Doh... AT&T tried to screw me...

[CountryBoy19]

I won't go into my back-history with AT&T but will briefly say that I've struggled with billing problems with them for 2+ years now. It takes them months of constant complaints to correct billing problems.

Last night I gave them their last chance. Got my bill for AT&T U-verse internet. It had an $8 late-fee tacked on. I thought, "That's not right, I paid that a full week+ before it was due".

I no longer call them because their CS is slower than a 7 year itch and wastes my VERIZON cell-phone minutes... so I use their online chat. It's much better for me because I can continue working on what I'm doing and just carry the laptop with me and check it occasionally for when they finally reply back...

Anyways, conversation goes like this.

Hi, I got my most recent statement and it's reflecting an $8 fee. I can only assume that is a late-payment fee.
CS: Hi, so I understand you have a question about this fee.
Yes, is that a late-payment fee?
CS: Yes, there was an $8 fee charged to you.
What was it for?
CS: It was a late payment fee
And what was the due-date on that bill?
CS: The late payment fee was charged because you paid your bill late
When was that bill due?
CS: Let me look
CS: 10/12/13
Ok, and when was the last payment received?
CS: 10/09/13 sir
And do you see a problem with those dates and said $8 fee?
I've been dealing with billing screw-ups from AT&T for 2+ years now, I'm tired of billing screw-ups and the next one I won't be contacting you for a billing problem, I will be contacting you to cancel all my AT&T services.
CS: Sir, may I have your phone-number please?
xxx-xxx-xxxx
This is XXX YYY, AT&T service manager, I understand you're having a problem with a late-fee. I see that our system must have been a mistake and I will correct that immediately.... convo continued similar to above until corrected.



I'm so sick of their billing. The service is good, the price is good, but I have to have my bill corrected EVERY SINGLE MONTH. I've threatened dropping them several times but I have no better options. The past incidents have been matters of the right discounts not being applied to my bill and despite continuous efforts to get them applied they never actually made it onto my bill so I had to call/chat to get statement credits issued every month. This is the most blatant screw-up yet to date though. Hopefully they get that fixed, I really hate to go w/o net.

 

[Scuba591]

I was" given " a $100.00 gift card that I never received but constantly promised. They are no good at keeping promises or billing mistakes.

 

[HDSilvrStreak]

I don't know. I've had AT&T U-Verse TV & Internet for over 4 years now and cannot think of a single billing error from them. My experience with their customer service has also been pretty good. Only once did I have any real issue that had to be escalated and that was due to a technical issue that their level 1 person just could not understand. It also looks like your issue this time was actually resolved pretty quick. Sucks that you've had to contact them multiple times though.

 

[CountryBoy19]

I don't know. I've had AT&T U-Verse TV & Internet for over 4 years now and cannot think of a single billing error from them. My experience with their customer service has also been pretty good. Only once did I have any real issue that had to be escalated and that was due to a technical issue that their level 1 person just could not understand. It also looks like your issue this time was actually resolved pretty quick. Sucks that you've had to contact them multiple times though.

Right, this time it was resolved "pretty quickly" but mind you it takes about 3 minutes for each time their chat-person responds. So that "very quick" conversation actually took me about a half-hour of time while I was simultaneously cooking dinner. If I had called them it would have taken that same half-hour time but I would have bee limited on what I could do while on the phone with them.

On average I have probably contacted them about 50 times (that is NOT an exaggerations) in the 3-4 years I've had their internet services and average call/chat time is well above 30 minutes. That is inexcusable to me. The amount of time I've wasted on the phone with them is incredible to figure when you add it all up. That's why I quit calling and started chatting online. It's not as much of a time waster because it still takes the same time but I can multitask more easily. The main problem with the other times is to fix billing problems they often have to transfer you several times and so starts the whole explanation over again. When you've had the long messed-up billing history I ended up with it took 5+ minutes alone just to explane it.

 

[chraland51]

My bills are never what I was told that they would be when I make changes in my package of television, internet and cell phone. I recently dropped the higer level of cable televison to just the basic since I was tired of re-run scy-fy movies, killing alligators, porn, er pawn stars and storage wars as well as seeing Jeremy Wade catch the same river monster every other episode. My total price was supposed to have dropped about $60. It has only dropped half of that. In the past, when I have tried to get something resolved there always seems to be a problem that my sales associate can not answer so I have to be transferred to the tv/internet people in a different location who make me go through the entire problem again only to tell me that I should never have been transferred in the first place. It has been a real pain for me since I left Comcast a few years ago so that I cold have all my services come to me on one easy to understand bill. Yeah, right!!! I have only rented one movie, ever from AT&T. I never used the free movie passes that they occasionally offer me as my bill seems to go up for a couple of months and it never seems to come down by having my account credited for the rental and have a refund applied. It is a total frustration and it has been from day one. It is most likely intentional on the part of AT&T to keep me confused and possibly overcharged. Heck, for all I know, I might have even subscribed to something that I did not want during a transaction that I did not understand. They probably count on suckers like me to just keep paying our bills. I certainly do not recommend AT&T to any of my friends or associates as the result of this. I am really sick of the additional taxes and charges, in addition to the normals sales tax, hung on the bill from the federal government. I do not really have a clue as to who all has their hand in my pocket looking for my loose change.

 

[Stickfight]

AT&T is probably the worst company in the world from a customer experience standpoint. If I couldn't go to Apple for all my cellular needs I would go out of my way to avoid them.

They are a monument to the awfulness of government enforced private monopolies. The worst of both worlds.

 

[Birds Away]

Doh... AT&T tried to screw me...

With, or without, buying you dinner and drinks first?

 

[forgop]

Contacting AT&T on a monthly basis for billing issues is a reasonable expectation as long as other competitors have similar issues. If not, just sue them.

 

[Trigger Time]

Service is great, but customer service sometimes takes forever to get a live person. One time when I was signed up for automatic billing they charged our card for someone else's bill. Took forever to figure out why my account hadn't been credited and but why I was still charged. It was a major pita! I've had weird stuff pop up in my bill from time to time and also their bill is VERY confusing and I think its intentional!
Like someone above mentioned; i also was supposed to get a gift card that never showed up.

still att is leaps and bounds ahead of comcast and directv and I'm happy I switched several years ago.

 

[Brandon]

I returned their equipment and gave them the confirm numbers and they are still trying to bill me for it. I hate them.
I am actually thinking about going to another cell phone provider this weekend.

 

[Naptown]

You are only as strong as your weakest link. I have tried AT&T, verizon and others. They all employ people who suck. Odds are, they are the ones answering the phones.

 

[JoshuaW]

Call in, ask to talk to customer retention. Get some discounts, explain your frustrations with the service. When all is said and done, ask the retention agent for their direct number. Next time you have a problem, this is the number you call.


I have a lot less problems with my ATT service now that I talk to a retention agent every six months like clockwork to get my discounts renewed. Mention Comcast just once, and all of your problems go away.

 

[cbseniour]

Welcome to the club. AT&T has tried to screw everyone who ever dropped their not what it's cracked up to be service. It took me 4 months the get their a##s off my back.

 

[pjcalla]

We had problems with Comcast at our place of business. Our internet and phone were constantly down, service would take forever, etc. I hope you have a "log" of sorts that outlines each time you've had a problem. We told them we were going to call the OUCC and/or IURC and we have X pages of notes (we did) that we were going to give them for an investigation, if they cannot resolve the issues . They were out here within a couple hours, fixed the problems and gave us credit on our bill. We have not had a problem since.

I guess the moral of the story is if they keep screwing you, get the authorities involved (or tell them you are). You pay for them, you might as well use them (OUCC/IURC).

 

[No2rdame]

As bad as AT&T is, I have to say Comcast is worse. I thought about switching and called to see what promotional deal they could offer me. The woman gave me the quote and said she'd call back after I had spoken with my wife about it. Comcast called back alright. The tech called to confirm my appointment. Apparently, the woman I spoke with signed me up for service despite me never asking for it. That's my first and last with Comcast, I'll stick with AT&T even though their service sucks.

 

[findingZzero]

When I switched from Comcast to Uverse after many yrs., all I wanted was the same bill every month for a yr like I was promised in the promotions. I've had to call every month as my bill would change every month. The only time it doesn't change is when you pay the post promotion rate. Now they all have great 1st yr promotions which they recover in the second yr (2 yr contract). What they charge for slow Inet service is arbitrary and usurious. I'm going off the grid and launching my own satellite. I need backers. Rocket fuel is expensive.

 

[Caleb]

I returned their equipment and gave them the confirm numbers and they are still trying to bill me for it. I hate them.
I am actually thinking about going to another cell phone provider this weekend.

Had that problem with comcast... Those bastards tried to charge my account $900+ for failure to turn in equipment that I ready turned in. To add insult to injury, they also tried to charge me $151 for late payment that I didn't even owe.

 

[gunman41mag]

I use COMCAST, cause AT&T was a piece of

 

[Brandon]

I've had both att and comcast. Att's picture would freeze. That is the only reason I have comcast. I'm ready to drop att as my cell phone provider.

 

[88GT]

I returned their equipment and gave them the confirm numbers and they are still trying to bill me for it. I hate them.
I am actually thinking about going to another cell phone provider this weekend.

I have never had billing issues with Sprint. Their customer service in India is pathetic on several levels, but I haven't needed to use it for 6 years. Just sayin'.

We had problems with Comcast at our place of business. Our internet and phone were constantly down, service would take forever, etc. I hope you have a "log" of sorts that outlines each time you've had a problem. We told them we were going to call the OUCC and/or IURC and we have X pages of notes (we did) that we were going to give them for an investigation, if they cannot resolve the issues . They were out here within a couple hours, fixed the problems and gave us credit on our bill. We have not had a problem since.

I guess the moral of the story is if they keep screwing you, get the authorities involved (or tell them you are). You pay for them, you might as well use them (OUCC/IURC).

I had a thought while reading this: what would happen if when the customer service rep answered, your first words were "This call is being recorded and monitored in the event I need to take legal action against <insert company name here> for their fraudulent and deceptive practices?"