I bought my first cell phone in 1995 and have used AT&T as my carrier for the greater period since that time. I have had numerous good experiences with AT&T customer service over the years and have never minded paying for the five lines ($250+ a month) for our family plan for the past six years. Overall AT&T has been easy and painless. Until we moved in October of 2011
We moved approximately two miles north (as the crow flies) of our previous home where we had had perfect wireless service. No failed calls, missed calls, or texts that never arrived. This past October when my elderly father needed to move in to retirement, we sold our home and by his request, moved in to his home. Now, there is not a day that goes by that I don’t have failed calls, missed calls, texts that never get to their intended recipient. I miss calls from my husband,my kids, my dad, friends, as well as business contacts since I work from home as well.
My husband contacted AT&T customer service regarding our problem with service and he was offered a micro-cell at no charge to help bring in a stronger signal. This device, while it worked for it’s intended purpose, caused daily headaches for us. Once it was turned off, the headaches subsided and we felt, for health purposes this was not a viable solution. I then contacted customer service this past Sunday, March 11, 2012 and spoke to Supervisor #1* in Ogden, Utah about this issue. He suggested we upgrade our SIM cards as they were nearly two years old. My husband and I went down to our local AT&T store where a friendly store employee* helped us transfer our information to the new SIM cards and rebooted our phones. We were excited to get home and see how this would help. Long story short, this did NOT help, in fact, my phone, the Blackberry Torch, is worse. I gave it five days to see if would get better, but it hasn’t. I can no longer update my Facebook, it used to update the Facebook feed automatically, it no longer does that, telling me, in a nice little display box that I don’t have enough signal. Now, when I am home, ALL my incoming calls go straight to voicemail, when I try to call out it takes me two or three failed calls before one goes through, calls drop when I am in the middle of conversation. I have one bar of service, it’s normally in EDGE mode and I don’t feel this is what AT&T’s service should be known for.
This morning, Friday, March 16, 2012 I began my day by placing another call to customer service. Unable to get a hold of Supervisor #1, I spoke with Supervisor #2, he assured me over and over that I would not be able to “Get out of my contract”, that I had signed an agreement that limited AT&T’s responsibility to me as a customer, basically, I just had to continue with poor wireless service until my contract was up. I asked to speak to his supervisor, he put me on hold and then came back on the phone a few minutes later and said that his supervisor, Supervisor #3 had agreed to wave three of the early termination fees. I said I would talk it over with my husband and Supervisor #2 said he would have someone call me back in four and a half hours to get my answer. After talking it over with my husband, we felt this was fair and so I waited for the call back. Approximately four and half hours later , while I am outside my home I get a call back from Supervisor #4, another supervisor in Ogden, Utah. He first asked if my husband and I had agreed to accept the offer of the waving of the three early terminations fees and I said yes, we have talked it over and felt this was fair. He then paused and said the offer didn’t seem right to him, and I once again explained the service issue. He then said he would check with his supervisor (#5) and get back to me within 30 minutes since the supervisor was in a meeting and should be out in that time frame.
Over an hour later I finally receive a call (I am not at home at this point) and Supervisor #4 tells me that they are withdrawing their offer, that iphones can’t do early termination due to contractual obligations with Apple, that only my Blackberry can have early termination. He then offers me an extra $100 to sweeten the deal. While I understand the back peddling, I was offered this deal by at least three supervisors and feel AT&T should keep their word.
I am sure you can imagine my frustration at this point. I have spent several hours on the phone getting different answers, somewhat condescending attitudes and all the while, I am just trying to get some help from a company that I have spent thousands of dollars with, years of service to and this is what I am told...you signed a contract, you have no way out...I am saddened by how customer service has gone out the door. My husband and I own a small business and we bend over backwards to help and service our customers. I hope that someone can see that we have done all we can, we have honored our side of the contract, but with spotty service at best, we need out. AT&T please honor your offering of waving the three early termination fees, or better yet, for all this time and aggravation, wave all five.
One last observation, on their customer agreement it does say this:"Service in not available at all times in all places. There are gaps in coverage within the service areas shown on maps". I totally get this, there are spots that have bad coverage and while driving through those areas, I shouldn't expect good service or any service at all. BUT..really AT&T? This is a residential area, in a city, Verizon has excellent service here, you claim to have the best coverage in the nation and you can't get service to my neighborhood?
Please, just let us go.
*Names have been changed so as not to be sued for talking about my customer service experience.
