tried blocking online but that doesn’t work.

In no other country than the US the wireless carriers charge the RECIPIENTS fees for wanted/unwanted calls and sms. And in no other country people just go along with it. Must be the greatest country in the world