Customer service

[Gypsy4340]

Will be searching for new provider tomorrow. After trying to add a line and purchase a phone for my son today...I am totally frustrated with customer service. Should be called customer non-service. This is a first for us and we have been with AT&T for over 10 yrs! However, after hours of wasted time and multiple phone calls etc...I am done. If AT&T doesn't want our business, there are plenty companies that do and they will go the extra mile to prove it. I just can't believe that in this day and age, at&t can stay in business with such poor customer service! With excellent credit, stable work history, and above average income, I am sure another company would love to have our business without all the hassle.

[Gypsy4340]

I have issues but I am afraid no one at AT&T cares. I have gotten no where and this is ridiculous!!! There is not even a customer complaint form on AT&T to get issues addressed/resolved. Should be customer non-service.

[ilikewireless ACE - Czar]

That's right. It's frustrating to be transfered many times. Did they transfer you to the right department that can add a line for you? If so, what did they say?

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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Gypsy4340 wrote:
I have issues but I am afraid no one at AT&T cares. I have gotten no where and this is ridiculous!!! There is not even a customer complaint form on AT&T to get issues addressed/resolved. Should be customer non-service.

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click on blue envelope in upper right corner, then send a PM to jamileh there is the avenue you are lookng for 

[Gypsy4340]

No. Even though I am an authorized user and showed 6 forms of Id for myself, two for my husband, and one with both out names on it, apparently the only way they can "verify" his identity is for him to come into the store personally. While this is not impossible, it is terribly inconvenient do to his work schedule. That is the reason I am an authorized user. Talk about hassle. I can't help but think there has to be a more customer friendly solution to this issue but apparently AT&T is not interested in making things convenient or easy for their customers....even long standing ones with exceptional history...etc.

[KenDog210]

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Gypsy4340 wrote:
Will be searching for new provider tomorrow. After trying to add a line and purchase a phone for my son today...I am totally frustrated with customer service. Should be called customer non-service. This is a first for us and we have been with AT&T for over 10 yrs! However, after hours of wasted time and multiple phone calls etc...I am done. If AT&T doesn't want our business, there are plenty companies that do and they will go the extra mile to prove it. I just can't believe that in this day and age, at&t can stay in business with such poor customer service! With excellent credit, stable work history, and above average income, I am sure another company would love to have our business without all the hassle.

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They are probably able to stay in business because although you will consider their customer service as poor, in comparison to other companies their customer service is actually pretty good.

Tell you what, switch to Sprint.  Then you can have a base of comparison.  They will literally hang up on you.  The way their customer service is set up they are required to "take care of your issues" in a set amount of time.  If they can't figure it out or take care of it, they will put you on hold or transfer.  Thats when the line will just hang up.

Don't get in the mind set that the other providers offer better customer service.  Do yourself a favor and atleast read through their forums.  You will see the Sprint forum flooded with customer service complaints, network complaints, customers "being lied too", deleted posts, etc.

[Gypsy4340]

Whatever. There is too much competition to accept mediocre performance. While sprint may or may not be worse....someone will fill the void. The attitude ed well, they aren't very good but they r better than sprint is the same attitude that is wrong with america. If you accept mediocre, whats the incentive for the company to provide exceptional??

[KenDog210]

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Gypsy4340 wrote:
Whatever. There is too much competition to accept mediocre performance. While sprint may or may not be worse....someone will fill the void. The attitude ed well, they aren't very good but they r better than sprint is the same attitude that is wrong with america. If you accept mediocre, whats the incentive for the company to provide exceptional??

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Well there are many factors that contribute with "that is wrong with America."  So I wont even comment as it will be completely off subject.

I understand your fustrated because of recent customer service experience.  And there are the other "big 3" providers you can choose from.  Yes there are more providers than that when you include prepaid.  But keep in mind that prepaid uses one of the main 4 networks.  So if you are taking your money away from ATT, then you will need to eliminate those prepaid providers as well.  If you dont, then your not really hurting ATT by much. You might not get good Sprint service in your area.  In that case you might not want to use any of their prepaid providers as you will get poor signal. 

My point being no matter where you go it will be close to the same and just varies by experience.  I have had pretty good customer service with ATT and had horrible customer service with Sprint.  You might experience something different.  All I'm saying is do your research before you switch.  There is more to look at with a provider than just the "customer service" aspect.

[jamileh]

@gypsy4340 - I got your PM and responded. I'm sure we'll be able to help out!

[Gypsy4340]

Thanks for the advice and I will certainly do my research as I always do. And while you r correct that there are other factors to consider, customer service is a biggie! Exceptional customer service shows the companys commitment to their consumers and that is a sure win for growth and success

[KenDog210]

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Gypsy4340 wrote:
Thanks for the advice and I will certainly do my research as I always do. And while you r correct that there are other factors to consider, customer service is a biggie! Exceptional customer service shows the companys commitment to their consumers and that is a sure win for growth and success

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I definitely understand and agree with this completely.  I was receiving very poor network service with Sprint.  But there horrible customer service and lack of not caring or trying to help with my issues was ultimately the reason why I left.

[anton697]

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KenDog210 wrote:

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Gypsy4340 wrote:
Whatever. There is too much competition to accept mediocre performance. While sprint may or may not be worse....someone will fill the void. The attitude ed well, they aren't very good but they r better than sprint is the same attitude that is wrong with america. If you accept mediocre, whats the incentive for the company to provide exceptional??

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My point being no matter where you go it will be close to the same and just varies by experience.  I have had pretty good customer service with ATT and had horrible customer service with Sprint.  You might experience something different.  All I'm saying is do your research before you switch.  There is more to look at with a provider than just the "customer service" aspect.

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Well if that's the case (your "more to look at with a provider than just the customer service aspect" comment), then when mention that you had horrible customer service with Sprint but good customer service with AT&T?  If there is more to it than just customer service, then should it matter that you had horrible customer service with Sprint?  Methinks you made that comment only to "defend" AT&T's less-than exemplary customer service by offering that, as poor as it was, worse service might be possible elsewhere.  Poor customer service is poor customer service, regardless of whether or not it is worse than that experienced from other companies...and yes, I get it that just because someone complains about poor service doesn't mean that there have not been instances of good service experienced by other customers...but to summarily dismiss someone's complaint of poor service simply by offering that there's no guarantee of good service if he chooses to go elsewhere does nothing to resolve the reason the person made that statement in the first place.

[Gypsy4340]

Thanks anton697....{please keep it courteous}

[jamileh]

I've merged your initial thread with this one. In effort to keep our community easy to use, please refrain from posting the same question in mulitple places. 

Thanks. 

[KenDog210]

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Well if that's the case (your "more to look at with a provider than just the customer service aspect" comment), then when mention that you had horrible customer service with Sprint but good customer service with AT&T?  If there is more to it than just customer service, then should it matter that you had horrible customer service with Sprint?  Methinks you made that comment only to "defend" AT&It's less-than exemplary customer service by offering that, as poor as it was, worse service might be possible elsewhere.  Poor customer service is poor customer service, regardless of whether or not it is worse than that experienced from other companies...and yes, I get it that just because someone complains about poor service doesn't mean that there have not been instances of good service experienced by other customers..But to summarily dismiss someone's complaint of poor service simply by offering that there's no guarantee of good service if he chooses to go elsewhere does nothing to resolve the reason the person made that statement in the first place.

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There is much more to a provider than customer service.  You should look at:

-Customer service of course

-Price

-OTD (Out the door price).  This means factor in taxes and fees/surcharges etc.  Sprint has almost double the surcharges as ATT.

-Reception

-Phone selection

-Network Technology (Wimax, 3G, LTE)

-In the OP's case, service provider.  I don't think they would want to get a ATT prepaid company

-Contract stipulations.  Sprint changes there's mid contract all the time

-Upgrade eligibility.  I believe ATT is 20 months right.  Sprint is 22 months

-return policy.  Att is 30 days.  Pretty much everyone else is 14 days

The poor customer service with Sprint was the final straw after over 8 years with them.  There were many other issues I had:

-Lack of advertised network.  I was getting between 10 to 200kbps with my new iphone.  it was useless

-delay tactics.  They told me they were working on the towers.  This was a lie

-Increased monthly bill

-They were double taxing me

-The changed my unlimited mobile broadband to 5GB limit mid contract without notice

-Charged my the "upgrade fees" ($72) after saying they would waive it

-Changed the discount policy

-Put an old phone and line in a new 2 year contract before changing the discount policy

-Started charging $2 for your monthly statement

-Ended their picture mail service

-Ended their Sprint Premier program

-Charged me $35 to "restock" a defective phone

I am pretty sure there are a few other things that I am forgetting about with them.  My point being I've learned to expect poor customer service for almost anything now a days.  Atleast ATT has delivered the advertised network they claim to have (in my specific situation).  This is already more than what Sprint did. 

I have only had to call customer service with ATT twice.  Both times were an ok experience.  If you want to leave a provider then go for it.  Why drag it out?  LEAVE already.  But sometimes the grass is not greener on the otherside and you find yourself in similar situations.  If I feel ATT has done me wrong then I will leave as well.  I would never go with Sprint again.  But there are other services available in my area that would work for me.

[Gypsy4340]

A great big thank u to Jamileh and Nicole. While my problem is not completely resolved, the fact that somebody took the time to not only listen but then get the bottom of the issue and explain it to me goes a very long way and this is what customer service should look like. Thanks so much to both of u and excellent job!

[jamileh]

Glad to hear it and I'll make sure Nicole sees your kind words. 

I hope you'll stick around the forums, we've got a lot of great, helpful folks here.