I was a customer of AT&T Wireless (variously post-paid and pre-paid) for 21 consecutive years, giving them in this time at least $15k in total fees. This despite the often poor service coverage, as they clumsily sought to integrate various networks they had bought up in the 2000s. And despite innumerable awful customer service experiences, where I might need to invest hours on the phone with them trying to fix a problem (where I could have to endure repeated call drops, waiting on hold endlessly, being put on hold by an agent and then abruptly finding myself speaking to a new agent that I would have to start over with, etc., etc., etc.), and where too often the "solution" (such as changing some aspect of my plan) would be done incorrectly, so I'd have to call back AGAIN to fix that new problem too.
I finally gave up and switched to T-Mobile in the fall of 2021. Switching was absolutely painless - took just a few minutes. While T-Mobile did not have as good of service coverage, they at least had a much more adequate (though inconsistent and often ridiculously cheery) customer service.
Because I could qualify for the ACP government subsidy, which T-Mobile wasn't accepting, and also because I expected to soon be in a place for an extended period that has very little T-Mobile service but does have AT&T service, I risked switching back.
What a disaster! Collectively 6 hours on the phone with AT&T trying to set up service with ACP and transfer my number, which still failed!
So I finally resorted to going to an AT&T store (the Totem Lake one) to get help. The staff was friendly and helpful - this was a pleasant surprise. And THREE hours later (with one of their own staff on the phone with AT&T much of this time), and with some charges to my credit card that they assured me they would refund after the fact, I finally walked out with the service mostly in place, though I STILL had to call AT&T the next day to get the ACP applied to my ported number. Another 1.5-hour investment for me.
I returned today to request the promised refund. Lo and behold, they refused to refund me. Henry, a manager, claimed they never promised this, even though Ali, a staff member I worked with who did all the calling, had added up on his page of notes the amount I had paid in 3 separate transactions, to document how much I would be refunded later.
So literally, after giving the amount of money I have to AT&T over 21 years, they actually had the audacity to simply say "no" to a comparatively trivial amount of money. To offer no kind of acknowledgement of my truth - basically saying I was sorely mistaken.
What horrible customer service.
So beware: don't be fooled by initial friendliness, because they don't take prisoners. Get any agreements or promises in writing that you take with you. Don't trust Henry. Ali has no power, so don't trust him either. And Vanya, also a manager, may likewise not be trustworthy either - we'll see how she responds when I may try to call the store in the coming days to briefly discuss my experience. Or not.
Not that I would expect any other AT&T store to be any better, based upon my 21 years of experience with the company. While their service coverage is pretty good, everything else about my experiences with them has been one disappointment after another after another.
Caveat emptor. read more
