Why I'm so Livid

[john_huynh27]

Here is my grief with At&t...I was trying to upgrade to the iphone yesterday and I was unable to buy the phone because my billing address did not match my banks billing address. Therefore I made the appropriate changes and proceeded to try to purchase the phone again. It again did not work so I called into the call center where I would talk to a slew of representatives who could not find a solution but would instead give poor information, lie, and often times sound like a broken record and this is only when I wasn't being put on hold.  I had the money to purchase the phone but the internet transaction was not going through therefore I would think there would be a back up plan or a solution to go around the credit card dilemma. I said that I would mail the money in or drop the money off at a att core store but the managers and floor managers at these call centers did not have the know how or power to make this purchase go through for me. The customer service disgusted me...first because they were not up to date with what services and promotions At&t was providing and because I was passed along to 4 different people where I had to explain myself over and over and  the information was becoming more and more distorted until I spent my time getting each rep. caught up to speed. I knew that if I didn't find a solution then that things would be even more difficult when I tried again. The reps. kept on trying to get me to hang up and drive around town and call countless stores to see if a 8 gig refurbished ipod was available for pick up. I thought that was none sense (I knew that the refurb was not in core stores yet)  I did not call into at&t for help just to be told, "go look around your town." I wanted the deal then because At&t should be able to help there customer buy a phone even when the deal is only for the internet (because sometimes the internet malfunctions). Their solutions were to: go to a core store and buy the phone for 100 dollars more, call my bank to see if my cards work (which I did and the cards do in fact work and have my current address assigned to them),  or just wait until Monday and we'll see what we can do then or lastly have a friend use their credit card. I did not like any of these solutions because first off I want the deal that was earlier only given to "new” clients and I also like to save money. My cards worked earlier in the morning and it even worked when the at&t store in Denver where they credited the card for my return of the VU to get the iphone! And I didn't want to wait until Monday because when I want to purchase something I want it now(is that too much to ask?) and also with how often the website changes and how the phone prices fluctuate ( the blackberry was 79.99 one week and the next it was back up to 99.99 and 129.99, an the instore store rep told me it happens all the time) and I did not want that to happen in my situation that is to say, try to buy a iphone and being told to wait and in the mean time the price going back up or being temp unavailable/ out of stock on the 3g iphone refurb. Oh and my friends credit card wouldn't work!!! Because there address doesn't match my banks address!!!...It doesn't work like that and you should know that. I have now waited 24 to see if my credit cards would now work but now the iphone upgrade is now unavailable(the website says click here to see if you qualify for a 3g upgrade but when I click on it the option to purchase the 3g is no longer there!!! 24 hours later! This is exactly what I told the at&t reps I was afraid of! It is no longer an option to upgrade to the 3g iphone refurb!...so mad My suggestions to the reps. yesterday still stand today, if anyone online rep can help me with this solution or come up with a better one please notify me. My first request was that I drop off the money at a core store and then have the phone mailed to me. My second option was since all the at&t people that I talked to can't access the purchase page and order me a refurb phone then they should just give me a new phone at the refurb price. It's not right to have me jump through so many hoops and spend so much time and effort on the phone. I spent over 3 hours on the phone trying to figure this thing out! This in m mind is unacceptable and I want a solution please. At&t please help me get the iphone 3g refurbished upgrade! Your customer for 5 loyal years, 

[kw83028]

Sorry this is a customer forum. You're not going to get any help from ATT on here

[Athena]

That does sound like a most frustrating experience. And unfortunately as previously mentioned this is a customer based forum, so you won't get a response from AT&T here, what I might recommend is try contacting the online order group. (Not sure if you have already spoken to them or not.)   1-866-689-1876.   I wish you the best of luck.. 

[Juan.Ortega]

It's no excuse, but I go through the same thing every time I call my cable company or DirecTV... at least you were talking to reps for whom English was their first language.  Try dealing with overseas call centers who have no idea what to do when you get them off script.  (And no, while Canada is a different country, it is not overseas.)

[Goturanswers]

It sounds to me as if the requirement that your credit card billing address and your address listed on your ATT account matching is for your benefit.  Otherwise, what would prevent anyone from getting access to your personal information, going online, ordering phones and then asking the billing/shipping address be overridden to have those phones delivered somewhere other than to you???

I don't think this requirement is unique to ATT. It sounds like a good security measure in my opinion.

[kw83028]

---

Goturanswers wrote:

It sounds to me as if the requirement that your credit card billing address and your address listed on your ATT account matching is for your benefit.  Otherwise, what would prevent anyone from getting access to your personal information, going online, ordering phones and then asking the billing/shipping address be overridden to have those phones delivered somewhere other than to you???

I don't think this requirement is unique to ATT. It sounds like a good security measure in my opinion.

---

I completely agree with this statement. It would be so easy to steal a credit card, buy a bunch of stuff and have it shipped to another location where it would be very hard to track. I wouldn't be slightest bit mad at that requirement.

[DarkestHour00]

I'm sorry but I have to give my two cents on this. The problem was not at&ts fault. Those addresses have needed to match for as long as I can remember. It is for your protection and I bet if someone stole your card and used it to buy a iPhone and got away with it because the addresses didn't need to match you would be livid about that as well(at least I would hope so). I do understand why your upset because it was does stink that you lost out on the deal but sometimes that's just how it go's. You can't be made because at&t didn't have a backup system to get around a security system they have in place. Again I am sorry and hope everything works out for you.

Message Edited by DarkestHour00 on 02-22-2009 03:16:16 AM

[Jdroadie]

Ok here's the real story...I had the exact same experience, It seems our friends are guilty of a little bait and switch, which they may call a computer glitch. Any class action lawyers out there?....Here's what I was told after experiencing the EXACT same thing....The Iphone refurbs are for new customers only. The web site has a glitch.  If you put your credit card in for a Razor 3G it would have gone right through.....In reality the website didn't have an error message for "No Iphone for you" loyal customer, new accounts/lines only....so if you were like me, you inserted the same stuff over a few times and got denied.....you can see my post on Customer Service(top of left column) area that explains how they sent me to Best Buy for the refurb, and the best buy rep was hawking TMobile....title: handed right to the competetion

[AboutToGoPostal]

---

Jdroadie wrote:
Ok here's the real story...I had the exact same experience, It seems our friends are guilty of a little bait and switch, which they may call a computer glitch. Any class action lawyers out there?....Here's what I was told after experiencing the EXACT same thing....The Iphone refurbs are for new customers only. The web site has a glitch.  If you put your credit card in for a Razor 3G it would have gone right through.....In reality the website didn't have an error message for "No Iphone for you" loyal customer, new accounts/lines only....so if you were like me, you inserted the same stuff over a few times and got denied.....you can see my post on Customer Service(top of left column) area that explains how they sent me to Best Buy for the refurb, and the best buy rep was hawking TMobile....title: handed right to the competetion

---

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT INFO!  I need to buy a replacement iPhone, and it's super-helpful to have this info in advance. ...so I'm sure this thread will be censored and deleted shortly.  (archive) Wouldn't want customers to spread information that T wants to keep hidden...

Speaking of which, did you know that when your phone is lost or stolen, AT&T could block and/or track the phone's IMEI # to block and/or track anyone using it.  They do so in Australia.  But AT&T doesn't care about its customers, so it has this customer-hostile policy of refusing to cooperate in law enforcement.

Message Edited by AboutToGoPostal on 02-23-2009 07:47:00 AM

Message Edited by AboutToGoPostal on 02-23-2009 07:50:56 AM

[youngjm ACE - Professor]

---

AboutToGoPostal wrote:

---

Speaking of which, did you know that when your phone is lost or stolen, AT&T could block and/or track the phone's IMEI # to block and/or track anyone using it.  They do so in Australia.  But AT&T doesn't care about its customers, so it has this customer-hostile policy of refusing to cooperate in law enforcement.

Message Edited by AboutToGoPostal on 02-23-2009 07:47:00 AM

Message Edited by AboutToGoPostal on 02-23-2009 07:50:56 AM

---

The issue is with the lawyers who woud raise ...... if the wrong phone was listed as being stolen.

[DarkestHour00]

---

Jdroadie wrote:
Ok here's the real story...I had the exact same experience, It seems our friends are guilty of a little bait and switch, which they may call a computer glitch. Any class action lawyers out there?....Here's what I was told after experiencing the EXACT same thing....The Iphone refurbs are for new customers only. The web site has a glitch.  If you put your credit card in for a Razor 3G it would have gone right through.....In reality the website didn't have an error message for "No Iphone for you" loyal customer, new accounts/lines only....so if you were like me, you inserted the same stuff over a few times and got denied.....you can see my post on Customer Service(top of left column) area that explains how they sent me to Best Buy for the refurb, and the best buy rep was hawking TMobile....title: handed right to the competetion

---

The iPhone refurb you were trying to get at the time may have been only for new customer but at&t has been them available for upgrades as I have a good friend who has been with at&t for years upgrade to a iPhone refurb no problem. Can't remember when he did it but I was with him when he placed the order and saw the phone after it came in. It had 2 very small scratches they you would only see if looking for them and it works great. With all phones that at&t sells the prices and offers(like refurbs) may not be available for upgrades one week but be available the next.

[Tony2979]

Both my wife and I upgraded to a refurbished 3g with no problems.  The new customer deal was 99.00.  It cost us around 150 just doing a normal upgrade.  This was a month ago.

[danettesuzette]

---

Jdroadie wrote:
Ok here's the real story...I had the exact same experience, It seems our friends are guilty of a little bait and switch, which they may call a computer glitch. Any class action lawyers out there?....Here's what I was told after experiencing the EXACT same thing....The Iphone refurbs are for new customers only. The web site has a glitch.  If you put your credit card in for a Razor 3G it would have gone right through.....In reality the website didn't have an error message for "No Iphone for you" loyal customer, new accounts/lines only....so if you were like me, you inserted the same stuff over a few times and got denied.....you can see my post on Customer Service(top of left column) area that explains how they sent me to Best Buy for the refurb, and the best buy rep was hawking TMobile....title: handed right to the competetion

---

You're absolutely wrong becuase I upgraded my brothers line to the refurb iPhone with NO PROBLEM. ONLINE. With my credit card.

So kinda kills your theory there.

[Starfall]

I concur. I'm currently eligible for upgrade on my line, and when I browse the Premier site, the refurbished 8GB iPhone is available for me to buy for $99 + 2 year contract. (The 16GB is out of stock, not surprisingly).

[wilcre ACE - Expert]

---

youngjm wrote:

---

AboutToGoPostal wrote:

     Speaking of which, did you know that when your phone is lost or stolen, AT&T could block and/or track the phone's IMEI # to block and/or track anyone using it.  They do so in Australia.  But AT&T doesn't care about its customers, so it has this customer-hostile policy of refusing to cooperate in law enforcement.

---

     The issue is with the lawyers who woud raise ...... if the wrong phone was listed as being stolen.

---

     That is correct, also even the international countries that do have a IMEI blacklist, it is not wholely supported by all the other carriers, so unless it is uniformily supported by everyone then it is of no use.

[Onyx13]

I just got a refurbished iPhone 3g 8gb with my plan upgrade so I don't think that the refurb phones are available for new customers only...just sayin

[akaxrandomxhero]

can u buy a refurbished iphone outright? and if you can is it just online or do you know if the stores or best buy might have some? i am getting rid of my quickfire today and want to get a iphone.

[DarkestHour00]

---

akaxrandomxhero wrote:
can u buy a refurbished iphone outright? and if you can is it just online or do you know if the stores or best buy might have some? i am getting rid of my quickfire today and want to get a iphone.

---

No you can't. Even through it's not "new" it still requires a 2 year contract and $30 data plan. E-bay would be your best bet if you don't want a contract but if you activate it with at&t it still requires the $30 data plan. Hope this helps!

[Smurfette27]

---

akaxrandomxhero wrote:
can u buy a refurbished iphone outright? and if you can is it just online or do you know if the stores or best buy might have some? i am getting rid of my quickfire today and want to get a iphone.

---

Please read the forum threads on the quickfire. It seems that people have been able to exchange theirs through warranty. They've been offered the propel or the matrix. Just something to look into.

[akaxrandomxhero]

i have and since i got myn less than 30 days ago i am getting my money back. and i am not getting a propel or a matrix. i read the other forums already.

[AboutToGoPostal]

---

wilcre wrote:

---

youngjm wrote:

---

AboutToGoPostal wrote:

     Speaking of which, did you know that when your phone is lost or stolen, AT&T could block and/or track the phone's IMEI # to block and/or track anyone using it.  They do so in Australia.  But AT&T doesn't care about its customers, so it has this customer-hostile policy of refusing to cooperate in law enforcement.

---

     The issue is with the lawyers who woud raise ...... if the wrong phone was listed as being stolen.

---

     That is correct, also even the international countries that do have a IMEI blacklist, it is not wholely supported by all the other carriers, so unless it is uniformily supported by everyone then it is of no use.

---

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nuthin'.

The wrong phone would be listed as being stolen only through gross incompetence.  AT&T's systems know the current IMEI and phone # of each customer account...so this could only happen if someone called and was able to convince AT&T that they were the customer, by answering the usual security questions sucessfully, which would mean they could disable the account in any of many ways.

[AboutToGoPostal]

Anyone know what version of the OS the new and refurb iPhones sold in the last few weeks come with?  I want an iPhone that has NOT been upgraded to 2.2.1 (or newer).

Message Edited by AboutToGoPostal on 02-25-2009 05:25:53 PM

[boppo]

it is what it is, you will get what's on it.

[cousintim]

---

AboutToGoPostal wrote:
I want an iPhone that has NOT been upgraded to 2.2.1 (or newer).

---

That seems unlikely and becomes more so by the day.

[youngjm ACE - Professor]

---

AboutToGoPostal wrote:
Anyone know what version of the OS the new and refurb iPhones sold in the last few weeks come with?  I want an iPhone that has NOT been upgraded to 2.2.1 (or newer).

Message Edited by AboutToGoPostal on 02-25-2009 05:25:53 PM

---

More than likely, the newest OS will be on the phone.  As they check out the phone and wipe out the old content, the restore should be updating to the latest OS.  Ones that come with an older OS is becasue they were reprocessed before the newest OS was available....Inventory.

[peachymomo23]

at&t can not take payment at a store for a phone online. This is a security measure due to large amounts of theft of the phones. Unfortunatly what probably happened is the card was entered in wrong too many times and it was locked in the system or honestly they could have been having a system issue. When the refurb iphones are online they do tend to sell quickly and can cause the website to freeze. This happens with any website that has a large amount of traffic at any moment. I'm sorry you had so much trouble but my question is why would you buy refurbished and only get a 90 day warranty with no insurance option vs paying a little more for a phone that has a 1 year warranty. I refer people to best buy a lot because on top of the warranty you can purchase best buy's warranty which is a great investment and has saved me money on my electronics in the past due to damage I had caused. Again, sorry for the trouble you had but understand that these policies are in place to protect YOU.

Mod note: Please check your private messages by clicking on the envelope in the upper-right hand corner. Thank you.

Message Edited by Sentry on 02-26-2009 02:09:03 PM

[rsmseymour]

I am going through the same thing! I know I've seen the refurbished iPhone in previous weeks, but as soon as I was eligible for an upgrade, the option disappeared! I was on the phone with customer support for over an hour. The girl tried stepping through the order process on my account and couldn't see a refurbished iPhone option either. I've been told by customer service that I am eligible for this, but they don't know why I can't do it. They said that they can't place my order over the phone. It has to be online or at the store! Even if there is a problem with the website, there is nothing they can do! I threatened to close my account so I could then purchase the phone as a NEW customer. They didn't seem to care though. All she said was I would loose my current number! She also said the check the local stores but I doubt they even sell the refurbs.

AHHHH!!!

Oh, I mentioned that I've been a loyal customer for 13 years and have 5 phones on the account, but that didn't seem to matter.

[Justgotit]

Upgrade to 99$ refurb worked fine for me. Cant tell the difference between mine and my sisters who bought hers brand new. No problems at all with order process, shipping process, or the phone its self. Excellent upgrade experience so far.