Terrible Customer Service

[oneterriblecomp…]

Well, I can see that I am not the only one having problems.  It would seem like it is an ongoing issue for this business.

First of all, call and get the computer then repeat the information 2 or 3 times before you get a person (and after waiting on hold - forced to listen to propoganda trying to sell you more of what you are having trouble with). 

Then there is the human who is most of the time abrupt and often rude.  Customer Service training is simple for this department - teach them how to say I am sorry and then put you on hold and never come back.  This leads to beginning the process over and becoming even more frustrated.  Part two of training is to help you understand the business philosophy that if you leave a person on hold long enough the problem will go away.

It is a pure shame that reapiring a problem (caused by the company due to not listening to the customer) take over an hour and a half on the phone.  In the end to be assured that it will be completely fixed within the next 48 hours (more waiting).

If you are reading this and are considering an account with this company, PLEASE, let me save you the aggrevation and reconsider.  If you choose to go ahead (completely your right) don't say I didn't warn you.

[jfranks09]

Terrible would be considered a compliment for the experiences I have had with their Customer Service. I’ve never had so many issues with a TV company. I was duped into getting the cable and internet because it would be cheaper than Comcast.... after a $25 per month promotion it ended up being the same and I’m not getting high def either. I have a mysterious charge on my bill that no one can explain to me... tried to call back today but their hours are from 8am to 7pm... so I’ll have to spend a 4th call and more time out of my busy day calling them. i wouldn't refer AT&T to anyone! can't wait to switch phone services once my contract is up too...

[Monster84]

Just a thought, i wonder how well anyone or anything would change if they always received bad constructive criticism. I know it is not our job to find solutions but providing something that actually is constructive would help them more than just complaining about it.

[mflanzer]

I think the original poster was quite clear and direct with his complaints. I certainly share them. There is absolutely no reason why I should have to enter my phone number 7 times before getting a human agent and then have to repeat it yet again.

Simply put, the IVR is terrible. No one likes being on hold, but I'd rather just in line rather than wasting all that time with the IVR. It's insanely repetitive, very slow, required the same information again and again, moved me in circular menu tracks, etc. etc.

And as a footnote to my horrible experience, I'm unable to register for this forum using my first name: Matt, because the last three letters spell the company name. How stupid is that?

[pamelaz]

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mflanzer wrote:

And as a footnote to my horrible experience, I'm unable to register for this forum using my first name: Matt, because the last three letters spell the company name. How stupid is that?

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It's possible the username you were signing up as has already been registered by another user.

I have PM'd you.  Please let me know, thanks!

[ChitinaAl]

AT&T is the worst in customer care.

I have tried to close my worthless AT&T long distance account now for six months.  AT&T continues to bill me every month and when I call customer service and get to speak to a live person I am told the account will be fixed.  Well six months and the account is still not fixed.

If you call 800-532-7486 and press zero as directed for a customer care person it hangs up on me.

If you call 800-288-2020 it tells me to call another number.

If you call 888-321-2375 in hangs up on me.

I finally got someone on 800-222-0300 and they said like many other representatives they would take care of the billing problem.  I bet he problem will still be there on the next bill.

The website is a joke for trying to find a number to call for long distance issues.

The service that AT&T provides is a joke.

I will never, ever use AT&T again.

[xboxgeneration]

I ask questions like what is that Bitrate for the HD stream and they said it was unlimited, they clearly have no idea on their own technology, I know more than they do.

[gavinmac]

Today I called customer service for like the 15th time in 2 weeks and the guy hung up on me. what a joke. The tech support people dont even know simple terms such as ping and lag. This is almost worst than clearwire. Im getting rid of at&t ASAP.

[kfitzger10]

TWICE, I have tried to order internet without a phone for two different weekend residences and both times they got screwed up.  First time I did it on the internet and the "help" chat told me that I would get a confirmation and that I would be able to re-direct the box so it would not get delivered to an unoccupied residence. WRONG.  I called immediately after ordering and was told it was already sent, but they would redirect.  WRONG. it showed up at the weekend place and sat on the front porch.   I had to order another one and then TWO charges hit my account because, silly me, I didn't get out to the house quickly enough to get the box returned.  In  addition, I told them I wanted it without phone and was planning to disconnect the phone as soon as I had the service, it took 2 months to clear out the bill and I am still not sure it is correct.

Second time, I called to make an order for my elderly parents hoping that by calling I could avoid such a screw up.   WRONG again.   The person on the phone that took the order was very nice but when I asked to give an alternate shipping address he said he could not do that but he and gave me a number to call to change the shipping addresss.   I immediately called the other number and the person on that line said sorry, the order had already been placed and the box would be shipping to the account address!  I would have to call yet ANOTHER number, which is only open 8-5!.  I did get a confirmation email that said the order had been placed.  I checked several times over the weekend to see whether the box was actually enroute but kept getting an error message on the order.

I just called and, after sitting on musak for 10 minutes, was told the order number I was given could not be correct, it had too many numbers. 

Yes, I ranted about how I was looking at an email and reading "Thank you for your recent order. Your AT&T order number is:  {Personal content removed for your safety}" So how could the order number be too long??? I was reading it straight from the email.  I asked for an email address to forward this email and was told no, he would not give me an email address and that their was no order in the system.  But they could put another order in for me. 

I asked how could I be sure that my elderly parents would not get 2 bills for the same service and if they did, how would they be able to get it squared away since even when you get a live person they cant seem to get anything straight? 

I am at a loss.  If I re-order on the internet and pick up a box myself, will they end up with two boxes and two bills and spend hours on the phone with some idoit unable to shut down one service without a fee because it has a different account number and telling them they have a year contract, sorry??

[kfitzger10]

I wonder, does any of the AT&T management actually read these posts?  They have a serious customer service problem and a serious problem with their orders department.

[kfitzger10]

Amazing. See the string above for the rest of my tale.  After being told there is NO account that matches my order number and no account associated with the address, and being told I needed to re-order the service, I insisted that the address double checked and upon questioning what I was being told the representive HUNG UP on me. 

Then I get a call that the box was delivered to my parent's house, and, lo and behold, their is an account number listed.  When I look it up, there it is, ready to activate, READY TO BILL! The account I was told DOES NOT EXIST????

What would have happened if I had listened to the customer service person and replaced the order????  We all know what would have happened.  I would have spent months trying to undo AT&T's mistake.

I have to wonder, is it incompetence, is this really a mistake, or is it just a big company paying a phone bank for every order that is placed, even if it is an order for an existing service.   

And again, does anyone other than POd customers read this?  As many lobbiest and lawyers as AT&T likely has, and as much business as they get inspite of their behavior, there is no reason for them to make their customers happy, now is there? 

[alane03]

How often do they try and transfer you to another department or in the case of Direct TV they keep passing the buck back and forth.  For anyone out there considering the Bundle package that includes Direct TV - DONT DO IT.  Go direct to the TV service provider.  They will screw you come year 2 and raise your monthly fee way higher than what AT&T quoted you for a total monthly cost per year.  Then they tell you it's not their problem but Direct TV.  Then you call Direct TV and they tell you it's AT&T since they took the order down and you pay them.  Talk about bad customer service - no one takes ownership.  I put it on AT&T since they took the order down and were the ones who very cleary told me what the monthly cost would be for year 1 and year 2.  They even have the amount quoted listed in their customer service computer system notes and told me they cant do anything to make it right.  --- Let me transfer you to Direct TV - pass the buck.... DONT GET THE BUNDLE WITH TV - you will get screwed. 

[Worst_Service_E…]

Clearly, the horrible service is something that will never change, year after year. I have never had an ATT cell phone, but I did have the displeasure of having them for DSL (most unreliable internet ever) and phone for a few years. This led to many, many loooong service calls, lots of gaps in service, and finally me hating ATT in general and swearing I would never have another account with them. Sadly, I have now moved to an area where ATT is my only internet choice unless I want cable, which I don't.

I reluctantly accepted the fact that I would have to deal with ATT again and called to order service. This call took 120 minutes (I was on my cell phone, so I have the log), at the end of which I had to supply an address to have my equipment shipped to. I asked when the equipment would be delivered and was told Friday, so I had it shipped to my work. Of course, the package did not come Friday, so it came Monday, a day which I had taken off from work, and also my install date, so I had to go out of my way to retreive it. Then I get everything hooked up correctly, but no broadband. So, I call the number listed, go through the menu, enter all my info, hold for 20 minutes, get a live person, repeat all my info for him, describe problem. He runs a check to make sure service is activated, finds out it should be active, then informs me he'll need to transfer me. GREAT. Another 20 minute wait, a new service person, repeat all my info again, reverify who I am, and go back on hold while he checks to make sure the service is active (which I told him was checked by the previous operator) only to get the same results. Then I get walked through a bunch of level 1 steps which I'd already tried (filter in place, different phone line, modem reset, etc) only to be told this is beyond what they can do over the phone (duh!) and they need to send a tech out, which of course I will have to pay for.

I have now spent 4 hours on the phone with ATT, and need to take late afternoon off work tomorrow for the tech to come, and still no service. Plus, I have to pay for the tech! I have never heard of such a thing when the tech is coming out to get the service up and running. I've dealt with two cable companies, Direct TV, Dish Network, and Verizon and never once had to pay just to get a service working! I sooooo wish there was another option in my area!

[Worst_Service_E…]

Just to add insult to injury ... Wednesday, the technician comes out, checks the outside lines, and finds that the signal is not coming through to the main box (which is what the other technician who came out Monday was supposed to be handling). So, the Monday tech didn't do his job right (who hooks up a service and then doesn't check to insure signal?), and apparently the Wednesday tech also can't handle it, as he informs me he will have to send out a different technician. So I call ATT, but its past business hours (of course!)

8 AM Thursday. Two 2 hour phone calls and two tech visits in, time to call ATT again. This time, I've just about decided to suck it up and go with Time Warner. I call the number listed in my U-Verse install guide (that came with the equipment), went through voice recognition, went on hold, got an operator, verified, was informed that U-Verse has a different number (different than the one they provide with their equipment!) so I get transferred. Then again. Each transfer requires a longer wait time, and a new operator that makes me reverify. By my second operator, I've informed ATT I want to cancel everything and send them back their equipment. This also takes some doing (must be that "put them on hold until they give up" mentality). Bottom line, I went through 1 hour, 5 operators and the voice recognition system 3 times before I got my service cancelled. And to get a refund? I need to follow the ship back instructions on the box, insure the package myself (!), wait until it arrives, and then call back to get my refund. And the best part? Even though the account is cancelled, I may still be billed for the first month of service unless I get the equipment back soon enough, but I shouldn't worry about that, because they'll refund it once they do get their equipment.

So basically, they're planning on going ahead and billing me for a CANCELLED service that has never once worked! Time Warner, here I come! ATT  will never, ever receive my business again. I've now been though 5 hours of phone time with these people, taken an afternoon off of work, and have nothing to show for it other than $120 billed against my credit card with another $20 hitting in the next few days. All for nothing, literally.

Random point of annoyance - when you're calling because your internet doesn't work, and they have you on hold, and the little voice trying to keep you happy keeps telling you to look online for solutions! Utter insanity. It's amazing this business operates at all, and manages to keep customers.

[Inappropriate content removed]

[Mikef9]

It's all true. I signed up for promo DSL. After hours on the phone, I managed to talk to two reps. Both promised the promo price would be what I would pay and all I would pay, from the first month to the end of the promo period. Okay. First month's bill appears: they lied. I am paying twice as much as I should. After hours on the phone again, I talked to one rep who said it would be credited back the second month, which would thus cost nothing, and the promo price would be billed from then on, How much would I bet that's true? 0.00. So now I tried to set up an online bill pay account. I've done this dozens of times with other companies. Well, you can't do it with att. I call, spend twenty minutes on the phone trying to get to a human. Get one. Wrong person. He asks me to check and see if I am connected to the internet. He knows nothing and has nothing to do with billing. He says he will transfer me to billing. After ten minutes on hold, I get someone in billing for whom english is a fourth or fifth language. They ask me all the same stupid questions again. And finally, before I get whatever it is I need, the call is cut off. They are so incredibly bad they cannot even set up an account to get themselves paid. Their website/accounts pages are unnavigable. They have so many different passwords and usernames that you can't get into anything. You constantly have the feeling you are dealing with the stupidest people on earth. THEY ARE SO INCREDIBLY BAD THEY CANNOT EVEN SET UP AN ACCOUNT TO GET THEMSELVES PAID!!!

[Worst_Service_E…]

And now I have returned their equipment as per their instructions. I called to see about a refund, and was told there was actually a BALANCE on the account and no refund had been requested. I managed to get the balance credited back. I wonder why there was one. Are other companies in the habit of charging you money for services never rendered? How can a CANCELLED account that never worked possibly have a bill? And where is my money for the useless gateway I returned?

So I call and get an operator (well, actually 3, since they always transfer you to someone who can't help you). Once I got the right person, she actually told me I bought the equipment, so it was mine to keep and there was no reason for me to send it back. I told her I HAD already sent it back, and I asked her what good her equipment could possibly do me without service. Naturally, she was stumped herself. Then I had to read her the return policy that was printed on a label included with the equipment (thankfully I made and kept a copy) which indicated I could be refunded if I cancelled in the first 30 days. Only after I read her the terms was she willing to admit I MIGHT be eligible for a refund. FINALLY, I get them to issue a refund request, only to find that this is a 45 day approval process, at the end of which they may deny me. So, I guess I'll be back in a month and a half or so with the outcome. ATT meanwhile while can gain interest on the funds they refuse to give back. This is practically stealing.

[Kathy Griffey]

Does anyone ever get a response from At&t on this message board???

[shamrock1]

Honestly no I don't think they do, I do think its a way for them to allow us to vent and keep using them as most people would.  People including myself get used to a certain type of deivery service and find it hard to go elsewhere.  AT&T pays their employees VERY well, so you can imagine what their top management.  I know I was married to a splice technician and year after year he consistantly made over 90K a year more then a high school principal without the college degreell.  This was consistant with the rest of his coworkers.  

I will be canceling my cable and will be looking at transfering my internet service provider.  I think then when a company places you on hold for over 2 hours, you should be receiving a call from a supervisor profusly apologizing for that type of care. 

Just my thought

[rooted]

The best way to get help on this forum is to PM an employee, I got help right away and my billing issue resolved in about 72 hours doing just that. I posted my issue first then PM'd the link.

[rooted]

I also want to state the website is a nightmare, one login to view email and such and another to view your bill. One can be your phone number, one can't....etc..etc

I'm a seasoned technical support person, application developer, self proclaimed Linux guru and even I have trouble navigating the ATT site.

[Blabber and Smo…]

Why should AT&T management read these posts?

They get a paycheck regardless of what their worthless reps tell you.

[jamileh]

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Worst_Service_Ever wrote:

And now I have returned their equipment as per their instructions. I called to see about a refund, and was told there was actually a BALANCE on the account and no refund had been requested. I managed to get the balance credited back. I wonder why there was one. Are other companies in the habit of charging you money for services never rendered? How can a CANCELLED account that never worked possibly have a bill? And where is my money for the useless gateway I returned?

So I call and get an operator (well, actually 3, since they always transfer you to someone who can't help you). Once I got the right person, she actually told me I bought the equipment, so it was mine to keep and there was no reason for me to send it back. I told her I HAD already sent it back, and I asked her what good her equipment could possibly do me without service. Naturally, she was stumped herself. Then I had to read her the return policy that was printed on a label included with the equipment (thankfully I made and kept a copy) which indicated I could be refunded if I cancelled in the first 30 days. Only after I read her the terms was she willing to admit I MIGHT be eligible for a refund. FINALLY, I get them to issue a refund request, only to find that this is a 45 day approval process, at the end of which they may deny me. So, I guess I'll be back in a month and a half or so with the outcome. ATT meanwhile while can gain interest on the funds they refuse to give back. This is practically stealing.

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Are you still waiting for a refund, or verification that you will get a refund?

I'm so sorry that you've had such a terrible time with the installation and return/cancellation process. Will you please send me a private message with your name, account number, phone number and the best time to contact you? If you have any ticket numbers from your tons of calls to customer service, please include those as well. 



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.

[Istildo]

at&t has terrible customer service!! After my husband and I both tried resolving our problem with getting a rebate on the gateway modem we had purchased; we have decided that at&t doesn't care about their customers and all they want is our money. I had purchased internet service according to the directions online and no where did it say I needed to also purchase home phone or direct tv through at&t in order to qualify for the rebate.... But each time I called customer service thats what they kept telling me, sorry there is nothing we can... Nothing??? Really??? that's a bunch of lies, if they really cared about their customers like other businesses do, they could come up with some way of solving the problem.... At&t needs to fix their misrepresentation on their rebates, so no more consumers have to eat their money on a crappy modem that provides terrible internet connection and that arrives to doorstep with internal problems that at&t can't seem to fix or prevent cause they keep sending them out.... Thanks a lot at&t for nothing but a lot of wasted time and a whole lot of dissappointment. I wish Verizon covered my area cause I never had a probably with them.... I  contacted retention and all they offered was a month of free service to stay. Apparently, $20 is suppose to make up for the $100 I spent on this crappy modem... O and get this the rention rep then tells my husband, if you return your modem you can get a refund, but then he tell my husband that in order to do that we needed to return it to them by today.... Why would you even suggest something that isn't possible to do??? Horrible customer service... Hopefully Time Warner will be a better experience than at&t... Thanks for nothing at&t, glad to see you care nothing about customer satisfaction.

[BrittneyMay]

I could not agree more with this terrible customer service. To state terrible customer service is only the beginning. These customer service representatives treat their customers like NOBODY. They could care less about their customers. I have so far been hung up on 4 times, been transfered to "supervisors" 5 times with the supervisor NOT ANSWERING. I'm sick of this customer service. When I was finally able to reach a supervisor at customer service after speaking to AT LEAST 15 people, the supervisor said they have no record of me even speaking to anyone other than to set up my service. I've been on the phone with people for the last week and a half and they have no record of it?! I have since cancelled my internet plan, and I plan on cancelling my cell phone service. I have been a loyal customer for 15+ years, I do NOT deserve to be treated with such disrespect. How dare they treat PAYING customers as DIRT. I will not rest until my voice is heard by upper management and something is done about these issues. It's sad that we, as customers, have to put up with such crap! I'm done with this service and I will be using a friendly company instead of AT&T.

[BUHLER65]

I had the same experience, except we had such poor connection with AT&T that we were customers for less than a month. After returning equipment, we kept getting billed for the equipment. I must have talked to 35 different customer service reps -- each one guaranting my problem would be handled. It wasn't. My account was sent to collections. That's when I got creative. First I filed a complaint with the Consumer Protection Agency in my state. Then I filed a complaint with the FCC. Finally, I went online and found out AT&T's corporate counsel is Attorney Wayne Watts. His phone number is 214-757-3300. His assistant is Paula Powell. She said she would send my complaint to the President's staff and someone would be calling me. I'll let you know what happens.

[aikane78759]

I rarely seek out out a way to vent about really bad customer service, but AT & T has got on my last nerve!  We were sent a notification that we had to switch to AT & T uverse last month or loose our internet.  I called to make the switch.  We got our equipment and decided to move it to another room since we had to take all down anyway.  The wall outlet did not work.  The last AT & T technician left them disconnected at the outside box after he was done testing and did not reconnect them.  When I called AT & T to have someone come out to reconnect them, them I was told I may be charged a fee and needed to say my connection didn't work.  I informed them that the technician told my husband that he disconnected them and did not reconnect them when he left so we should not be charged anything.  Regardless they said I may be charged a fee.  I spent 2.5 hours on the phone trying to track down the technician call records so I would not have to pay for something that we didn't do.  The last guy I talked to wanted some phone number and password neither I or my husband knew.  Keep in mind we have had service for 10 years and a cell service before that.  We still have no idea what they wanted, but I hung up on the guy and decided to just write everything down in case I needed to recoop my money later. 

The technician came out and no fees were charged.  However, I received a bill for our last month of DSL due on 12/27/2012.  I received a bill for 32.29 for our new AT & T Uverse service due 1/1/2013. An now another bill for 30.29 due on 1/31/2013.  I was told that was for the old DSL, prepaid AT & T Uverse and then our normal billing cycle. 

AT & T sucks!  I really wish there was a decent competitor!  However, I have not found any for just internet.  Even as I was changing my service to Uverse, they asked if I wanted to make the switch from Verizon to AT & T for wireless!  I have a few choice words for the wireless too, but told them politely that I would rather go without service than be jerked around by AT & T again.  So thanks AT & T for the extra bill for Christmas!  I see how much of a valued customer I am. 

AT & T is a horrible company to deal with and everyone that has heard me yelling at the customer service the past month has their own horror stories to match.  This is one awful company to deal with.  Hope someone comes in and sweeps up the dirty laundry sooner rather than later. 

[queeniewong1]

Eversince I started my DSL since Feb this year, I got into a nightmare and my temper was out of control. <br>-in late Jan-Feb: took entire mo to get my DSL set up. called 15+ time, spoke to 10+ staff , heard the [Inappropriate content removed]
 machine system 20+ time, got hang up or 'let me transfer you to my sup. or other dept and disconnected, heard 'there's nothing I can do' 5+ time; got notice the tech would come to my apt 3 times and I was fouled and almost lost my job. Eventuallysome tech come to install it. The tech showed me his order indicated Installment $128 was waved to replenish my pain.<br>-March-Beginning May: service got interrupt 3 times as the bills said I owed them money, which is the installment fee. Call 10+ time spoke to 10+ staff and explained it over and over. They got it fix temperory but the problem keep returning at each billing cycle. Not to mention u have to wait for 4 hours for them to resume internet if your service is terminated, but as compared with the hangup and waiting time this 4 hours is like nothing.<br>-tonight: some [Inappropriate content removed]
 happened , listened to the [Inappropriate content removed]
 machine and music and ads, spoke to someone and she asked me to hold 1-2 mins so she can spoke to her boss. I was put on hold 15 mins and it cut off. Called again and the machine said the billing dept is closed.<br>End of story. End of nightmare. tomorrow I will call to cancel Everything before I turned into a [Inappropriate content removed]
!! never had I spit so much in only few mos. Please stay away from All cost! If ATT is the only carrier indoor area you rather hit a local library or use your mobile data plan!