Anyone Else Scammed by an In Home Expert?

The exact same thing happened to me in July 2022. I was waiting for AT&T Fiber installation and the AT&T salesman showed up at my door for the purpose of explaining the Fiber install, and then he went into the sales pitch for the AT&T wireless phone plan switch. He was driving an AT&T car and had AT&T business cards. I had previously been a Verizon customer for several years, but the price he quoted me in writing was lower, plus I got two new iphones in the deal.  After that the monthly bills started coming in that were higher than the written quote. Of course the home expert did not respond to my calls or texts. Then the bigger problem was that AT&T customer service would not honor the quote, and stated there was no way that AT&T could provide the service at that price. . This went on for 6 months. Each month AT&T customer service would quote me a new price and the next month the new bill never matched the previous month's quote. After telling AT&T customer service they could have my phones back and I would return to Verizon. This was no problem for AT&T, provided I paid the full price for the two new iphones of approximately $2000, which meant I would lose my turn-in credit for the 2 phones I traded in. For me the difference between the quoted monthly price and the price I was paying was about $30 a month. I lowered my plans to the lowest offered by AT&T and still could not match the original quoted monthly price.  The quoted price was for the best plans AT&T offered.

For me it is a matter of principle at this point. Once I decide to accept the big buyout of paying for my iphones, I will leave AT&T. I will cancel AT&T Fiber and AT&T Direct Stream TV service.  This is the most dishonorable company that I have ever dealt with in 66 years.

@kccrumb

5 lines on starter -= $150 before taxes.  Typically between five to seven dollars per line so add $35. 

AARP, or any other discount would only apply to the Premium plan which $45 per line

Exactly same thing happened to me. I enrolled in AT&T internet in September 2022. In September 16, they came to install my internet at home. Same day, an ATT in-home expert PR came to promote AT&T wireless. I told him I am not interested. I was T-mobile customer for 6 years, and I was paying $140 total for 5lines. He told me he can give a better deal if I switch to AT&T. He told me they have free upgrade of the phones, only we need to pay one time fee for taxes. He offered me $120+taxes and fees for 4 lines. I knew taxes and hidden fees can be much, I asked him what will total bill after the fees and taxes. He told me it will be $132. I asked him 3 times if there is going to be any other charge for the phones. He said no. I upgraded 3 of my phones, and paid $800 for taxes that day.

Then, next week I got a bill from ATT which was about $400. I was shocked. I called call center right away. They told me there was a mistake, and they reduced my bill to $132. Then, I enrolled autopay. I assumed the bills were $132 for the past months as it should be. Now, I realized that after October, it was between$180-210. I called the call center again, and they tried the explain the bill to me. They were charging about $60 for the phones, and some extra hidden surcharges. I told them my deal was $132 total, and your agent gave me this deal. They did not accept. They imply I misunderstand the deal, and their agent can never give such a promise.

The way I see is that I was scammed badly by ATT. They give incentives to their in-home experts to enroll as many customers as they can. During the subscription, they can say anything they want, since after you get enrolled it is impossible to get rid of it as your phones are locked to ATT. When you complain about this, they claim you misunderstand the deal. How convenient!!!

Same happened to us. We were waiting for the AT&T Fiber installation and the In Home Expert Ryan P out of the Schaumburg, IL office showed up and told us that we could get 5 free iPhone 13's and our bill would be around $170/month. We switched and are now stuck paying $256/month. Not only this, but the service is horrible in Reno!

I called AT&T to ask for a signed contract that shows what we agreed to since I never received one from the In Home Expert, Ryan. I was told that there are no contracts with In Home Experts. I don't remember signing anything... does that mean I'm still obligated by law to pay the bill? Or perhaps because I've been paying it for 1 year, that signifies agreement to the contract that I never saw or signed??

I also asked what would happen to our "free" phones if we switched to another carrier and was told we'd need to pay off the remainder of the installments to which I replied, "why do we have installments for a FREE phone?" We were never told that we'd need to keep AT&T for 36 months in order to get the "FREE" part of the deal.

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@Swimmer1go 

I also asked what would happen to our "free" phones if we switched to another carrier and was told we'd need to pay off the remainder of the installments to which I replied, "why do we have installments for a FREE phone?" We were never told that we'd need to keep AT&T for 36 months in order to get the "FREE" part of the deal.

And yet this is the exact same deal that you would enter into with any service provider. If you quit early you have to pay off the remainder of the phone and future credits on the phone are void.   You really think that carriers can afford to give away 5  $800 phones and give you full credit up front so that you can quit and go somewhere else in a couple months?  They don't do that. 

Bill credits on your new iPhone 13s will take 2 - 3 months.

Internet customers get a 25% discount off of the premium, extra, or starter plans.  

So 5 lines

Premium $225, -25%  = 168.75 before tax

Extra  $175 - 25% = $131.25.   "

Starter $150 - 25% = $112.5.    "

There's all switch switch credit which is $200 spread over 36 months which will probably offset most of the taxes.

There is no contract. You pay for service month by month.  

AT&T’s pricing, promotion details, and terms of service are all located online. 

Same thing happened here. Was told we would be able to get a discount for ATT Fiber/Wireless, a Pixel 7 Pro for $1000 off for leaving TMobile and trading in my Pixel 7 (that was already paid off, bought from Google) and a free Pixel 7a for adding a new line (for my kid) ... None of that has been true.. this guy promised the world and did not deliver. When we contacted ATT after a 2 hour conversation they told us there was NOTHING that can be done, that there will be no discount for Fiber/Wireless combo and instead he added a "veterans discount" to me and my girlfriends account which we later got charged for because not showing proof of being a veteran(obviously), No promotion for a free Pixel 7 Pro(which I'm being told I have to pay for the whole thing and no credit for my phone that I traded in ) and have to pay for the Pixel 7 . On top of that we were being double charged for insurance and a bunch of other stuff. Now the guy won't respond to no text / calls from me after claiming he was going to fix all of this. We are getting screwed out of sooo much money. Including me giving away my phone which who knows if the guy even traded it in.. ATT will not do a thing at all and it's pretty sad . He also switched my plans, which messed up an existing promotion we had on my son's iPhone , which is now gone and we have to pay full price for the iPhone instead of it being at a discounted rate. 

@rodjerem 

The promotion did indeed exist. 

When did you switch?

As published on AT&t's website it takes two to three months for the bill credits on your promotional trade-in phones to start.  

The 25% discount for being an internet customer and switching to AT&T wireless was still an active promotion right up until July 15th. 

 The trade-in promo for the pixel has been an active promotion since the phone came out and the deal on the pixel 7A is also still an active promotion at $2 net.  (You may have gotten a better deal as a new fiber customer switching to wireless)

If you switched after July 15th and are not getting the 25% discount for wireless, that promo ended.    But there's no way you would be getting credits for trade in phones already if you switched  after July 15th. 

 The new promotion is $20 off your fiber price for having switched to wireless.   

If you did your switch before July 15th, file a better business bureau complaint to have your bill corrected to show the 25% off. If you switch after July 15th, just wait for your phone promotion to kick in.  

@formerlyknownas 

Deal was made in May .. our bill cycle does rollover in a couple days. If I don't see it then I will file the complaint. I appreciate you letting me know that there was actually a deal. Because I asked the rep if I can get the deal with an existing account (girlfriend has been w/ ATT for 15+ years) and he said it didn't matter. I am hoping things get corrected on this next cycle because I hate being that person to complain.. 

@rodjerem 

Because I asked the rep if I can get the deal with an existing account (girlfriend has been w/ ATT for 15+ years) and he said it didn't matter.

🤦🏼‍♀️.   Of course it mattered.  

Your girlfriend as the account owner is not a new wireless customer. I have heard of AT&T applying the 25% off to individual lines on a new account, and allowing already existing AT&T customers to join that account but not get the 25% discount.

Your girlfriend could have joined your account after it was created. You still all would have saved money.  But if you ported your phone numbers into her account, the deal got squashed.  Most of these in-home reps operate independently. They may not be well trained enough to know how this works. He should have asked.  

To me it's just logical if you're porting in and the deal is new wireless accounts can get the special, and your girlfriend is an existing customer, this isn't going to qualify.

Trade-ins done in May should expect to see bill credits on the August bill.