Goodbye AT&T

[eli.gby]

I completed my preorder on Sep14 @ 4:45am EST for a 64gb Black iPhone 5.
Up until this morning, my AT&T is still showing my order at: processing/ pending shipment/ backordered

I just called and cancelled my preorder. I will also be leaving AT&T.

I have had enough.

This past week, AT&T reps/supervisors/managers have all given me different stories.

I have been:

1) told I should receive my phone on time for ordering before the 9am cutoff.
2) told that I missed the cutoff, and AT&T doesn't know when they ship my phone
3) told that i have no idea what my place in the order line is (despite ordering at 4:45am EST), and that I cannot make any claim to AT&T being late with my order.
4) told that Sep21 delivery is only suggested. Apparantly, i didnt read the fine print when ordering.
5) told my phone will ship Sep21
6) told my phone will ship no earlier than Oct4-15
7) told shipping my phone can take 14-21 business days
8) told I dont need to accept terms and conditions
9) told my phone is backordered because I did not accept the terms and conditions
10) told that iPhone5 "phone upgrade"-orders have priority over "new line"-orders
11) told my phone is scheduled to ship "tonight" (on Sep20)
12) was hung up on by a nasty condescending manager

A nice rep did some digging for me and found that because I "added a line", which didn't process till 2pm(!), that I missed the 9am cutoff point.

I honestly still feel cheated only because AT&T won't be straight with us.
I can understand the logistical nightmare, especially for AT&T. But no other serious company today repeatedly lies so badly to its customers all the time, if not downright brush them off.

Oh yeah, I told AT&T that I see many many people even on at&t's own customer forum saying that they received tracking numbers for orders they placed after 9am. 2 mangers and 1 rep all told me flat out that everyone is lying.

[Ker-Bear]

Verizon is no better. I have been their customer for over 10 yrs. they bought out my old company when I lived in Florida. They completely jerked me around with this iPhone order. I gave them a choice. Fix it or I take my business to AT&T. They let me go.

[Facci]

All these companies are the same, only the names are different.

[jamileh]

I'm sorry you've had such a hard time. 

Will you please please send me a private message with your name, account number, phone number and the best time to contact you?




To send a private message, you can either click on the link in this message or click on the little blue envelope in the upper right hand corner, click "compose new message" and type my username in the "Send To" field.

[Hawk631]

In all honesty here even though I was-and still am-completely annoyed and fedup with the way a lot of us were treated. AT&T still does edge out some of the other companies in some areas as I'm sure Verizon & Sprint do in others. It's a matter of finding who has the provides the best service for the price and what you need. Each of these companies has issues from time to time. Some are directly related to the company and others are external. One other thought to consider I believe AT&T handled close to 70% of the preorder volume on the 14th so any company bombarded by that will inevitably encounter problems.

[eli.gby]

The problem, as I stated before, is most at&t's customer service.

They are allowed by management to lie, hang up in your face, brush you off, etc.

Multiple reps responded to my complaints by telling me that I didn't make the cutoff for sep21 delivery (despite ordering at 4:45am EST on the 14th), and that they could "cancel my order" if I would like.

One even had the gall to lie to my face and tell me that line upgrades have priority over new line for iPhone5 preorders.

Do u really think this is a courteous answer?
Why did so many reps blame me for incompetence instead of just admitting their mistake and showing a sincere desire to help. Even complaining to managers usually results in their defending their colleagues and how hard they work. Boo-hoo.

The few reps who were nice to me couldn't help me because at&t's orders are spread over 4 computer systems, whose orders have all been merged in some random order, and nobody seems to have any control.

[TammyK673]

This problem is at all of the companies... switching won't save you this sort of hassle. But if you'd rather be with another company, then go for it!

[youngjm ACE - Professor]

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eli.gby wrote:
The problem, as I stated before, is most at&t's customer service.

They are allowed by management to lie, hang up in your face, brush you off, etc.

Multiple reps responded to my complaints by telling me that I didn't make the cutoff for sep21 delivery (despite ordering at 4:45am EST on the 14th), and that they could "cancel my order" if I would like.

One even had the gall to lie to my face and tell me that line upgrades have priority over new line for iPhone5 preorders.

Do u really think this is a courteous answer?
Why did so many reps blame me for incompetence instead of just admitting their mistake and showing a sincere desire to help. Even complaining to managers usually results in their defending their colleagues and how hard they work. Boo-hoo.

The few reps who were nice to me couldn't help me because at&t's orders are spread over 4 computer systems, whose orders have all been merged in some random order, and nobody seems to have any control.

---

There can be issues as you have expreienced but the grass is not allways greener.  On the plus side there will be a little more spectrum for the rest of us....  If you do switch do your homework and make sure you don't trade one issue for anther that may be more of an issue.

[bfrick10]

I switched over to Verizon this morning.  I never once received any notification that I would NOT be receiving my iPhone yesterday.  When I ordered mine, as well as my wife's, online, they both said they would be shipped by Sept 21.  We both received text messages saying congrats on ordering and that was it.

I called into AT&T's customer service line and had a chat with a female rep.  I asked her why they couldn't even send some notification to me stating my iphone wouldn't be shipped.  Her response was, "I'm sorry for your inconvenience, but there is nothing I can do at this time.  The best thing to do is stop whining and be patient." 

What?  For one, I wasn't "whining."  I asked a specific question as calm as ever.  So, not only had I not received my phone, but the customer rep tells me to stop "whining."  I cancelled my pre-orders, cancelled both of our accounts, and walked into a Verizon store at 9AM and walked out with 2 new iphones and a share plan for my wife and I.

So, AT&T, thanks to your EXCELLENT customer serivce, you have now lost 2 "insignificant" accounts.  Accounts that had been with you for 5 years and 8 years.  I appreciate the professional handling.

[Facci]

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eli.gby wrote:
The problem, as I stated before, is most at&t's customer service.

They are allowed by management to lie, hang up in your face, brush you off, etc.

Multiple reps responded to my complaints by telling me that I didn't make the cutoff for sep21 delivery (despite ordering at 4:45am EST on the 14th), and that they could "cancel my order" if I would like.

One even had the gall to lie to my face and tell me that line upgrades have priority over new line for iPhone5 preorders.

Do u really think this is a courteous answer?
Why did so many reps blame me for incompetence instead of just admitting their mistake and showing a sincere desire to help. Even complaining to managers usually results in their defending their colleagues and how hard they work. Boo-hoo.

The few reps who were nice to me couldn't help me because at&t's orders are spread over 4 computer systems, whose orders have all been merged in some random order, and nobody seems to have any control.

---

I have never had anything but good to great customer service when I have called AT&T with issues. They have even gone out of their way to SAVE me money and allowing me to backdate a different plan because of overages, saving me $$. I'm not saying that there aren't those reps that aren't as good as others or aren't as knowledgeable as some but these reps jump ship from AT&T to Verizon to Sprint so some of the reps that you spoke to this week may be the same reps that you talk to if you switch to Verizon next month. Now you also have to cut the reps some slack! I know for a fact that they are getting flooded with calls from people asking where their iphone 5 is and when is it coming and asking tons of stupid questions. Again not that bad customer service should be tolerated but I know dealing with the general public about things they don't know about or things that they think they know about, just makes you want to pull your hair out by the roots!! I see some of the people on this board whining about having to wait a week for their precious iphone 5 and it makes me want to scream! I wouldn't want to be in there shoes.

[johninsj ACE - Wizard]

The absolute worst time to expect awesome customer service is during the initial wave of iPhoneX mania. At this time it is best to remember that you'll have this phone for a year or two, so a few days here and there at the beginning isn't actually that much of a deal. 

Recall that these reps have taken thousands of calls from thousands of equally excited and eager purchasers who may or may not have abused them already for the past several hours, and you might be able to be more empathetic to the reality that they may not be able to deal with your issue completely free of aggravation. Especially if there is little or nothing they can do to expedite your particular problem.

There is no excuse for bad customer service, but you might be able to accept why it happens during these few weeks of new iPhone madness.

[SLIKRICK]

It always strikes me as humorous when people think because they've experienced a perceived slight, the answer is to go to a different carrier. I wish some of these people would go over to a Verizon forum for just five minutes. There you'll see griping, complaining, howling and bellyaching just the same as any other carrier. What's funny too, is that you'll see just as many if not more threats to "cancel my service and go to AT&T."

[eli.gby]

My complaint is NOT about not receiving the phone as much as the constant lies AT&T allows itself to make.

If a company screws up iPhone preorder with so many customers, an email (or even a press release) explaining the situation would calm everyone down, and reduce 50% of their calls. Any self-respecting company treats its customers that way.

But again, they don't care. They took in as many preorders they can, screwed over many ppl by not processing their orders in a timely fashion (and not in the order taken), and then proceeded to ship more phones to their stores.  I could have walked into my local AT&T store in the morning and simply bought the iPhone 5, no hassle. I even told them that I preordered, and they refused to give me one, saying AT&T wont help me.

Please, tell me more about how AT&T doesnt have the lowest Customer Satisfaction Index of any major cell carrier in the past 10 years.

Please tell me more about how many other cell-carrier customers didnt receive their iPhone5 preorders.

I can live with waiting longer for my phone.

Switching to Verizon now, I will actually wait longer.

None of you have any right to tell me their attitude is not condescending, of not insulting.

But what can you do about a company like AT&T.

[Inappropriate content removed]

[eli.gby]

sorry, At&t rep.

Verizon forums, as well as many others, show the vast majority of customers got their phone on time.

But there are TONS of complaint threads about AT&T.

Check forums on:

at&t.com

apple.com

macrumors.com

9to5mac.com

 and the list goes on...

[Facci]

You still don't get the picture!

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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SLIKRICK wrote:
It always strikes me as humorous when people think because they've experienced a perceived slight, the answer is to go to a different carrier. I wish some of these people would go over to a Verizon forum for just five minutes. There you'll see griping, complaining, howling and bellyaching just the same as any other carrier. What's funny too, is that you'll see just as many if not more threats to "cancel my service and go to AT&T."

---

+1 use both sprint and verizon forums, the usage of "worst customer service in the world" used in a message is in a dead heat between all three carriers, especially right now to ip5 mania of "wheres my iphone". The person that takes care of the wireless service and is on contract with all three carriers rated att as the best to deal with followed by a dead tie of verizon and sprint.