Collections letter for service that was never installed - Complete customer service failure

Dear AT&T,

I’m leaving my comments here as a last resort, since I have been unable to get my issue corrected with various customer service and retention personnel.

On 3-18-14, I signed up for a DSL installation at a home that we had just purchased in a different state. At that time, I explained to the representative that I was traveling back and forth and it was crucial that I have service activated by a specific date (the only week that I was going to be in town for some time).

It was explained to me that once I signed up for service I would be receiving a follow up email with contact information for the installation team and that I could specify the date with them.  I was assured that since I had opted for the self install, and was providing my own modem, that installation was a simple matter that could be handled almost immediately.

The following day, I received the email, which indicated that the installation had automatically been set for a date well outside of what I had indicated as my requirement. I called the number on the email and was told that the issue was due to lead times in scheduling a technician to come to my house.  

I explained that I was self installing, and providing my own modem and that the previous rep had assured me that it wouldn't be an issue.  Now this was turning out to not be the case.  The new rep told me that my issue would be elevated and that I could expect a call within 24 hours to discuss my options.

48 hours later, still with no contact back from AT&T, I called back and was eventually transferred to someone in the retention department (I have her name and employee ID number, but will not post it here). She was very friendly and apologetic, but ultimately unable to help me, so I cancelled the installation and purchased service from Cox, who met my time frame with no problems.

On 4-7-14. My wife arrived at the home and discovered a note on the door from an AT&T service technician saying that cable had been laid in the back yard, but was not attached to the house, since the Cox equipment was already installed. The note went on to say that technicians would return in 7-10 days to trench and bury the cable.

The technician’s local number was on the note, so I called him directly to indicate that it was a mistake, please retrieve his cable and under no circumstances was he to attach anything to my house or dig up my back yard.

The technician also gave me another number for the AT&T office in charge of trenching work orders, so I also called that number and spoke to someone in charge of trenching orders (I have his name as well).  He also told me that the order was under a "local" account number. He rescinded both the installation and the trenching orders at 8:55 am on 4-7-14

A few days later, I received a bill from AT&T for the DSL service that had never been installed.  I called and after yet another lengthy hold time, was once again connected to someone in retention, where I  explained the entire issue again.

She apologized and told me that she did see where service had been cancelled prior to install, but somehow a duplicate order with a different account number had been created. She had no explanation as to how this happened, but assured me that the issue had been corrected and I would have no further problems.

After multiple calls to multiple reps and supervisors, on hold for a minimum of 30 minutes with each and every follow up call, I had been told by multiple sources that this had definitely been corrected, with both the original order and the duplicate order showing as cancelled.

Unfortunately, that appears to not be the case. Today (5-28-14), I received a letter from AT&T collections department which was dated 5-13-14.  The letter states that I am overdue on payment of a bill in the amount of $24.95 and that I need to make payment immediately to avoid further action.

The only phone number on the letter is the generic customer service number (800-288-2020). Every time I have called this or any other AT&T number, I have been on hold anywhere between 20 minutes and 1 hour.  I only had 1/2 hour free this afternoon, but thought that perhaps I would be fortunate and get through promptly.  I was on hold with them for over 30 minutes waiting to speak to a representative, and finally had to hang up and move on to other things.

I will try to contact them again tomorrow, but at this point I have zero confidence in anything that I’m told over the phone by any AT&T rep.

I don’t know if anyone at AT&T actually reads these comments, or cares about their customers, but if so, I would appreciate a response.  I will be happy to provide names and employee ID numbers for each of the people with whom I spoke, as well as the times and dates that these conversations took place.

I’m doing my utmost to resolve this issue in a timely and professional manner, but so far, AT&T’s customer service, attention to detail, and overall professionalism is not up to par with what I have come to expect from a reputable and competent organization.