AT&T Customer Serve Less

For the record, I have not dealt with AT&T to hook up our new internet and cable systems through AT&T.  My poor girlfriend has.  An AT&T customer for over five years or more.  She has the patients of Job but I am hiding the knives in the new apartment.  Three weeks and counting of nightmare calls continue to customer serve less at AT&T where you must go through twenty minutes of talking to an automated service before you get a human being that knows less than the machine you were just talking to about AT&T's service.  All that we wanted to do was to transfer the service at her mothers house to our new apartment one block away and activate a new account for internet and Direct TV satellite television at her mothers home.  That sounds simple enough does it not?

Week one of the nightmare of dealing with AT&T.  Calling to get a price for service.  She called one day and it was one price, the next call with another person was another price, and the third time was yet another price.  It gets worse.  One customer service operator said we couldn't get the same service in our area, the next one said we could but they didn't know if 6G internet was available in our area (Read on to Momma's service below), And they didn't take take the time to look it up.  They just didn't know.  Then the third customer serve less said we could have their service but not as good as the one she already had a stone's throw from our apartment at yet another different price.  Mind you, all the while that AT&T does bundle with Direct TV.  It's called bundling.  But you can't do that through AT&T or Direct TV???  Trust me, she called both.  "We can't do that for you."  That is a quote from both AT&T and Direct TV.  Not till we get our first bill then we have to call somebody on Saturn or was it URANUS to get them bundled.

Week two... Our service is on for the first of the month.  No problems other than having to reload the internet access information for our account several times.  AT&T just likes to make sure we are who we are I guess.  We could be facebook terrorists or something ya know.  I am, but my girlfriend is a saint.  Did I mention her patience?  We still need to clear up and set up Momma's account.  Calls to AT&T run through the gambit of automation till you get to someone that refuses to help you set up your 75 year old mothers phone, internet, and Direct TV.  All of the information to set up her account was good initially then AT&T transferred it to someone that hasn't lived in her mothers house for five years?  And customer serve less could not give any further information to fix Momma's service.  She finally managed to get Direct TV to Set up an appointment to give Momma an new box and a new remote and what have you but there was deception in the computer records so they never showed up.  Their records showed that there was already service at that address and the criminal flags and fraud warrants were issued.  The God Father gots nothing on my girl.  She's bad to the bone trying to pay for the same service twice.  More calls to AT&T who bundles for Momma but won't for us.  One block away.

Week three.. Called AT&T to fix Momma's service.  They couldn't talk to the girlfriend because she was not the person on the account?  Fixed that but AT&T didn't have a full record of the authorization.  Cleared that up by being lucky and having a customer service person ignore protocol.  We finally get Momma internet service even though she does not have a computer.  She wants to have it for when her son comes to visit once or twice a year.  Isn't that sweet?  I love that about her.  The good news is that she can have 6G internet service (SEE ABOVE where we can only have 3G).  Still reloading our internet access codes but everything else is cool.  Except when the girlfriend still has to call AT&T to get someone to come give momma a new box for her satellite service so she can ship her transferred receivers back to Direct TV.  Spent all day Friday at Momma's talking to customer serve less only to find out that the reason Momma could not get service was because we raised a "Fraud" flag by transferring one service to our apartment and trying to open a new service for Momma.  Apparently, AT&T didn't save our account information and didn't have our address.  To which the girlfriend told them... But you had someone come to the apartment and install the new dish on the roof!  I'm sure she will get parole after the strip search and ten year Guantanamo Bay detention when the police catch up to her.  I just love the rebellious side of her so much.  End of game is that I have to go to Momma's in the morning at the crack of dawn and take the box hooked up to her television so that the Direct TV installer can hand her the new remote control and receiver.  I'm praying that he hooks it up for her.  Being 75 he might show a little sympathy or something.  I'm not counting on it.

Summing up, the girlfriend said that she was not dealing with Charter before we began this little adventure of getting internet and satellite television.  I'm thinking it could not have been this bad.  Then again, who knows?  When I see the girlfriend on America's Most Wanted for paying for two service bills when she only wanted one, I'm ratting her ass out for the reward money.  Somebody has to pay those two bills at the same address.

Somebody at AT&T needs to find out what it means to be a customer and try their own service.  Or should I say serve less.  Take the challenge and try and get AT&T service Mr. CEO or Board of Directors!  See what your customers have to put up with.  Then try your competitors.

Note to AT&T: Get a playbook for all of your customer service people.  Have the same answers for the same questions.  And get a computer system that is nationwide.  Your service sucks and you customer serve less people are of no use till you win the lottery and get someone that actually cares.

Papamoka