ATT Wireless War - Resolution and Victory

Finally the unending war against AT&T Wireless ended.

The whole time I was having problems I was a pain the ass. I constantly called to report problems on my phone. Towards the end I kept telling whoever I talked to I want all these problems documented. I give them credit, they did.

I gave up and switched to Verizon in September. When I got my final bill from AT&T I decided to contest the early termination fee. What did I have to lose? The worst they could say is no.

I didn't know who to call though. A customer service rep told me only a manager could waive the fee. I already beat my head calling customer service and dealing with them.

The best I could come up with was to call AT&T corporate headquarters in Dallas. I got the switchboard operator and explained my situation. She transferred me to the Office of the President. A lady answered the phone and again I explained everything. She said she'd look into my account. I asked her if she would go back and look at my problems for the last several months and take that into account. She said yes and I should get a reply within 48 hours.

Two hours later at while at the store, my cell phone rang and I didn't recognize the number. Normally I don't answer but I did. It was the lady from AT&T. She told me she looked at my account and saw my problems went back to January of this year. She decided to waive the termination fee.

It was a complete capitulation by AT&T. I finally received a satisfactory resolution to a nightmare of a situation. The service by AT&T reach a point of complete unacceptable levels. Initially it was dropped calls and no service from a piece of garbage Lv-Vu phone. Customer service reps were baffled that I had a strong signal and still had problems. A new phone improved call reception but everything else went downhill. It reached an apex when I missed countless text messages, several voicemails and internet access. No matter what the technical department tried nothing worked. It even reached a point after the gave me a new SIM card and then a new phone that they told me there wasn't anything more they could do for me.

My recommendation to anyone who is considering AT&T is to avoid them at all costs. Their service, not just based on my experience but coworkers and friends too, is unreliable and customer service is nice but support for phones is garbage. That it took a call to headquarters to finally resolve my case is pretty pathetic.