Customer Service

[Ladytcat2003]

I live in the USA and I just joined AT&T wireless. I have had nothing but communication issues when calling customer service. I can't seem to get anyone that understands my issue and all I get is..."Hold a min I need to ask my supervisor about that." All I need to know is why I am being charged for a phone that was told to me by the sales rep that came to my home AND a rep from AT&T that my phones were "Buy one, get one free?" Also, why I was told that my activation fees would be waived and my bill does not reflect that? And what in the H is this crap fee for a..."Access for Smarphone 4G LTE w/VM and why was I not told about that? I got 2 lines, needless to say, those false statements and untold charges can add up. I already had their internet and UVerse TV and have been fairly pleased with those services. But I am leaning toward not being happy about my wireless. I think they use trickery and deception to link you into a contract. 

[lizdance40 · Accepted solution]

@Ladytcat2003

All BOGO and other phone promotions ALWAYS charge for all phones.  The credits on the free, base model phone start in 3 months as a back credit, then monthly credits thereafter. To get all credits you have to stick around and make all payments on the phone. 

Had you read all the information on the Next installments and promotion, this was all in there.

 “Access for Smarphone 4G LTE w/VM” is the line access for each phone.  All postpaid plans are shared, all shared plans have a plan change, then a charge for each connected device.  If you never had a postpaid plan before this may be new as prepaid does not have shared plans.  

   This is how someone with one line pays less than someone with 6 lines.  

[sandblaster]

Those are common questions. I’m wondering why customer service couldn’t answer them? Maybe because of the promise of waiving the activation fee. Unfortunately, that is a common complaint we see. Customers are promised activation fees will be waived and they aren’t. Sorry to say, they likely will not be. As for the access fee, as noted above that is the way all plans are structured. One charge for the data plan, then each line pays an access or line fee. That fee pays for unlimited talk and text for that line. You were quoted the price of a plan for two lines. As long as that is the price you are paying, it should not matter to you how they break up the charges to arrive at that price.

Just FYI, the reason you are being charged for the “free” phone and then getting a credit each month (credits take 2-3 bill cycles to appear), that is how ATT ensures you don’t cancel that line. If you were to cancel the line, you would lose any remaining credits and get charged for the balance owed on the phone. That shouldn’t surprise you. You are getting a $700 or so phone for free, you know there has got to be a catch.

[Ladytcat2003]

Thank you for the answers. So if I'm understanding correctly, I'll have to
pay the first 3 installments for the free phone so they are assured that I
won't cancel, then after that I will be credited for those payments? Then
after that will I still be required to pay the installments on the phone
that's supposed to be free? I apologize for so many questions, I've just
been unsuccessful at getting a straight answer from customer service.

[sandblaster]

@Ladytcat2003 Yes, you will get a single credit for those first few payments, then each month you will have both an installment charge and a credit until all 24 or 30 installment payments are done. The phone will end up being free as long as you don’t cancel that line before the installment plan is completed. That is the way all free phone offers work.

[lizdance40]

@Ladytcat2003

Free or discounted....

Most (not all) of the free phone offers have a maximum credit, which covers the base model price.  It’s a good idea to read and save the BOGO offers.