4:00 am texts and other AT&T lack of customer service

[chelly4]

Every time I have had an interation with AT&T, it has gone poorly, starting from the day I started my contract and I literally had to call 6 people all over the country to port my number from a business account to a personal account.  Why should this be the customer's responsibility?

It is 6:00 am as I write this, and I am not awake by choice.  For the 8th time since December, I have gotten a text from AT&T at 4:00 am telling me I have come close or gone over my data limit!  While I appreciate the updates, I don't want them at 4:00 am!  (I am on standby 24/7, so shutting off my phone is not an option)  I have called and told it was fixed, only to have it happen again.  I have called and been told that they couldn't control it.  It was done automatically by the computer, and they couldn't change what time it was sent out.  Who is in charge, people or computers?

The next source of frustration is the overages themselves.  One month it was from phantom data usage causing my phone to become very hot.  Took it to the AT&T store, who put me on the phone with customer service, who said what I was describing couldn't happen (same person who said they couldn't control their own computer).

Last week, wife and I went in to get new phones and renew our contracts.  Even though our contracts had the same start date, she was able to get a new phone but I wasn't because she was the main phone, and I hadn't been on long enough (18 months) to get a new phone without paying several hundred dollars more or getting permission from someone outside the store, which would take a few days.  Got a call back a few days later, saying I had been given permission, but the ENTIRE TOWN was out of the 4s 16MB phone and I would not be able to get one for another week.  Apparently the army brigade returning from Afghanistan took them by surprise even though it happens EVERY YEAR!

Yesterday I am traveling and am concerned about going over my data plan (and getting the dreaded 4:00 am text), so I log onto my AT&T account to see what my usage was.  Because we had just made a change to our plan (by my wife renewing), I would not be able to see my usage until the next billing cycle.  Big help.  At 7:15pm, I get an e-mail saying I am at 90%, so I shut off cell data.  TOO LATE.  At 3:37, I get the dreaded text saying I"ve hit 90%.  After about 20 minutes, I am finally able to get back to sleep.  At 4:09am, I get another text saying I've hit 100% and will be billed extra!  So I am unable to see what my data usage is, but I get billed for going over!?  And now,  2.5 hours later, I'm still awake.  I am traveling for business, so I am thrilled about going to my meeting today on 5 hours sleep because someone at AT&T can't figure out how to control a computer.  If the texts aren't going to be sent out in real time, what's the point of sending them at 4:00 am?

I would leave AT&T and their lack of customer service in a minute, but because I live in Alaska, they are the only game in town for the iphone.  In short, here is what I'd like from AT&T.  1) Empower your employees.  I'm sick of going in to the store with a problem, only to be told "we can only take payments and sell plans/phones.  You'll have to call national to get help beyond that."  And then I am connected with someone 1,000 miles away who could really care less about my problem.  I actually feel bad for the store employees who have so little power to help their customers.  Same goes for having to get permission from national to let me get a new phone a few days before I am eligible.  Can this really not be handled by a store employee, when I am actually standing there WANTING to sign a new 2 year contract?

2) Stop sending texts at 4:00 am.  Either send them out in real time, or send them out during normal business hours in the area where the customer lives.  8:00 am on the east coast is NOT 8:00am in Alaska. 

[JFizDaWiz]

What about just turning your text tone off

[chelly4]

When I get called out, it is by text message.

[jamileh]

I'm sorry that you're receiving texts during off hours and that you weren't able to immediately upgrade both of your phones. 

If you would like for me to have a member of my team contact you to review your concerns, 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.