A Wonderful AT&T Service Experience
I have an 85-year-old mother that is a long time AT&T customer. Although she has dementia, one of her principal joys is to remain connected with family using her convenient telephone. Due to her aging and progressive inabilities, she had to recently move to a new care facility to remain active comfortable and healthy. A key part of this was making sure she had telephone service. Below I describe the wonderful sequence of events in working with AT&T service to do this. Mixed in is a technically wonderful wireless product, as well as many wonderful AT&T employees striving to do their best.
At the beginning of June, the first obvious stop was to follow the online directions at the AT&T website. I had been using “my AT&T” to support her by paying the monthly bill. It directed me to a customer care number. After giving appropriate new address and other information I was told that the service would be moved within three days, but that sense it was in a different service area the telephone number might change and I would be contacted with the new telephone number. After a week having heard nothing, we decided to try the phone to see if it would work. It had dialtone and we were able to use it to call out, and by using a cell phone to indicate the calling number, we assumed that we simply hadn’t been notified of the change. Little did we know that this line was connected to another resident’s telephone resulting in much confusion. So we wondered what had happened to the service move order. The customer care number was used again, and we receive the explanation that move service was provided by another department, with no further explanation. Wondering how to resolve this, I went to the nearby AT&T store to see if they were more successful in navigating the support services.
At the AT&T store, they called support services and received the explanation that sometimes these orders were lost. The store manager then offered a ”better solution”at lower cost that fit her needs more closely, and would permit her to keep her old telephone number. Knowing that AT&T was trying to migrate away from wired land lines, I agreed and signed a contract and received a small wireless box into which I could plug her wired handset. I was told that service would be activated in if just a few days, and that I could use the online billing system. The updated bill I was told would show up in the next billing cycle. I did receive an approximate estimate of the total cost and activation fees, so while I was wondering how this would all work out we set up her equipment. This was in early July.
In just a few days, wonder of wonders, the phone service seem to be working. Her old number worked, with the exception that as a wireless system she had to add a one and area code at the beginning to make calls. We soon found that this was too complicated, but she was able to receive calls which mattered most. Meanwhile I checked the “my AT&T”website which then showed the air that the account was canceled and suggested that I give customer care a call to resolve this. Although I wondered what was happening since the phone was working, I called customer care, and provided the contract numbers that I had. They were unable to identify the account. Several more times I used the online chat system or called customer care with approximately the same result, other than they asked for the security code which I provided and they still were not able to identify the account. I was told it probably was U-verse. All that I was able to see on the website when I did login was the old landline bill which had a credit and no new charges. They were able to tell me the amount of the bill which they could see, but I would not be able to access it as I did not have the account security code. They were unable to suggest a method of paying the bill without that code. They then suggested that I wait through the next billing cycle. I did wonder how this would work!
In late August, with no change in the online information, my mother’s service was stopped. We had a hint of this when we received the message online that my mother no longer was receiving calls. This made no sense other than I imagined that she had not put the receiver back in the phone cradle. It took a trip and operating her phone to get the explanation that service had been stopped. As we had not received any bills or notification online I wondered how to resolve this. A call to customer care resulted in two more security codes and potentially two more accounts started to reconnect, at different payment levels and services. They then advised it might be best to resolve the billing question first. A discussion with the collections department in further discussions with customer care resulted in the advice that I go to an AT&T store, where they could reset the account and restore access. They advised that service should be restored immediately after the bill was resolved. The nearest AT&T store is in Rochester Minnesota. On August 23, we traveled to the AT&T store in Rochester. As we approach the store a police car parked in front of us. After trying to enter the store which was locked an adjacent store employee informed us that the AT&T store had just been robbed and was on lockdown. My first reaction on hearing this was why would someone try to rob a telephone store, other than the possible exception of for telephones. Of course I didn’t have to wonder as to whether I would be able to get our problem resolved at that store. For about two hours we went off and did other errands and then returned to a still locked store. Wondering what to do I spoke to two employees outside the store. They said all we can help you we don’t want you to have to have traveled here for nothing, so with a phone call they check to see whether the retail stores nearby could help. After talking to someone the answer was affirmative and we were directed to a nearby store just a couple miles away. Arriving at the store the AT&T employee told us that no, the account could not be reset, that must be done by”corporate”AT&T and employees. So a wonderful 150 mile trip for nothing. Of course the AT&T store was having a wonderful day, too.
So, at this point after nearly three months, I still do not have wonderful AT&T telephone service for my mother. Although I’ve been trying to pay the bill I also cannot do that due to personal information security restrictions. At the next opportunity I will try to visit the original AT&T store, and if it cannot be resolved I will give them their wonderful equipment back. I hope that the aura of good luck that I have in this will not follow me to the next store.
This is truly been a wonderful and amazing experience, having spent more than five hours in contact with support and many messages. This included multiple promises by customer care to send me directions to resolve this by email which never happened. Clearly there are many AT&T employees that are very able and willing to initiate services, but unable to follow through at the same point and make sure that services are delivered and that a payment system is in place and works. I did have conversations with many nice AT&T employees, while empathetic, were unable to suggest any resolutions or identify actions within their authority. It does make me wonder how a business can operate with all of this effort and expense, still not get paid, and succeed. Now I am beginning to understand what AT&T is- a very loose association of various business operations. It does not leave me wondering how customers with similar experiences give their feedback; probably voting with their feet. It also leaves my mother wondering why her children and sisters do not call. It leaves the relatives wondering, via the AT&T message, why she is not accepting their calls. Quite Wonderful!
so, I no longer know what question to ask- support makes that a guessing game...