Complain about a product or service

ALLTEL

ALLTEL • Consumer Complaints --- News • Verizon Snaps Up Alltel • Florida Sues Alltel Over "Free Trial" That Wasn't • Justice Department Forces ALLTEL Divestiture • ALLTEL Buys Western Wireless

Like Wal-Mart, ALLTEL is based in Arkansas and likes to present itself as the good ole boy phone company you can trust. It serves mostly rural areas with its wired and wireless service and is currently the 6th-largest wireless carrier in the country, so it's not exactly a mom-and-pop company, as the complaints in this section show.

Deanna of Mesa, AZ (9/25/05):
In 2003 my husband received a bill from Alltel for approximately $1000. When he contacted Alltel to dispute the bill, he was told that the amount was correct. He asked for documentation of the alleged calls. The representative told him they would be mailed out immediately. My husband waited, and when a few weeks went by with no documentation, he called back. The same conversation ensued, followed by promises to send the call records. Three times he went through this.

When my husband moved from West Virginia to Arkansas, he left a forwarding address and phone number for any further communication needed. He never heard back from Alltel and assumed they found their error.

Now it's 2005, and earlier this year we went to a mortgage broker to buy a house. My husband hadn't looked up his credit report in 2 1/2 years, so imagine our surprise when we find a negative item on his credit profile from Alltel - to the tune of $2500. We both about fell over. The worse part was that they are re-reporting the debt every two months, so his credit score was in the sewer without him even being aware of it.

Damages: It was a struggle to get financing with his credit in that condition, but we managed. We do not believe that we should have to pay Alltel $2500, especially since the original bill was a) only $1000, b) in dispute to begin with, and c) never dealt with by any of their employees via contact with my husband.

Diana of Sugar Land, TX (9/28/05):
We moved back to Sugar Land, TX recently and had to sign up for Alltel service because they are the only game in town. We lived here before and experienced what its like to have Alltel.

Billing is always on time or early, but always wrong. So when I received my first bill I examined it closely. No surprise, they had so many unexplained miscellaneous charges I had to call for an explanation. The customer service rep explained some of the charges but not all of them.

She switched me to her supervisor who proceeded to give me different answers plus she could not explain all of the charges. I also emailed customer service and received an email stating, "These problem have already been addressed in a phone conversation"!

Greg of Charlotte NC (6/15/05):
1) Alltel locked me into a 2-year contract on a telephone knowing that the phone would be obsolete in less than 6 months. Alltel did not support the phone with repair parts (battery) yet required a new 2-year contract in order to replace and/or update my phone.

2) Alltel would not update my contract without requiring a new 2-year contract, even though my needs (air time, phone features, etc.) changed within the contract period.

3) Alltel changed my contract at the request of my 17 year-old daughter, increasing my monthly bill and issuing a new 2-year contract without my consent.

4) Alltel has charged me the $200 penalty for breaking my contract, not once but twice, since I added an additional phone (for $10) at the time of my contract initiation. I was shocked to now be charged $400 when I expected only $200 and after all of the poor customer service and law manipulation from Alltel.

5) Now, Alltel has unleashed the credit dogs on me, with harrassing phone calls and potshots at my credit record. Armed with lawyers, this company, and others like it, have found a way to legally screw the public. Our government should help protect the public from such money-driven assault and terrorism!

Over the last 6 years, I have purchased over six (6) telephones, either because the battery failed and Alltel no longer stocked replacement, or because the phones went obsolete months and/or years before my contract was over. Secondly, I am now being charged by Alltel $400 for breach of contract, even though I clearly believed I had one contract and 2 phones, not 2 contracts! Third, Alltel is now busily terrorizing me and my family with harrassing phone calls, credit hounds and direct assault on my hard-earned credit standing. They've got the money for the lawyers and hounds. What does the consumer have?

Dustin of Baton Rouge LA (3/29/05):
I purchased an Alltel phone while stationed at Ft Huachuca AZ. Upon purchasing the phone I was given what I thought was a coverage and roaming map and was told that if the phone did not work where I was moved by the military or if I was deployed that I could get out of my contract. When I got stationed at Ft Campbell my service was very poor. Although I was in their "coverage area" according to their map.

After about two months of dropping and missing at least half of my calls and fighting with Alltel to let me out of my contract, I finally got a military suspension. This stated that the phone would be suspended for one year, which could be continued if I was still deployed or out of the coverage area. After thinking the phone was disconnected I misplaced it. I called Alltel to tell them that I had lost the phone and their rep told me not to worry about it that the phone was off and no one could use it. The rep never even documented the conversation.

Today I got a bill for $1123. After two hours with customer service and the fraud dept. the best they would do was cut the bill in half. And that is only if I do some detective work and find who used the phone and get a conviction. I would have to sue the perp for the other half. If I dont find out who did it, they would allow me to get on a payment plan and pay them over time with interest of course. In order to get a conviction I would first have to locate the individual responsible, then have them arrested and charged and probably appear in court against them. Well Im deplying in less than 5 months and will be in Iraq for at least a year. Which means I wont be able to show up in court and the case will probably get dropped.

In the meanwhile I have the choice of either having my credit ruined by Alltel, which could also get me in trouble with the army and cause me to lose my clearance and job or pay a bill of $1123 that I didnt do. I plan on fighting this all that I can before deployment. I really can't afford this.

Robert of Port Charlotte FL (3/21/05):
I run a small business that uses the cellphone only. Mostly I travel within Florida for work. When traveling the East Coast of Florida my phone would allways be in roaming mode. This caused the phone to constantly keep "searching" for a tower. Problem is AllTel does not have towers there. This would cause the battery to drain in the phone after 3 to 4 hours. In the conditions I work I have no access to power so when the phone dies I am out of business. They claim roaming is accepable and if this causes the phone to die it is not their problem.

I tried two different phones before I picked up on the problem. Trouble is when I bought the second phone they extended my contract. Now they will not void the contract ($200 early term. fee) after I had to change to Verizon. I have received at least 40 phone calls from them demanding payment and many have been as late as 8:00 pm. Now they claim they have turned me over to "a collection agency". When I went into the office to pay the last bill I told them I cancelled the phone for the above problem and that it only worked sometimes inside my home (Fl West Coast) they did not type that part in and deny I said it.

Steve of Darlington SC (3/8/05):
I called Alltel asking that they take my home number off of an automated system. I was informed that alltel is calling about another account for Patsy K. I didn't give Patsy K permission to give my number as a contact number. Therefore, I want it removed. The person at Alltel told me that the only way to remove my number is for Patsy K to call and remove it. Alltel refuses to remove my home number from another account.

I pay my Alltel bill on time every month. I do not want to get calls for other people. I tried to get a name and address so I could send a letter in writing requesting that my number removed. The operator finally gave me a P.0. box but told me it would not remove my number because it is only for payments. It is hard for me to believe that Alltel does not have a mailing address for anything other than payments. My last words to the operator were that I would report it to consumer affairs to find out my rights. I did not give permission for my number to be a contact number for any person and I want it removed from Alltel's system.

Gary of Tonto Basin AZ (2/9/05):
No service from home area for over 10 days, contacted technical support for several days during this time. Was put on hold each time for several minutes -- one time for approximetly 45 minutes. The technical support department said they needed to update my phone so they updated my phone, but it still didn't work. I called again, this time they said that my phone that was defective and I would have to drop it by their repair facility to be repaired. I live at least 80 miles from nearest repair facility. They said I would need to mail it in to them.

After 10 days I decided I wasn't getting reliable information or service from them. I again called and spoke to technical support and told them I was going to switch service providers because they hadn't fixed the problem. I asked to check if they would waive the fee because of no service, they said if there was a problem with the tower they would waive the fee. So I switched providers using the same phone and it worked great, the best service I have ever had.

I get a bill from them the next month charging me an early disconnect fee of over $200. Again I called to complain about the charge and they said they wouldn't waive the fee because there was only ice on the tower and it was a temporary problem. The problem arises because the temperatures in the area only get below 32 degrees in the early morning hours, not for 10 days in a row. During the day the temperatures get well over 50 degrees.

I am being forced to pay the charges or they threatened to damage my credit through collections. I do not believe the application of the early disconnect fee is fair or proper in this case.

Jerry of Belton SC (1/31/05):
On Friday, Jan. 28th, my wife and I contacted Alltel about adding to our existing service. First, I want to say that we have been Alltel customers a long time. We wanted the service that included 1600 shared minutes, free mobile to mobile, free nights and weekends, free long distance, and no roaming in SC and NC. This service was supposed to be $79.99 plus $9.99 to add on an additional line. We decided to include my mother on this service for an additional $9.99 and she was going to share the minutes also.

We contacted Alltel to change the service and also add on my mother. She already had her own service with Alltel, so she had to go to our local store and change the paperwork so her phone was in our name. After all of this, we were supposed to be set. We were told by Alltel’s rep that we would get a $15.00 credit each month since we already had that on our phones and also get to keep our 7:00 off peak time. We also were told that we got new phones for $0.01. The rep told us to call her back when we got my mother’s service changed and she would also receive her new phone for $0.01.

On Monday, Jan. 31st, we contacted Alltel to tell them that the service was changed and we needed to get the phone for my mother. We spoke with another rep and were told that they could not offer us the phone for $0.01, that was a mistake by the 1st rep, it would cost us $39.99. I asked him to go over the rest of the service with us so I could make sure everything else was correct. He told us that we had 1600 shared minutes, free mobile to mobile, free nights and weekends, free long distance, and no roaming in SC and NC. I asked him about the credit and the 7:00 off peak time, he told us that the 1ast rep had keyed it in the computer, but the service may be taken away from us.

After about an hour of discussing this with him, I asked to speak to the supervisor. The supervisor called us back only to tell us that Alltel was losing money by keeping us as customers and when our account was audited, they would see that these services were offered to us and would be taken away. He did not guarantee that they would be taken away but it was possible. So when I asked him how he could bind me to a contract for 2 years and take away part of my service, he would never give me a direct answer. He would only say that “it was only possible that they would take them away, they may not.”

He told me that he could offer me a set rate which was the initial $79.99 plus $9.99 for each additional line. We told him he could not hold us to our original contract because we had been mislead. He informed us that if we sent him back the phones that he would cancel our contract, but then he informed us that he could not give us back our old plan nor could he give my mother back her old plan. It was either switch to the newer more expensive plan or cancel our service all together.

So this is the way Alltel treats their long time customers. We really have no other option but to switch to another company and I can say that I am really relieved because who knows how expensive our bill would have cost if we would have allowed them to do whatever they wanted to our account. Our contract we agreed to did not mean a thing. They can cancel or change anything they want to. Boy, what customer service!

Gary of Jonesborough TN (12/13/04):
I terminated my service with Alltel on Dec. 04, 2004. I received a bill on Dec. 6, 2004 for the full amount. This bill was for service from Dec. 02, 2004 thru Jan. 02, 2005. I called Alltel and asked for a final bill and was told that I would have to pay this entire bill because they do not pro rate the monthly bill. I fell like I am being charged for something I am not getting since I was only with them for 2 days of this monthly billing cycle. I know I will have to pay this or face a negative mark on my credit rating but I do not agree with this. I asked to speak to a manager and was told there was no one that could help with my problem.

Stanton of Syria VA (10/9/04):
My cell phone broke for the second time. I took it back to the company-owned store and told the manager that the phone was a dud and should be replaced. It just was not worth it to me to keep bringing it back for repairs. At first they said I would have to buy a new phone and then I said I would cancel my account and they said that there was a termiation fee for $150 since I was still under my contract. I said, "OK, I will pay the $150 and then go across the street to the AT&T office where I will sign up for a new plan and get a $200 phone for free." To me it is a wash but at least I get away from their poor service. At that point the manager said he would give me a new phone.

My advice to consumers is do not take the nonsense from the company. Give it back to them. They need you more than you need them. AT&T just sold its cell service for $44 billion. The had 22 million customers which means each customer is worth about $2,000. My family has four phones with Alltel and I told the manager that if I cancelled out the phone it meant all phones would also be transferred. Since they were all on one account the termination fee stayed at $150. It meant that the company would loose four users which is worth about $8,000 to them and that is a lot more than they want to lose. I knew when I started to argue with the manager I would get a free replacement phone.

Michael of Pembroke GA (9/10/04):
I placed an order for prepaid minutes, I already had a phone from a few years ago that was still in working order. The man that helped me on the phone took my information and credit card number info. Then passed me onto another department to have my number turned on. They never found it. He did not complete the paperwork. They told me that they could not find it. I asked them if $70.00 would charged to my card and they said "no" since it was not in the system.

A few days later I had a $70.00 charge on my card. I stayed on the phone with them from 10am until 5pm getting passed from one person to another. No one knowing anything and couldn't do anything. I have a charge on my card that they all seem too stupid to take care of. One lady even told me that they could do nothing about it. By that time I was very upset. I refuse to pay for a phone that I am not using. I still have not gotten to speak to the supervisor that I left a message for and my home phone. I was even put through to the fraud department.

They take people's money and don't provide services. I will never do business with Alltell again. They all sound like a bunch of blooming idiots. Personally I think they need to train their employees better, they truly don't know how to handle problems.

Galene of Kilgore TX (7/26/04):
I purchased a telephone plan for me and for the other 3 members of our household at Sams Club. Phones for me (disabled) my husband and for each of our 2 sons in college. That is four (4) different plans, not just 4 phones. 1) I was told that we would have absolutely NO roaming! 2) I was told that the telephones cost only 0.99 cents a piece 3) I was told that we had unlimited phone to phone talk.

When the bill came in we were charged 331.68 EQUIPMENT charge! The phones should have cost .99 each. Of all of the phones, mine had the most usage. I use my phone the least, as said previously I am disabled and my phone is for when I go to get chemotherapy or medical appts. We paid this bill. Now the next bill is here and it has charges for $250.84 again, my phone has the most airtime on it. I contacted Alltell and had an EXTREMELY RUDE person Kim in the only Ohio call center. I told her about the roaming charges, she said that every state has a small area that is not covered by Alltel, I told her that when I purchased the phones I was assured that there would be NO Roaming Charges. I was not given a map because I asked 4 times about roaming and was told repeatedly that there would be none.

I further explained that we had purchased Alltell phones and cancelled the phones during the 15-day trial period due to roaming charges. When my husband returned the phones he was told that although the phone says ROAMING it is not actually roaming. So we thought that these phones would be the same and they NEVER said Roaming. She said that there was a triangle on our phones and when it is blinking we are not in roam. When it is NOT blinking it means that we are in roam. I explained that no one had ever mentioned anything about a 'triangle' to us. She said that they had to have done this because that is what they teach the reps to do.

I told her that I thought the supposed triangle should blink when IN roaming so it would catch the attention of the user. She said that that could not have happened because they train all of their reps to show maps and discuss roaming. She said that I would have to take it up with the person that I bought the phones from. I said that if I went back, the only thing that they would do is ask me to contact alltell -- the rep laughed and said that sounds right!

She said that the phones were just 0.99 cents and she didn't understand what the 331.64 charge was for. I cuoldn't get any help at all. She interrupted me over & over. I finally just said goodbye. I became too stressed out by this and had to go to bed.