Y I HATE AT&T ! [ Edited ]

[KimBrown580]

I called At&t and asked them to admit that they purposely sell phones under a 2 year contract knowing that the phones that they are selling you ARE of poor quality, and that they make you sign a 2 year  contract knowing full well that these phones won't last 24 months. At&t is a RIP OFF !!!!!

*They will sell u a poor quality cell phone on purpose and make u sign a 2 year contract to keep that phone knowing the life expectancy of the phone is 6-12 mos.

*Once the phone reaches it's life expectancy they will replace it for the 1st time with a refurbished phone with no problems, or out of pocket cost to you.

* Then 3 to 4 months later your refurb phone will stop working & they will tell you your warranty has expired BUT the phone can be replaced thru a claim with the wireless phone insurance department.(So once again they will replace your phone with a refurb phone& you will get charged a $50.00 deductable !

* And last but not least.6 mos before your contract expires your refurb phone will once again stop working and will u call At&t to send you another phone your ONLY 2 options will be. . .  . . . .

- A. Replace the phone with ANOTHER refurb phone thru your phone's insurance policy @ $50.00 for the deductable.
- B. They will offer u one of their newer released cell phones at 50%to 75% off as long as you sign ANOTHER 2year contract with them! {word filter evasion}!

[Printerscape]

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KimBrown580 wrote:

I called At&t and asked them to admit that they purposely sell phones under a 2 year contract knowing that the phones that they are selling you ARE of poor quality

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So that's why I hate to wait 5 minutes to get a live rep for an actual problem...

[drumn_bass]

Ok, well you don't have to sign any contract at all, ever. You can buy a phone from on online store, eBay, directly from the manufacturer, you'll pay at least 3 times more for it, it'll be the same quality and have the same warranty or no warranty at all. AT&T is not a rip off, AT&T sells wireless service, and with devises AT&T is just a middle man between you and the manufacturer.

PS. Everything you said is exactly the same with every major carrier in US.

[CollateralDamage]

No,AT&T is not just a middle man in the selling of the phones. They make a lot of money selling us phones. The full retail prices are artificially inflated. Especially phones that are more than a year old by now. The HTC Desire HD (Inspire),is more than a year old. When AT&T buys 500,000 Inspires from HTC,theyre not paying more than $50.-100.each. As time goes by HTC probably lowers the cost even more. They charge customers that are rich full retail price because there will always be some rich person who wont mind paying $400. for a $100. phone!

[scottae316]

I have used cell phone since the days of bag phones. I have had high end pricey phones and cheap freebie phones and have NEVER had them break and I am not gentle with them either. Could it be that it is not the phones but that you abuse them. However I doubt I will get a response seeing you just joined and then posted once. Doubt you will be back until something happens.

[svz1979]

We have cell phones, have for years, had Verizon(4yrs), had sprint(2yrs), had Alltel(Past 3 yrs and Cellone before alltel took over for 2yrs) and now with AT&T for just over a month now.

I am not physically hard on phones, but have never had one last me over a year. What I have been told, by more than one carrier, is that I use my phone too much. On average, my usage is over 1200 text messages, over 3gb data, 400-600 minutes of daytime calling and well over 7000  my circle/alist and M2M. I have been told these phones are not designed to be used this much and to cut back on my usage. I have had to have soooo many warranty replacements on my phones its not funny. Have had my at&t service since the 28th of april and already have one replacement under my belt, and I have a Torch, so no cheap free phone here. Shall see what att does when my phone has to be replaced at least 2 more times in the next 11 months.

[JFizDaWiz]

I've many phones over the years and one has never lasted more than 18 months. they don't break, they've worked perfect, I just wanted a new one. I've given my old phones to friends and some are still being used. phones usually don't just break, its mostly user error.

[belome]

Seems to me that the common denominator here is YOU and your inability to properly care for a phone.

[svz1979]

How is locking up, software issues, battery issues, and so on customer failing to care for a handset. My handsets are always sent back in new condition, no physical damage, no water damage and always been told its a hardware/software issue with every handset I have had replaced. Its called these great phones are really cheap junk that we pay out the nose for.

My torch was replaced as a DOA phone, due to the fact that when plugged it, it would lock up and the only way to fix was to pull the battery, multiple times a day.

[c13smd]

Honestly, I would file a complaint in Better Business Bureau. I hate them too, because some representative have the knowlegde what they are talking about and some are don't and they say things not in the policy and then that rep will put you in trouble on your bills.

Sometime you ask for communication confirmation, next thing you know its goin on ur text messaging without you deleting it. Happen all the time on mine phone. They have the way to delete and change your communication confirmation with you. I suggest to take the rep name, id number and make a note on your own including date and time.

They screw up my bills everytime... You add or udate or change something on your acct, next you know either your changes is correct or they add something else in there that you need ask them to do.

And if you ask them to talk to higher above they will refuse, so file a complaint to BBB that will get to the corporate and make sure you add the rep's name and ID number.

[aristizzle]

So that's why I hate to wait 5 minutes to get a live rep for an actual problem...
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ROFL! so true...

[Rolo-Diva13]

No, AT&T IS a middleman because as a service provider they do NOT manufacture phones. If the device is failing that's an issue you take up with Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, etc. But wait, instead of just asking customers do that, At&t facilitates the warranty exchange process so customers don't have to deal with manufacturers, who will have you send the defective unit in to them--AT YOUR EXPENSE--and meanwhile you're out of a phone becos they sure as {language filter evasion} aren't in the biz of loaners. They "fix" the bad unit and send that bad boy right back to you. About 3weeks later you might have a working phone.

And please provide your sources for how much a carrier pays for handsets. I've never seen the numbers you listed. Even if $50-100 per phone is true, wouldn't YOU want some deal for buying in bulk? Doesn't make AT&T a bad company. Smart is more like it. Boggles my mind why some ppl confuse the SP with the Mfgr. If you want no contract pay the MANUFACTURER Suggested Retail Price. Notice how that doesn't start with "Carrier Suggested"..?

[lylone]

well, I have to somewhat agree that some of the phones that AT&T sells do have issues.  It seems that the smartphones they like to tinker with the OS and add all their bloatware on it and hence issues.  Examples are the Nokia E71x, Blackjack 2 and Blackberry Pearl.  All these phones have died before my two year contract ended and my BB Bold 9700 is getting there now too.  Now my old Cingular Nokia "dumbphone", Cingular Motorola L6 "dumbphone", and Nokia E71(direct from Nokia) are still going strong.  And those don't have any AT&T bloatware on them..  makes you wonder,  HUH!

[RandomCoolName]

The truth att hires real people just like you not robots. sometimes like with everyjob you have those people that dont do the best job but people still the same human errors happen its a part of life of course att is taking care of business and working to make it the best

[FredW]

I have never had a phone quit working on me, except the one I dropped into water.  That being said, some people are harder on phones than others.  I would suggest that anyone that has problems keeping the same phone for the entire 2 year contract should probably look into one of the ruggedized phones.  They can take a lot rougher treatment than your average phone.

[Javeon]

It's a good thing they don't sell cars!

[bdechenne]

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c13smd wrote:

Honestly, I would file a complaint in Better Business Bureau. I hate them too, because some representative have the knowlegde what they are talking about and some are don't and they say things not in the policy and then that rep will put you in trouble on your bills.

Sometime you ask for communication confirmation, next thing you know its goin on ur text messaging without you deleting it. Happen all the time on mine phone. They have the way to delete and change your communication confirmation with you. I suggest to take the rep name, id number and make a note on your own including date and time.

They screw up my bills everytime... You add or udate or change something on your acct, next you know either your changes is correct or they add something else in there that you need ask them to do.

And if you ask them to talk to higher above they will refuse, so file a complaint to BBB that will get to the corporate and make sure you add the rep's name and ID number.

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Did you ever find them on the BBB?  Theirs 9000 listing for ATT and none have a rating or any complaints.  How do they hide their business like that?

[bdechenne]

I still cant find the right listing on the BBB, maybee Jam will chime in?

[jamileh]

A search for BBB accredited AT&T results on the site yielded 176 results for me, the first of which is AT&T's Headquarters. I do not know why there is no rating. 

It is your right as a consumer to contact the BBB if you feel the need to. It is my hope that our support team and our community can help get issues resolved before that action is necessary. 

[bdechenne]

http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/telephone-companies/atandt-in-atlanta-ga-7935/complaints

Found the main one I think.  6900 complaints the last 12 months.