I have been a customer for many years and have recommended services to family and friends. I've never had any serious issues with AT&T until recently, and my experience has been horrible since. I've never e-mailed/posted complaints before but my situation now warrants me to do so. I'm not sure I'll get the resolution I'm looking for by posting here. I had a combined billing account with my wireless and DSL services. I moved a couple of months ago and called in to transfer my DSL service to my new address. The representative I spoke to was very nice but was mistaken when she told me it would be no problem to transfer the service and that a technician would come out within the week to turn on the switch. I waited to weeks and no one came so I called back in. The new rep apologized and stated that DSL service was not available in my new area and that I would have to transfer to UVerse, which I did. I even signed up for UVerse TV, which was not my original plan. The rep told me he would cancel my DSL service retroactive to the date of my original call and confirmed that I would have a $0 balance when I received my final DSL bill within 10 business days. He told me that I would also receive a $40 credit for my troubles but that I would need to call in to the Sales dept. to receive it. I attempted to do so on two occasions but was on hold for so long each time so I just gave up. A technician came out that weekend to install my services but told me he just had an order for internet and not TV. I called in while he was installing internet and was told by a rep that they had no record of me ordering TV but that they could send another technician out within two weeks to do so. The technician installing my internet stated he could and was willing that day but was not given the permission to do so, so I told them to never mind as far as TV was concerned. My wireless service was turned off and I received a bill that week for a ridiculous amount that made me call back in. This was a month later after my original call and it turns out that my DSL service had not been cancelled and, since I had a combined billing account, it affected my wireless service. The rep I spoke with apologized for the misunderstanding, cancelled my DSL service, and immediately turned my wireless service back on. I had him verify that my account was in good standing, I made my monthly payment, and asked to de-combine my account as it was a headache that was not worth it. He confirmed that all was well, my new separate bills would arrive soon, and that I had no outstanding balance on any account. Less than a week later, my cell phone has a message about my sim card not being active, so I figured it was a sim card issue. I was unable to contact AT&T through my cell phone (my only phone) due to the sim card not working so I walked into a retail location and I explained my situation to a representative. He contacts the corporate office through the chat application and this is where the real headache began. My account had been not suspended but CANCELLED due to non payment. He was told a number of different reasons as to why my service was not working, which forced him to call in to clarify. He was eventually told that they would need to run an internal credit check to reactivate my service, which I initially refused because I did not feel I was at fault. They reassured me that it would not affect my credit so, after 2 hours of being at the store, I agreed to. They proceeded to tell me that I had an outstanding balance on my DSL account and that I would need to pay it before they could reactivate my service. I was furious at this point, thanked the retail representative for his assistance, and left. I went to another retail location the following day after I had the chance to calm down and used one of their phones to contact customer service. I was told so many different reasons as to what the problem was with my account, it's not even funny. I spent 4 hours at the store and called in 5 different times. I was initially told that my service would be reactivated immediately and was forced to call back in when it was not. I was transferred to a manager on one of my calls who was very condescending and rude. All of the representatives up to that point had been very friendly and attempted to resolve my situation. I asked this manager to please verify all of the notes in my account but she refused to do so. She offered to mail me a detailed billing statement but I wanted her to explain it to me on the phone since I had been without my phone all week and waiting for a bill in the mail would not resolve my situation in a timely manner. She continued to be rude and ended up hanging up on me. I immediately called back in and got a great representative who offered the most assistance through my whole ordeal. She completely understood my situation and stayed on the line with me an hour and a half as we were transferred to many different departments, each one having a different reason for my account status was and to what amount I supposedly owed. The last representative we spoke to in the Accounts Receivable department provided the most information, stating that, since I de-combined my account, I had an outstanding balance on my wireless account because AT&T pays it in advance. This did not make sense to either me, nor the great rep who was on the line with me and I asked why this was not explained to me when I de-combined my accounts and why I was told that I had $0 balances when I did so. She was unable to explain, offered to transfer me yet again to another department but I was beyond fed up at this point. I thanked the rep who stayed with me for so long through this whole ordeal. So here I am, it's been over a week without my wireless service and I am strongly considering going to another carrier. I have absolutely no problem paying what I owe but, since I was given so many different reasons and amounts owed, I am not comfortable paying as I feel I do not owe since I pay my account in full each month. This is my last ditch attempt to salvage my relationship with AT&T, but I really do not see an acceptable resolution happening. My friends/family think I crazy for spending so many calls/hours trying to fix this but I really have enjoyed most of my experience, up until recently. After spending thousands of dollars over the years, I would have hoped to be treated differently (better), but I fully understand that my account is a very small deal for a huge corporation.
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