In June of 2011, my wife and I signed up for Uverse and wireless and set it up on auto pay. For over 3 years, we paid the entirety of our bill on time and autonomously. We recently moved, signed up for a new ISP and cancelled Uverse. It was also about this time that VISA issued us new cards due to the Target security breech.
The first time we called AT&T to change the card on file for autopay, we were told that we did not have autopay set up, and eventually the line was disconnected. The second time we called, we were again told that we did not have autopay set up, were put on “hold” while we listened to the operator talk to her coworkers about how she “can’t handle this today”, and after about a minute of going on disconnected the line. The third time (probably an hour into this process), we called asked for a manager – who did apologize and tried to explain – who then set up our new card. The next month we got a letter saying that our account is overdue. We called AT&T again and were told that since we just recently activated autopay, we would have to pay “the way we had been before”. During the explanation of how we have always been on autopay, the line was disconnected. I decided I would dial the “Check my bill balance”, and received a message that nothing was owed. Calling again to confirm, we were assured by a manager that nothing was owed.
Two weeks later (today), I received a call from a collections agency saying that we had not paid our AT&T bill. We pulled up our statement – which showed an auto draft for the month in question – and tried to explain the headache that we have been through just to pay for the service we receive. We were instructed to call AT&T. The first operator kept insisting that we had not paid before we were disconnected. Once we got through, we were told that we were billed twice, and one was rejected.
My point being in all of this, I do not see how any company can succeed who makes it this unnecessarily difficult (grand total of almost 4 hours on the phone) for a customer that has been as loyal as me and my wife just to pay – to give them money. We made every effort to give this company our money for their service, and it honestly felt as if we were fighting an uphill battle (in which the hill hangs up on you multiple times also). I would only be disappointed, if I wasn’t in such utter disbelief.
Sincerely,
Exhausted