Unauthorized Accound Modification and Charges

To whom it may concern,

                AT&T lost a customer today. I’ve had an account with your company for more than six years. I’ve deal with unauthorized changes made to my account and the charges that come with them for the last time.

                This morning while looking at my wireless bill I noticed the normal monthly charged had jumped by over $40. It didn’t take long to find the culprit; a 3GB data plan had been added to my son’s line. This was done without my consent. I was not notified of the change. AT&T accessed my account, removed a strict data BLOCK that I had put on the line to prevent unauthorized data usage and added the most expensive non-Enterprise data plan they have.

                We immediately contacted Customer Support. The first rep we spoke with said she was going to place us on hold while researching the issue. Instead she transferred us to a non-customer service rep who was unable to do anything except transfer us back to customer service. The third rep successfully researched the issue and stated:

• The data plan was added because the automated system showed my son’s phone was a smart phone.
• We would be stuck with a data plan of our choosing  the charges would be changed accordingly because all smart phones are required to have a data plan.
• She could do nothing for us.
• No one in the company could/would be able to fix the issue.

We carefully explained that the phone for the line was a hand-me down from the last time my wife upgraded her phone. The contract for the phone did not list any requirements for maintaining a separate data plan. When we moved the old phone to that line it happened in an AT&T store, and had been done at least 5 months previously. While in the store, an AT&T employee upgraded the SIM card for that phone/line. At no time did any of the employees inform us of a data plan requirement. At no time did anyone from AT&T call us. They simply went in and added unauthorized charges to my account. The customer service rep reiterated that there was nothing she could do.

This was unacceptable. We told the rep this was unacceptable, and that if she could not fix the issue we wanted to speak to a supervisor. The rep actually argued with us about being transferred. Sticking firmly to the statement that no one would/could help us. After several minutes of argument back and forth she finally transferred us to a supervisor.

The supervisor essentially regurgitated the same information, repeatedly stating this is our policy. We argued that it was not acceptable for them to add charges to our account without at a minimum notifying us. We told them we would not pay the charges. We repeated that at no time had any employee of AT&T informed us there was a data plan requirement. The supervisor repeated that this was policy and we would have to deal with it. Eventually we told the supervisor to transfer us to their supervisor. He responded, and I quote; “I am the Supervisor.”

Completely unsatisfied we informed him that he would fix the situation to our satisfaction or [Edited to comply with Guidelines]. At that time he became slightly more co-operative. He offered to send out a free replacement (non-smart) phone. I told him as long as it didn’t change my contract or cost anything that was an acceptable starting point. This caused new issues, as his intention was to send out a new phone and reset the contract for another two years, burning one of my free upgrades in the process.  He then suggested I go down to an AT&T store and buy a prepaid phone that I could then change the phone for, but refused to even refund the current charges until my sons phone was no longer a smart phone.

The current solution: The line in question has been move back to a non-smart phone. This was not a AT&A phone. It was an old phone I’ve kept in case of emergency.  They agreed to refund all charges for the unauthorized data plan.  

To make this specific situation even better the phone in question has been a piece of garbage. We’ve been to the store for it on at least three occasions. They’ve replaced the SIM card twice and we’ve used the warranty service to have the phone itself replaced four times. The last three times were back-to-back replacements. Literally the replacement phone sent to us for the warranty exchange was defective.

My wife and I are completely unsatisfied.  A copy of this letter with be posted to the customer support forums, taken physically to the AT&T store we’ve be using,  sent to the corporate customer service office, the better business bureau and everywhere else I can think to send it. I will share with every person I can the details of this transaction and how completely useless your service reps are. I will do everything I can to dissuade anyone who asks me if they should subscribe to AT&T. I will also take this to the Jag Office at my local military facility and spread the word to all of the other Service Members I serve with. In short I will do everything legally within my power as a consumer to cost your company money.

While I cannot afford the termination fees for all of the phones in my plan I will not renew any of the contracts on my account. By this summer three of the four lines will be terminated. Another business will then receive my money. It’s quite possible at that time I will accept the early termination fee for the remaining line. Once these contracts are finished AT&T will NEVER again receive ANY of my money or business.

        Tim and Ollie

[Edited to comply with Guidelines]