terrible experience with AT&T

I’m an AT&T U-verse and Mobile customer and I just had a terrible experience with AT&T.

I recently visited an AT&T corporate store in Marietta, GA (4250 Roswell Rd) to add my father, who is visiting me from China and does not speak English, to my AT&T mobile family account. I specifically asked the store associate to block the international call from his phone, and was told by it was done. I then set my father’s phone number with a calling card (not with AT&T) for him to call China.

A few days later my dad got an AT&T text message saying his international charges had exceeded $100. I called 18003310500 on Apr 17, 2016 and was transferred to international department. I was told that the store associate blocked the wrong feature, and because it was caused by a mistake made by AT&T I would get the international charges back in credit. But because it was right after my billing cycle I had to call back later—after the charges show up in my account. I was told that a note has been left in my account for the next customer care associate to apply that credit. This call took me about 45minutes.

I called 18003310500 again on April 25th, and after explaining the whole story again, was again transferred to international department. After putting me on hold for about 40 minutes, the customer care representative told me that, with his supervisor’s approval, the credit had been applied to my account and it would show up in a few hours. This call took me more than an hour.

I kept checking my account and the credit never showed up. I called 18003310500 on April 29th and, after explaining to a customer care agent the whole story again, I was put on hold for 43 minutes! I had to hang up and call 18003310500 again. This time I went over what happened three times, first to a customer care agent, then got transferred to the international department and then to a third special department. Nadia from this third department told me my credit request has been denied and a fourth department that can review this billing issue is not reachable! This call took me about 30 minutes.

My question and complaint to AT&T is three fold:

1. Why do you run such a fragmented and crappy customer service department? Do your people EVER talk to each other? Do you have any concept of customer experience or efficiency? Why does a customer have to call four times and spend hours talking to more than 10 different agents to get one billing issue solved? Senseless waste of time for everyone!
2. Why was I told twice, by two agents, that I would get the charges removed, and yet it never happened? Check your phone recording!
3. Why does AT&T push its own mistakes onto it customers? Check your April 17th call note and phone recording! It clearly says that the store associate blocked the wrong feature, and it was a mistake made by AT&T. It seems that AT&T seizes every opportunity to prey unknowing customers on its outrageous international call rates. In this case I tried to escape it and yet still got gouged. Pathetic!