This is my opinion, highlighted and embellished with facts:
Several things have me very upset with AT&T lately. I've been a customer of AT&T since bag phones and monthly minute plans, and have never been treated so shabbily. I have a Galaxy S6 Active that flat-out quit, wouldn't charge, wouldn't run. Took it to the Brier Creek AT&T store 9/28, manager (young tall gentleman, never got his name) said he could not do a warranty exchange. Incredible, but it gets worse. He says I need to go to Cary NC, where they do warranty exchanges. I said "what if I get there and they don't have an S6 Active?" He said "oh, I'll call them to check". Well, they didn't have one, but in his Brier Creek store, he had a boatload of them in the back. No way could he spare one for a current customer - policy, process, blah blah blah. No concern about a customer with a dead phone. He gave me a GoPhone loaner, told me call Cary store, they put me through the same questions he already put me through, then gave me a number to call, where I got to repeat everything again. Total 3 times. Bad customer service, I don't care what the policy or process is, he is driving me away from AT&T.
Two days and $14.95 for premium shipping later, I get the "new" phone. I have to go back to the Brier Creek store to get my number connected to the Galaxy S6. Pain in the "you know what". Because I've been subjected to long waits in that store, I took the advice of the lady at AT&T service 800 number and scheduled an appointment. I've noticed on previous visits, they skip over me and serve people ahead of me that have appointments. Now I had one, for 1:00pm. I arrived and signed in at 12:40pm and waited my turn. At 1:03pm, a Rep named Steven skipped me and went to a walk-in customer. I said "I have an appointment for 1:00pm". He replied "Oh, I'll just take care of this other customer, then I'll be with you". I said no, I have an appointment, and you always take those people ahead of me when I don't have an appointment. He went and spoke with his manager, Carla (Karla?) and she told him to help the walk-in customer. I said no, you're going to help me first, I have an appointment, arrived 20 minutes early and waited for an available Rep after 1:00pm, and it's you. He said, "I can do you both at the same time". Hah - took him 10 minutes to fix my situation, so what he proposed was 2 customers sit there and watch him work on someone elses issue instead of getting his undivided attention (Customer Service 101).
The real issue? AT&T couldn't care less. They put these 30-something people in place, give them "procedures" but do not allow them to make decisions based on common sense. I bought the phone there, I should be able to exchange it there. The manager has looked it over, determined it had no physical damage and was not working, I should not have to repeat the story 3 times, wait 2 days, pay $14.95, return to the AT&T store and wait in line.
Like I said - I've been with AT&T forever, but even forever can end. They do not provide an email or web forum to send them complaints like this, so I will cut-and-paste this and put it on every available site. Next time, it's Verizon for me. I don't know if their customer service is any better, and there is no way to find out ahead of time, but they certainly can't be this rude, greedy, ignorant and unprofessional.
And by the way, I do recall getting great customer service at the AT&T North Hills store. The difference is I was always buying something new there, never needed technical assistance. But I will visit that store next time, before I totally quit AT&T.
And no, AT&T, I do not want an email from you either. Just read your reviews, trust them to be accurate and fix your issues. read more