I Never Had a Chance

An experience switching from Comcast to AT&T

In December of 2007, I decided to start an at home business making websites. First I added a second line to my home service for a fax machine in order to send and receive hard copy contracts to clients out of my area. Everything was working fine. So, at the first of the year I went ahead and made things official and attained a business license. At the time I only had a few customers, but they were getting me more referrals. Because of this, I wanted to have a more professional look. I decided to upgrade my current plan with Comcast to business class so my outgoing calls would display my business name. Still not a problem, or so it seemed. Signing the contract was a breeze, but the caller ID never changed. Then I had problems with the second line. Every time I called I would get the run around. I even went down to the local office to get the problem fixed. A technician was supposed to be coming the following Thursday. No one ever showed up. When I called in and explained the situation over and over again to at least five different reps. I got the same response, “your account is messed up”. I was like “I understand this, that is why I am calling you”. One person said my number no longer existed, and the phone that was linked to my account was something different. It was actually my brothers (who as an AT&T customer). I did have him listed as an emergency contact, maybe that is how it got on there. So I wanted to know how where they charging me for someone else’s? I could not even pay my bill over the phone because my account was so messed up. After that, things just became more and more confusing. After about nine weeks and a three hundred and something dollar bill, I just turned my equipment in. The scary part was when I got there. The rep was not surprised at all. I told her I was turning my equipment in, and I wanted to cancel my service. She asked why (for the company’s records) I began to explain the mess to her, and she asked me who was my service rep. When I told her she just shook her head as if she was saying “that’s a shame”. I thought that I would be stuck paying out the bill for the rest of my contract, but by grace I received a bill in the mail for a little over forty dollars.

During the time when Comcast had me on the merry-go-round of blaming other departments, I decided to find another service provider before I cancelled with them. Early one morning I opened up the phone book and called every service provider on the list to see who I would get the best prices from. However, after a few calls I grew discouraged and thought I would have to stay with Comcast. This is because Comcast phone services are offered through a modem and a not a phone jack. Most local companies required a jack but would not install them. They all referred me to AT&T. So I gave them a call. They had a promotion for customers switching from Comcast, (how ironic) but the services I needed cost almost eighty dollars more than Comcast. I told Rep #1 that I was just starting out and I did not have that kind of money. If she could get the price down to what Comcast offered it for I would sign up. So we began to correspond by e-mail. She sent me several quotes and over the course of a week. She finally got the price down considerably. Almost fifteen dollars less than what I was paying with Comcast. I was very adamant about the fact that I could only afford so much, and I did not want a fluctuating bill like I had had with Comcast. Rep #1 assured that my bill will never change within the two years of my contract. However, because of the prorate factor, equipment, and labor; my first bill will be slightly higher. To my understanding she implied that after a month and a half or so my bill would always be the price she quoted me. I decided I was going to double check the contract before I signed it. I found about two or three questionable things and got them adjusted before I signed (electronically). I signed up to pay one hundred and thirty two dollars per month for two years for fast access DSL, two business class phone lines, and only one with all the extras. I thought that was pretty good since I had compared prices.

The next day, AT&T’s quality assurance rep called me. Rep #2 was very sweet, knowledgeable, and a stellar saleswoman. She told me that she had been employed with AT&T for over fifteen years. So she knew what she was talking about, and I could tell. Rep #2 informed me that I did not get what I asked for in the contract. The internet speed was slower than the one I needed. She talked me through the process, upgraded my DSL, and “threw in some other features for a fraction of the cost”. She told me my new bill would now be one hundred sixty two dollars and some change each month. Of course with the prorate my first bill would be slightly higher, but my second one would be what she had told me. I did mention to her I was pushing it going up those thirty extra dollars, but I had faith I would be able to keep up with my bill. That was in late march, I called AT&T on May 5, to ask why I had not received a bill. Rep #3 said I had a lot of discounts and what not so I did not have one for April, but my May bill would be in the mail soon. So I was very pleased with that and I thought everything was going fine. When I received the bill in May it was over five hundred dollars. I was astonished. I know that Rep #1 and Rep #2 told me the bill would be slightly higher but five hundred dollars? Do to some miscalculations on my part, my pay was over two hundred dollars less than I expected for that month. So, I cashed in my one hundred dollar coupon they mailed me, and tried to figure out I was going to get the rest of the money.

In the mean time, Rep #4 called. This time a guy. He told me that AT&T had a new promotion and I was eligible for it since I was still considered to be a new customer. However, in order to get in on the savings I had to order a third line. He explained by doing this I will be able to apply the discount to my total bill, which will in turn make it thirty dollars less. (back to what I started off with) It really did not make any sense to me, but I believed him. The other ladies had been so nice in helping me; I thought it was an AT&T thing. I was telling everyone how great AT&T was, but I was wrong. There were just buttering me up. Now in June, I had come up with the money needed to cover my May bill. I paid four hundred dollars in cash. Keep in mind I am on a fixed budget. I assumed that the one hundred dollar coupon that they gave me would cover the rest. After I paid my bill they sent me a check for one hundred dollars. The next day my June bill came in. It was over seven hundred dollars. I could not believe it. My bill was not going down it was just getting higher and higher. I thought I would be able to maintain my bill after that payment, but I could not keep up. I was confused, so I called in immediately. This time Rep #5, did just as Rep#2. She explained to me that the price I was quoted was wrong. My monthly bill was two hundred and forty nine dollars, not one hundred and thirty. At first she thought that they must have included the installation fees from the original order. But when she looked at it again that was not the problem. (She never told me what the real problem was. I told her I wanted to get out of it (the contract) because I could not afford to pay that much and it was not what the guy (rep #4) had said to me. She said I could not get out of the contract, but I could take some things off. She would also try to give me credits. Rep #5 told me that I had to keep at least one phone line and I had to keep the DSL. I said ok and asked her to take everything else off. She put me on hold while she “took care of it” for me. Then she instructed me to wait four days and then switch the DSL from the second line to the first one. So I did that. My internet would shut down seems like every 15 minutes. Bear in mind my job is to make and manage websites. But I don’t like to call in for every little thing I was going to try and wait it out, and if I couldn’t get it to work right then I would call in.

One morning my friend tried to call me, only to discover my phone has been cut off. Being the friend that he is, he called AT&T to get the bill taken care of. He was told that the bill was over one thousand dollars. He paid just enough to get it back on and told me about it. I was like WHAT? I just talked to Rep #5, she said she would get all the extra lines off, and credit me for the charges. I knew she could not erase the bill, but I assumed she was talking about the stuff that was added from rep #4. So I called in only to be on hold for at least twenty minutes before I talked to a real person. Now talking to rep #6 I explained everything from beginning to end. She said that Rep #5 had not changed anything like she told me she did. That everything was still the same. So I asked her if she could please reduce my services to the bare minimum and keep the unlimited long distance. She assured me that she had done so, after about thirty minutes. While on hold, I started searching the internet to see if I could find anything. I saw that I was not the only person who had this issue, and decided I was going to talk to someone in person.

So I called a few friends to see if they knew a place where I could go in to talk to someone. No one knew of any. So I called AT&T back, only to be put on hold again, (this time I don’t know how long because I was reading the articles of other customers). Finally, Rep #7 picked up the line. I asked her if she could tell me where the local office was at in Jackson so I could go in and talk to someone personally. She said that there were no local offices only inbound call centers. She asked if she could help me. I was hesitant but I began to explain to her just as I had done about an hour before to rep #6. Rep #7 listened patiently as I went on and on, trying to talk in calm and understanding voice. Although I was very frustrated. She asked me if I had any of the reps names. I told her that I tried to keep a log of everything but I had gotten a new computer and I lost the files. However I did have the e-mail correspondence I made with rep #1. She put me on hold as she reviewed my account, and then she began to explain everything to me like none of the others had. She explained that my bill could never have been one hundred and thirty dollars because they do not offer the services I had at that rate. She explained to me for just the two lines and the fast access DSL my monthly bill would be a little over two hundred and twenty dollars. She also kindly explained to me that there is a fifty dollar (or more) fee applied to my account whenever I make ANY type of changes adding or deducting. She further notified me that none of the previous reps had did what they promised to my account, and now I had two DSL charged to my account instead of one. Instead of moving the DSL to my primary line Rep #6 just added a new DSL to my primary line and never deleted the existing one. Only adding more charges. Rep #6 never informed me I had to cancel anything. Additionally she could not give me any credits because none of the cancellations or deductions where made to my account when I previously requested them. I never checked any of the lines to see if they were still working I just took their “word” for it. Aside from all of that she informed me that my reconnection fee was for three lines and DSL adding another two hundred dollars to my bill. She repeatedly said that she was “just letting me know so I won’t be freaked out when I see my next bill” she also had a “moment” while explaining all of this to me. During the conversation I continually let her know how much I appreciated her telling me the truth.

So putting all of that aside, I asked her “what can I do now?” She told me honestly. Don’t make any more changes, each time you make a change it’s a fee plus prorate. Then she told me how to get the two DSL lines off of account, yet more fees. Then she advised me to call collections to try and set up a payment. Thanking her again I followed all of her advice and called collections. Still the same day I spoke with rep #7 who was (nasty-nice) She let me know that I cannot set up a payment plan and my services will be disconnected again until the full amount is paid. I explained to her I paid all that I could. I just don’t have the money. She let me know that one hundred dollars a month (plus my monthly bill) would not be enough to satisfy my debt. I said to her I cannot afford that. My bill has never been the price they quoted me since I signed up with AT&T. The only option I have is to be disconnected and continue to owe because I am in a contract. So I will be paying for something that I can even use. She told me that she just can’t help me it’s not her business, and got off the phone with me.

So, now I am highly upset . I was the one lied to six times and now I have to pay for something I already said I could not afford from the very beginning. I made my intention clear. I have been treated like someone who is trying to get out of paying but I have never had the chance to pay what I promised. I have paid out over five hundred dollars in less than thirty days. That should show I am not trying to get out of it. If my bill had been what they promised from the beginning it would have been paid for up to three months which would bring me to now. April to May, May to June, June to July. I will wait to tomorrow to speak with someone else because I am so frustrated I doubt if I could handle another episode.