AT&T - Give Them the Worst Customer Service Award

It seems appropriate, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, to talk about turkey. However, this turkey is not the kind you would want to eat. Yet, it is being shoved down the throats of customers by AT&T, each and every day.

Let us look at a fairly typical scenario of an AT&T bundle such as high speed Internet, local phone service, long distance service and a satellite TV connection. Service issues in this scenario are: Internet keeps dropping out, phone line is full of static, numerous visits from repair for both yield no change and charges are consistently in excess of the promised pricing. After two years of this B-O-L-O-G-N-A, the customer has had enough.

The customer attempts to call AT&T customer service to get the issues fixed. Long hold time, before the first customer service representative is reached. Even though the account phone number was entered into the automated system, as it requested, the representative asks again (shouldn't they already know that information from the system?). "How can I help you today, Mrs. Anybody?" Customer conveys unhappy situation and wants to know why things can't get fixed after two years. "Will you hold a moment while I test your line?" This is test number 38, but go ahead and find nothing, as usual. The representative returns with the answer the customer already knows. "The line seems to be fine." Oh, surprise, the customer told the representative that this was the 38^th time for this waste of time. "I will report your problem and a technician will be out to your location within X hours. However, you will have to call 770-555-5555 for your Internet problems." Customer has been down this road before, sitting around and waiting for a tech to show-sometime between 8:30 and 12:30. Lost work time that AT&T doesn't care if you lose and will in no way compensate the customer for or give them a discount because of the fifteenth service call for the same problem. Oh, and by the way, Internet repair service and phone repair service are two totally different things and requires not only two different reporting calls, but two totally different technicians and, of course, they won't come at the same time. The customer must set a separate appointment.

Customer goes a couple more months with the same problems and finally reaches the boil. Sends email to customer service complaining that no one is fixing the problem and that the problems are costing the customer money. Customer receives this reply: "We have reported your problem and a tech will contact you within X hours to resolve your issue." What part of the problem is not getting fixed did this representative not understand? Customer is ticked and calls customer service, yet again. Customer wants to reduce their plan to the absolute basics, because they are not getting the service they are paying to receive. Long hold time, first representative answers and says they have to transfer customer to sales, sales is completely baffled at the transfer and sends customer back to customer service queue, where they wait-again. A new representative comes on the line, customer reiterates litany of crappy customer service, representative says "there is nothing in your file about this." Holy, Carp (not misspelled, I smell something fishy). The customer service representatives are too lazy to even enter the customer call information? Customer wants to know how much the lowest priced phone service will be, "$17.95." Customer says, give me that. Representative conveniently drops the call. Now very angry customer calls back, long hold time to fan the growing fire. After being transferred two more times, the customer requests to speak to a supervisor-none are available, but representative will try to help. Customer goes through the story again, including the most recent experiences. Representative apologizes and actually does something. Customer is told they will receive a credit and phone service will be adjusted to the $17.95, but it won't happen until the next billing cycle. Finally! Oh, but wait, the next billing cycle comes around and guess what? Nothing has change. In fact, the phone is now more expensive, because the representative put them in a new plan. Good grief!

What in the world is AT&T thinking? Do they truly believe that they are still the only game in town and they can swagger about and wave their hands like they just don't care? Is their training program for customer service representatives failing or non-existent? Is their management working with their head in the ground? Or is this an actual strategy? Only those inside the AT&T inner sanctum know for sure. But, hey, the big boys and girls at AT&T have their golden parachutes-maybe they are looking to bailout!

AT&T has a history of making their rates look good-on the surface-and then tacking on for this and that, until the good rate is no longer good. An interesting example of a spurious charge is the charge for being unlisted. It is just short of $5.00 per month. So, you must pay about $60.00 a year for them NOT to publish your phone number. Ugh, $60.00 a year for them to do nothing. We should all have such a scam. Shouldn't we be automatically entitled to our privacy? Something is very wrong with this picture.

In this author's area, AT&T has sent around sales representatives who are "...there to help you save money on your phone bill." Don't fall for it. They put you into plans that make them a commission, not necessarily save you money. The latest of these "helpful" solicitations to existing customers is the Advanced TV (Dish Network) Bundle. "AT&T has partnered with Dish Network to bring you (fill in the blank)." Rumors have been circulating that AT&T is preparing to buy or has already made an agreement to buy Dish Network, but research on this was inconclusive. If they do purchase or have purchased, you can be sure that AT&T's policies and behaviors will inevitably re-culture any company it acquires and truly stinky customer service is part of the AT&T culture.

AT&T stovepipes its services, does not appear to cross train representatives and it seems one service area is totally unaware of what the other service area is offering or saying to customers. AT&T has a local policy of "not going the last mile." While AT&T is working to replace main feed lines in some areas, that have long needed upgrading, they have chosen not to replace lines from main junctions out into communities. What does that mean to the customers with static on the line? It means continued static on the line. The lines are old and ravaged by time and weather and will be left to languish, along with the customers, until they are completely unusable or the customer terminates service.

If you do decide to take services from AT&T, get the offer in writing, because what a representative says is deniable and what you say to them is rarely transcribed into your file. Be sure the correspondence is specific about price and doesn't have any caveats or exceptions. We no longer live in an era where you can take someone at his or her word. Use email, as your form of correspondence with AT&T, about anything, so that you have a date, a name and proof of what was promised or said. In the end, if all else fails, contact a local consumer rights or advocacy group. If the problem is big enough, it may be newsworthy, so check to see if your local radio or television station has a consumer watchdog or some other consumer assistance group. A local Atlanta resident contacted a local news station about an outrageous bill, caused by a representative failing to fully disclose information, and AT&T's failure to negotiate with the customer. The news station's consumer representative contacted AT&T and the bill was reduced. It seems a shame that this AT&T customer was forced to go to such lengths to get help, when this proves that AT&T had the power to resolve the issue directly with the customer all along. If none of the above works, contact the FCC, if you have documentation and can show that AT&T made false promises. File a claim in small claims court, as well. You need all the clout you can get when dealing with an 800-pound gorilla with Alzheimers, a belly full of un or under-trained personnel, no conscience and a bad attitude.

AT&T's customer service has been lacking for a long time, if you go out and research complaints on the Internet, you will find they go back many years. This author's search found one from 1998. Has their customer service always been as bad as it is today? Is it because of the Internet that customers find they are not alone in their feelings of frustration? Have the recent surge of "other" phone companies made the problem more transparent-consumers less tolerant?

If you have any doubts about AT&T's customer service problems, check out the complaints at the Complaints Board. This author's search there turned up 1,202 complaints, 121 pages of people booing AT&T. But one can safely assume that these 1,202 are but the tip of the iceberg. Why? Because the business rule of thumb is that for every one complaint, there are at least 10 people who were also dissatisfied, but did not report it. Do the math!

Poor customer service tolls the beginning of the end for any company who fails to do nothing to improve it. Will AT&T have its hand out for their part of the $700 billion bailout pie so that it can continue to conduct itself like the bad mannered 800-pound gorilla? Should we, the long-suffering customer and taxpayer give them money to continue to be rude, deceptive and downright careless with our business, our money and our credit? Rewards for bad business? Sounds like a government program waiting to be.

Be sure to check out the article link at money central. It contains other AT&T horror stories and suggests you may want to make a change-soon.

Note: AT&T has been in partnerships of varying degrees with both Direct TV and Dish Network for some time, depending on the area. If you are to believe the AT&T representatives that you speak with in person, AT&T has already purchased Dish Network. But, given how little accurate information AT&T disseminates to its employees, it is a speculation. Yet, from the way business is being conducted, it may be a practicality. In June of '08 an SEC filing by Dish Network divulged that one of AT&T's subsidiaries pushed back a $500 million convertible note to Dish Network at a time when speculation abounded that AT&T was going to buy Dish Network (Savitz, Eric, Barrons, June 18, 2008). This coupled with the scheduled end of Dish Network's current agreement with AT&T has had an affect on Dish Network stock, as has the economy. Don't businesses try to drive down stock prices before they make a take over bid? From the outside, this looks like AT&T using leverage against Dish Network to get what it wants-ownership or compliance. Thinking about signing on to Dish Network? You may be signing on with AT&T.