Tutor
•
2 Messages
Terrible Outsourced Customer Service!
(AT&T has officially answered me with this issue. I will share their response with you at the end of this post.) On the evening of February 17th, I used the MyAT&T app to pay my bill. I rarely use the app, but I liked the option of paying my bill in 2 manageable portions on my Galaxy S5. My original plan was to pay $150 that evening, then the balance of $289.03 the following week. I was using my home's Wi-fi and my phone has always been reliable, but at a crucial moment during the transaction, the app momentarily froze, disappeared then reappeared showing 2 separate payments being made in the amount of $489.03 PLUS the $150.00! I immediately went to my bank account and saw the 2 pending payments, placing my account in the red. I called CS and was reassured that the 439.03 would be reversed in 24 hours. Since it was a Friday night and the banks would be closed on Monday due to a federal holiday, I figured everything would be okay. Boy, was I wrong. 24 hours later, the 439.03 was still on hold in my account. I spoke with another overseas CS rep and found out that the first guy placed 439.03 on hold until the next Saturday, even though my remaining balance was only 289.03. Fixed now, right? NOPE. I think I talked to every AT&T rep in India every day for a week, trying to get this 'hold' removed. I spent countless hours on hold, being transferred, being disconnected, told "it's fixed" or being HUNG UP on by some rude supervisor with marginal English skills and an innocuous name like 'Carl' or 'Shirley'. My problem was that AT&T's hold on this money was causing overdraft fees to amass with every scheduled transaction. I couldn't just stop or suspend my car insurance or rental insurance payments and I believed what I was told by AT&T India. Starting on Friday the 17th until Wednesday the 22nd, I was repeatedly reassured that the hold amount would be removed from MY BANK ACCOUNT, even though my bank stated that AT&T placed a 'hold' on the funds until the 23rd. For 1 week, I was a sole-income, single working parent who couldn't purchase groceries or gas. Had CS been straight with me from the get-go and told me that my funds might be on hiatus for up to 10 business days, I could've gotten a payday loan on Saturday morning, made a deposit and avoided all the OD fees. Nope, I got the broken English runaround, instead.
I did plead my case to AT&T on their Facebook page. My answer from Scott: Any refunded amount can take 7 to 10 business days. You should have been aware of that. The OD fees are not our responsibility. Sorry. Oh, please fill out this consumer satisfaction survey.... just kidding. We deleted the link after sending it to you. Wouldn't want a bad review. Thanks for using AT&T!
Actually, I think AT&T's third world employees should know about the 7 to 10 day thing. I'm just one of the nameless, faceless working poor who have zero representation, yet contribute to AT&T's 13 billion in profits. My bank is a little richer, too. I'd switch Internet and phone carriers, but I can't afford to. Funny how they can take money in real time, yet sit on a refund for a week.
I did plead my case to AT&T on their Facebook page. My answer from Scott: Any refunded amount can take 7 to 10 business days. You should have been aware of that. The OD fees are not our responsibility. Sorry. Oh, please fill out this consumer satisfaction survey.... just kidding. We deleted the link after sending it to you. Wouldn't want a bad review. Thanks for using AT&T!
Actually, I think AT&T's third world employees should know about the 7 to 10 day thing. I'm just one of the nameless, faceless working poor who have zero representation, yet contribute to AT&T's 13 billion in profits. My bank is a little richer, too. I'd switch Internet and phone carriers, but I can't afford to. Funny how they can take money in real time, yet sit on a refund for a week.
ATTHelp
Community Support
•
231.8K Messages
7 years ago
Hello @Kate9801,
I am incredibly sorry for the issues you encountered while using the myAT&T app to pay your bill. This is definitely not the kind of experience I want you to have. I have had a similar issue happen to me over a double payment, and I understand how concerning it can be.
I am going to be sending you a private message so I can make sure everything is taken care of for you and if there is anything else I could assist you with. You will see a envelope icon in the top right with a number next to it. I hope to hear from you soon!
I do hope you have a great rest of your day! I appreciate you reaching out!
Brett, AT&T Community Specialist
0
0
Kate9801
Tutor
•
2 Messages
7 years ago
AT&T completely missed the point in this matter. "We want to make sure you received your refund and we will bend over backwards to make that happen.... now that you're angry and publicizing our past indifference." YES, I received a refund 1 WEEK after being told it was fixed. It's what happened to my bank account during that entire week that ruined me. AT&T feels that they have ZERO liability for the OD fees even though their crap app and clueless phone jockeys made it all possible. BTW, I had until March 11th to pay off what AT&T claimed that I owed them. Funny that 2 days after I posted this, they suspended all my services. So I couldn't have answered to your reply even if I wanted to. I did enjoy all the services, but I can't see myself paying 3 to 4 thousand a year to a company who can only shrug their shoulders when their incompetence and indifference causes financial ruin. The equipment is boxed, labeled and ready to go. I now have Charter Spectrum for internet, Sling for TV and Skype for calls. There's no lag, buffering, freezing or dropped/pixelated calls, but I will miss the phone data services and the Uverse DVR. I'm sure AT&T's whopper of a final bill will help me get over that. Thanks for responding, though. It's not easy being the fireman who gets called after the building collapses.
0
0
ATTHelp
Community Support
•
231.8K Messages
7 years ago
Hello @Kate9801!
I am so sorry you have had this kind of experience. I would love to be able to resolve your issues and see how we can begin repairing this relationship.
I will be reaching out via private message. Please keep an eye out in your forum inbox!
Thank you so much for your keeping me updated.
Brett, AT&T Community Specialist
0
0
Cust1980
Tutor
•
1 Message
7 years ago
OUTRAGED!!! OUTRAGED!!! OUTRAGED!!!
As an AT&T customer for more than 7 years I am terribly frustrated at the lack of comprehension and the terrible language barrier when calling into customer service to resolve an issue. Coincidentally my last 4 calls to AT&T, within a 4 month time span, have all been answered by an outsourced call center. My biggest gripe about the calls is that the customer service representatives are insensitive to my issues and only quote from a script. They are not interested in trouble shooting anything not in the script and repeat themselves over and over because it's in the next scripted screen .. anyone with common knowledge of the English language understands that you do not have to repeat everything on the screen if in fact you just went over the same passage. I am sooooooooooo pi*sed that after paying $130+ month in and month out I cannot speak with someone that can comprehend what I am asking. I have had my services rearranged, service calls scheduled for new service that was never ordered and interruptions in service due to lack of understanding. I think this is horrible customer service at it's best!!! I will be spending the rest of the week looking for a replacement for AT&T and their lack of CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! It sucks when a product is outstanding and the service drives you elsewhere. #shameful
0
Paisleyh
Contributor
•
1 Message
6 years ago
I know that my reply comes a year after the original poster posted this, but I had almost exactly the same experience happened to me today. I had a double payment post in error, a week before payday and called to see if the could possibly cancel one of them. It took me more than 10 minutes just to get the customer service person to understand what I wanted. I explain the situation and how I thought the payment came to be posted twice on my account. After repeating my story four times she still could understand what I needed. “Jane” finally mentioned something about reversing one of the payments. I’m still at a loss as to what she did and scared to death as to what’s going to happen to my checking account now. AT&T’s customer service has always been horrendous , but this outsourcing takes it to an absolutly abysmal level that I never thought was possible.
0
ncuba008
Contributor
•
1 Message
6 years ago
Try Verizon, better coverage.. no outsourced frustration and easier to get in touch with... I mean honestly... I tried to call at&t customer service at 1030 PM and got a message saying that they were only open till 9 pm... soooooo people on the west coast only get service till 6 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
I had been happy with this company until recently. I have 4 lines... one of them recently upgraded and I think that I'll be paying that one off and asking for the move to Verizon. I cant believe that they would outsource customer service to undertrained people with no vested interest in their customers well being. Its terrible for the Americans that worked in customer service... but even if I put that aside and look past the fact that the CS reps likely lost their jobs... a little empathy training from these foreign guys might make a difference.
0
0