Given what happened to this blogger today, God forbid any T-Mobile user that winds up in the clutches of AT&T.
There's evidence that AT&T tries to fraudulently push customers into buying their U-Verse television service and it comes in the form of this blogger's experience, which ended - for now - just seven minutes ago.
It started when I called to order AT&T High Speed Internet service on Wednesday of this week (May 11th). The AT&T agent who took my call and set up my order, Chrissy, said that I was in an area "Where they're targeting AT&T U-Verse for service."
I told her that I had (and have) DIRECTV and was happy with it. I didn't want AT&T U-Verse, and asked her not to add it.
After that was done, Chrissy was to call me back at 1:30 PM PST to finalize the order on Thursday. It was to cost $250, including the set up fee. Fine.
But then she never called back at the time she asked for; I wanted 2 PM.
So, wanting a faster Internet service set up ASAP, I called today, this afternoon, to learn what happened to the call back I was expecting and to get the order done.
I end up talking to an AT&T agent named "Rosalind." This was at 6:45 PM, or about less than an hour ago from now. She was asking questions as if she was about to do the order all over again; I asked her not to do that, and said "Just look at your notes. It's all there."
Rosalind said she found the account information and my order. She then, in claiming she wanted to make sure I got the right price, asked me what connection I wanted. I told her "it's all there." She said "I'm just making sure that you get the right price."
So, she set up a price that was $315 but with me paying $100. That didn't seem correct compared to what I had originally ordered, but thinking that I may have forgot something, went ahead with the order.
Remember that I never said I wanted AT&T U-Verse. I have DIRECTV and like it. I just need high-speed Internet service.
So, I copy my account number down and store it. Then, an email pops up informing me that I ordered, you guessed it, AT&T U-Verse.
I hit the ceiling.
So, I immediately called back and got some AT&T agent who acted like he didn't understand what I was saying. So, rather than waste time with him, I asked for his supervisor.
The supervisor, named "Darby" and with the employee number NR8576 (or so he says), said that "You'll have to call cancellation department, but they're closed as it's past business hours."
I asked why Rosalind could take up the issue of completing my account and taking my money, but he could not change the order? He said there was nothing he could do.
I don't believe it.
He did offer the customer service number, and of course, the recording said it was closed. Personally, it's a total shame the local governments don't allow more Internet service provider competition so the choices are broader than AT&T and Comcast. In fact, the current environment should be illegal.
But what is illegal, is the bait-and-switch tactic that AT&T is employing.
But apparently, both AT&T and DIRECTV are practicing such an activity according to the quick Google search I conducted. Looking up "u-verse, directv, bait and switch," I found a slew of results, but of the list on the first page, the majority (6 of 10) were against AT&T, and for a pricing practice that causes U-verse customers to be charged for more than what was printed on their plan statement.
Regardless of the way the bait-and-switch happens, it's not right. It's a practice that must stop.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson must place this at the top of his agenda, even over his visit to Capital Hill in Washington, this week.
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