Here is a letter I have written to AT&T Customer Services.
Summary:
(1) Careless agent makes mistake by closing line too soon
(2) AT&T would have wanted me to pay service restoration fee
(3) No one bothered to remind me I would be charged until the end of the billing cycle anyhow, whatever the cutoff date I selected
Conclusion: I leave AT&T upset although I was satisfied for 3.5 years.
Dear AT&T,
I have been a satisfied customer for 3.5 years with a personal and professional line but on the last day of service, AT&T managed to pour all that satisfaction down the drain and have me leave as a highly dissatisfied customer, with a negligible chance of ever returning.
On Sunday December 13th, I chatted online with an agent requesting a service closure on the xxx xxx xxxx line for Monday December 14th at 11:59pm. At the end of the chat, I thought it better to clarify and specifically wrote “I just want to make sure I will be able to use the line on Monday December 14th,” to which the agent replied with a clear yes. To me and anyone I have asked, it was clear that the reference to 11:59pm was to specify I needed the line on Monday and my final clarification should have made it crystal clear to the agent.
Obviously, on Monday I wake up with an email stating the line has been discontinued. I call, the agent fixes it but tells me I will need to pay the service restoration fee as she can’t waive it. I refuse. She makes me hold a couple minutes and all of a sudden she’s able to waive it. I can’t believe you made me feel like I had to beg when AT&T is the one that cut the line too soon. I then ask to close the service for December 15th, as I expected the first time I called.
Now this happens to be pretty much at the beginning of my billing cycle and what outrages me the most is that no one ever bothered to remind me that AT&T charges for the full month anyhow. I realized afterward this is indeed specified in the terms and conditions but if AT&T really “cared” for its customers, one of the three agents I spoke to / chatted with would have reminded me that I might as well leave the line open until the end of the billing month because I would be charged anyhow. This would have avoided so much wasted time and me leaving disgruntled.
For a customer-minded and service-oriented company, you failed. This episode showed (1) the carelessness of the agent I chatted with and (2) the lack of empathy for the customer by withholding information that could have been useful to be reminded of.