Higher ATT bills than promised, Sams Club ATT representative giving false information, chat support representative giving false information

Just an FYI, I was pretty excited to switch from Verizon to ATT but this situation has got me very stressed and frustrated and I know most people are very happy with their services even though I’ve been a Verizon customer since 2008 and hoping that I was going to be with att longer than Verizon.

First of all the people in Sam's club, Costco, BJ's, Target, Walmart etc don't work for AT&T. They work for a third party retailer.

Second, there's nothing that you can get from Sam's club that you can't also get from AT&T.  Starting with better information. Like there is no such thing as an unlimited plus plan available to new members. The existing plans are called unlimited premium, extra and starter. Those three plans can be mixed and changed at any time. So you could have changed to the premium plan before you went to Peru and used your phone as you do in the United States without any additional charges.  But if you're going to count on a third party retailer for information, you aren't going to get good information.

Most of the information that was missing from your Sam's club interaction could have been acquired online.  You could have googled AT&T plan that allows me to roam for free in 19 Latin American countries...

Credits for trading phones which have to be mailed to hyla mobile in Tennessee take approximately 3 months to kick in on your account. They would provide approximately $800 in credits every month for 36 months on your new phone purchases. Of course if you've purchased $1,000+ phone the $800 in credits don't cover the entire installment.

You must sign up for AutoPay and paperless billing to get the advertised prices. Autopay and paperless billing credit is $10 for each line and does not show until your auto payment goes through 

As a Sam's club member you get $10 off the premium plan making it the same cost as extra. So there's literally no reason not to sign up for the premium plan which would have gotten you the free service in Peru.

HOWEVER you could have signed up as an AARP member which has no age limit and gotten the exact same $10 discount off the premium plan.   

Whenever you change service providers if your bill date is not the exact same date that you joined the service provider (never will be)  you will get prorated charges. Usually when you switch to AT&T there is charges for 3 - 7 daya and then a full bill cycle. Unless you request a date.   So your first bill will be large it will also include activation fees for each phone line, also standard with all service providers.  Do you somehow think that you should not have to pay for every day of service that you have?   

    My first prorated bill with AT&T for six phone lines and two tablets included 3 days plus a full bill cycle. My first prorated bill with Verizon included 8 days of service for five phones and one tablet and then a full bill cycle + activations. Over $500 without phone charges.  My regular bill is about $200

If you did not mail in your old phones then you're not going to get credits on your new phones. You had 30 days to do so. If you did not get mailing labels And are still within the 30 days from activation, you can still get mailing labels by requesting them online, just ask

Sam's club and similar big box stores are notorious for providing less information, and even lying to customers. But nothing in your post indicates that they did so. But it certainly indicates that you did not have enough information and do not understand how any of this works. A few more questions might have been a good idea. And if you didn't get answers you should have walked away

3 phone lines?

Hello Niko890, we're here to review your first bill.

Let's meet in a Direct Message, so that we can review your account. Please check your Direct Message inbox (it's the chat icon next to the bell icon in the upper right corner of the Forums).

In the meantime, learn about charges you may see on your first wireless bill. Find out why it may be higher than you expected.

Looking forward to speaking with you.

Carlton, AT&T Community specialist

@regrets1 

If you had problems with service you should have not traded in your phones, returned all the AT&T phones, and switched back to your previous carrier.

No service provider is required to provide service everywhere.  They can't.

@regrets1  AT&T kiosks in places like Sam's Club, Target, Costco, etc are independently owned and operated separate from AT&T, and are not staffed with AT&T employees. The just resell AT&T good and services however they can, for a commission, and then pass that info onto AT&T, who hasn't a clue as to what was said and/or promised to the customer. AT&T will only honor what is listed, in detail, on their website with regards to promos and deal. Technically, you did business with the Retail owner, which is Smart Circle I think, and not AT&T. AT&T has little to no control over how these retail operators conduct business. There are also Retail Store that look exactly like Corporate Stores so if you go into a brick and mortar store, ask if they are Retail or Corporate.

You should have been given receipts or paperwork. So, you can file a complaint with the BBB. That will go to AT&T Corporate and someone will contact you. Just have all of your documentation in order when they call. They MIGHT be able to help you. That's all you can do.

@regrets1 

So does that mean I could sign up for T-Mobile because their claim to have the best 5G service anywhere,  and their coverage map showing both good LTE and 5G service covering not just my neighborhood but my street and my house... But when it does not,  I can complain on their forum about their service not working at all where I live and I'm totally justified?  🤔

That's a rhetorical question because - no...🤨

I know for a fact T-Mobile doesn't work in my neighborhood because most of the people that come to my house for delivery, repair work etc all are on some sort of T-Mobile business plan and none of them have any service  🚫

It has always been 100% on us customers to try out the network and see how it works. And if it doesn't to return equipment within the return window and go back to our previous carrier.   That's why a return window is required by the FCC.  

I was with Verizon for 17 years and then switched to AT&T in 2014 with one phone line to test the network and see how it worked. After a couple of weeks it worked well enough to switch over The rest of my phone lines.

If you didn't figure out in 14 days that service was not good enough, and return phones, that's on you.

Don't those big box stores like Sam's and Costco give you an extended return window?  You had 30 days to trade in your old phones. You should have taken advantage 

AT&T is only under obligation to honor the terms of service which you signed at the time you signed up..  

https://www.att.com/legal/terms.consumerServiceAgreement.html

They will not honor and incorrect quote from a 4th party 

@regrets1  I agree about the retail operators (kiosks and actual brick and mortars). These contracts are long term so they are going to be around for a long time. I sincerely hope that when these contracts come due, AT&T takes a harder look at how some (not all) of these independents operate because they are giving AT&T a bad name, and we both know that AT&T is more than capable of doing that themselves 😉.

It's always best to deal with AT&T directly, either thru their website, provided you contact them and are not responding to a cold call or you go to an AT&T Corporate Store. Make sure you get a receipt and you carefully read it and always read the TOS for the details on the promo/deal, cancelling, etc.

Unfortunately every business has dishonest employees. And the simple solution and the one that is always used is to fire the employee. Hopefully before they do too much damage to the businesses reputation.

That does not and should not reflect on AT&T as a business, or even on most authorized retailers. One of my favorite authorized retailers for Verizon network has always run an honest business and is the closest Verizon store to me.  The closest AT&T store to me is also an authorized retailer and has also always been honest with me.  

But that doesn't mean that everyone is honest with us.  It's up to us customers to know what the offers are, and what the prices should be by doing a simple ballpark estimate with the information that all of the service providers publish online for anyone to read.