Ok, I just got off the phone with AT&T and I think I am going to kill someone. And then my head will explode.
To help explain, here’s the angry e-mail I just fired off to their customer service dept:
*I am writing for two reasons. One, because I have charges on my bill that I would like to dispute, and two, because of the abominable treatment I received from a customer service rep named Jacob when I called about it.
For the first part, I have a collect call on my bill dated Dec 3 at 11:04 p.m. from a phone number in Boulder. We did not accept a collect call on this date, and we do not recognize this number. I have been unable to get any information about the number to find out who it is. The total charge was $6.12, including tax, connection fee and bill statement fee. I would like that amount refunded to me, and that is the reason I called customer service today.
For the second part, when I did call in the first time, I spoke to a very helpful and polite young woman, who told me I needed to deal with my local phone company, but that I could also write in to AT&T and dispute the charges. I told her I would call my local phone company and if they were no help, I would call AT&T back. I subsequently had no luck with my local company, so I called AT&T again and was connected to a young man who gave his name as Jacob. He was incredibly rude, condescending and disrespectful, and refused to provide me with any kind of customer service. Jacob basically told me there was nothing I could do about the charges except pay them. When I asked for an address to write in, he refused to give me one. I asked to speak to his supervisor and he said, and I quote, “Nope.” When I asked why I couldn’t speak to someone else, he said it was “not an escalatable issue.” Jacob flatly refused to give me another address or phone number or to let me speak to anyone else. He insinuated that I was lying about the charges and just didn’t want to pay them, and when I asked him why he was refusing to help me at all, he asked how much money I had spent with AT&T over the last year. When I replied, "None,” Jacob said, "Exactly.” I asked if he was implying that I didn’t deserve to receive good customer service because I didn’t spend enough money with AT&T, but he did not answer.
Jacob actually seemed to get some sort of sadistic enjoyment out of denying every request that I made. In response to my pleas for help, he first claimed that AT&T had no address at all, then said he just didn’t have any address to give me. In response to my repeated requests to speak with someone else, anyone else, whether it was a supervisor or just another rep who would be nice to me, he said variously that there were no supervisors, that the supervisors weren’t there, that there were no other customer service reps in the whole building, that there was nobody else around, and that there is no transfer button on his phone. Jacob treated me like I was a criminal and was lying to him just to get out of paying a $6 bill. He finally said that “the call was over” and I asked him why he didn’t just hang up on me. Jacob said he wasn’t able to hang up on me but still refused to transfer me to someone else. I cannot tell you how much time I wasted speaking to Jacob and was so frustrated that I just put the phone down. I did not hang up; I just put the phone down and walked away. A couple of minutes later, I went back to my phone and said, “Are you still there?” and Jacob responded that he was. I told him I was “just checking” and put the phone down again. Miraculously, another couple of minutes later, I heard the voice of a different man on the phone who asked what I needed. I told him I just wanted an address to write to and he gave me a P.O. Box in El Paso and I thanked him and hung up.
I am appalled at the abysmal way Jacob handled my call and find it completely inexcusable and disgusting that AT&T would have someone of this despicable nature on their “customer service” staff. I know companies such as AT&T monitor phone calls to help improve the quality of customer service that is provided—I hope you have my call recorded so you can hear for yourself how it went. I am not exaggerating how I went in circles with Jacob trying to get a modicum of assistance. In order to get this issue resolved to my satisfaction, I plan on sending my story to the address in El Paso, as well as another AT&T address I found in Dallas. I also plan on writing to the Public Utilities Commission, the Better Business Bureau, both my local newspapers and anyone else that I can think of. I am completely shocked and horrified at the treatment I received at the hands of AT&T, all over the paltry sum of $6.12. If Jacob is any example of the kind of “service” AT&T provides or the type of people AT&T employs, you’ll have lost my family as customers for life.
I only want one thing from AT&T—a refund of $6.12. It would also be nice to receive some sort of apology for the way Jacob treated me and the waste of my time. I await your response.
Sincerely,
Sunshine*
I am so ticked off right now I am actually sputtering. I simply CANNOT believe how this guy treated me! I mean, really…I don’t have the words to say how I feel right now. I sincerely wish there was some way of causing some harm or damage to this Jacob guy, as well as AT&T. Seriously, I want this man’s job…I want to…I dunno, run him through a sausage grinder and feed little Jacob sausages to wolverines. I honestly don’t know the last time I was this angry.
Ok, venting over. Anybody have any suggestions as to what I can do about this? AT&T tells me that there is just absolutely, positively NO WAY a collect call could be charged to us without somebody who answered our phone accepting it. I know it wasn’t me. My husband says it wasn’t him. I did finally find out from another lady at AT&T that the phone number is for a pay phone and that’s why I can’t get anymore info about it. WTF?? I am going to write to those two AT&T addresses, plus send a copy to my local phone company, but I don’t know what else to do. Grrr.
:mad: