AT&T Wireless Reviews

We as well were asked about getting the warranty for $79.99 package. We said we would get two of those. We as well then decided to select our cases and headsets and ear pieces as well. The total would have been probably $1,100 with all the bells and whistles. As soon as we were done and ready to pay, the salesperson was ready to check us out and indicated that we would not be eligible for the upgrade/discount. We were both thrown off as we didn't know that these were discounts or upgrades. Apparently, I had failed to pay the bills on time, approximately four times. Due to the fact that there were service interruptions, which of course were paid for asap as we depend greatly on the phones.

The bills were paid via phone (debit card) and the interruption fee was included and was paid as well. But due to these service interruptions we would not be able to obtain our iPhones. The manager indicated we could purchase the ones on the wall though, i.e., Blackberry, etc. While at the store the AT&T corporate office was contacted. She indicated that she would have to contact her corporate manager. She as well indicated that the store manager would be able to work around it. The store manager then indicated he could do nothing and we would have to wait 24 48 hours until he could speak with corporate. Please note that we were also interested in renewing our two year contract with AT&T, as our contract has expired.

We could not believe that the store would not be able to do anything, and that they would allow us to just walk out, knowing that the Verizon Wireless store is across the hall. This is called misrepresentation, as the original call that was made to your AT&T customer service never indicated that we would not be eligible to obtain the phones at the price quoted. We were never informed that our account was not in good standing, and furthermore that our service interruptions would affect our future business dealings with AT&T. We have suffered losses to our detriment (which has affected the value of our time and effort). This incident has taken approximately four hours. I (Marlene) sell real estate and depend greatly on the phone to conduct such business. Let us not forget that the detriment comes when the expectation fails and we are left to bear the cost of the change as it was suggested that we go to Best Buy and purchase the phone for $350 or $450. We are sure that there has been a misunderstanding and that you will rectify the problem.

After they answered my questions, I decided to not order the internet service, but to change home service to AT&T. While getting connected to do the recorded confirmation, we were disconnected. I did not try to call back, due to the fact I was at work. I missed a call from them on Friday. On Friday my husband ordered the internet service. Ordering the 6.0 service and single line modem. It was due to be turned on by the 13. Our phone line was due to be turned on by the 7th. My husband had gone into the local store and spoken in person to a representative. He also call this rep on Oct. 8th and Oct 10th requesting information about why the modem had not yet arrived. He was reassured by the young man (Cody) that service would be turned on and the modem would arrive in time to be turned on.

The modem did not arrive and the service was not turned on by Monday the 13th. He went to the store again. At first they could not find his order, in the store or on the computer. While he was there the manager on duty came out and began to search, and finally found his order. He was then lied to and told that when I called and changed the home service, that I also ordered internet service at the 21.00 price. And my order canceled his order. Then to compensate he was told we would be given the $21.00 service for the price of $14 something. A $25 gift card, and the service would be turned on by Oct. 16th and a free month of service.

The modem was to be overnighted to us. It did not arrive. So my husband then called in to AT&T on Tuesday the lady he spoke to said the order was still messed up. She told him I had never ordered the internet service and the phone had not been changed because of not doing the confirmation. He had not been informed of the problem with the phone during all of the other conversations with AT&T reps. She promised she had fixed the problem with the order. He would get the 6.0 service (this time NO DISCOUNT) modem and turned on by Thursday Oct. 16. And then they completed the phone service confirmation. He was again skeptical with her when she promised and was reassured again it would definitely happen by Thursday.

The modem arrived on Thursday. My husband went through the set up process and was not able to turn it on. Again he called and was told the order was canceled again because the phone line had not been confirmed and activated. He was told to call back the next day. He called back on Friday Oct 17, at 11:50am and did not get off the phone for 1 hour and 20 minutes. He was first told they had fixed all of the problems just like everyone else has said. The phone line would be activated, but the internet service would not be activated until the 22nd. So he asked to speak to a manager.

The manager (Sarah) came online, apologized like everyone else and said there was nothing she could about the time he would have to wait. He expressed his work ethic, saying that as a maintenance man. When he tells someone he is going to do something by a certain date and he does not do it, he loses business. And that AT&T was not some little PODUNK business, it was AT&T. And if she could not fix the problem he would speak to her manager. So he asked to speak to her supervisor. She did not allow him to, but instead came back on and said she had pulled some strings and she had never seen them do this before. So he was very fortunate but they would turn it on by 8 or just a little later.

We came home at 11:00PM and it was still not on. We checked the phone line; there was no dial tone at all. So now, our internet service (NETZERO OR AT&T) did not work, and they had turned off our phone. He called this morning Oct. 18th and was told they could not understand what was going on. They were going to find out what was happening. He was put on hold for about 30 minutes and they came back on and had located Sarah, and said they would contact him later today. But an hour later the land line phone came on. They called back on the landline and cell and said everything on their end looked okay. Gave him service number in case he needed to call.

Everything is now working. But we have spent numerous hours on the phone, in the store, and days waiting for people to get their act together and flip a switch or two. We have never had this kind of problem before. 16 days of lies, promises and confusion. The stress makes us wish we never spent the $1000 on a computer. And the little $25 card we are supposed to get, plus the free month is nothing. All internet services offer a free month. And when we were originally offered a discounted price, then not. What kind of compensation for our time and effort is that?

The bottom line is that the cell towers in our area, and many other areas, just aren’t what the companies advertised. Although they claim we are in a service area of the strongest signal, we have no reliable service at home and at work, in the Rivertowns of Hastings-On-Hudson, Dobbs Ferry, and Irvington, NY. The odds of my calling my wife and getting through are about one in four. She has to hold her phone out the window at work to send a text message. I can’t call my brother from the street outside his apartment in Manhattan. It is interesting to note, however, that recently I started reliably getting five bars at my parents home in rural Sharman, Connecticut. It’s obvious they popped up a new tower.

Now, I should have known not to get into this arrangement in the first place, because it is well known that AT&T’s service is inferior to that of other carriers. I had switched from AT&T to Verizon four years earlier because of this. I mistakenly assumed that service improved over that time. In fact it was no different in quality. To complicate this, AT&T has a proprietary infrastructure and protocol that leads to phones with this service locking onto a particular cell tower. When this happens, one must, as one of their support people told me power-cycle the phone off and then on again. This is, of course, antithetical to the design and mission of cellular phone service.

I hold both companies responsible. Apple makes money from AT&T through contract kickbacks, and maintains that the equipment works fine and they have no obligations beyond seeing that it works to their specifications. AT&T has a frustrating way of putting the caller on to Tier 1 of support regardless of many prior calls took place. And they have a poor record of customer correspondence, as well as a self-admitted inability to retrieve any information whatsoever from their technical people once they put in a trouble ticket.

When I finally gave up and asked to terminate my contract without penalty halfway through the first year, AT&T Customer Service told me that now that my case now resided with their President’s Office and only that office could arrange this. It took another four months to get them to agree. In fact, I never really wanted to terminate the contract; rather, it is my position that they never met the terms of our contract, and did nothing to rectify the situation, even though I paid my bill in full every month. Given that the service is nearly double what I paid for Nokia phones with Verizon, and less reliable, I feel I am owed a service rebate from the first month of use on, and a reduction in monthly billing. AT&T keeps maintaining they can’t do this.

I believe what these companies are doing is criminal. They perpetuate their more bars advertising when the reality is that service is lousy. They could remedy the situation by improving their infrastructure and re-engineering signal protocol, but will not. They could, in good faith, compensate customers or release them from contracts, but resist this stubbornly. One reason I don’t want to quit at this point is that I think a class action suit is in order, and if I had the means to lead one I would do it out of principal. The public deserves better. Their customers deserve better.

My correspondence and documentation for this case are extensive. I have an inch-thick paper trail. I spoke to many people in each company, including Monica **, Katrina **, Pam **, and Matt ** with AT&T at 866-220-8446; and Ryan, Arin **, and Jason of Apple Computer at **. My case has actually outlasted a number of these individuals, who left their positions only for me to start anew with someone else. I visited AT&T stores, which actually don’t even support the iphone, they won’t touch it and The Apple Store, where I overheard their genius telling another customer his iphone worked fine and that the customer would have to have a frustrating conversation with AT&T about the service issues.

I turned to the Better Business Bureau, which closed the case after AT&T said they would troubleshoot my service as if that were some kind of compensation for the expense and trouble we have gone through; and after Apple, as they always do, said they have only the obligation to test the phone and repair or exchange it as necessary.

After talking to Brian **, the assist store Mgr at that location, they did not have it in stock. Better yet he did not know what was going on with a brand new phone I bought from his store. Instead, he told me there is nothing we can do, even after I advise that the phone still under a one year warranty from the manufacturer. He tried calling other locations with no luck in finding a new battery. I asked if I can take one of the batteries in one of the phone on the display wall. He said he was afraid they won't do that at that location. He checked the computer and said to me, "The Beverly Center shows that they had two batteries in stock."

So Friday Evening and trying to avoid the drive, I asked him if he can call them to hold it for me so I can go pick it up. Called couple of times with no one answering. He sure was trying to sell me a new phone but I did not. I needed to fix my cell phone issue before I was leaving next day for three days, September 4th, 2008, out of town. I told Brian leaving town without a cell phone for emergency situation is not such a great idea. His respond was to buy a new phone. I was in shock and disbelief of what I heard from the AT&T assist Manager and customer service he provided.

I left the store very disappointed of the phone company that I've been loyal with it for more than 20 years. I had to borrow my father's who is 90 years old, the only phone he uses for emergencies only. Brian ** went beyond the doors into his office twice when I asked the employee to go ahead and call him back. The bottom line, AT&T is practicing a fraudulent business and not breaching their customer's contract to their liking. Refusing exchanging bad orders phones. I have purchased two phones this year.

Early 2008 I bought A Black-Jack II phone that the letters were so small that every time I push a bottom I get about 5 letters. I never got a full refund nor credit because I did not bring it in its original box that I have already torn. As if AT&T were about to use the same box to resell the phone as refurbished. I was suppose to get a full refund but they deduct another $50.00 on to of the $100.00 for restocking fees plus taxes and some other charges. I ended up credited for only $38.00 out of $349.00 That was one big rip off on AT&T part and I will never deal with AT&T anymore. But before that they owe me an apology for the way their representative, asst manager handled my issue and unresolved.

AT&T don't stand behind their product. Therefore I am asking for a full refund on my Black-jack II phone and another $100.00 in credit for my time I lost for their not taking care of the phone issue on the spot and made me go empty-handed with no phone while I was paying my monthly bills before the date due, on time. Breaching consumers' contracts is Fraud and that's what AT&T are doing now.

When I got my final bill, it showed $240 for a 29 min call. I remember the call very clearly. I personally dialed the call through the calling card! Now I am sure all those charges are not of wife's fault or mine. Something is going on there... I spoke with Bellsouth, Hernadez, I told him I told Bellsouth before to block my international calls (should have a record). He says if it is blocked, you could not make calls through phone card services.

$300 Charges and emotional distress. I even had a suspect if my wife develops dementia. I have to cancel my credit card for auto debit. And I have to re-establish all autocharges with the new number.

i contacted att and they informed me that they do not see any balance on my closed account and i do not owe them anything! also they informed me since the account is too old they can not go back and make any adjustment and i should call the collection agency. i contacted the collection agency and they stated that there is nothing that they can do since att has to update they account.

She said she would be sending out a fraud packet and asked that I fill it out, return it with a copy of my drivers license or bill with the 2005-2006 date or prior to prove I was not living in Miami at the time. She also said the bill would be removed and not reported to the credit bureaus. A couple of days later I receive the packet (which I saved a copy of), filled it out, sent it back the same day with a copy of my license dated from 2004.

This morning I check my credit report with all three bureau's and guess what? They're reporting this same bill as mine. They are demanding payment and say they know nothing about a *fraud packet.* They've told me I should not have allowed anyone to use my SSN to obtain services of any kind. Hello? I doubt anyone WILLINGLY gives out their SSN.

My credit is being ruined. Bellsouth is refusing to resolve this issue.

I pay a monthly fee to replace the phone if something happens to it. I called the insurance company number, 800-562-8662. Alia said since it is broken I have to talk to Shayla. When Sayla said I have to pay $50 deductible, I requested her supervisor. All the supervisor, Josie, said was she was "sorry" and I have to pay the $50 or I don't get my phone replaced. I could see if this was an old phone, but I just bought it June 19, 2008 and this phone broke when it only fell on a piece of plastic. What will happen if it falls on a real hard surface?

The AT&T is making money on customers for buying plastic cheap phones that probably only cost less than a $1 to make. This is another industry in itself, ripping off consumers with defective product and making them pay for a new one even though I pay monthly for a replacement, if something happens to the phone.

Please don't let me down, please help me on this matter. It will only keep happening to others because there are a lot of Razor phones out there. (I had a Razor phone for years and nothing happened when it fell even on asphalt. That was when they made the phone with better material.) I have lost contact with all my customers until the replacement phone arrives either tomorrow (Thursday, 8/27/08) or the next day (Friday).

I am the owner of a Service Company. We lose business when we are not available for service 24/7. Without my phone, I am losing business until I get a replacement. Everyday I am without my phone, our company pays $3,950 just in salary. We also will lose business for not being available for services. These customers rely on us for their businesses to keep running. Without contact, everyone is exposed to possible damages.

She had the representative write up a claim on it due to the fact that there is no way possible that this could be correct due to the fact my husband is at work when most of these times are and if he wasn't at work he was with me and wasn't using his phone. My husband works for a part of the railroad there is no way he has time to be sitting just browsing and sending and receiving data which is what one of the representatives said that it looked like was happening. Plus my husband calls me off and on to check on me with me being pregnant and just having surgery and so it was showing that he was sending data while calling me as well. How is that possible?

After she wrote up the claim I was told that in seven to ten days I would be called with the verdict. Twelve days came and still no call from them so I called to see what was going on and it was still in review. So, then 3 weeks went by and still no call I finally called ATT (8/26/08) and I was told that the claim had been denied that the charges are correct and we owe the money, yet they couldn't tell me how they came to the decision and told me that they couldn't do anything else for me that I was stuck paying it and I had no other options. I am being perfectly honest when I say that these charges cannot be true.

I even called them and asked if we should go get his phone checked out and see what the deal was and was told no just wait for them to call you with the results, in which case I never received the phone call, I had to call them again for the results. And it just seems to me that all they care about is getting money. We have never had a bill this high with them in all of the years that I have done business with them. If we have had it all along why just for one month incur all of those charges and not be using it any other time? I don't understand how the charges can stick especially since I can't even get a straight answer from anyone on how they came to that conclusion.

Plus I asked if there could be a virus on his phone because it was doing all of this plus the phone was heating up and when he would try to talk to me on it that there was so much static he could barely hear me and I was told nope the charges stick there's nothing else that can be done the charges can't be dropped and if you were to file another claim it would just be denied so there isn't a point in doing anything! I believe that there is a problem either with my husbands phone or there is a problem on their end. I even went as far to ask if someone could have gotten ahold of his number since people can now get into other's emails and wreak havoc and was told no that can't happen they have to physically have the phone in order to do anything with it. When asked if I could speak to a supervisor was told umm yes but your hold is going to be over 15 minutes long because you will have to get in line behind everyone else who wants to talk to them as well. So, I said forget it I will try and figure something out or call back later.

Throughout this whole case I have called them over 6 times to get answers and still haven't recieved the answers I need. I am very frustrated about this whole situation. And when I asked how to do payments she said she didn't know what could be worked out that she could only extend it to the ninth. So, therefore we would get penalized again with late fees because the account cannot be paid in full therefore racking up our bill even more. And then I was told that I could be put on hold and transferred to another department to see what could be done about payments.

The first three representatives that I talked to including the supervisor were understanding and willing to help and the last three that I have talked to want nothing more than to argue and refuse to even attempt to help or answer my questions. I even talked to someone else that I know that works for AT&T and he even said that it sounds like his phone is sending out information regardless of whether he wanted it to or not.

I am very frustrated and feel like all they care about is money. We don't have that kind of money. And if my husband had been online then we would pay it but he hasn't been. He has been at work. We are telling them the truth. So now more stress financially is being put on us and they are unwilling to do anything to work with us.

When I was in Spain I remember still receiving emails to my PDA although I did not specifically ask for the service. But.. I always received emails to my phone so I didn't think anything of it. I certainly wasn't concerned that I would be charged THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for incoming emails. $4,567.89 to be exact. Now lets keep in mind that I DID NOT SEND EMAILS... or use the internet for that matter. I just simply did not change any of the settings on my phone which allowed the emails to be received.

After I got my bill (!), I spent a week on the phone with AT&T trying to figure out what happened. They were extremely unsympathetic claiming I was responsible for these charges. However! They did offer to bring the bill down to around $1400 as a "courtesy". I felt this was unacceptable and said I would only pay for the service I actually used which go as follows...$94.98 (My standard plan) $159.96 (Roaming charges incurred in spain) $19 (Text messages in Spain). This totals $273.94 - which SHOULD be what I owe.

Once I made it clear that I was not going to make a $1400 payment right then and there, they immediately terminated my service. This is a really unfortunate situation because I was very happy with my wireless service and considered myself a loyal customer having put my wife, brother and both my parents on to Cingular. I also was not able to transfer my number which had served as my business cell phone. This created a HUGE problem for me as business owner.

Furthermore, since the original bill of $4868.96, AT&T tacked on a couple of late fees and $918.28 in "charges" for a grand total of the aforementioned $6019.58 (which is almost twice as much as my honeymoon cost). Why not just make my bill a bajillion dollars? Ultimately, I find these charges exorbitant and unfair and in no way do I intend to pay the $6019.58 that is being sought by AT&T. I would be more than glad, however to pay the $273.94.

Since then I have been turned down for a small business loan by my bank which I needed to produce product from my clothing line. Subsequently, I had to cancel an entire season of orders and am in jeapordy of losing my business unless I give a portion up to private investors.

Believing I could take advantage of combined billing and introductory AT&T DSL rates, I did not renew my DLS service with DSLExtreme in April 2008. I signed up for AT&T DSL. I cancelled AT&T DSL after 4 days. Technical support was needed each day I wanted to access the internet. I resumed service with my previous DSL provider without any difficulties. However ATT continued to bill for AT&T DSL service for 2 more cycles. Credits were provided by AT&T customer service.

The first bill in May 2008 did not reflect any wireless discount but customer service reduced the bills by 24%. I was told I needed to go online and validate the discount through a verification of employment process. I was told by customer service that I should have been instructed to do so at signing. I completed the validation process online which showed "South Texas Government Employee". (On June 11th, Marc M. stated that he had validated the discount when I signed for service. That is why he gave me no instructions to do so. I had shown him my picture I.D. I am a San Antonio Fire Fighter)

I requested paperless combined billing at the prompting via e-mail (May 4, 2008). I had been unable to view a current bill (other than amount due) since it took affect. I was eventually told via customer service that I can't have both discounts. During that conversation, I promptly requested separate paper billing to ensure the 24% discount on my wireless service. On June11, 2008 after looking into a "$180 bill due," I was told by customer service that I have a 13% discount and later, during the same conversation, a 15% discount. After being instructed told to contact Marc M. about the matter, I was promptly disconnected.

On June 11, 2008 I contacted Marc M. in person and informed him of the situation. After pulling up my account, he told me that a 15% discount was showing and that he changed it back to 24%. I asked and was told I did not have to validate online. On June 28, 2008, I spoke to Wanda F. of AT&T Wireless regarding the latest wireless bill of $155.24. Again the discount promised by Sales Rep Marc M. did not apply. Ms. Wanda was very gracious and offered to make an adjustment of $155.24.

On July 11, 2008, upon checking on my AT&T bill I noticed that I am listed as a United States Postal Employee regarding company discounts. I do not what discount this position has. I know I presented my San Antonio Fire Department picture ID on two occasions to AT&T employees during store visits to correct this matter. I suspect this entry was an attempt to cover up previous misrepresentations. It is apparent to me that I am not entitled to any of the discounts as promised. I have read for myself on AT&T's web site that combined billing discounts and company discounts are not combined. Your employee, Marc M. did not bring this to light when I asked specifically about this the prior to signing the agreement. Rather he affirmed the multiple discounts.

This fiasco has gone on for three months. I should not be penalized for errors, omissions or misrepresentations by AT&T employees. I doubt AT&T would hold its employee accountable for approximately $35 - $40 a month for 24 months. I propose the following remedy. Remedy: 1. Terminate the agreement at the 21st of the month without early termination fees. 2. I return AT&T phones with original packaging.

3. AT&T refunds what I spent for the phones. 4. I repay AT&T for any spent rebate funds from rebate debit cards.

The August bill of $153.00 turned up with no discounts as promised. I called on August 14th and a Mr. M. spoke with me. I explained the situation. He replied that he did not know what was said. (I just told him. I guess the customer is always wrong.) He told me I had no discount except that the Unity Plan allowed me to call any AT&T line without costing any minutes.

I cancelled my wireless account. It is my pleasure to announce that I have terminated 3 land lines and 2 DLS accounts with AT&T at this point in time. There are 3 more landlines in my name. I look forward to finding alternate providers in the near future. $500 for cell phones and accessories that won't work with next provider. $525 in termination fees.

I realized that I was not able to speak with a representative because I got a recording that customer service was available until 9pm. Later that morning I called in because I was concerned about not being able to speak with anyone after midnight and I also noticed that my concession didn't show up on my August 2008 bill. After making some changes to the account, a business customer care rep spoke with me about why the concession didn't show up and why I incurred the $18.00 upgrade fee. When I visited the Apple Store to purchase new equipment the representative at the Apple Store was prompted to call AT&T customer service.

The AT&T rep spoke with me and verified my account information and spoke with me about the new data plan that I need. He then asked me to speak with the Apple rep again and then we were done. On Wednesday, August 13, 2008, the business customer care rep that I spoke with told me that the correct discounts didn't appear on my bill because when I changed my plan at the Apple Store the rep removed my discount indicator. She speculated that the AT&T rep told the Apple rep that the discount had to be removed in order to activate my new plan. I responded by letting her know that if any changes were being made to my discount the AT&T rep should have disclosed that information to me when he verified my information, and that he had no right to disclose that information to the Apple rep because I pay my bills to AT&T every month, not Apple.

I explained to her that Apple only provides one thing for me and that is technical support for my equipment, that's all. I told the rep on Wednesday that the information she was providing to me was speculation because she never indicated that the notations on the account stated that my discounts were removed because of the new activation. The rep on Wednesday did add my discount indicator back to the account but she was not willing to review one of my old bills to find the indicator. She directed me to an email that I could only receive at work even after I explained to her that I was not worked in a few months because I am sick right now.

Since she wasn't willing to review one of my old bills I did access the information and provided her with what we call the Fan number so that my account would be recognized as an employee account again. She said it would take 1-2 bill cycles for my discounts to appear again. I then asked her if it would be back dated and she said with much hostilaty, no! I told her she was only assuming what happened with my account since there were no notes, and if it had been explained to me that the concession would be removed I would not be calling in to find out what happened.

I also explained to her that I had called in a few times in the month of August and had always gotten the business customer care recording until this time. She didn't have an answer for that. I then asked her to speak with a supervisor. She continued to talk over me. When I understood that she would not honer my request of speaking with a supervisor and she would not back date or credit my bill I explained to her that I am already off from work on a stress leave and I would not continue the very stressful conversation with her. Because I am not working and making as much money, the $18.00 upgrade fee and lack of concession which would have totaled about $16.00 or more is difficult to pay. The added expense right now is very difficult.

Finally I spoke to a supervisor & was advised as of July 16, 2008 I have to wait 3-7 business days for AT&T to determine if I get $88 moved to my new account. I found the AT&T store #S852 staff untrained regarding prepaid cell phone accounts using Cingular. I found the Customer Service Supervisor rude and matter of fact. I was not given or offered any options. I had to ask if I can request a refund be filed.

I bought a phone from Cingular, the phone is my property. I have the original receipt. I have never been under any contract with AT&T. I have my original receipt contract with the terms and conditions that I have always followed and AT&T will not honor these terms. . My cell phone & SIM card belong to me. I did not purchase the phone under a contract with Cingular.

Company's Initial Response - Posted 07/25/2008 "AT&T Mobility ("AT&T") received the above-referenced customer complaint and appreciates the opportunity to respond. Specifically, Ms. Brown states that her unused prepaid balance of $88.00 expired on July 1, 2008. She indicates she has never had to use a pin code to access her account in the past; however, as of July 13, 2008, she is being advised she has a pin code. An AT&T Office of the President Specialist has investigated Ms. B.'s complaint and determined as follows: After careful review of the account, the Specialist has found that Ms. B.'s unused prepaid balance expired on July 1, 2008 because a payment was not made before this time. Her last payment was for $75.00, which has an expiration date of 90 days. Ms. B. did make a payment of $4.99 on July 13, 2008, in which the next expiration date is now August 12, 2008.

"On July 23, 2008, an Office of the President Specialist spoke to Ms. Sylvia B. regarding the complaint received by AT&T. In an effort to resolve Ms. B.s complaint, the Specialist advised her that the unused prepaid balance expired on July 1, 2008 because a payment was not made before this time. The Specialist explained that her prepaid account does have a pin code, which is usually required to access her account and make account changes. The Specialist advised her that if she is able to verify the serial number of the device she is using, her pin code can be reset and sent to her via a text message. However, she declined and states that she does not want a pin code even though it is required. As a one-time exception and courtesy, the Specialist offered to credit half of her $88.00 unused balance that expired if she considered this matter resolved, however Ms. B. declined the offer. Although the Specialist addressed all of the concerns indicated on Ms. B.'s complaint, she remains dissatisfied. AT&T regrets any inconvenience caused by this matter. Ms. B.'s complaint is now considered closed. We trust that this letter addresses your concerns regarding this complaint. Please contact us toll-free at 800- if you need additional information. NAME: Jason D., Office of the President Representative DATE: July 25, 2008. The Specialist offered to credit half of her $88.00 unused balance that expired if she considered this matter resolved, however Ms. B. declined the offer"

Complaint Summary. When AT&T bought out Cingular I continued to purchase my prepaid cell "add on money" from my local Cingular ATM machine @ US Bank. I purchased my cell phone & sim card and paid the full price as I did not want an account with any carrier. I wanted the ability to buy prepaid time from any carrier. My receipt contract with Cingular is as follows. When I add time to my phone I go to any ATM machine enter my cell phone # and add money to the account from my debit bank account. AT&T has no information about me, they have never had my name, or address. At the expiration of my time I got 180 days if the balance on my phone was $76 or I could buy the $76 and get 180 days.

I have all of my original receipts for time purchases. My balance as of July 1, 2008 was $88 and my expiration date is Oct 03/2008. You can see from the AT&T response they without any prior business contact changed the terms without any notification to me. I had no way of knowing my time had expired, I do not have any missed calls, text message or contact to let me know my service was in jeopardy. I want to use my $88, I want my onwed cell phone unlocked, my cell number.

I looked at the 2 forms, there were 2 boxes checked on the first form, indicating that I am an existing customer and I have the 2-Pack Plan; the second form stated that AT&T was designated to act as my long distance carrier. No other blocks were checked off on this second form and I didn't not think that I was going to have problems by signing these 2 forms since I was led to believe I was only participating in a survey.

When I received my June 29th phone bill, I noticed I had an increase ($74.58) from the average amount I had paid the previous month. On July 11, 2008 I spoke with "Tony" at the 1-888- service center to inquiry as the reason for the increase. I learned that my plan had been changed. I shared with him my concerns, how I felt that I was dealt with dishonestly by the first AT&T rep at the mall when he changed my plan without my permission.

Tony was very patient as he listen to my problem. He agreed that no changes should have been made without my knowledge and assured me that he could assist me in correcting the matter. Tony explained that the Perferred Plan would save me more money than the 2 Pack plan and that it was the better of the two plans. He even quoted me what my approximate monthly amounts would be ($30 for local charges and $22.99 for the Perferred Plan), plus taxes would average to about $65.26. Since this amount was within my budget and I was told that there were no hidden charges, I agreed to accept this plan. When I asked Tony if I was going to be charged for correcting this matter, he stated, no I would not have any additonal charges.

After the completion of my conversation with Tony, my confidence regarding AT&T business practice was restored...until I opened this month's bill! My phone bill has now gone from $74.58 in June to $95.88 for July! I am so upset because I believed the last young man that I would not have any more problems with my phone bill, but once again, an agent for AT&T was not forthcoming. Perhaps, this is the way the "New" AT&T operates by decieving their long time customers.

If I can not speak with someone who will be honest with me and provide me with the same services I had when I opened my account, I will be forced to seek phone services with another company that does not display these dishonest, predatory practices. I am a retired senior living on a fixed income. I've always taken pride in paying my bills compltetly and on time, and I know what I can and can not afford! I've been dealing with AT&T for a very long time,when the company was South Central Bell, Bell South and I never had to worry about anyone taking advantage of me in order to make a profit for their company. I hope that ther is someone who will contact me,preferably a supervisor, in order that this matter can be resolved.

I called and explained the sit & was told they would give me 1000 minutes. I explained that that was not enough and was told that was all she was allowed and I could call back in a couple months and get another 1000. In Mar or Apr I called back and explained the sit again and got 1000 minutes, was told that's all they could do. I let it go for 2 months b/c I thought that it would resolve in May and was overcharged on my cell phone minutes for 2 months. I called July 29th around 6:10 EST, and asked to speak to the retention dept because no one else could add the minutes I was due. I explained the situation yet again.

The person I spoke with was rude. I was told the only way to resolve the sit was to upgrade my plan. I said I was not going to upgrade my plan, that's why I was going to go to tmobile in the 1st place. He said that giving me more min was not going to solve the problem and again tried to sell the upgrade. I told him att should honor what was said in the 1st place, and when my contract was up in May I would consider upgrading my plan. He told me that he was not going to do that and then snorted when I explained I just wanted my minutes that I was promised.

I told him if he did not give me the minutes the next time they hear from me was when I was porting my numbers to another carrier. He told me if I did that there was going to be a $175.00 term fee. I told him I was aware but att was not honoring their end of the deal. He again said there was nothing like that on the notes. I discontinued the call. They said they are going to charge me term fee.

My thought was that I could call in on Monday and request an exchange of phones, since apparently they have them now, but I was declined through customer service and management because my 30 days had expired 3 days prior. All I wanted was an exchange of phones, the same contract, everything the same just an exchange of phones and they wouldn't do it! I had been an AT&T home phone customer for several years with excellant standing.

I feel let down and obviously unimportant enough that even though it's my money I'm spending every month for their service I'm not valuable enough to 1, show appreciation for paying my bills and on time every month and 2, to just exchange phones and keep me a happy customer. It's a shame when a company thinks its so big and important that it doesn't need to keep it's customers happy. But what goes around comes around and I hope I'm around when AT&T falls on it's backside with a wake up call. Needless to say that I am cancelling my service with AT&T and I will tell my nightmare to anyone who is thinking about getting their service.

Can they just cancel my contract because they decided not to offer this plan any longer? What happens to the thousands of roll over minutes I have accumulated? What happens to my phone numbers that I have had for over 15 years? I tried to modify my plan and lower the minute about 2 years ago and they would only allow me to cancel my contract, not lower my minutes, so now I am stuck with thousands of minutes. (One year prior, they allowed me to modify my minutes under the same contract.)

I will have to pay much more for another phone service if I can find one which includes Mexico. I will have to change every piece of information which has my phone numbers on it. I will loose all my roll over minutes I have paid for. I will have to make a special trip to the US to get new service. The customer reps offer no assistance other than to cancel my contract. Don't I have any rights?

That's when all of my problems began. Their return policy kept changing depending on which customer service person I happen to be speaking with over the phone. The person whom I had originally purchase the phone from said I had 30 days. However, once my problems with the phone started the first customer service I spoke with over the phone said "sorry you only had 14 days" you called ONE day too late--today is the 15th day since you purchased the phone so you can't return it. I tried to explain to them that when I purchased the phone the salesman said I had 30 days to return the phone. She put me on hold and transferred me to yet another customer service person. The next person she transferred me to said no you DO have 30 days but let's just see if we could help resolve the issues you're having--I think that once these issues are resolved you'll be very happy with the phone. However my problems with the phone were never resolved. Yet here I had a $400 phone that I couldn't use.

Finally I walked into an AT&T store in Fresh Meadows NY. I spoke to a sales person at the store. Her first was is Sarah. I explained everything that I was going through. She got on the computer and pulled my records. She was reading something on the screen for a while. Finally she looked up at me and said "Miss it's obvious that you've been given the run around let me call customer service and see what's going on. She spoke to Krista W. from AT&T. They spoke for a while finally customer service, Krista W. said that as long as I returned the phone by the following day (Monday) that they would take the phone back and credit my account BUT THAT I HAD TO MAKE SURE TO SEND

IT BACK BY THE FOLLOWING DAY! She said they would honor the 30 days return policy and would not charge me an early termination fee. She said that they would only charge me for whatever AIRTIME I had used. I told her that was not a problem I would make sure and send it back the following day. She said that if I had any problems that I should take down the approval number which was (5398). And so the following day (July 14th) just as Mrs. Winberly had instructed me to do I returned the phone along with everything the phone came with including the packing slip. I even paid extra to have it shipped via Federal Express because I wanted to make sure they received it in a timely matter.

I thought my issues had been resolved but I would have no such luck. Yesterday , Friday July 25, 2008 I got a call from a higher up at AT&T. She said that they had received a notice of complainant which I had submitted to the Better Business Bureau and she wanted to know what it was that she could do to help resolve the issue. I told her that it had already been resolved because AT&T had agreed to take their phone back and I had sent it back to them already. She was taken aback by what I had just told her and asked if I had a tracking number which I gladly gave her. After she took the number she said she would call me back. I guess she wanted to track the package.

A half hour later she called me back to say that she was sorry but that they were taking back their previous agreement because I had returned it AFTER THE 30 DAYS and that they would have to CHARGE me an early termination fee if I chose to discontinue my service with AT&T. She also said "AND CANNOT take the phone back so we'll have to see what we can do to get YOUR PHONE BACK TO YOU!"

I told her that I had been trying to return the phone even before the 30 days were up but AT&T would not allow me to send it back. I told her that I DID return the phone back immediately after I was given the OK and an approval by them. She just didn't want to hear it. She even tried to belittle me by saying "Miss see if you could follow me on this--you returned the phone after the 30 days" I can't understand how a company could treat a customer that way.

I've been a customer of Verizon for many many years and my experience with Verizon has always been a pleasant one. Even after I purchased the IPHONE and hooked up with AT&T, I still kept my account open with Verizon, and thank God I did because I would start making a call with their IPHONE I always had to finish the call by reaching out to my old Verizon phone which I always kept very close to me.
Finally after my negative experience with AT&T I feel that I was mislead and I feel that I was taken advantage of and I honestly don't think that what they've done is right. Can you please advise me? What can I do and where can I go from here? Please advise.

Thank you in advance for your help,

The phone still did not work. I went to the AT&t store and changed Simm card, Still no reception. I was forced to swich to Verizon and now have excellent phone service in my area. AT&T would not allow me to end my contract without a $175.00 termination fee. Calls to AT&T to their service reps and even a manager were of no help. I was forced to pay the $175.00 termination fee and will never use an AT&T service again. I am sending my complaint to the State of Minnesota attorney general's office. I will also send a complaint to Minnesota 's U.S. senator Amy K. who is sponsoring a bill to end the termination fees of the wireless carriers. The damage was purely economic. The 175.00 termination fee. This does not include my time running to the Mallof America Apple store and the AT&T store which is on 4 miles from my home.

2 years later I get a phone call from SBC land service, asking for the same payment of $442.79, after one hour and 1/2 of faxes from my bank back and for, Ms Johnson(SBC) proceeded to tell me that it was a mistake "they've made" and she corrected it. Today July 25th 2008 my cell phone was disconnected without a notice. I've called immediately At&t at 1:45pm, to find out that they "permanently" cancel my service because of an unpaid bill of $442.79.(They never sent me a letter or email stating that owe any money at all!) I've been on the phone since 1:45 pm and now is 7:15pm and I am still on hold. I've talked to 16 different representatives, asked for managers, supervisors and no one could come up with an answer. They can't get the bill from back then, even when I am telling them that I have the bill because Ms Johnson back in 2005 sent it to me and even when I've faxed it to them 3 times today.

After talking to 17 sales reps I finally got to talk to "final accounts" and they tooked my payment AGAIN! of $442.79 and after this I was transferred to another department to reconnect my wireless. This department transferred me again to another department to reinstall my services. They told me they needed to check my credit again because now I was a "new account" and they were going to give me a "new number"! I had this phone number for several years (10) and I demanded the same numbers. The supervisor Beck (Rochester New York Call Center) told me that there was nothing he could do about keeping my numbers. He said that if I talk to the land line they might be able to do it!.

So here I am 6 hours later holding on for another supervisor that will try to keep my numbers. The call got disconnected when he picked it up! NO!

It's 8:41pm now and I am still on hold they are trying to locate the supervisor of land line customer service Mr. Bill. I got disconnected again. I've called back 800- and asked for the supervisor Bill and after several minutes it got disconnected again. Call back at 8:58pm asked for any Supervisor and after a few minutes Supervisor Adela came on the phone and made me explain the problem. I did and she went to find out about the problem and at 8:59 it got disconnected again!

Now I have no cell phone and no long distance in the land line. No way to get in touch with my family. I'm calling back the number 800- at 9:23pm and now the message is: SORRY THE OFFICE IS CLOSED!. I call back and I try different options to talk to any human being and it will keep saying that the office is closed. They advertise when you call this number that they are open 24/7 for technical support and THIS IS NOT TRUE!

Ashley wavered the $68.17 from my bill and told me that I was responsible for the balance of $80.11: I asked her Why that amount but with little response I was informed to pay that amount. Not haveing a pro long chat with the young lady I paid the bill. Now my wife and If went back to the Mall and spoke to Nathon G., explaned I could not get service in our area to use the phones, but you have to remember he told us that he was very sure we would, and gave us his personal guarantee we would get service in our area. (We did Not Get Service, our neighbor has AT&T and she to does not get Service neither )

After we spoke to him he tried to preasure us into getting another phone that he though would work. After repeating myself several times NO he kept up the preasure. After the Tenth No he excepted the answer and cancled the contract. Now I question about what I was charged, he said oh you should have not be charged for the Activation fee, but I was responsible for the $80.11 cents. That was one heck of a bill for not using the phone I guss it was for someone's gift or shady practice for a company so large has AT&T For the Total amount was suppose to be $59.00 Plus Tax for Two phone. I and my wife we felt Cheated, Lied to.

A few weeks after that, we received a card in the mail stating that we had ordered the DSL service outside of the promotional period, so the rebate would not apply. I called a second time, and I let them know that we were promised this rebate, and it turns out that they had the wrong order date in the computer. I told them we ordered in April, and that it was well within the promotion period. They apologized again and said they would correct the situation.

On July 12, 2008, a second card came saying the same thing about not being eligible for the rebate, and I called a third time asking why they continue to promise us this rebate and they not delivering what they promised. They apologized for a third time, and said that the rebate will post within 1 to 2 billing cycles. I have heard this twice before, and am a bit skeptical about the truth of their statements. All my husband and I want is the $75 rebate we were promised from the beginning.

When we got back from vacation on July 8th, i opened our statement only to find a credit of $523.18. So then I called the 611 number from my cell phone on July 8th to find out what happened. The lady, i think her name was Shena, explained that it was credited to the account and that was that. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was connected to Craig Whitenet. He said he would have a check cut and overnited to me either Wednesday or Thursday. He said he would call me back in a few hours that was around 10am. At 2pm I had not heard back from Craig so i decided to call back again to see what day I would get the check. This time I was given to another suporvisor, Adam. Adam got me upset by telling me that Craig was in another call center and did not have a phone number that Adam could call and that Craig was not a supervisor.

Now i am extremly upset, so I asked to speak with Craig's supervisor, Denise. Denise is not availale to speak with me b/c she is on a 3 hour conference call. I think she is just avoiding me. So I ask to speak with Adam's boss, Vashti. She tells me something different this time and tells me that Craig is a supervisor and she is now going to credit me a month of service b/c of what i have gone through. That's fine but all I want is the check that I asked for 3 weeks ago! We pay our bill every month on time and have requested that OUR money be refunded! Vashti says she'll look into it an call me back. Craig ends up calling me back after 5pm to tell me that he doesn't have an update for me on what day the check will be issued. Vashti never calls be back.

So then i waited until 10:45am on July 9th to call back At&t, since no one has called to give me an update on when i can expect OUR money. I get someone who transfers me to the accounting department and I get Victor, who then tells me something new and offers to open a case, I asked him several times to read the notes on the file but he doesn't and ends up looking stupid! So I then ask him to connect me to his supervisor and he tells me she will call me back in 5 mins. And ask me what number she can reach me at, i tell him the one on the account! I truly did not think she would call me within 5 mins but she did.

Shelly B. called me and started off by calling me [mispronouncing name]. And she had not even read the notes on the account but did tell me that her calling me on my cell phone would use up minutes on my cell phone. So she then called me back on my home phone number. This is the second vacation day that I have wasted on trying to get AT&T to give me back our $600.00. They have no right to keep it, since we have asked to have it refunded. Mrs. B. tried to say that I had asked t have it refunded to hte credit card on file, which I never did and since the record the calls, they can check that! She has called be back as she has promised, I think AT&T might have one half way decent employee. And has said a check for $600.00 will be cut and overnited to me.

The only downside, I will have to waste one more vacation day so that I can be here when the stupid check gets here to sign for it. I have not had any issues with AT&T until I tried to get the refund! I have been looking forward to getting the new iphone for a month and I don't even think i want it! I hate AT&T now and will tell everyone about how POOR their customer service is. I guess they are too big to really need every customer! I don't think it is right that they can keep your money after you have requested to have it refunded. I think they should have to pay a penalty for keeping a deposit after it has been requested to be refunded.

In all of the people that I have spoken with at AT&T I have not gotten the same story twice. Ever person tells me a new story. They have the Worst customer service that I have EVER encountered! I have wasted 2 vacation days so far waiting on AT&T empoyees to do what they say htey are going to do and will most likely have to waste another to be at home to sign for hte overnited check. They have goten me so upset i have been in tears 3 times and so upset that my blood pressure has sky rocketed! I take this week off every year to celebrate our son's birthday and we do something fun with him each day and we missed the movie that we were going to see on Tuesday and are now going to try to go today, if Mrs. B. calls be back before 4pm

After we moved to a new address from our flooded home They added an extra month's bill saying we didn't pay a bill 6 months ago at the old phone number. ATT took over Bellsouth and I was told I had to the end of the month of May to pay it. I disputed, but they said I didn't and turned themselves off. I got us an internet phone for $20 a YEAR that performs better then they ever did. We will never ever have ATT anything ever again! The last service to go was the DSL. Anyhow we are finally rid of ATT. Thank God for competition! :)

Many account changes and time consuming, with banking, checking, Credit accounts, Car insurance bill paying, Ebay account.... Communication with friends, When Bellsouth demanded $115 cash after the Katrina storm, to hook up my telephone and internet, that was the thing that really burned me up. Isn't there a law against this sort of extortion on elderly citizens?

Knowing and looking at my account in front of her, that I had a pervious returned check. She still told me that I could make that paymen free of charge by phone using a check and that it will take any where from 24-48 hours to clear my account. And so I took the option to pay by phone for free on June 30th the payment was done.

My service has not been restore yet and today is July 7, 2008 and I have been calling and speakin with numerous of reps that just give me the run around. And $360. is alot of money to not have my phone service at home where I have small kids and one whom seeks medical attention daily from nurses and staff. As soon as I can get my service restored I am going to go where I am respected.

I began working with AT&T to get the balance transferred from my old account to wireless to take care of the past due balance, I began the process in the first week of June. I was contacted during the second week by a woman named Briggett in the final bills department, wireline support. She asked that I fax proof of payment, and the balance would be transferred to my wireless account. It never happened. I then found out, after several phone calls, that the transaction was put in on June 13, and was told that the transfer would happen on June 17, and I would get a call confirming that it went through. I never received a call, and the balance was not transferred.

At this point I spent 3 hours of phone calls trying to resolve the issue. The entire time I had been asking for one single point of contact to resolve this issue all the way through, ensuring that the transactions were done on both sides. After more calls, I spoke with a CSR named Jackie, explained the issue, and told her that I want everything in writing. She told me that it would not be until the end of the week where someone would send me an email, and could not tell me what would be on it

On June 23, after several more phone calls I got in touch with a supervisor named Edward G. He agreed to handle this for me as a direct point of contact. There were no notes on my account about asking for a request in writing. He was originally giving daily updates, but was having issues working with the combined bill department. On Thursday June 26, Ed informed me that the transaction that was supposed to take place on June 13 never did, and it was going to be another 7-10 days to resubmit and get the credit issued. I told him that was not acceptable, and that I want everything in writing from AT&T, every note on my account and a promise to pay. He never directly addressed the issue of getting something in writing. He told me that he would call back at 12:15 that day with an update. He never called, and I left 2 messages after that, one at 1:00PM and one at 4:45PM. I have not received a call back. I again requested something in writing, and also asked Ed to schedule a conference call between himself, the manager of combined billing and I to straighten out the issue. No response. I left one last message on Friday June 27 and told him that I would call hourly until I have my money back. As of today, I have spent approximately 5 hours on this

As of Thursday July 3 2008, the credit still is on their books and has not been issued to my wireless account nor have I received a check. I was told that forms were submitted on June 13, June 20, June 23, July 2, and now July 3rd. AT&T still refuses to give me something in writing and keeps telling me that they will call me when this is resolved. AT&T has a $100.00 credit on my account that I can not get refunded. I keep getting assurances from them that it will be transferred to my wireless account, and when it doesn't it creates a past due balance

Now, during all these failed calls, I see my little call timer running. I am charged a full minute for each of these calls lasting 3-10 seconds, where no communication is taking place because one or both parties can't hear. That adds up to 20-30 minutes or more A DAY of dropped calls that I am being charged for. When I am finally able to connect with someone, everyone who calls me knows that the call will be dropped at least once during the conversation. This is not an exaggeration. I had a 10 minute (total) conversation today and the call was dropped 4 times. No one who lives in my area and has AT&T has this problem (to this extent) and my parents and brother, who are on the same plan, don't either.

During my first round of 1-2 hour conversations with AT&T's customer service, I was informed that I needed a new SIM card (I have since learned from a friend who briefly worked at AT&T that this is what they are told to tell customers to get them off the phone/out of the store). I went to the store to pick it up. The sales rep at the store told me that my parents would either need to come there in person or he would need to speak to them since they were the owners of the account. I try to call them, but of course, my phone doesn't work. I ask if I may use the store phone. Nope. He suggests I bring my parents in. I tell him they would have a 9 hour drive to get there. He tells me that it's not his problem.

My mom goes to the store where she opened the account and asks for a new SIM card. They don't want to give it to her until they see the defective phone/SIM. Eventually they give in and Mom mails the SIM to me. Another hour on the phone with AT&T customer service to activate it. Well, it seems to work....

For about 4 days. Then the same things start happening. Also, my screen keeps going blank at random times. Then, I open my phone to take a call and the entire top part of the phone breaks off. I am still under warranty, so I take the phone to an AT&T store- armed with the account number, my parent's social security numbers and other vital information. I am told that they cannot access my warranty information because the store is not in the same state that the account was opened in. I should try a store in a bigger city- they should have access to other states. So I go to the next big city. Nothing they can do for me either.

I am going home in three weeks, so I wait and go to the store in my hometown. By this time, my warranty has expired and we have to sign another 2 year contract to get a phone without having to pay upwards of $200. They assure me that the problems I have been having were because of a defective phone, so we sign up for another two years of service.

Surprise! It wasn't the phone. I recently got ANOTHER new SIM card as well (suggestion from AT&T rep- of course- but by this time I will try anything). Activiated it and it still doesn't work. The funny thing is.. THIS time when I called customer service they told me they needed to speak to the person who opened the account. However, when my mom called them, they told her that they needed to speak to the person who uses the phone. After finally talking to someone about it, they 'filed a case' on my account, which sounds like a bunch of crap to me- especially since I still haven't heard from them. The technical assistance person's 'best advice' was to get a new phone because she thinks it is 'definitely' a device problem.

I got this phone less than a year ago (September 07) and now I'm being told that it is no longer under warranty (I thought I had paid for at least a year). I either have to buy a phone outright, pay to get out of the contract, or they will let me out of the contract for free IF my mom continues her part of the contract AND I enter into a 2-year contract with them. Well, good luck getting me to agree to that. I will NEVER use any service from AT&T again. Two phones and three SIM cards later, my options are: (1) pay a large fee to disconnect the phone (2) sign up for two more years of horrible service and hope that THIS TIME a new phone will fix the problem or (3) 14 months of paying for a service that doesn't work.

My credit score is 20 points less than it should be, you know it costs thousands on loans, mort, ins etc.

Also i could not purchase 6 months service, just 3 months ? yours truly as Cofuscious would say am still confused ? and it shows , the rep said I purchsed lastly in Jauary o8 ? Would appreciate an end to my confusion. Incidentally on my first cellphone purchase a male ATT & T rep messed my first setup so bad it took up to a supervisor to get right again. thank you just an ATT&T custiomer

since my minutes were never enough and they had told me that my contract was over i decided to get another company and i transfer my cellphone numbers. after that i call at&t to cancel my service with them and then they told me that my contract was not over and that i had to pay $175.00 for each line cancellation. with at&t i was having to pay about $250.00 a month for one unused line and another two sharing 1200 min. it was just way to much money for a not good enough service plus now i got a bill of $700.00 for cancellations.

I then asked them to put me back on the unlimited long distant plan, the person on the phone said to be put back on the unlimited service it would cost me 30.00 a month instead of 20.00 as before, because I was on a granny clause. I told this person that I was not informed that if I disscontinued that service that I would loose the granny clause. I should have been warned about that and I wasn't, which is unprofessional. I called them back today June 9 and asked to speak to their supervisor Nancy, they said she was out so I left a message on her answering machine but she never returned my call. Well I guess next year I will be looking for another phone service that will treat me fair. I keep hearing about Vonage. I figure if they did me this way, they are doing other people the same way too.

Several times thereafter receiving the replacement phone during phone calls to Customer Service for various other issues I would mention about how I still was in shock that I had to pay $50 for a replacement phone since the one I originally had was defective - my complaints went unanswered and no understanding was expressed by any until one gentleman advised me that he didn't understand himself, but unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done months later. This even frustrated me more.

During various phone calls to the company for different issues I either was on hold for a lengthy amount of time before reaching a live person, or while on hold waiting for the person someone carelessly would disconnect the call - resulting in me calling back and spending another 20 minutes on the phone waiting for a rep to answer. Once I finally reach a live person, this person is either not listening to what I am saying and blind transfers me to another department where I need to repeat all my information once more and sometimes I found out that I wasn't in the right department after all due again to the rep eagerly pushing off the call and not taking responsibility. There have been many occasions where I have been transferred back and forth only to be disconnected. The amount of time spent on the phone trying to resolve an issue doesn't seem worth the time and aggravation half the time.

Today was the final straw, the icing on the cake if you will. My 2nd line is used by my daughter. Unfortunately, she dropped her phone that we had recently upgraded too this past Feb. and the LCD screen is broke internally. I reluctantly called AT&T to file a claim. Once again customer service didn't listen to the details and immediately transferred me off to another department without staying on the line. I have now reached a lady in the Warranty Department who obviously cannot assist me w/my issue, but was kind enough to stay on the line as to not make me repeat myself for a 3rd time. After a 4 min. hold, the lady comes back on the phone and states that the insurance department told her I do not have any insurance on either of my phones. Well, here we go again...This is absolutely not true.

I have never ever owned a cell phone w/out paying insurance for the phone. NEVER! Not to mention I had already used this insurance last year to replace my Razor phone - now I'm being told I no longer have insurance. Why? So the lady places me back on hold and after another 4 minutes states the ins. dept stated I need to speak to customer service and once again back to customer service we go...a female answers the phone and I start explaining how I had insurance, I never cancelled insurance - what is going on, etc. I spent almost a complete hour on the phone with this woman while she reviewed in depth my account. Only in the end to tell me that I never had insurance on either phone. Are you kidding me? An hour later w/this rep and she wants to accuse me of lying - that I am confused or something.

I end the call and I contacted the insurance department directly...this female who answers, very pleasant and helpful...states to me that she doesn't see that I have insurance on either phone. I enlighten her and explain that I have changed my cell phone number on 2 occasions since I signed up w/service, I explain I used this insurance already for my Razor phone where I paid $50 deductible...she finally sees something in her system that does in fact prove I received a replacement phone, but get this...she tells me I paid $12 and change and it went through the warranty department - I never had insurance on either phone. Well, ok...now I'm really baffled - 3 person states I never had insurance on either phone since I had the contract from November 2006 - and now I am hearing that I received my replacement phone through the WARRANTY for only a few dollars....ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Was I dreaming - at this time I have spent a total of 2 hrs on the phone - trying to get to the bottom of this...it's now twelve o'clock...I call back customer service a man answers the phone...and once more I repeat myself, trying to be pleasant but now extremely ****** off that I have wasted such a large portion of my day on the phone w/no results..and my tone was quite stern - wanting answers, educated answers, not guesses.

Low and behold this rep advised me that I did in fact have insurance on both of my phones from the time I signed my contract in November 2006 up until July 2008. So I am grateful someone clearly knows how to read their notes in the system. I proceed to ask why insurance stopped on my account. He tells me he doesn't know. It's like 2 steps forward, 5 steps back...I'm like what do you mean you don't know. I never removed it - no one had my permission to remove it. His response well ma'am, why did it take you almost a year to realize that you weren't paying for it. Good question...I'll give him that, but great way to avoid resolution. So I explain to him that I trust that AT&T knows how to bill accurately, therefore I do not pay attn. to details on my cell phone and I expect that the company is honest w/the information they are billing me for...and I am only learning of all of this due to the fact my initial phone call 2 hrs + was to file a claim to replace a broken phone.

...well, he continues to tell me had I realized this months ago...he may have been able to add the insurance back to my lines, but since I didn't - he can't help me. His hands are tied. I stated I just upgraded both of my phones in Feb and April of this past year I need insurance on these phones for the duration of my contract - which as we all know extends 2 years once you upgrade your equipment. Once again he tells me that I should have been advised that insurance does not carry over to upgraded equipment automatically and I only have 30 days to add it to the account. ARE YOU KIDDING ME????????????

I finally found someone who can see I had insurance on the account, no explanation as to why it was removed, and still no resolution to my immediate problem of needing a replacement phone. I explained to him that no one at that company notified me of the insurance not carrying over to upgraded equipment. This information was not disclosed to me or discussed because had it been I certainly would not have refused to pay the $4.99/mo for the phone to be insured...however, there was nothing he could do for me. 2 1/2 hrs. later I reached my limit. I gave him the bottom line before I lost my cool.

I requested a supervisor/manager call me at work, provided him w/me tele number, stated I wanted a phone call before 4:30pm today. He stated he could not guarantee a return phone call. UNBELIEVABLE! Considering the circumstances, the fact I spent 2 1/2 hrs consecutive on the phone trying to resolve my issue - no explanation of why ins was removed from my account, no explanation as to why they charged me $50 for insurance replacement on my razor yet put it through warranty...(which is clear fraud in my opinion and stealing my money) - uneducated people arguing w/me about the insurance ever being on my account - and he could not guarantee me that a supervisor or manager would return my call w/in 4 HOURS....how does one escalate an issue at this company? How do they prioritize their workload? Shall I assume that the supervisors and managers are so bogged down with so many other customer complaints - or shall I assume that they simply don't know what they are doing or perhaps both?

So this evening, I have spent the past several hours, reviewing each bill I ever received since I signed this contract, I have confirmed that I was in fact charged $50 for the deductible on the razor phone. I have spent basically my day worrying and stressing about this and what can I do to resolve this - I sent emails via web to the president and vice president of many different departments of this company. The automatic pop up states they will respond to me w/in 2 business days. HIGHLY UNLIKELY! (not going to hold my breath) However, the bottom line is I want RESULTS...so w/in my emails I indicated that I want to be refunded $50 that they stole from me fraudulently.

I want an explanation of who has the right to remove features (insurance from my account) I want an explanation as to why I spent 2 1/2 hours on the phone w/no results to my issue. I want restitution. In the meantime, it appears that I need to sit back - suck up the fact that I am being charged for features that can't even be used since the LCD screen does not work on my one phone.

No internet usage, no texting - can't see who is calling - no caller id display, but do you think one person at this company today - thought to say we will put a hold on your features until you get this resolved and the phone repaired or replaced - absolutely NOT! Because it's quite clear AT&T only wants to steal your money as many ways as they can - and being in a contract leaves you the consumer w/your hands tied or having to pay them several hundred dollars to terminate the contract.

Does this sound fair? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I thought about calling back and having them remove the features on that line, but can you imagine what calling them again would do to my sanity. DEAR GOD HELP ME!

I went to the my at&t carrier several times but there was no reslution to my issue.

The first bill we received was over two thousand. it was suppose to be 400. They forgot to add the mobile to mobile service we signed up for. The next bill was exorbitant and every bill after for some reason or another and several credits were issued. Needless to say the service was not at all what we expected because they do not have free incoming calls and charge for minutes to their own center. When I thought we had a 397 bill it was 1800. It was confusing because the billing dates for the cell service are different than the land side so it is impossible to know what you are paying for.

We received a 1300 minute credit on the wireless side after reviewing this huge bill. We paid the amount we owed but put 1037 in dispute to receive monetary credit off the bill and not a future minute credit of 1300 minutes. Because they are separate departments the associates cannot see the activity of either side. Even though my credit is in dispute the landline side has determined that I must pay the balance in full inspite of my huge credit on the wireless side, even though these charges are from the wireless side not the landline side.

I discontinued the combined billing because of the hours and hours of transfers and confusion. I was on the phone for three hours on Thursday and over one hour on Friday. No one can help me. When I asked to speak to a supervisor I am told I am in the wrong department. I am placed on hold and transferred back and forth from billing to accounting to wirelss.

No one can offer a solution or knows what to do to apply the credit from the wireless side. I am told it cannot be done because they are two separate departments and the wireless side has already been paid by the landline side and I have take the credit on the wireless side for a future bill and pay this one now to get my email address back.

They have suspended my email address. I I have another business with customers trying to contact me. I do alot of my business online. I am a jewelry designer. I do not understand how they can take my email address hostage. I missed out on a 11K diamond sale and recieved a call today from a very upset customer trying to make an appointment with me through email as she has always been able to do in the past.

Also I went and added an extra line to my phone after they said it would only be about 7 dollars a month more. I added it then got billed over 360 dollars for two months! My phone bill was always at least under 100 dollars a month and I pay for unlimited long distance thru a bundle pack which is around 23 or so bucks. I called and they said they forgot the multiline discount but I have to pay the total before they can credit me. I was so upset to see my bill had doubled. They also started charging me an inside maintenance fee that I never ordered on top of it! When I added the extra line someone there decided to add even more to my bill that I didnt ask for! They have since credited me for THAT at least!..I am so over trying to get anything corrected with this company.

I then renewed after talking with a rep who gave me the advertised promotional price for a bundled package. I began using the services and my first bill was three times what I was told it would me. I never received the money promised for the package and when I did it wasn't correct. I called and ended the service within one month because my internet service never worked correctly. I was then charged that amount plus more which I guess was an early closing penalty. I mailed in the amount that I knew I used plus the check they sent from the bundle.

I have creditors such as Allied Interstate and another collection agency constantly calling of sending collection mail. The charges are invalid and now they're on my credit report causing higher interest charges for loans and non-acceptance requests for other services. All my accusations can be verified!

I also spoke to Autum (Customer Service Supervisor) and Rusty(Area manager) which both of them refused to give me the information that I needed to file a complaint. Lastly, I was forward to Cathy (Executive Specialist) who refused to give me the address she told me "TO LOOK IT UP". I told her also that I needed to file a complaint.

I feel that I have been subjected to unnecessary phone calls to AT&T and them putting me on hold for a extreme length of time and in the end there is still no resolution, with them still refusing to give me the option of filing a complaint. I feel like I am getting no where with them, besides a bad head ache and being depressed due to all of the stress. I was given the above address by Rusty Stork, so I am not sure that this is correct.

In March, I called the CS again for the upgrade and I was told I was not eligible. So much for truthfulness and honesty of those people. I am so frustrated I wanted to cancel my account but it will cost me 3 termination fees. They said I had upgraded my other phone last year & when I asked if they had proof they could show, they said they didn't have any. I asked how I paid for that upgrade, they could not answer me. I looked under my credit cards & checking accounts and tried to locate how I paid for any upgrades & didn't find any. I looked under my monthly statements for any changes or "upgrades" on the bill & I didn't find any.

Dreiza ****

the lady stated that i should have received a letter, to which i explained i did not and that would not be a surprise because in my neighborhood we often received others mail. i explained to her that me nor my family could not be without our cell phones and due to no prior notice we had not made other arrangements for finding another cell provider. she was very understanding and stated that she would reactivate all three of our phones for 24 hours to give us some time for getting new service. i asked her at that time if i would have to get new numbers or would i be able to get the new company to use our current numbers. she stated that normally if our service was disconnected which meant we did not contact them prior to having the phones cut off by them that we would not be able to "port" our numbers. she then said but, since you had no prior knowledge and she was reinstating our service for 24 hours that she would allow the portal of the numbers as if we had done it before the service was disconnected. she said normally they would charge us for porting the numbers but due to the circumstances that we wouldn't owe. with that she reactivated the phones and changed the status of the phone numbers to allow them to be ported.

when i explained all of this to Mathew he said that i was in breech of my contract by using it in an area in excess of what was allowed. i let him know that i cannot be in breech of contract if i have no idea of what areas fall into those categories and that me nor my phone had readily available access to that knowledge while using the service. he agreed but stated that if i had read my contract i would understand that this wasn't allowed. then asked me if i had my contract in front of me. i explained no i didn't but regardless my conversation with at&t in December 2007 assured me that i would not owe any charges. i explained to him that i knew my conversation in December 2007 had been recorded and i thought he needed to listen to that as proof of the conversation.

he said yes it was recorded but those recordings were used only for marketing, not for reasons like this. i said ok, then there should be notes on my account showing the December conversation where i was told i would not owe. he said yes there were notes showing the conversation which stated their representative explained to me my financial obligations on "my final bill" which he stated proves she told me i would owe the charges. i let him know that those words most certainly did not prove that i was told i would owe charges, and for that matter she did explain "my final bill" but told me i would not owe charges.

i let him know that because she noted the discussion of the "final bill" with no further documentation that it in no way proves she told me i would owe. he told me it was up to me to prove what was said in our conversation either by a recording or a letter. i let him know that i had a recording that they are in possession of that should be sufficient enough. the conversation turned to him trying to make me say "yes, i ported my numbers" so he could confirm any money i owe. i told him i knew he wanted me to say that therefore i wouldn't, but i that they are the ones who terminated me, not the other way around so there should be no early termination charges.

i also explained earlier in our conversation that there was no way i would have ported my numbers if i would have been told i would owe. i explained that those numbers did not have $742 worth of importance to me. but since she told me there would be no charge i chose to do it. he then stated he wanted to ask me a question that was totally off of the subject, i said ok. he then asked..."if someone gave me an apple, and regardless who gave me the apple, i ate the apple, would that apple have been eaten by me". my response..."not if that one apple cost me $10.00.

after arguing back and forth until i was finally in tears (and i really dislike that i let him do this to me) i told him that i was told i would not owe the money, i was not going to pay the money and if he felt the need to ruin my good credit rating over $742 that i was told i would not owe then do what he needed to do, but he wasn't getting money from me. then i hung up.

now, how can i be held responsible for a charge i was told i wouldn't owe? also where exactly does it state in the contract that i am allowed to be screwed and that as a consumer i have absolutely no rights whatsoever or that i can be lied to and have to accept it? why would a company, in this case at&t be allowed to document only part of a conversation and from those partially documented notes that same company be able to assume what must have actually been said/discussed and use that as justification for telling me i knew because i was told i would owe $742? i didn't read that in my contract. ok so i can't sue them because of the arbitration clause, but shouldn't they have to prove beyond a shadow of any doubt that they told me i would owe???

I've lost $75 over this matter.

I gave him my story and told him I was willing to pay I had just never received a bill. Mr. **** said due to the circumstances they would waive the fees they charge since I would not be problem to collect from. He wanted to collect the full amount and I told him I was unable to pay the full amount that day but did want to take care of it as soon as possible. He said I needed to make a payment as a sign of good faith to pay, so I sent $50.oo payment but sent it to Cingular from our military Bank of America account, trace number **** Company ID:**** this was on 09/30/04. I should have sent it to Financial Asset Management.

When speaking to Mr. ****after that he said payment was not received. I insisted I paid not realizing yet it was to the wrong place. He informed me that he had to have the full payment by our agreed upon date or he would have to send it to my credit report. He said I would need to contact Cingular on the payment I sent to them and they should take care of the refund once they received all money due to them. So on 10-8-04 I sent to the collection agency $120.00 ($20 processing fee). Then on 11-8-04 I made a $338.27 payment ($5 processing fee). So total I paid $50 to Cingular, $458.27 the collection agency. Minus the processing fees total $25. Leaves the $50 that I have been trying to collect from them.

I have proof all money was paid and have verified it several times by faxing requested information to the numbers given to me by Cingular. I was told at first I was due a refund and that it was in the mail by Cingular associates Judy **** and another time by her manager Darla (didn't get last name). Judy said she was putting in for the refund and to call in a couple days to verify it was sent. I did and was told the check was in the mail and I should receive it in 7-10 days. It was not received so I called again to find out the problem. Then I was told no it takes 4-6 weeks and that it was sent on 11-24-04. I waited until that time was up which was 1-12-05.

Still no refund! On 1-13-05 I called again and spoke to Sue **** and to my surprise they have no record of me being due a refund. She said I would have to prove that I was due a refund. So I traveled to the military post (Ft. Campbell) an hour from my home to get the paper work proving that I had made all payments mentioned above. It cost me $3 to get it on paper another $5 to have the bank fax the paper work to Cingular number 866-816-9048 given to me by Sue **** plus the gas and time it took me to make a 2 hour trip. I was then given a number to call Collections at 866-860-6416 and spoke to Norma and she said I needed to refax the information to Cingular Treasury again so I did this again and never another word (or check) from Cingular.

And two that had been marked out and I couldn't read. One of the numbers I had called was the number to a business. The owner that answered the phone said she had been in business for years and repeatedly got calls for Cingular.

I spent countless hours trying to ensure that Cingular and I got the money owed to each of us. I sat on hold for a countless amount of time usually just to be given another number that was usually disconnected. It was emotionally draining to be threatened with having something negative put on my credit report and trying my best to do right and fix the situation with the company and they were cheating me. Each time the military has moved us I send another fax proving overpayment with my current contact information and I have retained all paper work showing that. Still no payment or contact from Cingular.

I called and spoke with Nathan **** and asked why I was billed so much. He said I was accidentally charged for long distance calls within the USA when that should not be because I am on a cell phone. He said it would be fixed by feb 6th 2008 before "auto pay" draws the money out of my account on feb 16th.

So I explained my problem again and was told that it was international calls to st. George France.

I reported this as fraud because I did not male these calls! I asked if I needed to call back for Renell, was told again that it was impossible, not to worry about it, and that I did not need to call because it would be fixed.

I got another message from Renell **** asking me to call her back at the same number. So I called again, was told by another AT&T rep that it is impossible to reach specific AT&T reps. I explained my problem, and that Renell asked me to call which is impossible. This rep set up a time 11:30am pacific and 7:10pm pacific were I was to be ready for AT&T to call me. I agreed to the call back times.

I was never called for the next 2 days.

I told Kevin that I never received any text message from AT&T which my bill and account will reflect! I was support to be called because it is impossible to reach a specific AT&T rep, and that a text request to call defeats the purpose of a call back! I asked why he would say I was text messages when I was not, and why the case rep did not try to call me after allegedly txt msging me, or call me at home as renell **** had in a third message she left for me. Why no calls when they were support to call?

Kevin spoke to a manager, then told me the calls were to an adult per minute billing number in the Virgin islands!! He said that the case rep "confirmed" the calls came from my phone. I asked how that was possible when my phone is not activated for international calling nor 900 bills. He did not know how they made that determination.

I said I will not pay for calls I did not make and asked if they will shut off my phone as a result. I was put on hold and my call was dropped by AT&T. I gave them my call back number in case that should happen as per kevin request, yet hedid not call back. It was after hours by this time so I was unable to call AT&T again.

Before the disconnect I had told Kevin that my friend Micah Kelly also got a new AT&T phone and also got a $500 cell phone bill. And that I had heard AT&T was in the news for outrageous billings. Kevin did say they had problems when the iPhone first came out in regards to international roaming and data charges, but that was all fixed now.

This problem is not resolved. AT&T has knowingly lied to me about its attempts to contact me. They have changed their story each time I call, and they have now stopped investigating this case when it is not solved!

Mike ****

Basically I have never gotten good reception with att/cingular wireless were I live, So last Feburary of 2007 I called them and told them I wanted to cancel my service because my contract was up and I wanted to try another company to see if my service improved. They told me I should be getting good recpetion were I lived that if I upgraded both my phones and sim cards(because I have Two lines with them) the problem should go away. So I did, I upgraded my phones and renewed my contract for Two more years. At first I did notice a little bit of improvement with the new phones but after a few months it went back to the same thing.

I always believed it was the area where I lived that was bad, but all my friends were able to use their phones inside my house except for me, so I started investigating and it was because my friends all had different companies. I was the only one that had att/cingular thats why mine didn't work where I live.

When I talked to technical support they told me there was nothing they could do because coverage in my area was only good/moderate so with any small interference it brought coverage down to poor, that it was not anything to do with the phones.

I called the next day to follow up(01/31/2008) and to proceed and cancel my service. I explained to the representative that I had already spoken to technical support and they told me there was nothing they could do. I told her I wanted to proceed and cancel my service, when I told her the previous person I had spoken to had told me the termination fee would be waived if they couldn't fix the problem she told me she couldn't do that because that was against their policies. She said I only had the first month to cancel my service after that I would have to pay the termination fee. I asked her why the previous person had told me I wouldn't have to pay anything If it was something to related to their coverage she said I don't know but I will check the notes from the previous person and check. I was put on hold and then she came back and told me she had gone through the notes and didn't find any thing saying they would waive the fee, that anyway they didn't guaranteed coverage. I then asked her if I could speak to a supervisor she then put me back on hold and the after a few minutes later came back and told me her supervisor had gone over my account and that she couldn't waive the fee. I told her I wanted to proceed and cancel my service anyways because at the long run it was costing me more money because I couldn't use the phone to receive or make calls where I live. She then said ok and then some how we got disconnected I don't know if she hung up on me or what happened but she never had the courtesy to call me back, It's not like she didn't have my number, it was in front of her on her computer.

I then had to call them back again and then I spoke to another person and explained that I was in the middle of canceling my service but the call had been disconnected. I restated my problem and she said that in fact if I cancel my service I was goin to be charged the early termination fee. I told her to go ahead with it that I already had wasted too much time on the phone with them.

I have to pay an extra $50.00, and I have to waste my time with them every single time they do something wrong.

ATT, 6 years ago, decided to bill me $175 for canceling my cell phone contract with them. I didn't cancel, I in fact RENEWED! I had a viable contract with them 2 years beyond that time. I never did cancel.

then they sent me 2 FREE phones and proceeded to bill me $200 each.

I have refused to pay this bill. My credit is wrecked and at this point, I have been told by collection agendies - which over the years - my "bad debt" continues to be bought and sold over and over and over again - I have been told that the only recourse I have is to pay the bill. PERIOD!

They don't care about the story. They dont' care what really happened. They call me at 6 am. they call me at 11pm. They call and don't speak. They call and call and call.

I just hung up on yet another call. This was his statement to me:

"for the rest of your life you are going to hear my voice."

What is my recourse? When does this become legal prosecutable harrassment? what do I do if I am NOT rich (I live on disability) and I am tired of being harrassed in my own home several times a day. What can I do? I have notes from over the years of all the times they said that they knew it was their billing error etc but nobody was ever able to fix it and now ATTWireless no longer exists. And I am left in Collection ****!

and I know I am NOT the only one. At some point, this becomes harrassment. If this was a private party doing this to me, I could get a restraining order. How much can collection agencies do?

I do NOT owe this money. with all the fees added on, it is now over $1000. I won't do it. I have been told that I am being an ******* for not just paying it (by the collection people of course). I have been yelled at and threatened in my own home by bulldogs at some point hired by a company that no longer even exists.

HELP!

Betty *****

cindy

Now they are saying I never canceled, and that THEY shut off my service last February! I called their business service line and was told that they have no record of my cancellation. I told them just to look at the number of calls placed on the business line since last fall (NONE, because I wasn't USING their service because I CANCELED). They kept repeating that they saw no notice in their file of my cancellation. I had a forwarding address, and never received any bills from BellSouth, otherwise I would have contacted them months/over a year ago, on this matter.

What frustrates me the most is that the people who are seasoned complainers and probably threaten lawsuits get their money back but others don't.

When cards finally arrived we have experienced frustration and embarrassment with card denials when attempting to use them. We finally decided to use them to pay our bill and to our amazement ATT took them with no denial. This has been one headache not needed!

When I called AT&T the CSR told me it was a "one time" fee because I purchased a discounted phone and renewed my plan for 2 years! SO, bottom line is the 169.99 phone discounted to 99.99 was really 137.99. I completely dislike this marketing scam type of advertising. I know it is rampant in our society in many businesses. I'm sure other Wireless providers do the same thing. Bottom line to the consumer is to pay close attention to hidden fees when buying a new phone with a rebate attached. Ask questions about all fees at purchase time so you aren't blindsided.

Within 15 minutes of complaining to the state they fixed the problem. Said it was a programming issue. During the previous three weeks we were calling Bellsouth almost everyday, multiple times. They still never fixed the problem, and come to find out at times that out of service message was still be played to callers.

I postponed my flight and all my plans for 2 weeks. When I got the bill it was for 204 dollars. So I called again and they said sorry but the service was NOT cut off yet. So they needed to disconnect the service and give me a credit, and again they said my balance would be around 70 - 75 dollars. Now I had to postpone the flight again another week. I waited as long as I could and they didn’t send the bill. I had to leave.

They couldn't help me so they sent me back to Cingular customer service and they informed me I needed to call AT&T customer service. I was on hold to connect with AT&T and as soon as I got on AT&T customer service they connected me with AT&T's rebate department which then told me they couldn't help me so they were sending me back to Cingular. After 2 hours of holding and waiting and speaking to 5 different people I was not going to have this so I lost it. I called Cingular rebate again and they told me for the phone I ordered I am only allowed to get a $29.99 rebate and the guy actually had the nerve to ask me why I should expect my phone to be free and how is Cingular supposed to make money?

I then spoke to a supervisor which then told me I was misinformed and that I should be happy with a $29.99 rebate! Misinformed? I was lied to! I am now still on hold after 2 hours speaking to the 8th person and I still have not gotten this resolved. I can't even cancel the stupid service because I agreed to a two year contract and would have to pay disconnection fees! I've only had the phone 3 weeks and now I'm stuck with incompetent people and a company that can't get their stuff together.

I immediately called Cingular and was told they didn't see anything in their system re the debit card rebate. I was told to go into the internet and try the Cingular site. That proved to be the most frustrating romp on the web. The website is obviously set up to frustrate and discourage customers from continuing on and simply giving up. After hours of following prompts and ending up where I started I gave up after being unable to even email a complaint.

I moved out of state in Jan 2007 and received a letter from a collection agency stating I owe this money from Bellsouth again. After several calls to Bellsouth and many hours of being on hold, I was finally told they found out what happened, they found the payments I sent but they did not go to the correct account. I was told that because the account was from 2005, there is nothing they can do that I will just have to pay the bill again to clear it. I was told they will not do anything because the account is too old.

I have spent countless hours on the phone and because I am in the military and away from home had to use my cell phone minutes for a lot of the calls.

They sent me the wrong carrying case so I had to send it back and they sent me a new one. Then I noticed they had charge me for both. They never re-imbursed me for the first one that I bought and returned. I called a week after they received the package through usps (I had a tracking number) and they still had not re-imbursed me. Then today I called again 17 days after they received my return and they still had not re-imbursed me my $31.00. Another problem we had is that my Wife's internet never worked on her phone. After 4 calls to tech support the problem was never resolved.

Did I mentioned that they said we would get 100 rebates for each phone and the rebate was actually only 50 dollars for each phone. I cannot believe that a company can function in such a dishonest way. It is unbelievable. I have wasted to much time I cannot believe the trouble that Cingular Wireless has caused me. I have ended my service but I am still not satisfied on the outcome. Let me know what I can do to help you and what you can do to help me? I have much more to Share. Thanks

I am absolutely fed up but, upon checking the internet for other possible providers, I find that BellSouth is the only provider available for my area. Isn't this a monopoly?

We told Bellsouth that we would be discontinuing service with their company and was immediately flooded with calls asking us to sign yearly contracts for the pricing we should already had had and when asked if the additional billings would be deleted they fell at a lost for words.

For several months in a row my new bill was higher than had been quoted to me (having dropped one of the lines and other features). I noticed they were still charging me for one of the lines from my previous home. I spoke with a rep and he issued me a refund for charges from May to October. Now, two months later, I wake up one morning with temporarily disconnected service.

I lost my contact with my clients and now I have to expend more than $ 500 in new business cards and stamps, trying to be connected again with my old clients, but many business lost clients, anyhow. I tried to deal with with Bellsout representatives, but they are trained to give us customers, the RUN AROUND. On 07/28/06, Channel 9 News in Orlando, Florida, presented a 10 minutes segment about more than 1.300 complaints againts this company and the answer that a CEO from Bellsouth offered, was: Bellsouth has more complaints, because they have more customers. Sure, yeah.

But why did BellSouth pull my credit 3 times. 1st time on 06/23, which I knew about. But then, 2 more times on 06/28 and 07/12. I have a problem with this. No one that I spoke with could give me any information as to why this was done. I was told that a supervisor was not available and would contact me within 48 hours. Now I have a $83.28 bill with Bellsouth for 1 day service and a connection fee that was supposed to be waived, along with a lower credit score.

BellSouth pulling my credit 3 times has adversely affected my credit and I am very upset, especially when they can't give a reason as to why this was done 3 times. One CSR named Renico stated that it had been done and there was nothing they could do about it.

I disputed the charges and BELLSOUTH said they were refused and they turned off the phone. They will not turn it back on until I pay $266.32. It was their fault for not setting it up properly and I don't owe those charges. They will not get my business again!!! Unless they make it right.

I work from home, and I told them that I could not afford a $100.00 or more phone bill what can they do for me, the lady said she can help. This has cause me finanical hardship my bills are behind and I have to pay them because I use my phone and internet and fax for making a living.

It's annoying, unethical, etc. I shouldn't have to fight for a free rebate they promised me!

I have no residential telephone service and my bill is $552.76.

BellSouth turned off the services to my main telephone line until I paid the account balance on the 2nd line that I disputed. I had 3 months worth of charges on a line I never got to use, and they denied any responsibility to inform me to disconnect the line that wasn't working.

They have left me answerless as to where my money is and trying to make me feel as if it is my problem to solve. My responsibility in this is to pay my bill monthly, this I do. Yet, an amount of money that was legally supposed to be put into trust and returned to me, as agreed upon - has been lost and no offer to find it and return it is being made. The laziness and unwillingness to help by the customer service department of Bellsouth astounds me!

I have potentially lost anywhere from $100.00 to $200.00 in my deposit not being returned to me. I have also endured the aggrevation of dealing with several Bellsouth customer service reps - which I'm sure most of their customers will agree is quite too much for this company to ask of me!

When I called BellSouth, they said a technician came to my residence to fix the problem. First, I never authorized a service person to check the problem and second, I work from home and no one visited. I refuse to pay a company, such as Bellsouth, for a service I did not receive. I expect to have this charge cleared from my records, but the keeping ignoring me and have now placed the amount with a collection agency.

I had no phone service and they sent me a bill for 205.00.

I have made several attempts to get the matter resolved and have just finished emailing their customer service department for the last time. I find most appalling that i received yet another bill from Sprint along with a letter from collection agency now stating that i owe them 1285.20 which is another $175.17 on a line that was disconnected in November. Then, there is an issue with AT&T. While living in Charlotte, my phone service was provided through Bell South yet i was receiving bills from At&T. At one point i even called Bell South to inquire about these bills and the representative called AT&T who denied ever billing me. A month later i got a letter from At&T stating that there was an error in their system they were working hard to resolve it.

To make a long story short, i am still receiving bills from At&T on that phone number which has been disconnected for over 4 months. Matter of fact i moved from Charlotte to Fayetteville on August 15th 2004 and the most recent bill i got from them was from October 14, 2004. The bottom line is this..who oversees these phone companies and what can be done about this? I have even had MCI cancel an order i placed to disconnect service in Charlotte, told me that they cancelled my disconnect notice and continue to send me bills! I've had it, please help!

I'm a part-time school teacher with $20K salary. I was paying them meticulously the entire year of the contract, by direct bank withdrawal. They have damaged my credit. They continue to harass me every day via collection agencies.

In November I received my last bill showing a $175 disconnect fee for early termination. I complained the fee was removed but it left me with a credit of $74.41. I asked for my moneys to be refunded by check or charge back to credit card. I was informed by letter that the account had to be closed for 60 days before request could be made. I called and was told that date would be November 13, 2003. I called on the 13th and made a request. Then I was called a week later by the person processing the request who said it was not 60 days yet, request denied. Then I was told that I must wait till December 7, 2003 to make the request. (I have figured out what they are doing, they are waiting for two billing cycles past the last billing cycle that service was terminated)(My billing cycle ends on the 7th of each month). Also I was told that it could take up to 10 weeks for the refund to be issued.

I have talked to nemourous people at AT&T; Wireless and received the royal runaround. They have two divisions - one analog and one G3 service. They transfer from one department to the other and no one has the ability to make decisions about the account. All I want is the monies I over paid this company, refunded. Also If they are going to terminate service they should terminate on billing cycle day not 3 weeks before and make you wait that period for a refund.

Because my phone was not turned back on until 36 hours later, I didn't receive the call from my infant's babysitter informing me that my baby was being taken to the emergency room for a high fever.

This new phone bill is taking me straight to the poorhouse (where I already have a room).

Note, I have never been thrilled with the level of service from AT&T.; When I talk with my friends who have changed to Verizon, they laugh when they hear I'm still with AT&T.; At this point I feel you have violated the terms of the contract I have with you in terms of customer service. I am requesting that the contract be cancelled without any fees. If not I am going to be sending a very detailed account of my plight today to as many agencies who deal with complaints as possible. I am starting to search the website to gather a list of all the agencies including the media. I am so, so upset and frustrated that your people have made it impossible for me to complete a transaction after an hour of impersonal and incompetent behavior.

I ordered a second line for my fiance and was never once told by their representative that there was a $60 charge for the phone itself. I found out when an invoice came with the phone. A week after receiving the second phone I received a letter telling me that they require a $60 deposit for the second line. Again, after the fact.

The second phone had the wrong area code and when I called to ask them to correct the mistake, they switched the area code of my original phone to the wrong area code, so then I had two numbers with the wrong area code. After about 4 hours on the phone with their customer service, they managed to switch the lines correctly. I have now logged over 30 phone calls in the past month, just trying to return the second phone to them, to no avail. I have never received an RMA and they say there is no other way to return the phone.

The viewable used minutes on their website indicated that my original phone had reverted back to zero after the mistakenly changed the phone number on that phone, I called their customer service to verify that my minutes had indeed again started at zero and their representative assured me that I had over two hours left of paid minutes to use. What happened next? I got a $250 phone bill. I've never gone over $35 once in the past.

They won't allow me to return the merchandise they sold to me, their representatives won't give out their last names and half say they don't have an employee number, so none of them has the faintest idea what last one promised to a customer. The last one actually told me, well you used the minutes so you have to pay for them, never mind that I used the minutes based on information given to me by their staff. It doesn't make sense that I would make a 67 minute phone call at 45 cents/minute when I had several other phones at my disposal. I have no intention of paying another dime to their company until they straighten this situation out.

I am furious with AT&T; and can only imagine what they're going to charge me on my next bill. I hope that if enough folks complain about AT&T;'s severe lack of compentence then something will be done. I've already filed with the FCC and have been assured that AT&T; will receive substantial fines for their lack of preparation for cellphone number portability (3+ years since AT&T; has know about the compliance date of 11/24/2003).

To date, I have still not received the credit due. I have carbon copies of my transactions with this company to be sent to the Public Utilities Commission and also to the California State Attorney Generals office. I am not going to let this go. AOL was recently fined for this very practice. My thought now is to run this through small claims court and to sue for an amount sufficient to clear the debt owed by them to me and for all the time and frustration to date.

I travel frequently for business and in April, 2003 I was in Salt Lake City for a period of two weeks and this is where it became not just an inconvenience, but a hindrance. I was staying in downtown Salt Lake City and was using my cell phone quite freqently for business related calls which were consistently getting dropped or I had no service at all. After about a week of frustration, I went into an AT&T; Wireless store to find out what the problem was. The store manager told me that this was a common occurance with the GSM network. That just fueled my frustration because had I been told that ahead of time, I would never have switched my service over and would have returned the phone.

As I stated previously, I was on a nationwide plan. She switched me to a regional plan and my bill was over $600! I called AT&T; customer service and was on hold for almost a half-an-hour. Once I was able to talk to a Customer Service Representative (mind you I don't think your organization understands customer service is) she was short and explained to me that it was my fault this had happened because I should have realized that the manager of the store would have placed me on the same type of service plan that I was previously on. After I disagreed and tried to explain to her again what happened (I really decided to give this woman the benefit of the doubt and assume that she just didn't understand the problem) and she became combative.

I then told her that I wanted to cancel my service. She said great and began the process. She, who mind you is representing your organization, did not care that I was going to take my business elsewhere! Without having another cell phone carrier, I decided that I was going to wait until I got another carrier, as to not disrupt my service. After talking over with a few people, I was advised to call back and let a supervisor know what happened. This time was a completely different experience. I spoke with a very nice customer service represenative and she transferred me to a supervisor who cleared the whole situation up.

It took about two and a half hours to get done but I was relieved that I did not have to switch carriers and pay for an invalid bill. I wish that is where the story ended. The $20 phone that was sold to me by the manager of that store in the Gateway in Salt Lake City was awful. The phone book was inadequate and the phone was heavy and large. When I got back to Arizona, I checked with an AT&T; Wireless store to see what I could do.

The selection of Digital Network phones was exactly two phones, one of which was the one that I already had. It seemed to me that AT&T; is trying to force people onto an unreliable network! I pretty much decided at this point that I was going to cancel my service with this organization at the end of my contract in February, 2004. My girlfriend was able to give me her V60 phone and I went to switch my number onto it in the same store that I went to in Arizona on Shea. When the salesperson asked my why I was switching, he didn't care, which didn't surprise me. After using the V60 for about a week, I noticed that I was having service problems again. My girlfriend had warned me about this phone and I wanted to take the risk because the size was much more convenient. When I went back to the store to inquire about the phone thinking that there was a manufactural problem with it, the same saleperson told me that there was a manufactural problem with this phone and many customers return that phone.

Just as he told me this, on the other side of the counter was a customer purchasing this exact phone! I asked the salesperson if he was going to inform that customer that the V60 may have a defect with it and he said that he is not allowed to! Nice policy, AT&T;! I then had to purchase my third phone with AT&T; and had three phones that were of no use to me at all. All in all, I had almost $700 worth of useless equipment and your company could care less! It does not stop here. The phone that I have been most recently sold, is the same phone that I had to begin with, the base model phone that is usually free when ordering new service. Because I had already had an upgrade on my service plan recently, I had to pay $150 for the worst phone available. If I had been smarter, I would have just opted out of my contract and switched carriers. I didn't and purchased the phone.

Just in the last couple of months, I have been traveling to Orange County, CA and my service has worsened. Not a big surprise! Dropped calls and every other call doesn't even go through. I am in one of the more densly populated areas of the United States and this is the type of service that I am getting. I went into an AT&T; store in the Irvine Spectrum to find out how to finally opt out of my contract. After telling this entire story to the salesperson, he appologized and told me that for the amount of usage that I have, the current phone that I have is the worst possible phone. Not a surprise here, either.

I was then told that I would have to pay $175 to get out. I was thinking about it and called AT&T; Customer Service again. This time the first person that I talked to was great. She did tell me about an option that I could swtich my service plan to another person and I would not have to pay for the cancellation fee. I explained to her that I wouldn't switch this service to my worst enemy and she laughed. Even your customer service people know about the level of service that you provide. Amazing!

She then transferred me to Chris, a Resolution Specialist. I had a brief discussion with him. Apparently the Resolution Specialist only specializes in one resolution - the customer is wrong and that is it. After all that I have been through, he couldn't even waive the cancellation fee, which brings me to where I am now. I am currently in the process of switching my service and keeping my number. I can only hope that this law allowing customers to keep their cell phone numbers when switching service is going to stimulate a better customer service enviornment. This is probably precisely the reason why your Resolution Specialist has only one resolution; a last-ditch effort to squeeze every last penny out of their customers and to try and force them to stay if they do not want to pay the cancellation fee.

She even had the nerve to tell me that it would be cheaper for AT&T; to lose me as a customer, than to keep me on my current rate plan, because they were using everyone else's towers to provide my roaming service. I was outraged! Unfortunately, nothing was ever able to be resolved, and I paid AT&T; in great disgust and cancelled my service with them. I will never use anything even remotely related to AT&T; EVER AGAIN. I now have Cingular, and the service couldn't be better.

Until our account is terminated, we cannot get our refund and be finished with this, and we receive paltry late fees that the computer sends out monthly. He told me he had no idea when the computer would terminate our account, and if it waited long enough that the late fees caused our balance due to exceed out deposit, our account would then be sent to collections. It is infuriating, and I absolutely refuse to send them $350 for them to have and earn interest on for two months, and it's also difficult for me to believe that they have no way of terminating our account, and sending us our remaining balance.

When I got the phone and called to get set up, I was told "Go Phones are not available in your area." I asked them why the website did not pick up on my zip or state, then not allow me to order? That would only seem logical. I finally switched my phone to a regular plan, and 3 months later I still don't have my refund. I called, and a lady said nastily, "It will be 3 to 4 billing periods before you see it." Oh, so I'm out the cash in my checking account. All in all, I've been really happy with the coverage I get here in Alaska. It never goes down or says it can't find a signal.

Considering that she did not even have the courtesy to inform AT&T that she had changed her mind we have a hard time seeing how a one-month minimum charge is out of line.

I was aware that my selection in picking out a new phone with my traditional "digital" service was very limited. The store only offered 4 phones that were compatable with digital service, none of which were to my liking. The store offered a wide variety of much better, more equipped phones that were only available by signing up for a new contract with their new GSM service, which even the salesman I dealt with admitted was still under development, resulting in less coverage. Now here's the catch. I have the option of either buying a better phone with inferior service (in comparison to my old service), or I can purchase an inferior phone (in comparison to the phones that were available on this new service) that has the same excellent service and coverage that I had prior to my phone being "old" and no good.

Reluctantly, I agreed to sign up for the new GSM service to get the phone I wanted (the Motorola T720), after being assured by the salesman that if I was not satisfied in any way, I had a 30-day period to return the phone, hassle-free and go back on my old plan. The salesman said that in a year or two, their GSM service would be just as good or better then their digital coverage plan. What does that do for me? I don't care about 2 years from now, I care about now. If I had a free choice to get the product and service I wanted, this wouldn't matter, but I didn't. I had to sign up for a service I didn't want to sign up for in order to get the phone I wanted without changing carriers.

And let me talk about this new GSM service for a minute. It's HORRIBLE! I probably got half a dozen to a dozen dropped calls in the 18 months I had my last phone. In the 12 days I've had this new phone I've had more then that. I cant get a signal in my home half the time, and when I'm at work most of the time. Why would AT&T; Wireless offer a service to its customers that is so inadequate compared to its other services, and even more important then its competitors' services. Needless to say I'm bringing this phone back to the exact place I bought it and severing my ties with AT&T; completely, this includes my long-distance home plan. AT&T; has lost a loyal customer and until now avid permoter of their products and services. I don't believe Sprint will have the same crooked business dealings.

I feel this is not fair, I have been timely with my payments and held up my end of the contract and feel they should hold up their end and provide a continuance of the same service I had at the initiation of the contract.

I contacted other (competition) cell-phone sales/service providers and they said if I had purchased and signed with one of them and that my cell-phone is still under the OEM warranty to bring it into one of their stores and it would be exchanged with a new unit from stock. I have learned after numerous calls that AT&T; wireless does not share that same customer service philosophy as their competition. In conclusion I will be without the usage of my cell-phone for the duration of the repair and yet still mandated under the wireless service contract to pay the monthly minimum service charge without the benefit of a cell-phone.

I avoided getting a cell phone until I found the offers irresistible. But after having friends receiving $1,200 bills I made sure I understood the fine print. The best plans are for local service only. This means if you use them out of the area (or purchase a plan in an area with poor coverage) you will incur roaming charges at around 70 cents per minute! (Ouch!)

I wouldn't even consider using my phone outside my plan's calling area and can use a phone card if I travel.

I also bought my phone at a national chain that I knew I would honor an exchange or upgrade without the hassle one might find from an independent agent.

Armed with all offers available from the different companies, the knowledge of coverage in my area by each company, the technology and price of the phones offered -- I was able to get Cingular to give me their best plan (1000 anytime rollover minutes; no roaming in plan area; long distance included; detailed billing; and all bells & whistles like voicemail, ID, etc. -- all for $40/month!)

Cingular matched a competitor's offer of waived activation fee of $36 for new service. At Best Buy (yes I know), I was able to get an amazing phone with the latest technology (and special edition face plates) for free (after rebate)!

I had a few things to tweak with Customer Service in the first month, but I have been genuinely happy with Cingular.

The other thing I'm aware of is that many of the companies have "districts" for customer service. I talked to other wireless customers (in my area only) to ask them about coverage, billing problems and general advice -- which helped me a lot in making a decision. Some companies are stronger in certain markets over others.

I know that if I live in an area that has no/poor coverage or is oversubscribed, I would either wait until circumstances improve -- or at the very least find a plan that has no "roaming" or a 30-day trial period without any penalties or fees. You will also pay more for less "anytime" minutes in these areas because of the no roaming fees.

I have repeatedly called this company and I have written two letters to the president of the company. I have also filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General. This was referred to the Bureau of Consumer Protection in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Over the months, a customer rep has called and told me that there will be a check at the end of the month.

I just received a letter from Young America stating that I was not a customer. I called and they said to ignore the letter and that I would receive a check in 20 days. Why do they keep promising the check and promote customer dissatisfaction? I have been waiting four months for this rebate?

Tamra had better read that contract carefully.

I have to leave home daily and find a spot to get messages. I can't change service because of the publishing of the numbers, on the resumes, since a new service will have a different number. I have two very expensive paperweights.

I immediately called the company and was told that yes I owed this amount because when I changed plans my free nights and weekends were no longer included. Well, I tried to talk to a manager but was put on hold for 20 minutes or more at a time. Each time I would talk to someone their story would change. I would ask to speak to the person I had already spoken to and would be told that person had gone home even though I had spoken with them 20 minutes earlier! It was very frustrating and I finally told them to shut the damn phone off and I would not pay anything! I lost my temper because I could not speak to anyone with any authority nor could I get a straight answer from anyone! Very frustrating!

Colleen is making a big mistake. She should pay the bill, then sue the company in Small Claims Court to recover her payments and costs. Her present course leads only to more trouble.

So when I cancelled they told me that because I had changed my number that it renewed my contract for two more years. I would have never signed a two year contract. When I did sign the contract it was with Pac Bell not Cingular. I feel I was seriously mislead. After I received this bill I have sent them four letters requesting that they send me a copy of the two year contract that I signed and that I would pay the bill even though I disputed it. To this day they have never acknowledge my request, and I refuse to pay the bill.

When I requested proof of a new contract or upgraded phone they would say things like "it's your responsibility to keep any contract you sign. We don't keep contracts." Eventually they shifted their position away from the upgraded phone story to one where I spontaneously called up and asked over the phone for a new two-year contract. The most frustrating aspect is the Cingular black-hole - any letter that I would write would not be responded to. When I would call they would act like I had never called before, and would end the call with something like "I'm going to send this to our resolution department. They'll contact you within two weeks."

Obviously, I would never hear from them again, and the whole Kafkaesque routine would start again the next time I would call. I eventually just let them send it to the collection department. I had a similar thing happen with Household Credit a few years ago and it took me eight months to get it resolved. It was not worth it. I spent a huge number of hours getting them to correct their mistake. I just don't have the time anymore.Extreme stress and frustration. I'm a student and I could pay the $150, but I can't just throw money around for no reason. I also feel they win if our system allows them to skim money from people by blackmailing people using a threat of a negative credit rating.

We managed to discover the problem and take the steps necessary to get our boy home. The consequences on the measly $103 in arrears to Cingular are difficult to measure, and the $55 per month additional expense of having my cell phone active again is not going to break my back. But my plan was to minimize unnecessary spending until all our other bills were caught up to date, rather than risk losing the house, getting cars repossessed, having utilities shut off, driving without insurance, or telling the kids to gorge themselves at school because we couldn't afford to feed them at home. Cingular's policies put my family at risk. I take some satisfaction in that Cingular has had to reduce its own workforce by 60% in the past year and a half, and hope that they have to reduce it by another 60% in the coming year and a half, starting with the executive offices. I will do my part by switching to another cellular carrier at my earliest convenience.

Hours on the phone was the most upsetting. I now know what they mean about going "postal" I threw my phone across my yard after being on hold for one hour and finally getting someone, telling them my problem and then I lost the signal. The feeling that I had no control over the situation that I was just waiting for them to tell me how much I owed them. I was able to get out of my contract without paying a penalty.

This practice causes my airtime for the next period to exceed my limit of 550 minutes, resulting in additional fees and taxes over and above the pre-paid charge. This practice also leaves the consumer completely in the dark regarding how many minutes to expect on their monthly bill ... my cellular telephone only tracks calls in real-time, when they are actually made, not when they might show up on my Cingular bill.

It seems to me that Cingular should be going back and retroactively applying roamer minutes to any unused time from the month in which the calls were ACTUALLY PLACED, rather than billing them against a period in which they did not occur, and do not pertain to. I have complained about this practice to Cingular's customer service department with no satisfaction (I was treated rudely and laughed at by their representative, Ms. Kara Hannah, for making the suggestion).

It has been pointed out to me that this was disclosed in the agreement that I signed when I entered into the contract with Cingular, and as such, it is legal for them to perpetrate this billing practice on their customers. However, in my opinion, even though it may be legal, that doesn't make it ethical or right. Is there any logical reason why a reasonable consumer should have to accept this type of billing practice?

My cell phone bills for the last two months, and on one other, prior occasion, have been between $100-140, when they should have been about $75.

Two months later after trying to switch the plans the way we'd been told we could do, we were advised against this action because of the fees that would accrue for roaming charges if the cycle had not been completed. I tried to inquire regarding the matter to see if another plan may fit our needs but to no avail. I explained that we wished to cancel the service as the terms of the contract had been totally misrepresented and falsified. Cingular Wireless agreed to cancel the contract but insists on us paying the $150.00 fee, which we feel is completely unfair.

We refuse to pay the fee as the Sales Associate who sold us the contract was new on the job (only a few days with the company) which I was told by the Manager early on after an earlier discrepancy with the phone. We have had the service for two months and have had nothing but problems from PacBell.

AT&T added a page of long distance charges to my fathers Sprint bill totaling $170.27. My father mailed the bill to me because he got so upset he thought he would have a stroke over it. I told him Id call and take care of it. After three weeks, seven Customer Service Reps, two Supervisors, seven solid hours, and a dozen excuses, I'm no closer to resolving this.

I will try to give you a concise version of events: 3/13/01 7:30pm Called AT&T at 1800-222-0300. Spoke to Tony. Told him these calls were not my fathers and he transferred me to Ms Brown. Ms Brown told me I had to order a wire check with Sprint or call 1800-222-3000 to order a wire check from AT&T. She wasn't sure though, if the customer would have to pay for that.

I called Sprint and spoke to Jennifer in the Repair Dept. She told me that Ms Brown was incorrect. I should call during business hours and get Customer Service to order a CMI to investigate the charges.

• 3/14/01 3:35pm Called Sprint at 1800-339-1811 and told them the story (for the fourth time). They transferred me to an AT&T dept. Back to them, I was told that both the wire check and CMI excuses were not correct. They said I should call AT&T Customer Service again.
• 3:50pm Spoke to Monique at AT&T Customer Service. She told me shed have to call me back because their computers are being updated. She promised it would only be 45 minutes.
• 5:00pm Called and demanded to speak to a Supervisor. Was given to Craig Gentry. He surmised that the problem could be with the recent change in area codes. He suggested I call Bell South in Florida at 1-904-780-2355.

I explained that Ive wasted enough time trying to get AT&T to fix their own error. I shouldn't have to make all these calls to different companies and investigate where AT&T made the mistake. He agreed and had a conference call with BellSouth in Florida. Well, BellSouth wouldn't even talk to me because they told Craig that it is an AT&T snafu. AT&T tried numerous times to push their mistake onto every other phone company. I refused to let Craig off the line now. He transferred me to Kevin Morgan, supposedly a Supervisor in Hollywood CA. We went over everything for an hour and a half. He thought that when the area codes were changed in Florida, my fathers was the same number as a Sprint Wireless phone. My father was being charged for those cell phone charges belonging to a different customer.

He said Id have to now call Sprint Wireless.

• 3/15/01 3:50pm Called 1800-339-1811 and spoke to Patricia. She transferred me to the Business Office. I spoke to Coritha there. She suggested changing my fathers phone number altogether since AT&T cant seem to fix this. My father would have to call though, to authorize this. In the meantime, shell get AT&T to take off the charges.
• 4:30pm Kevin at AT&T said the charges of $170.27 will be removed. He gave me Confirmation #NC******. It will be about a week before Sprint gets the order and takes off charges. Also, he will note the problem on the computer so that my father will no longer get these erroneous charges. I thanked him profusely and thought all was well.
• 3/18/01 AT&T sends my father a letter (dated Sunday, the 18th) stating that they have reviewed the charges and they are correct as is! The name on this letter is incorrect and the phone number they are referencing is also incorrect:
• 3/29/01 My father receives a letter from Sprint stating that they will be turning off his phone service if they do not receive the past due balance by 4/8/01. In a panic, he calls me.
• 7:30pm Chris with Customer Service says I should call 1800-222-0300. Ive explained that MAYBE AT&T has the information mixed up. MAYBE these charges belong to the area code they have on my fathers letter? I did AT&Ts; job so that this might finally be resolved. I, myself, called that phone number on their letter and, SURE ENOUGH, the gentleman there said he uses his phone for business calls.
• 7:40pm Spoke to Pauline Chadwick at AT&Ts; Long Distance Billing for Business Dept. She gave me Confirmation #NB*****. She said there's no promise that they will take off charges though. She said shed call me back in a few days, after she gets an answer from someone else.

I asked her for her direct line or extension since Ive gone through this over a dozen times now. Not to hold her accountable (God forbid!), but just to allow me to reach someone who knows the story so I don't have to repeat whole complicated mess again. She told me, No, you cant get me again. Just dial the 800 number. I then asked for a supervisor and she refused, saying, No, there's no one else you can talk to here.

As of this date, I don't know what to do or who to turn to. I feel that AT&T has no interest in taking care of this. If I cant investigate and tell them whom to charge, they will not bother. I tried everything. I cant spend any more time or aggravation on this. Also, I made the long distance call to the number on my fathers letter. Ill have to pay for that; I don't understand why AT&T didn't call it and find out for themselves. They do not cooperate at all though. I feel this is a form of extortion. They can tack any amount or any calls on someones bill, then refuse to look into it and correct their own error. What is a consumer to do now? I feel they expect me to pay the $170.27 just to be sure my fathers phone isnt shut off. After all, he IS elderly and in poor health. I find it hard to believe that they can do this to people.

However, each and every month since purchasing this phone we have either had to call the Cingular office or go to the retail store to straighten out billing problems. We have been and continue to be billed roaming and toll charges even though we were ASSURED usage in the areas described WOULD NOT result in these charges. Granted, each month the charges have been removed and the customer service rep has promised the problem has been fixed (after I spent hours on the phone), but we continue to have problems.

When I have to spend TWO HOURS on the phone trying to fix a problem that has been ongoing since July 2000, something is seriously wrong. I called the customer service office at 4 pm CST on Jan. 25, 2001, and spoke with Frank. After he checked things over and over again for over 45 minutes, I grew tired of waiting and finally asked to speak with a supervisor. Frank flatly refused to allow me speak with a supervisor! I was forced to hang up and call back immediately. I then finally spoke with a supervisor named Gary who saw the problem and promised to fix it and call me back with the correct billing amount. I waited over an hour to hear from him (after he promised to call back in 5 or 10 minutes) and finally had to leave for a meeting that I was already late for. He finally called an hour and a half later and left a message on my answering machine that he would call the next day (1/26) but he never called back.

To say that I find this type of treatment unacceptable would be an understatement! The time and effort I have been forced to put into trying to correct something I'm not even at fault for is ridiculous! I have contacted Cingular through their website (email) at least six times and called their office several times, only to be put on hold. Nothing I have done has helped! They WILL NOT contact me regarding this billing dispute!

Another AT&T; rep. kept forwarding me back to the menu system that connected me to her, where I would have to enter my phone number, and personal information all over again, go through numerous prompts, and menus, only to be reconected back to the same person, repeatedly! I never did get my problem solved, and my phone is still totally useless when roaming. I have spent a total of 6 hours playing phone-tag with AT&T; trying to get it fixed, but to no avail. I have found AT&T;'s customer support to positively horrible, and their product is totally sub-standard!

I went to the mall and talked to other AT&T people and was told I couldn't call the places they said for free. Only one small area. Also to cancel the contract would cost $200 per phone after 30 days instead of $10 per phone per month of the 12 month contract. I was suppose to have 500 more minutes and a big calling area.

I would not have ordered these phones if I had been given the correct information. Now I just want my money back but instead of just taking the phones back to where they came from, I must wait for a certain mailing label from the company and they estimate the time for my refund of $207 at about 30 days. I was misled and even though they had me pay for Fed Ex, they are only paying for regular mail and holding my money up. I wanted to go in person to make sure they don't say there was damage etc. I end up paying about $30 for four days of cell phone use.

I called AT&T to complain and expected to have them gladly remove the excess charges. After a personality conflict with one supervisor "Monica", no one else was permitted to override her decision to help me. I e-mailed the company only to receive another "I'm sorry" response. I am willing to fight the big boys if that's what it takes to prevent excessive consumer charges and the lack of record keeping these companies have in these situations.

Billing 2/28 to 3/28--my bill was credited for a "MISDIRECTED CALL" for $104.13, they were still asking me to pay $93.03.

This is a scam. I will not pay. Another letter went out to AT&T. They were also advised I would be contacting Consumer Affairs. There should be some type of law to protect the innocent consumer.

Unfortunately, AT&T has been refusing to back off these charges to Chad, which are the result of a scam supposedly aimed at adult site visitors.

AT&T then said they were regular 900 calls, but they would cut the price in half. We refuse to pay anything, we did not do this. Every time we called back AT&T they changed the story. First they say they are internet related calls, then when we tell them we can prove they weren't they change the story. Finally they said it was going to investigations.

I called back myself and talked to a woman named Ida in the Massachusetts office. She said we were cleared of the charges and a credit would be made to our account, it would take up to two billing cycles to hit our account. She even gave me a confirmation number. I asked her if a lot of people were having trouble with these calls to Chad Africa, and she told me no because AT&T had an account with this company, and other companies like psychic hotlines.

Just two days ago we get a phone call from Vincent in investigations with AT&T saying they are reinstating the charges. When my husband told him we already had a confirmation number clearing us of the charges, he said that was only a credit while under investigation. Now he says that we do owe the money. He told my husband I misunderstood Ida, and that there was no way that she told me that AT&T even has accounts with companies like these (adult porn).

This is a pure lie to cover-up their poor service. This was ongoing from October 1999 when I got the service until now. I called, wrote a letter, sent various emails and the response I got was incredibly blunt. I was told "the service is not guaranteed to be reliable" and one person even referred me to the terms and conditions of the agreement stating that they were not liable.","This is my only phone.

I am currently seeking a post-MBA job and have been unemployed since September 1999. In spite of the fact that my family and friends have a difficult if not impossible ability to reach me on my cell phone using a few tricks I told them (hitting redial multiple times), I do not know what prospective employers did.

Upon conversations with a couple of Customer Service Reps., and a message from a Manager, they have no record in their file of my request for the One Rate Plan and will not adjust my account. The last Customer Service Rep. I spoke with, Terry, said she feels that my complaint is extremely legitimate and she agreed with me when I told her I was not planning to pay my bill until I receive an adjustment. She was going to specifically speak to her Manager about my situation and have her Manager call me back. Her Manager left a message that she would try back, but left me no way to contact her directly.

Last night and again this morning I tried to get some sort of acceptable response through their online customer service, but received the same results. A customer service rep. wrote back that they reviewed the notes in my file and cannot make an adjustment. I specifically requested direct contact information for someone above the Manager level with whom I could discuss my situation. I am awaiting a response.

I called my local phone company, Bell Atlantic, and they said they would remove it from my bill and return it to AT&T. So, now my fight is with AT&T. I have used this same calling card for about 15 years and never have I incurred these outrageous charges. I was NEVER notified by either my local phone company or AT&T that if I did not have AT&T as my home long distance carrier would I be subject to these outrageous charges. Can they do this?

They should be required to notify the consumer of these rip-off rates. I use Excel Communications as my long distance carrier and have been very happy with them. After talking with them I found that if I had their calling card the charges for those same calls would have amounted to $38.00. Is there anything that can be done with AT&T where they never notified me of these automatic charges and outrageous rates?

I called to have the situation resolved and was told that Fredericksburg was not covered, and I would have to FAX documentation to them showing them why I thought Fredericksburg should be. (It didn't matter that I have had service for 8 mos or so at that time and my previous bills had calls in that area that were not billed at roaming rates, or the fact that it was on their web site.)

I talked to 3 alleged supervisors that would resolve the situation, but in fact did nothing. I placed appx 50 calls to customer service trying to resolve the problem. Finally I was able to get AT&T to credit the account for the overcharges, at which time I was told that I would probably get billed incorectly again because Cincinatti Bell did the billing for them. I don't know if the threat of class action lawsuit meant anything, but at least this month I was not billed for roaming in my Home Rate area.

Unfortunately the poor service did not end there. Starting July 3rd, AT&T voice mail system has been unreliable. I called to complain and was read a prepared statement that "We are working on it" It is now July 27 and they are "still working on it". All I want to do at this point is cancel this service and be done with it. At this point I have spent over 2 hrs trying to accomplish this task. It appears that once they have you, they make it IMPOSSIBLE to get rid of them,

I have spent at least 20 hrs on the phone trying to resolve these matters. I have been stressed out from dealing with the representatives of AT&T that are totally clueless of the services that they offer. I work for a large Net company and I am on 24 hr call by phone, the phone service has proven to be unreliable (Often the phone would not even ring and with the voice mail problems I would not know that I had been called) all of this causing co-workers to be agitated when they finally reached me through other means.

Every time the voice mail indicator goes off erroneously I worry that I missed a call and that it was escalated beyond me. I was told today by a representative that regardless of all of the features that they offer, that I should not be basing business on this phone.

We suggested to Mike that if he really wanted action, he should sue AT&T in Small Claims Court. His response was:

What it really sounds like is AT&T has you in their back pocket. Obviously you condone overcharging, and incredibly poor customer service. Thanks for the lip service.

I very seldom use this card. The last time I recall using it, I was in England and needed to call my daughter's doctor as she has a very serious medical condition which requires constant medical supervision. The card was abruptly canceled after my second call to the US. I was unable to keep in contact with my daughter's doctor because of this.

Upon our return, I called AT&T. Their reason for canceling was "unusual use." I was furious that AT&T indiscriminately discontinued the use of my card and potentially put my daughter at risk because of it!

I also had another phone card from my local carrier, Bell Atlantic, which I now use and a card from my employer that I do use somewhat frequently. During my most recent medical emergency this past May, I used my Bell Atlantic phone credit card. I knew there was a surcharge for using a phone credit card and the rates were a little higher, although I had no idea what the rates were. These rates are not published and not easily accessible to the average consumer.

I get a special rate from AT&T of ten cents per minute 24 hrs a day, 7 days per week. I assumed the card rate would be somewhere in that vicinity. Boy, was I wrong. My phone bill amounted to $444.00 for that one month.

I was completely dumbfounded and overwhelmed at this charge and immediately called AT&T because I thought it was a mistake. I learned (after the fact), that because I used another phone company credit card I was charged at much higher rates. I argued that if I go into a Sears store and choose not to use their credit card, I would not be charged (penalized) a higher amount for my merchandise.

I also explained my horrible situation in England when AT&T indiscriminately canceled my card for 'unusual use' and that is why I am very reluctant to use the AT&T card. I protested that rates for credit cards are not advertised and if I had known about the excessively high rate, I would have found another method (perhaps purchasing an AT&T phone card).

The AT&T representative did offer to credit my bill $100.00, but that would need special approval(I'm not sure if I have that credit yet). I still think the bill is way too high and I asked to speak with a supervisor. The AT&T representative refused to let me speak with a supervisor, stating that is all that could be done.

I beg of you to intervene on my behalf. My daughter's hospital stay/surguries are over $100,000 and she has another surgery scheduled in July. Because this was of an emergency type medical issue and was done at an "out-of-network provider", the insurance company is not wanting to pay for it. Her medical supplies cost me over $100.00 a week and nursing visits at $90.00 per visit are 2X week.

My salery is only $34,000.00 gross per year. Because my daughter is 18 (she still lives at home), her father is no longer financially or legally responsible to help with her care. I am financially devastated, plus she wants to go to college in the Fall. I really need help in reducing this phone bill.

I am angry the pnone companies to not adequately inform customers about a) high rates using a phone creidt card; b) can indiscriminately cancel your card at their discretion for virtually no reason and w/out checking with the customer. My vacation was ruined because I could not stay in touch with my daughter's doctor. I was humiliated in front of my family and friends because I was told my AT&T card was no longer active.