- Report: #26873
Complaint Review: AT & T Wireless - New York New York
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AT & T Wireless
http://www.attws.com New York, New York, U.S.A.
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AT&T Wireless is a consumer ripoff scam; Unsolicited Phone & Fraudulent Billing. New York, New York
Apparently the fraud perpetrated on me by AT & T before Wireless split off, and continued by AT & T Wireless after it split from AT & T, has been practiced on others ( See Report dated 3/8/02 from Wendy of Pittshurgh, searchable by entering AT&T with no spaces).
I had an AT&T Wireless phone for several years and decided to cancel. I called to cancel and before they would let me do so they told me I had to speak to a "representative." This representative was a high pressure sales person who tried to keep my business. I said my spouse had found a better deal with Sprint. They asked for the details. I gave them as much as I knew. They couldn't match it and I told them to cancel.
They asked if they could send me some literature. I told them it was a waste of time because my spouse had already signed us to the new plan with Sprint. I told them again I wanted to cancel.
They asked if they could send me some material in case I decided to switch back. I said OK and hung up.
The next day I received a "free" cell phone unsolicited. I called up AT&T and they said they sent it to me because I said I would consider their new plan. I told them I said no such thing, and only consented to get some material, and again that I wanted my phone cancelled. The customer service people apologized for the sales rep and cancelled my account. They said I had to return the phone.
From that point forward my situation was very similar to that experienced by Wnedy. It was a well orchestrated rip off. There was no return shipping label with the phone, nor any address listed to return it. I asked customer service for the address. They said they would have a shipping label sent to me. No shipping label arrived. I could not return the phone at my own expense without the shipping label because no one would give me the address. They kept telling me I needed the shipping label for proper credit.
After about 45 days I received a bill for the "free" phone because I had not signed a new contract for service and, according to AT&T Cusotmer Service, I had not returned the phone. Customer Service said they could not understand why I hadn't recieved the shipping label. They said they would put in for it again, and theat although they could not stop the bills, they would note my account and the bills would automatically stop as soon as I returned the phone.
Another 5-6 weeks passed and no shipping labels arrived, but another bill arrived. I called again. Again they said they would send a shipping label. They did not. I waited two more months for a shipping label, and then I got a letter from a collection agency. I wrote to the collection agency and AT&T telling them that under the law in New York anything sent unsolictied became my property to dispose of as I pleased. I further stated that if I did not receive a shipping label within the next 15 days that I would dispose of the phone, as permitted by New York Consumer Law.
This letter must have awoken somebody because I got a shipping label within 7 days, and I returned the phone. But it didn't end there. AT&T Wireless kept sending the same bill for the telephone out to collection agency after collection agency. Each time I would write and tell them the phone was returned and I didn't owe the money. The bills would stop for a few months and I'd be contacted again by a collection agency. I made several calls to Customer Service. They said the billings were automatic because the phone was returned after the 30 day return period. They acknowledged the notations on my account and said they would try to rectify the situation. Customer Service was very nice and totally ineffective.
AT&T continued to bill for 2 years and reported me as a dead beat to the three major collection agencies. I finally wrote a letter directly to the CEO of AT&T Wireless. After several weeks I was contacted by some representative of AT&T executive offices. This guy that said that he was specially trained to rectify mistakes. He acknowledged the mistake and said he corrected the accounts and would send letters to the credit agencies removing the erroneous information.
What was missing was any sort of apology or compensation for the time, effort and aggravation I had to endure to avoid being ripped off. When I asked how this sort of thing happened (apaprently it happens frequently) he got testy and said in an annoyed voice, "What difference does it make, I'm correcting it." I then complained about the fact that I had spent endless hours being abused by collection agencies and I had been slandered with the credit bureaus and that's why I wanted to know. I was really looking for an apology of some sort. Instead this AT&T jerk said, "What do you want form me? I'm the one who's fixing for you." Then he actually threatened me despite AT&T Wireless being wrong by saying "Do you want this corrected or would you rather complain and have me hang up?"
I told him that if he wasn't the one to whom to complain, then t give me the name of someone who would listen to my complaint and take some responsibility for it. He did not respond. He said he would send a letter confirming that the matter was resolved and got off the phone. Unbelievably this poor excuse for a Customer Service Representative was someone who was "specially trained" to work for the CEO's at AT&T. Apparently the attitude of "the public be damned" extends all the way to the top at AT&T Wireless. Also apparently there are plenty of other people with similar experiences.
My adivece: There are plenty of other good cell phone services. Avoid AT&T like the plague.
Lance
New York, New York
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on AT&T
I had an AT&T Wireless phone for several years and decided to cancel. I called to cancel and before they would let me do so they told me I had to speak to a "representative." This representative was a high pressure sales person who tried to keep my business. I said my spouse had found a better deal with Sprint. They asked for the details. I gave them as much as I knew. They couldn't match it and I told them to cancel.
They asked if they could send me some literature. I told them it was a waste of time because my spouse had already signed us to the new plan with Sprint. I told them again I wanted to cancel.
They asked if they could send me some material in case I decided to switch back. I said OK and hung up.
The next day I received a "free" cell phone unsolicited. I called up AT&T and they said they sent it to me because I said I would consider their new plan. I told them I said no such thing, and only consented to get some material, and again that I wanted my phone cancelled. The customer service people apologized for the sales rep and cancelled my account. They said I had to return the phone.
From that point forward my situation was very similar to that experienced by Wnedy. It was a well orchestrated rip off. There was no return shipping label with the phone, nor any address listed to return it. I asked customer service for the address. They said they would have a shipping label sent to me. No shipping label arrived. I could not return the phone at my own expense without the shipping label because no one would give me the address. They kept telling me I needed the shipping label for proper credit.
After about 45 days I received a bill for the "free" phone because I had not signed a new contract for service and, according to AT&T Cusotmer Service, I had not returned the phone. Customer Service said they could not understand why I hadn't recieved the shipping label. They said they would put in for it again, and theat although they could not stop the bills, they would note my account and the bills would automatically stop as soon as I returned the phone.
Another 5-6 weeks passed and no shipping labels arrived, but another bill arrived. I called again. Again they said they would send a shipping label. They did not. I waited two more months for a shipping label, and then I got a letter from a collection agency. I wrote to the collection agency and AT&T telling them that under the law in New York anything sent unsolictied became my property to dispose of as I pleased. I further stated that if I did not receive a shipping label within the next 15 days that I would dispose of the phone, as permitted by New York Consumer Law.
This letter must have awoken somebody because I got a shipping label within 7 days, and I returned the phone. But it didn't end there. AT&T Wireless kept sending the same bill for the telephone out to collection agency after collection agency. Each time I would write and tell them the phone was returned and I didn't owe the money. The bills would stop for a few months and I'd be contacted again by a collection agency. I made several calls to Customer Service. They said the billings were automatic because the phone was returned after the 30 day return period. They acknowledged the notations on my account and said they would try to rectify the situation. Customer Service was very nice and totally ineffective.
AT&T continued to bill for 2 years and reported me as a dead beat to the three major collection agencies. I finally wrote a letter directly to the CEO of AT&T Wireless. After several weeks I was contacted by some representative of AT&T executive offices. This guy that said that he was specially trained to rectify mistakes. He acknowledged the mistake and said he corrected the accounts and would send letters to the credit agencies removing the erroneous information.
What was missing was any sort of apology or compensation for the time, effort and aggravation I had to endure to avoid being ripped off. When I asked how this sort of thing happened (apaprently it happens frequently) he got testy and said in an annoyed voice, "What difference does it make, I'm correcting it." I then complained about the fact that I had spent endless hours being abused by collection agencies and I had been slandered with the credit bureaus and that's why I wanted to know. I was really looking for an apology of some sort. Instead this AT&T jerk said, "What do you want form me? I'm the one who's fixing for you." Then he actually threatened me despite AT&T Wireless being wrong by saying "Do you want this corrected or would you rather complain and have me hang up?"
I told him that if he wasn't the one to whom to complain, then t give me the name of someone who would listen to my complaint and take some responsibility for it. He did not respond. He said he would send a letter confirming that the matter was resolved and got off the phone. Unbelievably this poor excuse for a Customer Service Representative was someone who was "specially trained" to work for the CEO's at AT&T. Apparently the attitude of "the public be damned" extends all the way to the top at AT&T Wireless. Also apparently there are plenty of other people with similar experiences.
My adivece: There are plenty of other good cell phone services. Avoid AT&T like the plague.
Lance
New York, New York
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on AT&T
