AT&T U-Verse Problems with Billing and Support

I am so frustrated with AT&T.  In the past couple years I must have called customer support at least 30 times.  That is unacceptable if you ask me.  I use AT&T for internet, and while the actual service has been fine, the billing and support is a nightmare.  I swear, the bills they send me are more often wrong then they are right.  The other day I got the most outrageous bill so far.

I had recently switched over from DSL to U-Verse in hopes of saving some money with the yearly promotion.  It's suppose to be $19.95 per month, so it would be nice if the bill showed up and it was actually that price, but no, I get the bill and it is for $284!  Are you kidding me?  Is this some kind of joke?  It's so ridiculous it's not even funny. 

So I log into my account to get an explanation.  First off, they charge you for 2 months right off the bat, even though you have had the service for only 1 month.  Then they charge $100 for the modem.  I knew about this charge, and you are suppose to get a $100 rebate in the form of a visa card, but so far I have not been able to get that.  I log into the rewards section and it does not say that I am qualified for this.  They say I need to have the service for at least a month for this promotion, but I know I'm going to have to fight tooth and nail to actually get it.

Then there is another charge for $149 for installation.  I did the self install which is suppose to be free.  There were some connection problems on the back end so they had to send out workers to fix it.  I told them I did not want to be charged any fees for this. The person on the phone said I would not.  When the guys came out to fix it, I told them again I do not want to do it if it is going to cost money.  They went ahead and fixed the connection and said it was not my fault so I would not be responsible for any charges.  But of course the bill shows up and there is a charge for $149.

I call up customer service to try to get this straightened out.  After talking to the guy, the best they could do was put the $149 charge as pending until a supervisor looks over the case.  This is another problem with AT&T support.  You go through all the prompts to get to the right department, and then once you finally get there, the person can't even do anything to help you.  It's like they have these call centers set up to deal with customers calls, but not actually provide concrete solutions. The only time I actually got through to someone who had the power to make changes was when I called to cancel my service.

I know I'm not the only person having trouble with AT&T.  I can imagine every other customer is either putting up with the same billing discrepancies, or they just look at the bill and say "whatever" and just pay it.  Well I'm not getting ripped off.  AT&T if you promise one thing and one price, honor it, don't just pass it on to someone else to deal with.  That is exactly what it seems like is happening at AT&T.  They are drawing people in with these deals and then not honoring them.  Then you call up to try to get what you were promised and you just get passed around and no one actually fixes the problem.  It's so frustrating.

I almost want to go back to Comcast, but their prices are even higher than AT&T.  At least I didn't have so many problems with Comcast.  We really need more internet providers to compete with these 2, because they are not getting the job done.

The best thing would be a national service that provides wireless internet for a standard affordable fee.  No scams, no 6 month specials, no changes in billing, just a straight forward plan that would provide reliable internet at a reasonable cost.  Is that so much to ask?

UPDATE: 7-9-12
I got the paper bill in the mail today for $284 so I was about to call AT&T but just in case, I checked my balance online.  To my surprise, they actually took off the installation charge for $149.  I didn't think they would follow through, but they did.

Then about the $100 credit I couldn't apply for.  I got another letter in the mail with a url for how to apply for the credit.  It was not easy, but after a few tries, I was able to apply for it.  The only way I got it was because I happened to have AT&T for wireless also.  If I didn't have that, I would not have been able to get the credit.

Then there was still my old DSL bill that they somehow were trying to charge me $43 for.  The full month was supposed to be only $35 to begin with and I transferred over to DSL in the middle so it should have been prorated.  I was told not to pay the bill and wait for a final bill that would be up to date.  Well today I got a letter from them telling me the $43 was over due and if I didn't pay it, they would refer me to a collection agency.  So I get ready to call up customer service like always, but again, before I do, I check my account online just in case.  When i logged in, the balance showed that I owed only $15.  This was about right, maybe a little more that I should owe, but hey with all the billing problems I have had with these guys, $15 to close the account is not bad.

So for now, things are ok with my account.  Lets pray we can go a full year without any more problems.

More Frustrations with AT&T - U-Verse

I have had a lot of problems with AT&T internet as I have expressed in previous blogs.  Well, after a year, the frustration continues.  My 1 year promotional rate for DSL was up so I called them up to see if I could get a lower rate or change plans.  After talking to 2 people and going over different plans for over an hour, yes that is correct, I managed to get a "pending" plan.  So if I decided to change, I could call up and set it in motion.

The plan was to switch from DSL to U-Verse.  I wanted to stay with DSL and just go to a lower plan, but they said I couldn't.  Odd because on the website it still shows the lower rates.  They said the only thing to do was to switch to the new U-Verse and get a 1 year promotion on that.

At first they wanted to charge activation fees, and make me spend $100 for a new modem, but after negotiations, they waved those fees.  They offered me a decent rate for the new internet, but still it was more than I was paying for DSL before.  I said I didn't want to commit yet so the representative said, we could make the order pending until I was ready.  

Sounds ok right?  Next thing I know I am getting emails about order confirmations, and they are send me a modem!  Are you serious?  I call them up and try to figure out what is going on.  It turns out the order was set in motion, the only thing is that the activation was set for a later time in case I wanted to cancel it.  Still, now I have this modem I don't even want.  So I decide to cancel the whole thing.

Next day the modem shows up at my home and I then had to put new labels on it, go to the post office, wait in line and mail it back.  Not a good use of my time AT&T.

So now I still have my original DSL at the higher rate and I'm not sure what I want to do.  I might end up canceling the whole thing, who knows.  Why is everything so difficult with this company?

UPDATE 11-25-11

I thought I was done with this fiasco that is AT&T after I canceled my account and followed their instructions by sending the modem back.  Guess what?  I'm still getting a bill that says I owe them $100 for the modem, the one I never asked them to send me and the one I returned when they did send it to me.  I call customer service and they are not there.  I try the chat help on the website, they can't do anything about it.  So now I have to wait until Monday and call them when I get home from work.  I don't have time for this nonsense AT&T!

AT&T DSL Problems, False Advertising, and Frustration

As mentioned on one of my previous blogs, I recently signed up for AT&T DSL service.  So far, I have encountered so many problems, mostly related to service and billing.  You may have noticed them advertising a promotional rate of $14.95 a month for DSL internet.  Sounds pretty good right?  So I get my first bill and guess what, it is $35.00.  So of course I am like what?  I give them a call and they tell me that you have to pay the full price for 2 to 3 billing cycles before they credit your account and start giving you the promotional rate.  They say it is in the terms of service.  I read it carefully and this is what it says:

"Customers purchasing new AT&T High Speed Internet Direct Basic, Express or Pro will pay $14.95 per month for 12 months after application of bill credit. Bill credits will be applied between the 2nd and 3rd bill cycles after initiation of service."

This is not clear and it is in the fine print.  I would consider this dishonest advertising especially when they are saying clearly that "you can get DSL service for $14.95 for 12 months". They don't say, "pay full price for a few months" and then they we will give you the promotional rate.

A quick search revealed that hundreds of other customers are upset by this exact issue.  Here are a few links:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r24834245-First-bill-doesnt-have-the-promotional-rate
http://m.slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2157474&page=118
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1020394/?start=720

Now I did write an email to AT&T expressing my annoyance with this billing and they called me back.  They explained that this is just how the system works and that I should be getting credited eventually so that it will bring the overall cost down to what it would be if I were paying the $14.95 right from the beginning.  I'm not holding my breath on that one. Customer complaints have already expressed that they kept getting billed for the full price even ever 2 to 3 billing cycles.  Something tells me I may have to contact customer service again in a couple months.

And the billing is not even the tip of the iceberg with problems I have been having with AT&T.  I wanted to opt out of their privacy sharing policy.  I tried to do it several times.  Guess what, I got an error every time.

I tried to log into my account online.  The only way you can get access is to have them send you a code by email.  Ok, so I request a code.  Guess what, they don't send it.  I tell this to the customer service guy and he tells me the system is broken and I will have to request it again.

In my email to AT&T I had a lot to say about all the issues I have been having.  Surely nothing can go wrong with that right?  Wrong!  Their email system doesn't even allow you to write more that 1000 characters.  That is like a couple paragraphs.  Do I need to send 3 separate emails just to include everything I need to say?