Why do so many customer service representatives make promises that are not kept?

I think they like people being happy at the end of the conversation...

@tcampseyjr Nice chart!

Nice chart, yes, but not a good idea to share any personal information. Besides that, it is against forum rules. If possible, you should edit out the personal info. If not, the mods will likely remove your chart. 

Well, I love the chart.  It's a great time line.

I can see where we have problems which ATT has promised to fix, but has probably been vetoed.  

The unified bill issue took 2 months to fix, compared to the record, that's not bad.  For an issue that shouldn't happen at all, it's terrible.

Now the BOGO in December:  To put it bluntly, the promotion ended 12/31. You did not qualify for a free phone on the BOGO offer.  Period.  This is why you are not getting the "mercy credits" one rep offered you.  No employee has the right to go rouge and make offers not included on your contract, the customer agreement or a promotional offer.  

As @Gary L mentioned, support is not allowed to say "no".  They are supposed to keep interactions positive.  The truth is the answer is NO.  You don't get the promotion it expired.

http://about.att.com/story/two_for_one_deal_on_popular_smartphones.html

@sandblaster is correct.  You will need to edit the photo to remove the phone number.  

When I leave a conversation, I expect follow through on what was promised.  If a customer service representative LIES to me just to keep the conversation positive, that is not right.

If a request is "vetoed", shouldn't I be notified of the veto so that I can better manage my bill.

This is not at all right, and AT&T needs to reach out to me and let me know that they will not follow through on their promises.  They should also give me the opportunity to opt out of any contracts I have entered into with them since they have not been honest with me.

Thank you for the complements on the chart.  I have taken out the phone number. 

Does anyone know how to e-mail the chart to someone who can actually get stuff done?

Based on the comments it sounds like the contact phone numbers, online chat, and forum representatives are allowed to make promises that can get vetoed.  I need to get in touch with the people who can actually do something.

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@tcampseyjr wrote:

Thank you for the complements on the chart.  I have taken out the phone number.  

 

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The phone number is still on the clickable link that makes the google drive link full screen.

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@lizdance40 wrote:

As @Gary L mentioned, support is not allowed to say "no".  They are supposed to keep interactions positive.  The truth is the answer is NO.  You don't get the promotion it expired.

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There is being positive and there is being unrealistic.  If the answer is no, tell me. If it's I don't know then tell me.

I was calling and trying to get a better deal the other night, trying to get my bill lower with the same amount of data, or get some free data (I specifically said "don't offer me more data for more money or less data for less money, I can do that on my own"); I was listing more competetive deals with the competition (which fit that criteria).

Instead of saying "no, this is the best we can do right now", they offered me a cheaper plan with less data and more data for more money. Which made them sound like an idiot (she was not), like she didn't "get" what I was looking for (I feel that she did). She was super nice and polite, but to offer exactly the opposite of what the customer is looking makes them look like idiots and makes me feel unheard. It's not a good policy (if that's what it is).

@Gary L

I agree.  The truth is important.  Sometimes it isn't what we want to hear.  When speaking to phone support, their job essentially depends on making the customer happy and getting a positive review.  You know those surveys we get after each call?  

If you rate the interaction poorly, it reflects on the person you spoke with.  Even if it isn't their fault you aren't happy.  So they end the calls in a way that makes the customers happy, get positive reviews and pass the buck to the next support person.  Of course the next person gets a nest of angry hornets because the customer is twice as ticked off.  

as for your situation...it was a win for the rep no matter what because they do want to get people off unlimited plans.  Guarantee there was a high five after you were off the phone. 

And what did ATT give up?  Nothing.  

In the OPs case, the honest thing was for the person who sold him the second phone to tell him the promotion expired.  Then retention's might have offered a courtesy credit for the misunderstanding.

@tcampseyjr

Heres the thing...You got an honest answer from one person, then a second person, then you went over their heads to get to retention's.  If you gave a text review of Carla and Aric, was it negative?  After retention's did you review it took 2-3 + calls to fix the problem.  

It's like you tell your kid you won't punish them for telling the truth, then they do, and you ground them a month.

We just don't take no for an answer very well do we?