I am infuriated with the AT&T customer service that was rendered to me. The support from the Business Care Center, Customer Care Center, Santa Ana (CA) Corporate store, and the Premier Web Order Center is horrific. I have never witness this type of support provided by any other wireless company throughout my 20 years of using a mobile phone. No AT&T representative knows what they are doing and have not provided constructive resolutions to the numerous problems that I was receiving.

On 12-17-08, I signed on to AT&T wireless service as a new customer. I ordered my services (x2) and phones (iPhone 16GB x2) through the Premier Online website since I am an HP employee. Before I conducted my web order, I specifically asked an AT&T Business Care representative if my corporate discount would apply to my plan when I order online. That person said yes. I also verified by checking on the Discount Registration from the website. It specifically says-
New Customer:
By ordering new service through the AT&T Premier website, you will automatically be enrolled in your organization’s sponsorship program. No further action is required to activate any Service Discount for which you may be eligible. To view the discounts available to you, visit the Current Offers Page.

On 12-17-08, I placed an order for two iPhone 16GB Black and two identical service plans with a next day FEDEX Air delivery. I received my web order to my email account that detailed my order as well as my discounts.

On 12-18-8 I received my order. The following week I received two billing summaries in the mail for my two service plans.
Each billing summary had incorrect line item charges. I was charged Activation Fees for each plan. I was charged for Ongoing Monthly Bill (which I later found out from an AT&T representative that it’s a month advance charge). I also found out that my corporate discounts were not applied.

On 12-24-8, I contacted AT&T Customer Care to inform of the billing errors. The representative created a case regarding my issues and that I will contacted in a week. No one contacted me back.

On 1-5-9, I registered my phone # (714-xxx-5478) online to review my billing summary to see if the corrections have been made. To my astonishment nothing was resolved and furthermore there were additional charges. As I recall the online billing summary was over $300. The billing summaries that were mailed to me were $126.40 for 714-xxx-5478 and $126.40 for 714-xxx-2548.

On 1-5-9, I contacted AT&T Customer Care and informed them of the errors. I got transferred to AT&T Business Care since my account was a business account. I was informed by the Business Care representative that my corporate discounts were not applied because my FAN # was not added.
I was informed that I needed to add the FAN # through the AT&T store or else through this website: http://www.wireless.att.com/business/enrollment. I indicated to the representative that the process is incorrect since I ordered my services through the Premier Online website and my discounts should have been applied automatically. The representative argued with me and provided no assistance. I then spoke to the supervisor in charge and the supervisor indicated that she could not do anything about the corporate discounts not being applied and that I would have to enroll through the AT&T store or else the enrollment site.

On 1-5-9, I enrolled through the website for both service plans (714-xxx-5478 and 714-xxx-2584) as that was my only option. (see submitted document for review)
Later that day I checked my online billing and found that the FAN # applied but the discounts were not applied correctly and furthermore the billing summary combined both service plans into one account. I was still being charged at regular price for the 1st month and the ongoing month of service. I got credited for an amount that I have no clue where it was derived from since it was less than the total discounts that I should be receiving according to my original web order.

On 1-5-9, I called AT&T Business Care again to get this corrected. The representative could not adjust my billing discounts and said that it needed to be done by AT&T Customer Care. I got transferred and this new representative split the billing account into two accounts as a solution to get two billing summaries as it was suppose to be according to what I received in the mail. The representative informed me to wait a few days to verify that the billing summary was corrected and that the FAN discounts were corrected.

On 1-12-9, I viewed my online billing summary for both accounts to see if the corrections were made. None of the corrections applied. The discounts were not applied correctly again and a credit amount that did not add up. I also found that my second account that was split did not have the FAN# added to it like it was suppose to be on 1-5-9 when it was split by the AT&T representative.

On 1-12-9, I called AT&T Business Care about the situation and informed them of the numerous errors and problems that I was getting with my billing. I was informed by the representative that I needed to talk to AT&T Customer Care since it was related to billing. I was transferred to AT&T Customer Care and that representative told me to talk to AT&T Business Care since my account was a business account. I got transferred back to AT&T Business Care. I was informed by the new representative that I would have to wait for the next billing cycle to get my discounts applied correctly and the billing corrected and that I would need to go to the AT&T store to get my FAN# applied to the second account since there was an error during the split.
At this point I am not a very happy customer. I was transferred back and forth between two different support groups trying to get something that could easily be resolved. This is not the type of business that I want to be dealing with and am sure that I want my company associates to be dealing with as well.

On 1-12-9, I canceled service plans and requested an RMA process. The representative at the AT&T Premier Web Order emailed me two RMA shipping labels. That representative also informed me that I could return the phone equipments at any AT&T store.
I wanted to expedite the process and opted to conduct my returns at the Santa Ana, CA AT&T store. However, the AT&T store did not warrant an equipment return because I did not have the original invoice and that the web order that I received by email was not enough.
While I was in the store, I contacted AT&T Business Care and informed them of the AT&T store reluctance to warrant my return. The AT&T Business Care representative verified my equipments IMEI #s as well as my purchase order date and amount. The AT&T store representative still denied the return indicating that I needed the invoice. The AT&T Business Care representative could not find the invoice that was placed for the web order on the computer system. After an hour of having to argue with the AT&T store representative with the in-store return policy and what was being told by the AT&T Business Care, I was left with having the only option of shipping the equipments back.

On 1-13-9, I shipped the equipments using the RMA shipping labels since the AT&T store did not warrant the return.
On 1-13-9, I contacted AT&T Customer Care to create a case on the reason why my invoice was never mailed to me with my order and why it was never part of the web order email.

On 1-13-9, I contacted AT&T Customer Care to transfer (714-xxx-2584) to another party that wants to keep that # since it was originally ported from a previous carrier and that the number is important. The representative informed me that the phone # needed to be reactivated before it can be released to another party. I was charged an activation fee to get that phone # reactivated since I canceled the service on 1-12-9.

On 1-13-9, the other party informed me that the AT&T store would not transfer the phone # over due to a policy issue. The phone # has not been activated on the AT&T system for 60 days and could not be transferred.

On 1-13-9, again, I contacted AT&T Customer Care to find reasons why the phone # could not be transferred. The representative said that the phone # could not be transferred due to the 60days restriction. I informed the representative of the information that was given to me previously and why I had to reactivate the phone #. The representative apologized for the wrong information rendered and credited the reactivation fee. The representative also indicated that I wouldn’t be charged for anything due to the continuing problems that I was getting from different support groups.

On 1-14-9, I received by email the invoice for the 12-17-8 order.

On 1-16-9, I called AT&T Customer Care to get a status on the credit amount for the phone equipments. I was transferred to Business Care because it was a business account. The representative at Business Care then transferred me to Order Status since it was a Premier Online order. The representative indicated that it takes 10 days from when phone is received in shipping for the credit to be applied.

On 1-21-9, I called AT&T Order Status to get an update on the credit amount. Again the representative indicated that it takes 10 days from when the equipments were received. I also inquired about the early termination fees that were appended to the accounts since the equipments were in RMA transit. The representative indicated that the termination fees were removed on 1-21-9 because the equipments were received.

On 1-30-9, I called AT&T Order Status to get an explanation why I was still not credited for the returned phones. The representative could not give an explanation but only offered to create a refund credit request to the Return support group. The representative indicated that it will take 24-48hrs for the Return support group to conduct the credit amount.

On 1-30-9, I called AT&T Customer Care to verify the status of the closed accounts and informed of a billing summary that I received by mail that had an outstanding balance. I indicated to the representative that the accounts were close and the previous representative on 1-13-9 informed me that I owed nothing.

The representative credited the account for (714-xxx-5478) to a zero balance. The representative could not correct the balance for the account for (714-xxx-2584). The balance that was on (714-xxx-2584) had all the original errors from the beginning with the activation fees and the additional charges. So from the time that I first called about the billing errors until now, nothing was corrected. The representative made an attempt to credit any unused amount and indicated that I have to pay for the portion that I used.

The representative indicated that I owe $111.40 for the half month of service that is being charged to me. From my calculations the amount should be $79.79 (excluding taxes). My calculation is derived from my web order that states monthly service charge for each plan is $79.79. Since I used half of each plan, my portion of usage is $39.90 +$39.90 excluding taxes. The representative could not justify her calculation and indicated that she could not help me any further and that I needed to be transferred to another department that could help me with the billing.

I am absolutely dissatisfied with the whole process that AT&T has put me through. It should not take all this effort and time for a customer to get a simple billing error corrected with a corporate discount adjusted accordingly. It doesn’t make any sense even to the very end after the closure of the accounts for the customer to call back to get the billing error corrected. Furthermore, bounce the customer between different support groups and the AT&T store to get such things resolved. Even the RMA process is horrible. AT&T policy on crediting a customer back for a returned item is appalling. There is no synergy among the support groups and definitely wrong information being given to a customer.

On 1-30-09, I called Customer Care again and requested the address to file my complaint letter. Both the representative and the supervisor could not provide me with an address. They both stated that all complaints are handled internally. I read this letter to the supervisor and noted each date for each call. The supervisor understood the reasons why I am no longer an AT&T customer and apologized for the ordeal that I was put through. He managed to fix the billing issue by zeroing out the residual balance. I requested that he creates a case on my refund for the phone equipments have not been posted. He stated that he had no control over the RMA and that I need to talk to the Premier Web Order.

On 2-3-09, I called Premier Web Order to get my status on the refund. The representative indicated that the refund has been denied. I had her escalate the call to the supervisor to find out why my refund was denied since there was no notation on the computer system was to why it was denied. The supervisor stated that the refund was not denied but it was being investigated. Somehow or another the supervisor changed the status from denied to investigate. He indicated that it will take another 24-48hrs for me to get a refund. I requested the complaint address from him, of which it took him 20minutes to fin the address. Here's the address:

AT&T Complaint
PO BOX 7555
Atwater, CA 95301

On 2-4-9, I called Premier Web Order to get my status on the refund. The representative indicated that I may get the refund in the afternoon. I checked with my credit card company and no refund was posted.

On 2-5-9, I called Premier Web Order to get my status on the refund. The representative doesn’t have an answer to why I have not received my refund. The representative stated that AT&T’s return policy for the iphone is lengthier and that I would need to wait 24hrs to 72hrs for the refund. I asked the representative to escalate my call to a supervisor. The representative put me on hold for 35minutes.

On 2-5-9, I called Premier Web Order back. The new representative attempted to explain the reason why I did not receive my refund by telling me that it’s being escalated. The representative stated that an email was being sent to the supervisor Ryan Ivory so that he can handle this issue personally. I asked to speak to Ryan and the representative stated that I could not. The representative stated that this escalation is different than the previous two escalations and I will need to wait 24hrs to 48hrs to see the refund.

At this time, I cannot find a good reason for me to recommend AT&T services to any of my colleagues, family, and friends. AT&T is reluctant to give me my refund and has dynamically changed return policies in order to not pay back the customer.

I want immediate action on this. I want the exact amount refunded to me according to the web order that was purchased for $691.45 I will post this on every blog websites so that the consumers will see how awful company AT&T is. I will also post this on every networked TV websites and newspaper websites. I feel that AT&T has created so much havoc to me within a month time frame trying to get all of these problems resolved. I feel that I am required to write such a lengthy letter with supporting documents to prove my case.