I had SBC for phone service and then it became ATT. I found a better rate for basically the same plan I currently had, online. It was $10 cheaper than my current plan. It was a special that you had to order online. It said you would save $5 a month by placing your order online. So I did this. Nothing but problems. I got my first bill and it was $25 higher than my old bill! I called customer service to ask about some charges. One was a charge for $7 for repeat dialing (which wasn't included in the plan I ordered online)

First the CSR was hard to understand and he had no idea what I was talking about. He transfered me to a 2nd person and they finally figured out that I'd had this feature under my old plan (was included in old plan) and they just thought I'd like to keep it even though it wasn't included in the new plan so they were charging me for it. I had ordered a totally different package so I have no idea why they thought I'd want to keep features I used to have that were not free anymore. They called it a computer glitch. So I was credited for that.

I had to call again because at closer inspection of my bill they were charging me $45 per month for my plan when online it said I would be charged $40. I called customer service again and it was horrible! The first CSR I spoke to, I just asked him how much a certain plan was (used their exact terminology) He could not tell me this. I gave him my zip code, area code etc so he could look it up and he kept saying there were all different prices for bundles (I repeatedly told him I didnt' want a bundle just home phone service) and that he couldn't tell me a price. That he didn't have the information. I asked who I needed to speak to that could tell me. He said no one there could give me the information.

All I was asking for was a price on one of their calling plans!! He said I would have to look it up on the internet and gave me their web site. I asked what do potential customers do who do not have internet access and he was stumped. The funny/irritating thing was he went into the script about "I'm glad we could help you today, is there anything else I can help you with?" and I was polite the whole time but wanted to laugh at the thought that he'd been of ANY help! Then he tried to sell me their cable service!! I called back and got another rep and this rep told me the price was $30 but if I added DSL it would be more etc. I asked if he was sure it was $30 because the internet said $40. Suddenly he said the price would vary each month! I explained that when I'd ordered the service (I had a screen shot) it said it was $40 and I was being charged $45 per month. He looked up my bill and told me this was the correct charge. I asked why the internet still listed the plan as $40 per month if the correct charge was $45. He said it was the correct price they were charging me. He said he could give me a $5 credit THIS month. I asked if I would be credited $5 every month as I had specifically ordered this plan at $40 per month. He said no that the price could fluctuate each month and I would be charged whatever price the package was each month.

Now I have never heard of this and advised him, that no, this means I would be charged the SAME price every month and it should be $40 a month, not $45. I told him to look on the web site and see the price. He did and said that my bill was correct. I told him I needed to speak to someone who could explain to me why I was being charged $5 MORe a month than what I'd signed up for. He said he could transfer me to the retention department and that he'd tranfer me to an agent directly. I was on hold for over ten minutes and finally got someone in the USA. She was helpful but again could not figure out why I was being charged more. She tried to tell me it was because my package included voicemail and the package I'd ordered did not include voicemail. This was incorrect and I asked her to visit the web site. She saw the mistake and said they really have no idea what is posted on the web site. I asked if I called them directly should they be able to tell me the price of a certain package and she said absolutely. even though the first two CSRs had no idea and told me they couldn't find this information.

She finally figured out it was because they were charging me an extra $5 per month for a feature that wasn't included in the package I'd ordered. now this time it wasn't listed as a separate charge- the way repeat dialing was- so it looked like that feature was part of the package. It wasn't a feature I even wanted so I asked her to take it off. She said it was probably a computer glitch. I bet ATT makes a lot of money off these "computer glitches" from people who don't look closely at their bills.

About a month after getting all this straightened out, I got an automated message from ATT saying there had been a request to change my phone service and if I did not make this request to call a certain number (customer service) so I called and got India again. I explained to the cSR that I'd received a message from ATT that someone had tried to change my phone service and I wanted to know what the call was regarding. He told me he did not know and tried to sell me cable services (dont' have cable in my area) and then told me he'd have to transfer me to the DSL department to have my question answered. I asked why he was transfering me to DSL as I don't even have DSL service. He said "you called to have your password reset and they are the department for that". AHHH!! The lack of understanding and being able to communicate effectively is so frustrating. I never said anything about a password or internet!

He said he could not help me as he did not know what I was talking about. I asked for a supervisor and was transferred to a queue (that asked for my information again) and was on hold for 12 minutes before I hung up.

There customer service is terrible. They really should not outsource these jobs as this is causing more problems for them. Or if they want to keep outsourcing the jobs, at least train the employees effectively so they know the basics. I have never heard of calling any type of service provider (cable, phone, internet etc) and them having no idea how much their services cost each month or what type of packages they offer. The reps were difficult to understand and seemed to have a language barrier (I was talking about home phone service and the CSR thought I wanted to reset a password).


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