This was probably the worst experience I've had with AT&T since I've been with them. On Saturday 12/9, I broke my phone. This was at 6pm when my phone broke so I looked on the AT&T website to see when they close, it said 8pm so I still had plenty of time to go. As soon as I walked in the manager says to me, "Are you Anna?" To which I said no. She replies, "Oh I'm waiting for Anna so I can leave." Now that interaction alone irritated me because why do I care when you leave? It's 6pm, the store doesn't even close until 8. The store manager and the assistant manager, Carla, both seemed irritated that I was even in the store. The store manager then asked me what I needed so I explained my phone broke and I need one tonight. As I'm sure most people can relate, it's not possible to survive without having a phone. I also explained that I depend on my phone for work as I work in Healthcare and use my phone for security codes to access our Electronic Health Records system so I cannot be without a phone. The store manager then told me that their employee, Xavier would be the one to help me. Before I continue, I just want to say how great Xavier was despite the hand he was dealt. He told me he is a newer employee and never had these issues come up yet so I appreciate what he did for me despite not knowing much. So I was told since my phone is new, I will need to file a claim and get my replacement in 1-2 days. However, since I need a new phone that night, they said I would need to buy a new phone line with a new phone and can return the phone when I get my replacement. I said that's okay.
Xavier and I continued to work on switching everything from my broken phone to my new one and we're struggling. Meanwhile, none of the managers came over during this time to help. The store manager actually kept talking about how she needed to leave and said at one point, "so much for leaving early." I'm sorry but I find it incredibly off-putting to hear a store manager talking about leaving early when the store is still open and there are customers in the store. Especially to be met with such disdain and lack of empathy was shocking. Xavier and I are working on switching the Google account to the new phone but to do so, we need access to my broken phone because it's asking to verify my identity but I couldn't since my phone broke. The store manager ends up leaving (doesn't even check with Xavier to see how everything is going) he even says to me, "I guess she's leaving." So I mentioned that to the assistant manager and she starts to yell at me and say "we told you if you needed a new phone, then you have to get a new line" which wasn't even the issue anymore. The issue was transferring my Google account, which she would have known, had she cone over to check on us. Instead after all customers left, Carla sat at the table doing NOTHING. She's yelling at me while I am sobbing and in tears. Xavier says to Carla, "please stop, you're making it worse." The fact that a new employee has to calm down the assistant manager blows my mind. At this point, I've been here for 2 hours, I'm exhausted and now I have this woman yelling at me. I tell Xavier to forget it, I'm going home because I no longer feel safe. He was so apologetic and said I'm so sorry for this while Carla didn't even acknowledge my presence. I felt like a subhuman to her, like I wasn't even a person at that point. At one point Carla says, "you can just go to Walmart to get a new phone" why would I go to Walmart when I came to you for help? I also explained several times my phone is used for work purposes as I work with kids. If I do not have a phone attached to my number, I cannot work. She clearly didn't care or want to understand my situation. Xavier walked me to the door and comforted me before I left which I truly appreciated.
I was absolutely disgusted by this interaction with the store manager and assistant manager, Carla. read more