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ejcleek's profile

New Member

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5 Messages

Thursday, August 6th, 2020 10:15 PM

What does customer service mean (was: Why does support lie about plan costs?)

6/30 @ 11:25 I started a chat with support (Patricia) based on what I saw on the ATT site. It seems I could upgrade my plan for $10 per line, but then get a $10 per line discount, making my bill exactly the same for an upgraded plan. Patricia confirmed that:

 

Patricia : I can see here that you have Extra plan. Once we change the plan to Elite, it will be more $10 per line on smartphones. But since you have military discount that is eligible for Elite plan, it will save you $10 per line on smartphones. Which means, the bill will be the same with the elite plan. And the feature and benefits will be more! Sounds great? 

 

She also explained my next bill would be higher (fees) but then come back down to the exact same amount the following month. My bill in June and many months before that was $168.98. July went up to $209.95 which was not unexpected as she told me it would happen. The bill I just got for August is $207.51.

 

I got back on support chat with Nadine who indicated I misunderstood what I was told. The entire previous chat log is below for your pleasure. Bottom line I was lied to, seemingly so they could charge me fees and jack my bill up hoping I wouldn't notice.

 

Reference Number: 744324272962010460

DATE/TIME: 2020-06-30 11:25:20

Your chat transcript:

PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE - All replies are automatically deleted.

AT&T : Hi, I’m AT&T’s automated virtual assistant. How can I help you today?

Me : Possible plan change

AT&T :

See how your current plan stacks up to others we offer with a side-by-side comparison.

Compare plans now

If you want anything else, I'll be here.

Me : customer service

AT&T :

Let me get you to a specialist. Please tell us your first name.

Me : Edward

AT&T :

Thank you. You will now be connected to a specialist for account support.

Patricia : Hi! My name is Patricia. I'm happy to help! Please give me a moment to review your request.

Patricia : Hi Edward!

Patricia : How can I help you with the plan change?

Me : Hi Patricia

Patricia : Yes, hi!

Me : I am looking over the site and was talking with a friend about plans, and I have a question. I currently have "Unlimited Extra" and pay 138.75.

Patricia : Yes.

Patricia : Sure.

Me : Looking at your plans page under Unlimited Elite it says

Me : Signature Program members save up to $10/mo. per phone line

Me : If I qualify it looks like I can get that plan at the rate I am paying now

Me : because that p[pan is $10 more a month

Patricia : Awesome!

Patricia : No problem.

Patricia : Please allow me a moment to check this for you.

Me : I checked to see if II qualify and I do. Email is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Patricia : Thanks for the info!

Patricia : Thank you for waiting.

Patricia : I can confirm here that you have Military discount on the account already. I am now checking on the cost for the Elite plan on your account.

Patricia : Thank you for waiting.

Me : I do have military discount, yes. I guess I was/am confused on the banner for teh nextr step up. It reads that if I qualify and move to here there is an additional potentially $10 per line

Patricia : No problem.

Patricia : Let me further explain...

Patricia : I can see here that you have Extra plan. Once we change the plan to Elite, it will be more $10 per line on smartphones. But since you have military discount that is eligible for Elite plan, it will save you $10 per line on smartphones. Which means, the bill will be the same with the elite plan. And the feature and benefits will be more! Sounds great?

Me : It does

Patricia : I can help you change the plan now and enroll you to the free HBO.

Patricia : Excellent!

Me : ok, so just to be sure, I will not see a plan cost increase by moving up. Is that correct?

Patricia : Yes.

Patricia : Certainly!

Patricia : I will make the plan change effective today. Please be aware that there will be prorated charges on the next bill for the days you use the new plan and prorated credits you did not use the old plan, okay?

Me : ok

Patricia : Perfect!

Patricia : One moment as I change the plan now..

Patricia : After xxx gigabytes, AT&T may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy.

Patricia : This Elite plan includes Unlimited talk, text & data +xxxGB of Premium Data per line, 30GB of Mobile Hotspot data per line, 5G Access, Unlimited in Mexico and Canada, High Definition streaming and Unlimited text from the U.S. to over xxx countries.

Me : ok

Patricia : Thank you.

Patricia : I am now working on it.

Patricia : Can I have your email and alternate email for the HBO max account set up?

Patricia : Also your preferred temporary 5 digit password//

Me :xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Patricia : password..

Patricia : Got it.

Me : xxxxxxxxx

Patricia : Sorry, can you make it 6 digits/number password..

Me : xxxxxxxx

Patricia : Sorry, I mean, 6 digit or numeric password only. No letters. Thanks so much.

Me : oh sorry

Me : xxxxxx

Patricia : That is alright!

Patricia : Awesome!

Patricia : Still working on it.

Me : ok

Patricia : Thank you for waiting.

Patricia : Great news! The plan has been changed and the hbo account is created! The username is xxxxxxxx and password xxxxxx.

Me : awesome! Thank you!

Patricia : Sounds great.

Patricia : You're welcome.

Patricia : You can also visit att.com for the HBO Max.

Me : ok

Patricia : Also visit hbomax.com to sign in to your account.

Patricia : You can try it now..

Patricia : Just to recap, glad I was able to help you change the plan and assist your with the HBO set up. Also confirmed that the bill will be the same. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Me : no, thank you vbery much. Have a great weekend!

Patricia : Sounds great.

Patricia : You too!

Patricia : Again, this is Patricia and have a nice day!

Patricia : By the way, you can download the myAT&T app by texting myATT to xxxxxx to manage your online account. And also, please read the instructions carefully for our selections updated. Thank you!

Patricia : Thank you for choosing AT&T! We appreciate your business.

New Member

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5 Messages

3 years ago

After 2 hours on chat and getting so fed up I was ready to move to Verizon I called to make sure my numbers could be transferred. The customer support agent asked why and I explained, and she looked at the account. Turns out someone made a change on the ATT back end that dropped one of my discounts that led to the $50 increase. My account was fixed and I am back where I should be, and got credit where I was overcharged for 2 months.

 

I still have frustration with the chat support agents I talked to that kept telling me it was a miscommunication, and that I had to get to the point where I was ready to leave before someone actually looked at the problem. That is the opposite of customer service.

sandblaster

ACE - Expert

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63.9K Messages

3 years ago

So, in other words, no one lied to you about the plan costs. Someone just screwed up your account. Yes? If so, maybe you should edit your thread title.

New Member

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5 Messages

3 years ago

Better?

 

What does customer service mean (was: Why does support lie about plan costs?)

ACE - Sage

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107.4K Messages

3 years ago

Hey, at least he came back

 

Just to clear it up, you cannot stack the 2 discount offers.  You can get either the military/first responder 25% OR get the Elite plan for the same Price as Extra’s FULL PRICE if you have a signature discount.  

 

There is a difference between the offer which reduces the elite plan to the cost of extra’s REGULAR COST, and the military discount which takes 25% off all of the unlimited data plans.  

Your military discount would have reduced cost on extra: 

Military discount is 25% off entire plan cost.  
5 lines on extra, $175 - less 25% = 131.25

5 lines on elite, $225 - less 25% = 168.75

 

Signature discount give you $10 off the elite lines, which equals the price of the Extra plan, which would mean your plan cost would be $175, or $6.25 more than with military discount.  
Extra 5 lines, no signature discount $175

Elite 5 lines, with signature discount, $175

 

So if the OP thought they were getting another $10 off or getting the Elite plan for $131.25, Thats not how it works.  

with taxes of about $5 - 9 per line, expected bill would be  Somewhere in the ballpark of  $193 - $213

(edited)

New Member

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5 Messages

3 years ago

"So if the OP thought they were getting another $10 off or getting the Elite plan for $131.25, Thats not how it works."

 

Liz, your footnote says you don't work for ATT but you offer a lot of information. That information I would expect customer service reps that DO work for ATT to have and be able to explain to a customer. You can see from the chat I posted I very clearly asked if I could upgrade at no cost. Multiple times I restated my question then asked for clarity/confirmation. Every time the answer was yes, I could upgrade for not one penny more. If the answer had been different I would not have upgraded and this post would never have been made. So yes, according to the chat I posted up top that is clearly how it works coming from someone who does work for ATT.

 

When I got a bill the story was different. When I reached out to customer service I was essentially told I don't understand English. They made no attempt to figure out why, they just said I misunderstood.

 

Bottom line is that after I started taking steps to move to Verizon they put my bill back where the customer service agent said it should be. The missing discount was autopay that was somehow still showing on my account but i was not getting credit for.

sandblaster

ACE - Expert

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63.9K Messages

3 years ago

That information I would expect customer service reps that DO work for ATT to have and be able to explain to a customer.

Yeah, you would think that but definitely not always the case, especially so with chat agents. 

ACE - Sage

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107.4K Messages

3 years ago

@ejcleek  I swear they don’t understand the nuances of discounts and stacking, and the exceptions.  
While the ad does say you can get Elite for the price of extra with the discount, it’s the full price of extra.  
   No carrier that I know of allows you to stack 2 employee/military type discounts.  You pick the best one, which for you is military.  
My info is correct.  No matter what was done as far as credits, the correct cost will not allow you to stack and will settle on the 25% off price.  Don’t be surprised when you plan is price corrected.  

New Member

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5 Messages

3 years ago

When they correct the plan I will call them again. I asked several times for them to just roll back my plan and refund the additional charges for 2 months because I took the upgrade under misinformation but they couldn’t even do that.

 

As a customer I have to ask what the options are, and I make decisions based on what the company rep tells me. If a company rep says you can have something for $10 the company should honor that. If the rep gave bad info that is the company’s issue to resolve, not the customer’s to pay for.

ACE - Sage

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107.4K Messages

3 years ago

And next time you call, they will put you back on Extra.  AT&T won’t keep crediting you $30 every month.

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