It may actually be that I've never been so disappointed in another company period. That's only because I hold AT&T to a much higher standard than the behaviors and and practices I've witnessed recently as a customer.
First off, I've been using an AT&T cellphone for the past 11 years. It was a cingular phone at the time. My family had always used them so there is a lot of brand loyalty there. 3 years ago I finally put service into my own name. I've tested the waters with other carriers a couple of times, and was left dismayed. This is when I came to the conclusion that although other carriers charged less per month... I would continue on with AT&T. I figure you get what you pay for and I had no problems paying more for what I considered to be a far more superior service and a truly remarkable customer experience.
These were my feelings for AT&T and I vocalized them regularly. I am literally a promoter of the company. I've felt it my civic duty to save people from the likes of T-Mobile and Sprint and show them the light. I even worked for AT&T (directly for 2 years in their retention department and indirectly for a contractor for another six months). My job was easy because I believed in the customer promise AT&T "stands by". Even after leaving the company as an employee I would still champion and promote the brand because I still believed in it. Fellow customers would tell me things like "AT&T is horrible/No ethics/They don't care/etc" and I would reassure them, "Look maybe you just got the wrong person I know personally that's not the experience they want you to have.. just give it another go.. call again.. I know this can be resolved.". My loyalty to this company went so hard.
From using them for forever to working for them to bundling all my services. My household is an AT&T household. Well it was. Slowly but surely I'm disconnecting services.
I recently moved to another unit within my same complex. I needed to transfer my existing U-verse internet as well as have new Directv installed so that I would be eligible for the new AT&T Unlimited plan (you have to have your wireless and Tv services bundled. And I figured "SWEET ACTION, UNLIMITED DATA!"
The experience seemed easy enough. Set up my order online. It's easier for me and better for the company when I utilize self service options. So I ALMOST ALWAYS do. To my surprise, the day before my move/install I called to confirm some order details and I'm told that the "Order was never processed". Seems interesting to me because I was definitely charged $19.95 "delivery and handling for the Directv services. She was rather rude but nevertheless told me not to worry this issue would be resolved she just needed to do a little research to determine how to reprocess my order without charging me again. No problem. I have an insane patience and tolerance level for this type of thing because I've worked in customer service/call centers for so long. I personally understand what they are going through. While I'm waiting on MUTE (because she doesn't want to hurt her hold time), the call is disconnected.
At this point I truly do want to give up. At the same time it's already been a lengthy investment. So i call back, wait another 30 minutes or more to speak to an agent, I'm reassured she is extremely and will personally do everything in her power to resolve the issue. At this point I'm feeling it. I'm excited at how good she is at taking ownership and making me feel comfortable. The order is processed I've selected my equipment. We've set my install date. She's given me a discount on my internet bill($17 a month due to the speed issues I'd been having - we're hoping speeds will improve after the tech is out for the install). So we're golden.
I get my confirmation email. The service address for the installation is my old and not new address. Also even though I requested an HD-DVR, I'm apparently only getting one HD receiver. So I call. Cannot reach anyone with AT&T. Waited on hold for... 45 minutes?? Then I got a recorded message "Due to high call volumes we are unable to assist you at this time. SERIOUSLY??? Would have been good to know almost an hour ago. So I contact Directv. Luckily the lady is nice and updates the address for the install but informs me to change the equipment, I'll have to reach out to AT&T since the order originated from them.
I call the next morning to have the equipment updated. Lady tells me she is unable to update the order and that her advice would be to simply wait until the tech is there and if he has a GENIE on his truck that we should be able to update the order on site. So that's what I do.
He tells me he has to call someone to have it updated but should definitely be able to leave me with what I ordered. Then he steps outside and AT&T calls to confirm that I wanted the GENIE receiver. I tell her yes and she informs me it is $107.00 charge and that she will need to run a credit check. I'm like "Naw. I already did this.... Two times now". It's at this point that I'm just now starting to let my frustrations show. But still very polite and professional. She informs me that honestly the best thing to do would be to cancel the directv portion of my order. Wait 24 hours. Then call back to have new service set up and insure it is the equipment I wanted prior to them coming out to avoid issues. She was very nice and helpful. I took the advice and that day nothing was installed but the move of my existing U-verse.
So two days later I call to set up my new Directv service.... third time trying now. Three times a charm. So I spoke with a very nice young gentleman. Everything very smooth. Again with the empathy and ownership. Order complete. Order confirmation email states HD-DVR receiver. GOOOD. I'm excited at this point. Install date definitely set for a month out??? Which is not what we had established on the phone. It took soooo long to get that sorted out. Finally we did. Tech came out two days later. No GENIE. Just an older HD-DVR receiver which is not what we had discussed any of the three times. So this time when AT&T calls I paid the $107.00 because no way was I doing this again. The man taking my card info states "it is $126.95 on the card.". I was like "I thought it was $107.00.". Then he fumbles over himself "Oh yeah just the $107.00"
We end the call and I check my debit card and surely was $126.95 - I was charged ANOTHER handling and delivery of $19.95. I told the tech while he was still there. And he was like "Honestly I'd call retention and complain till they take it off. Complain even more they might do more.". Well guess what? That's not what I want! What I want is a smooth transition. Or some lines of communication between you and the call center maybe? Maybe AT&T and Directv talk to one another? Or maybe communicate to your customers better? Like the best answer is not always the one you want to here. Had someone told me initially it's gonna be $107.00 to get the receiver you want instead of telling me different ways it would/should be free then I woulnd't have been upset. Just terrible communication.
So then another very long back and forth just trying to get the $20 thrown back onto my card. Finally it did. I called to tell them "Oh also! The cable running from my dish to my unit isn't buried so ... that needs to fixed as these little neighbor kids are tripping all over the long loose wire. "We'll have someone call you tomorrow about coming back out" They just came back out to burry it on 02/22/16.
Then around February ninth we established that the internet speeds just were not improving. So hesitantly I canceled my service with U-VERSE. Even after this debacle It was hard for me to do that. Because I'm pretty pleased with my services. I'm just gonna be working from home and the internet wasn't fast enough. Lady was helpful. Gave me her ID. Told me since I ad just gotten back on promo a few days ago she would waive the ETF fee and because of the inconvenience I wouldn't be charged for the full month and that she would stop it same day request(AT&T typically doesn't prorate final billing).
Lo and behold I'm being charged for u-verse services for billing period 02/08-03/07 and it is Past due. Low and behold I'ts randomly saying I have $211.00 past due which consists of $148.95 carryover from my wireless to the combined bill and an additional $62.87 for u-verse services I didn't have. Funny thing about any of it being past due is that my bill is always due on the 1st. Well my bills for all services were current come the beginning of February. Now here it is 02/23 and somehow my bill due on March 1st IS past due. Not all of it. Only the "carryover" and the bogus U-verse charges. It's like I read these bills and understand them well so I could explain them well. And I was very good at it. So I definitely know when the right thing isn't being done for the customer.
I'm leaving this godawful review in hopes that someone from AT&T reaches out to me to resolve these issues because I am so exhausted with your hold music. I've already tried to call - was on hold forever. Got someone on the line and the phone disconnected and so when that didn't work I tried chat and the rep was very nice and she asked me to hold while she got me in contact with retention. But then "Please wait" flashes over and over. And then my webchat disconnected.
I apologize for the longwindedness. The point made here - is that I do still pay a great deal of money every month. By word of mouth I've on my own Started six new lines of service for AT&T, 5 of which are on your installment plans. So no... I no longer feel like I am getting what I'm paying for. No I no longer feel the same relationship I felt with this company. It is an extremely damaged one because I've gotten nothing but hold, hung up on, transferred back and forth. It's unprofessional either way. I could almost understand it if I were a really difficult customer. But I'm not. I've still not raised my voice or been rude to anyone. So it makes no sense to me that my reasonable issues and requests cannot be resolved by anyone.
I've yet to take one of those ACE surveys. Because I don't wanna hurt anyone's scores or anything like that because I do still care. I can, however definitely tell you that in my mind right now I am a detractor. If someone were to ask me right now if they should go to AT&T I would tell them of the odyssey that has been the last month of my life with AT&T (First time I tried to place that order was on January 29th.). Used to it would have been stories about how great they are to their customers. But now it would be a story about being lied to, placated, hung up on, incorrectly billed. Probs I'd tell them to try somewhere else. Maybe give Verizon a go. Idk.
What I do know for certain is that no promise is being lived to me, your customer. And nothing - LITERALLY NOTHING - is being made effortless for me. It's an extreme effort to even get someone on the phone and get correct information. This is a horrible customer experience and I'm so let down. I have no more effort try and call today. If nothing gets resolved, I will simply pay my bill as is - and reach out to someone with the Office of the president and or legitimately porting my lines somewhere else. Because I'm utterly disgusted with this service/company right now.
Loyal customer,
Daniel Howard