In August of this year, my husband and I had gone into the ATT store at the Buckland Hills Mall in Manchester, CT. We wanted to upgrade our phones as our old phones were pretty beat up. We talked to a salesperson who looked up our account and told us that we were not eligible for an upgrade until September 14, but that we could switch to the ATT Next plan. He explained how ATT Next worked and advised us that we were better off waiting until our upgrade which was only a month a way after we told him what we wanted/what our price range was, etc. We agreed and returned to the store on September 15. On this day, we were met by a different sales person, named Scott. I explained to Scott that we wanted to upgrade phones, and that we wanted to do another two year agreement. He explained that ATT Next was a much better deal, and that it would be more cost efficient. My husband and I explained that we were on a tight budget as my husband is the sole provider for our family of four, and that I am a stay at home mom. We told him we were currently paying $84 a month with my husband's EMO discount because he is a UVerse technician and had to keep it right around there. Scott then told us that he can do better, and that our new plan with the ATT Next would only be $74.32 a month, saving us $10 a month from our previous plan, and that if we wanted to do a new two year agreement instead that it would cost us $86.48 a month. I told him this sounded too good to be tru that we would be able to save more money on our bill than what we were already paying with the ATT Next plan and that the previous month an employee had told us we were better off waiting and not signing up for ATT Next. He told us that the other person must have been new and misinformed because he could get us this AMAZING offer and our bill would be lower than before, and that it would include the installment plans for a new phones, and even came with two tablets for only 99 cents each! I wish I had trusted my gut and even told him that it sounded too good to be true but he assured me many times that this would be the price after my husbands EMO discount was applied. We eventually signed the contract, which we later learned had included things we had declined to him, such as a 14.99 unlimited music download subscription that I adimitely told him I was not at all interested in, as well as insurance on our tablets that we only got because they were only 99 cents each with our new phones. The contract he had me sign was on a tablet that just consisted of me signing on a line and he told me I would receive a print out of everything at the end. The print out that I received at the end only included an "estimated next bill", which was estimated at $274.11. I confronted the sales person on the spot who assured me that only the first bill would be that high, as it includes all of the activation charged and upgrade fees, and that it was only an "estimate", not the actual price I would be paying. My first bill was actually $217 and change. I paid it expecting it to be the only bill higher than the $74 due to the activation fees and upgrade charges the salesperson had told me about, but much to my surprise, when my second bill came, it was $176.56. I was outraged and immediately called the billing department on November 23, speaking to a customer service representative named Shawn, who told me there was little he can do except remove the warranties on the tablets (the warranties I told the salesperson I did not want). He told me that since it was after the 14 day buyer remorse period there was nothing more he could do. I told him that I wanted to file a formal complaint against the sales person and he advised me to contact the store manager directly and that he may be able to adjust my bill. I called the store after hanging up with Shawn and was told that the manager was too busy to talk to me and that they would tell the manager named Rob to call me when he was free. I never heard from Rob. On November 30, I called customer service again hoping to speak to a manager. I talked to a customer service representative named Serena, who was very concerned about the situation and said there was little she could do personally but put me on with the retention department. I spoke with someone named Joe in retention who was very unwilling to help, and told me the only thing he could do was lower and data to a ridiculously low plan and that I could mail him the tablets back. I explained that the price was supposed to include our tablets and 10 GB of data and he offered no further help. I then put him on with my husband who was told the same information, and he seemed very unconcered with how we were mislead by our salesperson. I then told him I no longer wanted to business with such an unethical company and to cancel my plan, in which he told me it would be over $1300 to cancel. I cannot believe that this is how your business is run... misleading hard working families into signing a contract they cannot afford without first providing documented proof of the price of the plan in the contract, just having to take the salespersons word for it and then not letting them cancel without hitting them with over $1000 in penalties when they realize they have been lied to. Joe from retention basically told us there was nothing more he could do for us and we asked to speak with a manager. He took our phone number down and told us a manager would be contacting us in 1-2 days. Immediately following this phone call, I again called the Manchester store in which we bought the plans from asking to talk to a manager. Again I was told the the manager, this time named Mel was much too busy and that he would call us before the store closes that night. No word from Mel... On December 9, after I had calmed down from my previously enraging call to ATT, I attempted to call again as I was disappointe that I was again lied to, as I still had not been contacted by a manager. This time I immediately told the customer service rep that I wanted to speak to a manager. She put me on with a lady named Debrah. Debrah told me that there was nothing that she could do for me as it is past the 14 day buyers remorse period. I told her of course it is past 14 days, we were lied to about what our bill was going to be and we did not receive a bill within the first 14 days, but after 30 days. She again explained there was nothing she could do. I told her at this point I was frustrated and ready to contact the BBB. She told me there was nothing that could be done past the 14 day window and that this is the plan I am stuck with.
[Edited for privacy-please do not post personal or unique information such as but not limited to full names, employee ID numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, etc.]