RIPPED OFF BY AT&T?

groc · ‎03-19-2011

Fellow dissatisfied customers-

AT&T has constantly been ripping us off. After I have received 6 months of terrible service, they have taken it too far.

I was supposed to have a promo of $19.95 to be taken directly out of my bank account monthly. The first 2 bills I got were both $45, and it took me phone call after phone call to get it straightened out. They would not refund the money, but they put it toward my next 3 bills. The next 3 bills I had no issues. Then, when I was to start paying the $19.95 again, THEY TOOK $45 OUT OF MY BANK ACCOUNT INSTEAD. This caused all sorts of overdraft fees. and it took the rest of the money I had to get through the week. I called and after beating around the bush for a half hour and waiting on hold for another ridiculous amount of time they finally connected me to someone who was supposed to do something about it. They wouldn't, and I ran out of minutes on my cell phone trying to get them to give me my money back.

They pinned it off on a "Billing Error." They said the promo wasn't associated with my account. This is not true. I got the promo for the past 3 months. They're doing something ILLEGAL here, and we have to do something about it. This has happened to several others I know who were supposed to be receiving the same promo.

You can contact the Better Business Bureau in order to resolve these issues if you are unable to do so yourself. Since thousands of us are being ripped off, if they get thousands of complaints about AT&Ts illegal activities, maybe some legal action will be taken. Big banks have been getting sued for ripping off customers in a similar fashion, so maybe we can bring that to this horrible, evil company.

"BBB's goal is to successfully resolve complaints involving buyers and sellers in a fair and timely fashion. This includes complaints involving consumer-to-business and business-to-business transactions that involve the advertisement and/or sale of a product or service. Information concerning the nature and resolution of complaints filed with BBB is used in developing BBB Reliability ReportsTM on companies. BBB accepts complaints whether or not the business is a BBB Accredited Business.

BBB generally does not handle complaints which are more effectively handled by other government or private agencies or the legal system, such as complaints involving employment practices, discrimination, or matters in litigation. Click here for more detailed BBB Complaint Acceptance Guidelines.

BBB strongly encourages consumers to first attempt to resolve complaints directly with the company, however BBB will not reject a complaint if a consumer has not taken this step. All complaints are processed by local BBBs, most often the BBB where the company is located. Historically, over 70% of complaints filed through BBB are resolved. In some cases, BBB mediation or arbitration may be offered to assist in resolution.

Your complaint will be forwarded to the company within two business days. The company will be asked to respond within 14 days, and if a response is not received, a second request will be made. You will be notified of the company's response when we receive it (or notified that we received no response). Complaints are usually closed within 30 calendar days.

BBB reserves the right not to process complaints containing abusive or foul language."

jacqueline2222 · ‎03-18-2011

This seems like a very good idea. I will wait and see how many people on this site seem to be having the same problem I have (false promotion, being charged 40$ instead of 14.99 since August 2010), then I will contact the BBB, see if they can help. Thanks!

aristizzle · ‎10-22-2010

promo for what? you never told us what the promo was for.

jzank · ‎03-25-2011

Over a year ago, I cancelled my AT&T U-Verse service. However, I did not cancel my internet service from AT&T. I was told I had to return the U-Verse cable boxes or there would be a $300 charge. Understood. However, one of the cable boxes provided the Ethernet cable for my internet service from AT&T (coaxial in/Ethernet out) so I could not remove the box without losing my internet service. I called AT&T several times to explain the problem and requested service to properly install the internet service so the cable boxes could be removed and returned. They refused. After a time, without help from AT&T, I at my own expense, added the Ethernet wiring from the modem to my computer so the cable box could be removed and returned. I returned the cable boxes to AT&T and have proof of delivery. However, because they received the boxes after the "contracted" 21-day grace period they charged my account $300 (plus late fees).

I have explained this during the numerous collection calls but they refuse to return the boxes or credit my account.

Its out and out cheating me to charge for the boxes I returned and they accepted. In good conscience, they need to either return the boxes or credit my account. Rather, they are going to report the "bad debt" to the credit agencies.

Interesting that AT&T puts no value on customer service. I pay AT&T >$180/month (>$2,000/year) for cell phone service and they will of course loose that over trying to RIP ME OFF!

ericka14 · ‎03-25-2011

my fiancee hasn't had his at&t phone for three years... he cancelled it THREE years ago and hasn't touched the phone since. he's been using sprint. so then, he gets a call from collections about a month ago. they said he has an outstanding bill of almost $1000!!! he hadn't gotten any calls or bills or any indication that he had any kind of outstanding balance. turns out when he cancelled the service, they didn't cancel it at all! they just kept on charging him! and now, he's been sent to collections. we have medical bills, we are trying to refinance our house that we can barely afford, he works two jobs, i work full time and now THIS. the last thing with we need. maybe for at&t a thousand bucks is nothing, but for us its alot of money. money that we dont have. and theres nothing he can do. he called customer "service" and they said sorry, tough luck, pay it anyway. this is infuriating!!!! i will NEVER use at&t or reccommend it to ANYONE!!! read all your complaints at&t, and get a clue.

Koki4o · ‎04-13-2011

I have the same problem. I am supposed to be charged 24.95 monthly for 12 months for U-verse Elite internet. However, they are charging me $40. I paid $100 for the gateway for which there is a rebate offer. When I try to claim the rebate, it says my account number is not found. They also charged me $55 dollars for repairs to the wiring in the building. I live in a newly rented appartment and the wiring problems are not my fault. At least they could have told me about the charges when they said that they will send a technician.

How can AT&T be allowed to take over smaller companies all of the time while they can't even run their own company?

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

Koki4o wrote:
I have the same problem. I am supposed to be charged 24.95 monthly for 12 months for U-verse Elite internet. However, they are charging me $40. I paid $100 for the gateway for which there is a rebate offer. When I try to claim the rebate, it says my account number is not found. They also charged me $55 dollars for repairs to the wiring in the building. I live in a newly rented appartment and the wiring problems are not my fault. At least they could have told me about the charges when they said that they will send a technician.
How can AT&T be allowed to take over smaller companies all of the time while they can't even run their own company?

while this is not the uverse forums, your 24.95 does not include federal, local, state taxes, surcharges, fee's, etc. You bill will have a detailed breakdown of wht the additional charges are. Wiring is CPE - yes it is your problem, not the carrier. The responsiblity for wiring ends at the dmark on your outside walls, anything inside is your responsiblity.

monzo1969 · ‎04-12-2011

Every section of the forum has at least one rude post by an AT&T employee. Interesting...

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

monzo1969 wrote:
Every section of the forum has at least one rude post by an AT&T employee. Interesting...

interesting comment, care to elaborate which att employee was "rude"? Considering the only one that is a employee asked you what promo you where talking about - does not seem to be rude, they asked a simple straight forward question - as a peer of the forum, not as a att employee snce there is no activity here by att except for forum moderation

nottahappycamper · ‎04-18-2011

Agreed!!!! And here i thought i was the only one to notice how very defensive and rude some are - hmmmm easy to tell who works for at&t (atleast in some form!) hey i have an idea how about a - gee, i'm sorry - it's hard to find good help these days - it's an issue at&t is aware of and working on.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

nottahappycamper wrote:
Agreed!!!! And here i thought i was the only one to notice how very defensive and rude some are - hmmmm easy to tell who works for at&t (atleast in some form!) hey i have an idea how about a - gee, i'm sorry - it's hard to find good help these days - it's an issue at&t is aware of and working on.

you are right - it is easy to tell who works for ATT here are are expressing their PERSONAL opinions and comments - they all are required to post the disclaimer in their signature. ATT moderates the forums only, there no no official support here, want official support - call them or use live chat, those are your only two options

omgray · ‎10-12-2011

I used to use a lot of att services. One by one, I have opted out of all but two - basic local phone service and a GoPhone.

The basic local phone service is next to go. I have had to call and argue with a chain of reps three times to drop long distance service. Each time, it reappears a few months later, like the bad penny. What part of "no" does AT&T not understand?

I bought a GoPhone from Amazon. Delivered from California next day (I ordered two day service). Amazon, it appears, cares about the customer. Took another four days to get the GoPhone up and running on ATT, and another two days to get credit for the free minutes sold with the phone. Six days to get connected - ain't the internet great?!?!?! Three days ago, I bought more minutes. My credit card showed the charge, three days ago. My ATT account still does not show the minutes purchased. My credit card posts at the speed of light. ATT posts when when the old minutes expire and are lost, even if it has to sit on the transaction for a week - and that's dishonest, that's theft. Or maybe it's a company that just doesn't care. Or maybe it's a company that hasn't figured out how to do internet business. Hmmmmm - short T.

So the GoPhone will GoSoon, making me free of ATT. Maybe. Or maybe ATT will start charging me for some other service that I don't want and never ordered.

So call them or use live chat? YOU MUST BE KIDDING! You'll have better luck calling Elvis!

love and kises

mike

omgray · ‎10-12-2011

Update (if anyone really cares...)

Tried to buy minutes for GoPhone, credit card (Chase) approved transaction, no minutes posted to my ATT account. Have to get them posted by the end of today to avoid losing balance of minutes - that's why I went on line and paid four days ago.

Credit card posted transaction on the 10th. No problem.

ATT made no update to account on 10th.

ATT made no update to account on 11th.

ATT made no update to account on 12th.

ATT made no update to account on 13th.

Remember, I lose my minutes on the 14th which in ATT speak is midnight on the 13th.

So afternoon of the 13th I dial 611 on the GoPhone and pretend I want to add minutes, then go to a human option. Not an English-speaking human, but a human nevertheless. She informs me that the credit card was OK with the charge, but ATT "rejected the payment". Whaaaaaa? "OK", I say, "Take their money and give me my minutes." "We can't do that, ATT rejected the payment."

Does that sound like a good billing system, rejecting legit payments from customers trying to buy more product? Does that sound like a successful business model? Do you own T in your retirement account?

Apparently in India, it makes sense. After considerable conversation centering on what has to be done to get ATT to take my money ("we can't do that, ATT rejected the payment.") I get transferred to an English speaking rep who explains to me that the credit card is fine but "we can't do that, ATT rejected the payment." The customer service script is the same on all continents. For a half-hour, I ask what needs to be done to get ATT to take my money. For a half-hour I keep hearing "we can't do that, ATT rejected the payment."

At this point, I would be tearing my hair out if I had any, and I'm beginning to shout (I'm Scots-Irish). All I want to know is, what the {word filter evasion} do I have to do to get ATT to take my money.

Aha, the ATT strategy reveals itself - make people scream at you demanding it take their money! VERY CLEVER!

Finally, it dawns on me (me, not the rep) - give them a different credit card, see if ATT will take its money. And it does.

So I now have some more minutes. ATT has accepted my money. I have acid reflux and an expanded drinking problem.

So I'll be talking to y'all on the cell phone for a little while longer, but only until these minutes run out.

Then the GoPhone will GoTrash. And my only connection to ATT will be those ads I get in the mail, daily, and get dumped in my TrashCan.

ycity1953 · ‎02-05-2012

Well the BBB must not have done much good because they are pulling the same thing on me--I wish I would have found this place sooner!

draisydre · ‎10-11-2012

AT&T's business model is to rip people off. It's a full-time job having to call them every month trying to fix a billing "mistake". They make millions every year off being "Inaccurate" with their billing and customers being too exhausted to fight it and risk losing service. We just end up paying.

I tried contacting the BBB. AT&T never responded to the complaint. The BBB rep said AT&T is one of those companies that doesn't give a [word filter avoidance]. They clearly don't. Look what we are writing on THEIR website forum. They don't care.

Ten years ago I received a letter with $18 from a class action lawsuit against them but I'm sure AT&T still makes way more off this practice than they lose in lawsuits.

The only solution is punitive legislation for these corrupt and truly immoral business practices. Say, if the bill is wrong - if it is WRONG - at all, then AT&T has to pay a minimum $10 penlaty PER BILL PER CUSTOMER. That would be the only thing that would dissuade them, the threat of losing money.

These mega corporations have no humanity, decency, shame or ethics. They are money making machines. As long as they profit from it they'll keep doing it.

nlk10010 · ‎03-14-2006

Interesting thread.

I ran into this "FAN discount" problem a year ago when I signed up for a BB on a 2GB data plan. The website showed one rate and the bill another, surprise, lower one. I let it pass.

Now I'm thinking of switching to an iPhone. When I go through the web site process it charges me for the phone (a lot of money but perfectly understandable, I'm only 1 year in) and a 2GB plan for iPhone LTE, which it claims is compatible and most like the one I have now. It shows my FAN discount as well. I didn't know if I'd continue to get the discount on my phone plan (450 minutes) and now that I see this thread I'm not even sure I'll continue to get my discount on the data plan.

I was about to pull the trigger on the upgrade but after seeing your posts I'll reassess my options with Verizon, with which I've never had a corporate discount issue. If I have to I'll just eat the AT&T ETF and consider myself lucky.

Good Luck.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

nlk10010 wrote:

Interesting thread.

I ran into this "FAN discount" problem a year ago when I signed up for a BB on a 2GB data plan. The website showed one rate and the bill another, surprise, lower one. I let it pass.

Now I'm thinking of switching to an iPhone. When I go through the web site process it charges me for the phone (a lot of money but perfectly understandable, I'm only 1 year in) and a 2GB plan for iPhone LTE, which it claims is compatible and most like the one I have now. It shows my FAN discount as well. I didn't know if I'd continue to get the discount on my phone plan (450 minutes) and now that I see this thread I'm not even sure I'll continue to get my discount on the data plan.

I was about to pull the trigger on the upgrade but after seeing your posts I'll reassess my options with Verizon, with which I've never had a corporate discount issue. If I have to I'll just eat the AT&T ETF and consider myself lucky.

Good Luck.

remember a couple of points

1. verizon has no single tiered data plan, they only have shared data plans

2. Unless whom ever your FAN discount is through, Have the same type of discount with verizon might be slom

Current requirements for a fan discount to be applied to data is the 5GB plan w/ terhering only, or the new mobile shared plan. You might want to look at a mobile shared offering, 1 - 4GB, unlimited voice, unlimited text, tethering and hotpot included. The FAN discount is supposed to be applied to the data plan nut not the device

If you go with 1 gb plan the plan would only run you 85.00 before FAN on the data portion and any additional fees from the state and local, regualtory, 4GB would be 110.00.

If you decide to etf out, you will pay the etf then jsut end up selling your phone since it iwll not work on verizon and you will be forced into the same shared data plan there, plus you nee to buy a new phone

nlk10010 · ‎03-14-2006

Oh, I understand. I've done the calculations and considered the advantages/disadvantages of each provider and it's basically a wash, if I continue to get my FAN discount from AT&T after the upgrade. Under those circumstances I probably would stay with them. Problem is, as this thread points out, you really don't know until the order goes through and by then it's too late to unwind everything. At least with Verizon (and at least in my experience) whatever discount I'm told I'll get when I order has been the discount I end up with.

For example, I did a chat with AT&T CS yesterday. Rep told me I would continue to get my 18% on the main plan but that I'd be switched to a 3GB data plan, which we know is not subject to discount. This differed from the site which "said" I could get a 2GB iPhone plan in place of my 2G BB plan and that I would get the discount.

That's why I'm leaning to ETF out. But we'll see. I really like the call quality on AT&T (data speed s***ks) and would have no problem staying but this game of Russian Roulette they're trying to make me play gets tiresome.

Thanks for the info.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

nlk10010 wrote:

Oh, I understand. I've done the calculations and considered the advantages/disadvantages of each provider and it's basically a wash, if I continue to get my FAN discount from AT&T after the upgrade. Under those circumstances I probably would stay with them. Problem is, as this thread points out, you really don't know until the order goes through and by then it's too late to unwind everything. At least with Verizon (and at least in my experience) whatever discount I'm told I'll get when I order has been the discount I end up with.

For example, I did a chat with AT&T CS yesterday. Rep told me I would continue to get my 18% on the main plan but that I'd be switched to a 3GB data plan, which we know is not subject to discount. This differed from the site which "said" I could get a 2GB iPhone plan in place of my 2G BB plan and that I would get the discount.

That's why I'm leaning to ETF out. But we'll see. I really like the call quality on AT&T (data speed s***ks) and would have no problem staying but this game of Russian Roulette they're trying to make me play gets tiresome.

Thanks for the info.

actually with verizon that is not true, I have a business relationship with verizon to supply phones to my employees, the agreement was written not to supply a discount on dat plans for smartphones, 99.9 percent of the cases the people where told the discount did apply when they bought the service and applied our corporate discount - then the arguements started after the first couple of bills. So you wil get the smae thing anywhere, that is if you corporate / organization agreements apply with verizon. Mine applies to ATT and verizon, but noyt to Sprint, and I have phone agreements with all three of them to supply corporate issued phones.

Data speed has not been an issue, it is faster then verizon and sprint, and still faster then sprint when the grandfathered unlimited plan is throttled

nlk10010 · ‎03-14-2006

wingrider01 wrote:

actually with verizon that is not true, I have a business relationship with verizon to supply phones to my employees, the agreement was written not to supply a discount on dat plans for smartphones, 99.9 percent of the cases the people where told the discount did apply when they bought the service and applied our corporate discount - then the arguements started after the first couple of bills. So you wil get the smae thing anywhere, that is if you corporate / organization agreements apply with verizon. Mine applies to ATT and verizon, but noyt to Sprint, and I have phone agreements with all three of them to supply corporate issued phones.
Data speed has not been an issue, it is faster then verizon and sprint, and still faster then sprint when the grandfathered unlimited plan is throttled

No, actually, what I wrote is true.

With Verizon I have never had the experience regarding discounts that I've had with AT&T. If you want to say that you have had that experience, then fine, I would never presume to comment on what you've privately observied. If you want to say that it could happen to me on Verizon, then fine. I only go by what I've experienced.

As far as data speed goes, I should have written that in my experience (Blackberry with HSPA+, NYC and environs), AT&T data speed is seriously inferior to Verizon's. If, again, your experience differs, then fine.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

nlk10010 wrote:

wingrider01 wrote:

actually with verizon that is not true, I have a business relationship with verizon to supply phones to my employees, the agreement was written not to supply a discount on dat plans for smartphones, 99.9 percent of the cases the people where told the discount did apply when they bought the service and applied our corporate discount - then the arguements started after the first couple of bills. So you wil get the smae thing anywhere, that is if you corporate / organization agreements apply with verizon. Mine applies to ATT and verizon, but noyt to Sprint, and I have phone agreements with all three of them to supply corporate issued phones.

Data speed has not been an issue, it is faster then verizon and sprint, and still faster then sprint when the grandfathered unlimited plan is throttled

No, actually, what I wrote is true.

With Verizon I have never had the experience regarding discounts that I've had with AT&T. If you want to say that you have had that experience, then fine, I would never presume to comment on what you've privately observied. If you want to say that it could happen to me on Verizon, then fine. I only go by what I've experienced.

As far as data speed goes, I should have written that in my experience (Blackberry with HSPA+, NYC and environs), AT&T data speed is seriously inferior to Verizon's. If, again, your experience differs, then fine.

you personally have never had the expierence, but my employees that got phones through our discount program where told differently - it is personal expierence for the company that I run that has a discount agreement with ATT, Sprint and Verizon for the employees.

Good luck