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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI detest AT&T customer service
Like a lot of people, we have moved among cell phone carriers now and then, mostly due to special offers. Right now we're with AT&T.
Now, our expectations from a cell phone carrier are very simple: we expect to be able to make and receive calls, send and receive texts, and download the occasional app. That's it. As long as we can do that, we're fine; no issues with the carrier. However, every time I've had to call them for the past few years, which has been (thankfully) maybe once a year, I've wanted to throw the phone through the wall. Over the past couple of days I've had to call them three times.
First, we received a text message that they hoped we were happy with Smart Limits, and that our free trial would end on such-and-such a date, after which we would be billed $4.95 a month. Problem is, we didn't sign up for this service. So I logged on to their web site to see if I could delete the service, but I couldn't find where to do it. I could find everything else, but not that one.
So I called Customer Service. The first thing I got was their electronic voice asking what I wanted. From previous experiences, I bypassed this, which took some doing, but finally I was able to talk with a real person. Now, I just wanted to do something simple: get rid of Smart Limits. But for some reason we had to go around and around before she finally accepted what I wanted to do. She even asked me about other services I had; she sounded ready for a sales pitch, which I turned down. So we took care of the issue, but all this time I had to listen to a very thick accent and ask her to repeat herself a few times.
I thought that was the end of it.
This morning I get an email from them confirming that we changed our passcode. WTF???? So I tried to log in again, and the system wouldn't let me in. So I said something rather... ummm... strong... and called them again.
After working around the automated voice again, I ended up with a rep. This guy had an even stronger accent than the lady yesterday and kept asking me for IDs and other stuff. Basically, he said he could only talk with the owner of the account. I explained that both our names were on the account, but he wouldn't accept it. Back and forth. Finally I said I would call back and talk with someone else.
Called again, got through the electronic voice, and asked for a supervisor. The rep I spoke with (another heavy accent) asked me for ID and found us (didn't say anything about only talking with the account owner), so he transferred me. A bit later, someone came on (he also had a thick accent) and asked me for ID all over again. This time he couldn't find me: he said none of my passcodes (or whatever: the same stuff I had just given to someone else) worked. So he sent me a text with a number, and blah blah. Finally we straightened out the passcode issue, but then I asked why I couldn't log onto the site with my usual password. His response (as far as I could tell) was that sometimes their system "does that" with customers who have more than one service. So I asked, are you telling me that your system deleted my password because we have more than one service with you? As far as I could tell, he said yes. We reset the password. This time the call took maybe twenty minutes including wait time.
Okay, I said above that my expectations for a cell phone service are simple, and I think they are. But my expectations for a customer service department are also simple, and one of the few things I expect is to be able to understand their reps. I couldn't care less if they are from the U.S., or another part of the world, or Mars, as long as I can understand what they're saying. It makes getting to the heart of the issue, and fixing it, much more efficient. And it takes less time.
On the other hand, I have to wonder if AT&T does it this way on purpose to discourage customers from calling in.
Hopefully everything will work okay for the next year or so and I won't have to call them again. In the meantime, I'm going to start reading reviews on other carriers and seeing what we can do about moving to one of them.
Auggie
(31,130 posts)grumpyduck
(6,221 posts)Auggie
(31,130 posts)provided their coverage is decent in your area. We had AT&T cable/internet/phone for a few years and were always experiencing problems. Customer service is non-existence. I think its worth to pay a little extra than to have to deal with their bullshit. Itll be a cold day in Hell before I let them in my house again.
dembotoz
(16,784 posts)Auggie
(31,130 posts)I guarantee you the CS wont get any better. Its not their culture.
C's don't matter if u got no bars
Pope George Ringo II
(1,896 posts)AT&T has no customer service to hate. It's why I simply refuse to do business with them at any time for any reason.
CrispyQ
(36,413 posts)sprinkleeninow
(20,212 posts)👍
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)GaYellowDawg
(4,446 posts)God forbid customer service be fluent in English and be understandable over the phone.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)You wrote that they had accents.
GaYellowDawg
(4,446 posts)But I've been on the phone with customer service reps with thick accents and none of them have ever been fluent in English. It's not an unreasonable expectation for a customer service rep to be easily understood. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with being annoyed when that expectation isn't met. There's also nothing wrong with mentioning it when recounting an episode.
liberalhistorian
(20,814 posts)Some accents, especially heavy ones, are VERY hard to understand even if the person speaks good English. It's incredibly frustrating to try to communicate when you CANNOT UNDERSTAND SOMEONE. It has nothing to do with racism or bias or anything else. When you're paying good money for a service, you want to be able to actually understand and communicate with their customer service when you have issues.
I have a hearing impairment and accents of any kind are extremely difficult for me to understand. It doesn't matter who it is, it could be a white southerner or New Yorker with a heavy accent. I have sensorineural hearing loss, which means you have a lot of trouble discriminating words; you can often hear something's being said but you often have trouble making out the words. It has nothing whatsoever to do with bias, and it pisses me the hell off when I'm called racist because I can't understand someone with a heavy accent. It's especially upsetting when I'm screamed at and have the phone hung up on me because I've had to ask them to please repeat themselves, I'm having trouble understanding you.
Auggie
(31,130 posts)When you're paying good money for a service, you want to be able to actually understand and communicate with their customer service when you have issues.
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)No accent there.
Food for thought.
Downtown Hound
(12,618 posts)It sure seems like it.
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)liberalhistorian
(20,814 posts)or genuinely helpful.
If the former, then I guess only certain disabilities matter? Because you obviously have little understanding of just how crippling this form of hearing impairment can be in daily life, including in trying to understand any kind of an accent at all. Just because hearing impairments are not outwardly visible doesn't mean they don't exist and aren't difficult to deal with.
If the latter, the problem is that a lot of companies don't yet utilize that.
sprinkleeninow
(20,212 posts)Otosclerosis. Surgery in one ear. Tried to come back, in and out. The 'bucket' prosthesis either got lodged by tissue or it shifted. Have 'minimal' hearing there. Re-doing may lose what I have. Left ear a mess. I have v. good bone conduction in my head. I know what you mean about words not truly crystal clear. I 'look' okay, and people can't tell I can't hear up to speed. I hate this, but then remember others who have far worse disabilities and impairments.
Generic Brad
(14,272 posts)I was on the phone with them as recently as yesterday to make changes to my account. My hold time was less than 15 seconds. I got through to a helpful representative right away. I not only expanded my internet and TV service, but my bill was significantly lowered. I had an extremely positive experience. I can't speak to their customer service for phones, but their U-Verse and internet reps have been terrific to me.
FreeState
(10,569 posts)6 promised phone calls back from managers and not one received or attempted.
ATT is shit.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Why is that something you mention repeatedly in this post?
grumpyduck
(6,221 posts)several times and it made understanding what they were saying difficult, especially when they were talking about passcodes and similar stuff. As I also said, I just expect to be able to understand what a customer service rep is saying. And especially over the phone.
Other than that,I couldn't care less about someone having an accent. I had one myself for years.
liberalhistorian
(20,814 posts)it's extremely difficult to understand someone with a heavy accent and it makes customer service all the more difficult.
Pope George Ringo II
(1,896 posts)liberalhistorian
(20,814 posts)I have trouble with all accents, doesn't matter what they are.
I remember Johnny Carson used to have some running jokes about his travels in the UK and his difficulty understanding people a lot of the time.
obnoxiousdrunk
(2,909 posts)accents like the CEO's of Google and Microsoft ?
Response to grumpyduck (Original post)
blue neen This message was self-deleted by its author.
spooky3
(34,402 posts)Ill spare everyone the details, but it was a very simple billing error that took more than a hour to correct. I advise using their Chat when you are at your computer and can multi task, so that the very long delays between messages can be spent doing something else. It is easier to read than to understand via audio some of their support staff, and for them to understand you.
still_one
(92,060 posts)devices over to T-Mobile. I will end up saving 70 dollars per month, but that is NOT the reason I am switching carriers. The reason I am leaving AT&T is because of their piss poor customer service.
Whether it is trying to speak to a live human being, getting them to stop charging me for devices and services I don't have, I have been fighting them on this type of crap for 2 years, and I finally had it. I have written letters, filled out their jackass survey's , and have concluded they simply don't give damn.
While AT&T most likely will have better coverage in some areas than T-Mobile, most of the places I go to are in large metropolitan areas thoughout the country, and I don't anticipate too many issues. T-Mobile is also committed to 5G, rolling out band 71 to cover rural areas, and low bands to cover better building penetration.
One thing I can say, as I have slowly been moving my lines over to T-Mobile, my experience with their customer service has exceeded my expectations. When calling T-Mobile if I want to talke to a human being all I have to do is say representative, and I am immediately switched over to talk with someone, unlike going throuogh the torture of AT&T trying to force prevent me from talking to a customer service representative.
I have moved three lines over already, and so far so good, and the last two lines will be moved over tomorrow, and I will be saying goodbye to AT&T.
The way I see it, the worst possible case is the coverage doesn't work out for me with T-Mobile, and I will go to Verizon, and it will be my last resort to go back to AT&T. I am so pissed at them.
This is the very reason WHY THE AT&T/T-MOBILE merger should not have happened, and didn't
sprinkleeninow
(20,212 posts)slammed us while we were with another provider. It was all the rage back then, along with cramming.
I've been holding my own personal protest parade on them since then. They can go suck a big lemon.
still_one
(92,060 posts)years where their custermer service, and general service has been going dramatically down hill, and when I read the OPs experiences with them I really could relate
sprinkleeninow
(20,212 posts)IIRC, we had MCI landline then and AT&T started billing/switched us to theirs without our permission. This practice was becoming widespread. Cramming and slamming.
That is why we wouldn't use them for 'any' service into forever. Our wireless phone, internet and fiber tv are with companies that may be more expensive, but you don't go ballistic with their bamboozling.
When we get dissed, I'm industrial strength boycott any business, product or entity that messes with us. Have a running list. 😁
csziggy
(34,131 posts)But their response to non-customers is abysmal.
Years ago I began getting debt collection calls about a T-Mobile account. I have never had a T-Mobile account and have had the same land line number for forty years. There was NO provision for a non-customer to let them know they had the wrong number. Unless I had the account number for the account with an outstanding balance, I could not get to a human being to take my number off their list.
I tried calling every T-Mobile number I could find - either I had to have an account number to get to a person or, for their sales offices they had no way to get to the billing department without an account number. Two months in, they were calling me eight to ten times a week - this while I was under recovery for surgery.
I finally turned in a complaint to the state Consumer Affairs office. It took them a month to get the calls stopped. Even then, my main complaint - that people should be able to contact someone with T-Mobile to let them know they are contacting the wrong land line - was ignored by both T-Mobile and by the Consumer Affairs people.
I will NEVER do business with T-Mobile after that. I don't give a shit if their coverage is great and their customer service is wonderful. They harassed me for three fucking months over a bill that was not mine and did not give me a chance to let them know they were harrying they wrong person. T-Mobile can go fuck themselves.
still_one
(92,060 posts)coverage will be adequate for my purposes, nor if I won't encounter an issue such as you, but after two years of fighting AT&T for charges of lines and services I was NOT subscribed to, I've had it with them, and their inferior customer service.
The way you feel about T-Mobile, I feel about AT&T, and this is from a person who has been a customer of AT&T for over 20 years.
However, no matter what one feels about any carrier, there is no doubt in my mind that if it wasn't for T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon would have never lowered their prices, nor become more competitive. The only reason they were forced to is because of T-Mobile
If T-Mobile doesn't work out for me for one reason or another, I will go with Verizon, but it will be the last straw for me to go back to AT&T
csziggy
(34,131 posts)Back then their customer service was OK. But we finally got unlimited long distance bundled with our land line (back when the local company was Sprint) and internet so bye-bye AT&T.
For years we used Tracfone for cell phone service. In December my husband switched his to Verizon since he is using a lot of data on his phone these days and they had a deal to buy a new, better phone with a two year contract. Our plan is that I will get his current phone next winter and he will upgrade to a better one. Around here Verizon has the best coverage so they would have been our first choice for a subscription service anyway.
We still don't get cell signal in our house due to the placement of the cell towers and our location - no cell towers near on this side of our ridge.
I think companies like Tracfone had as much to do with rate reductions for cell phones as anything else. Basically I pay less per year for my Tracfone as my husband is for his (with paying for the phone and one line) per month.
We just switched to T-Mobile after close to twenty years, starting with Verizon. Finally could not take their lack of customer service any longer. And, dog forbid you buy or change something at an affiliate store vs. a corporate. They slam you every time.
Elwood P Dowd
(11,443 posts)and terrible coverage at times. Not long afterwards, I dropped Direct TV because of reception issues and customer service couldn't help. AT&T owns Direct TV.
brooklynite
(94,311 posts)I've had great service from T-Mobile since I switch, especially when traveling abroad.
still_one
(92,060 posts)However, while Verizon supports CDMA, the later GSM phones will cover most of the LTE bands, and in most areas would work with Verizon except in certain CDMA areas, though both Verizon and ATT will cost you more than T-Mobile
Unless you go with one of the MVNA
Anon-C
(3,430 posts)fleabiscuit
(4,542 posts)If so, I'm surprised they worked with you at all. But those reps get berated a lot and some cave. Could cost them their job.
grumpyduck
(6,221 posts)when we set up the account, so both of us can talk to them.
But mostly, I get the honor.
SeattleVet
(5,477 posts)We don't have to care; we're the phone company!
hunter
(38,301 posts)... you must abandon it for the sake of your own sanity.
Dealing with the huge telcoms is like the movie Brazil. You can't win, you can only fade to white.
DiverDave
(4,886 posts)Payments every month.
During the day I frequently get folks from Ashville N.C.
Since I have called at night I get the Philippines and in both cases have had pleasent
experiences.
To be fair, it's a straightforward exchange.
Yes it costs me 5 bucks to pay by phone, but the convenience of just calling to pay is worth it.
Customer service can be a pain and it's a bummer what you have gone through.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,811 posts)Why not pay electronically? That's how I pay all of my bills these days, including AT&T, and it's just whatever the bill is.
DiverDave
(4,886 posts)I drive a truck and sometime you can't get good internet.
Gotta pay the bill on time, or 2 young folks would simply DIE if the didn't have their phones.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,811 posts)goes in when you want it to. Which is what I do.
As soon as a bill arrives I go to bill pay on my checking account and set up the amount and when I want it sent in. Some of my bills are auto-pay, meaning they debit my checking account, and about three things get charged to my credit card. I'm seriously considering making everything some kind of auto pay.
sprinkleeninow
(20,212 posts)steady and don't fluctuate in $$.
The ones that do I pay by phone or online. More control with the ones that are not the same amount when billed.
I'm old school and hesitated doing recurring debits, but they save a lot of time and hassle. Yeah!
Awsi Dooger
(14,565 posts)Last year I had 5 consecutive months in which they promised my next bill would be a certain amount, and then it was considerably higher every time.
I checked a marathon online thread and there were reports of identical experiences across the country. Supposedly the phone operators are told to say anything to keep the customer, regardless if any of it is true.
A common tactic is for them to claim they will send you an email with the specifics of the agreement, but then the email never arrives. That happened to me three consecutive months. Finally I kept bitching and one of the supervisors admitted to me they aren't even allowed to send an email like that. None of the employees are authorized to do it. It is merely one of the methods used to get the customer off the phone and content.
Finally I got an honest employee who told me the only way to protect the agreement is to use Chat only, ask every specific question, and make sure the AT&T employee responds in specifics toward the bill and everything you are agreeing to. Then keep the Chat log. Or have them send a copy of the Chat log. They will do that.
I had two further problems but once I finally had the Chat log verification they were forced to surrender to my version instead of pretending they don't know anything about it.
Quite the coincidence that my bill was always much higher, and not sometimes lower.
Sure
spooky3
(34,402 posts)To yourself. Even so, I had to allow way too much time for resolution via chat, and had to request a supervisor, after the first rep kept misunderstanding even after I typed info clearly and repeatedly.
KentuckyWoman
(6,679 posts)My niece works for a large company who has their primary data entry performed by one of the biggest companies in India. Most communication with them is via interoffice instant message - so there is no speech involved.
She gave me the idea to use the "chat" feature most companies have on their websites and although still irritating because I have to type it all, it helps. I have too many hearing issues as it is, add an accent, any accent, and communication suffers. It also gives me a written record I can cut and paste along with time stamps. So if things go awry I have a record.
MurrayDelph
(5,291 posts)I carried both my personal Verizon phone and the company-issued phone, which was T-Mobile. The once or twice I phoned T-Mobile to ask questions, their customer service was very good. That said, I would never use them as my personal carrier (as I explained to the woman at the Costco kiosk last week). There were times I would have to go outside in the middle of the night to make a call, and my house was in the middle of the San Fernando Valley. The coverage didn't get any better when the company switched to AT&T.
Which is why I have Verizon. Fourteen years ago, my wife and I were on separate carriers (Verizon and AT&T) as we drove across the country, figuring it would increase our chances of having service when we needed it. There were times when we both had service and neither had service, but if was the case that only one of us had service it was always Verizon. In fact, one time my elderly father called, and I had to switch to the Verizon phone to complete the conversation.
Now, your customer service story is reminiscent of why I go longer use Dish Network.
1. My DVR had a bad habit of deciding to not work at random times until I rebooted it, after which it would work for a while.
After the third time it did this and I came home from traveling to discover my shows had not been recorded, I spent almost
two hours on the phone elevating my call when they kept trying to tell me they could not replace my receiver because or
wasn't broken at the moment, I finally had a 3rd-level manager accept my threat that they either replace my receiver or I
cancelled coverage and take them to court if they tried to collect a cancellation fee. I did have to put up with their
counter-threat that I would have to send the old receiver back (Like I'd want to keep an unreliable DVR).
2. The replacement DVR was a two-tuner model. Dish had (it might still, I don't know) a habit of recording little promos that you
never requested, even if you were already recording something. After losing the end of a couple of shows, I called to ask
how to turn off this Spam. I was told there was no way to do it. What I wasn't[ told was that they signed me up for a
"free promo" of Showtime.
3. When my bill went up, I discovered I'd been crammed. When I phoned to get them to drop the "service" I'd never asked for,
it took being angry before the rep stopped using the phrase "The Showtime service that you've been enjoying for the last
three months."
4. When I moved out of that house 8.5 years ago, I notified Dish that I would be moving and NOT be taking them with
me. They informed me that I would have to remove and return the (standard def) satellite dish. I informed them that
requiring me to climb the roof to remove the dish is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but they were
welcome to send their own tech to come get it. As of last Thursday it's still here.
earthshine
(1,642 posts)and the customer service was literally hostile to me. Nasty people trying to justify billing errors.
I switch to Sprint. Customer service was vastly better.
Then, I switched to Sprint via TING to save money. Not only did I save money for years now, I can get an English-speaking, American-accented rep on the phone immediately. Most customer service calls do not go through an automated system; only at time of very high volume.
question everything
(47,425 posts)We use landline, AT&T is the long-distance and as such we are at the bottom of their customers service.
But asking on AT&T Facebook, twice, gave us immediate response.