My Love/Hate Relationship with AT&T

I think the title is pretty self-explanatory for anyone who has ever done business with the phone monopoly monster known as AT&T. But for those who haven't been initiated yet (but will at some point due to AT&T's inevitable pull), I shall elaborate.

You might remember that I got an iPhone in January. I set up my service on January 22. Setting up service then was already a hassle because it was 2 days before the end of my billing cycle. Naturally, AT&T had no interest in pro-rating the cost of the plan for the 2 DAYS I had left, so I got a full phone bill shortly thereafter for around $150 including one-time changeover fees etc. (Side note: I have discovered also in this whole ordeal that AT&T does pro-rate your services if you change them in the middle of the month. This is inexplicable given what I just said above. AT&T DOESNT PRO-RATE THE PRICE WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR PLAN, BUT IT DOES PRO-RATE YOUR SERVICES RECEIVED THAT MONTH. What a racket! Immoral? I think so! Especially when you have to change the plan because THEY SCREWED UP! Read more below to get the full picture of what happened).

So, I digress. So I set up phone services over the phone on January 22. I remember this call very vividly because it stuck in my mind as one of the most enjoyable, least painful customer service calls I've ever made. We all dread those calls, navigating the endless automated number system, being transferred a minimum of 3 times per call, and repeating every last detail of your entire account to each new person you talk to. My favorite annoying example of this was dealing with Cingular (now AT&T) when I was still on my parents' plan. They never asked me the same personal detail about my parents to verify my identity. One time it would be my mom's last 4 digits of her SSN, one time it would be the billing zip code on the account, another time it was the billing address. Every time I would memorize one of these, they inevitably would ask for another one I had since forgotten (Murphy must have been spinning in his grave).

I have digressed yet again. So I had this wonderful call on January 22 to set up my iPhone. It took only a few minutes, and I actually enjoyed talking with the representative on the phone. That should have been a big red flag in my little naive mind that this was WAY TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.

So I was checking my bill online a few days ago, and my bill was about 40 dollars more than normal. So I looked through my bill, figured I had used too many media messages (that cost an arm and a leg) and paid the bill anyways. But as I continued to look through the bill, I discovered that my rate plan was horribly and hopelessly messed up.

The iPhone data plan comes with 200 text messages free per month. Knowing this would be too few for me, I did my research. I found that I could pay 10 dollars extra a month and get 1500 text messages (which is like unlimited to me since I don't send that many). But the rep on the phone convinced me I could continue getting 1000 per month for less than 10 dollars, so I stupidly listened to her after doing my research (Side note again: When I properly do my research, I always find something better than I get conned into at the store. Words of Advice: Do research and stick to your guns with these sales people). So everything seemed fine until this month, when I sent an amazing (for me) 1,049 text messages. Thanks to all my friends out there for inflating my numbers. lol.

Instead of giving me 1000 text messages for around 8 dollars, the rep had added 100 International text messages to my account for 10 bucks. That was either the greatest sleight of hand ever or an honest mistake reading 100 as 1000. Talk about the most useless plan ever. I almost never travel internationally, so I would essentially be voluntarily handing over 10 bucks a month to AT&T out of charity. What a racket, I say.

So, since I wasn't getting the text messages promised, I was only covered for 200 of the 1,049 text messages. So I was paying a 0.05/message rate on the other 849 text messages. Do the math and you get 42.46, which is why my bill was so high. I don't often get really mad, but this just flat-out pissed me off because I was misled so badly. I am thankful to the Lord that I didn't get time to talk to a representative till this morning when I wasn't so hopping mad.

Here is the small ray of sunshine in this dark cloud; the small amount of love in a whole heap of hate. I called AT&T this morning, the rep apologized for the other rep, changed my account to the correct plan, and credited my account for almost all of the scam charges. Its amazing how easy it can be when you know exactly what you're doing! This rep restored a little bit of my faith in AT&T, and AT&T owes him big-time for dramatically improving my customer relationship with AT&T.

One of the big topics I've covered at work the last few days is Customer Relationship Management, and its importance to successful business. Its very true that maintaining relationships with existing customers is far cheaper than creating relationships with new customers. Yet so many big companies fail badly in this regard. AT&T is no exception.