My troubles with AT&T crossed a span of over a year. While the problem, ultimately, is my own fault for choosing that company to begin with, 100% of the problems that followed were caused by one little typing error when they created my account.
It was January of 2010, and I had just become the proud renter of my first apartment. Because AT&T offered the best deal for internet at the time, they were the ones I chose. I went into the store, gave them the address, and got all set up for my internet a week later. It didn’t come.
When I finally called in, I learned that whoever had put in my address had forgotten to include my apartment number, so the account was never activated (note that the never activated thing should be very important here). And because AT&T can’t actually change an address on an account, the woman had to delete the never activated account and create a new one. No charge to myself since it wasn’t my fault and within a couple days I had my internet.
My first problem came when in February I received my bill for my current account. It had the wrong last name on the mailing address. Thankfully the first name was correct, along with the actual billing information. A phone call in got this name issue fixed. Of course, then there was a bill for the incorrect-and-never-activated-and-also-deleted account. Half hour phone call later, and my bill had been ‘paid in full’ and the account deleted. Again. I mail in my $100 rebate (which I had been assured would work fine despite the change in accounts), and my world was happy.
March: No word on the rebate, I call in and they inform me they’d not received it. Thankfully I’m smart enough to keep copies of everything, so I follow instructions and mail it in again. My current account had my correct name listed BELOW the incorrect name, and I also receive a bill for the twice-deleted-and-never-activated account. I call in, again, and have the bill ‘paid in full’ and the account deleted for the third time while also getting my name fixed, again, on my real account.
April and May: No bill this month from my thrice-deleted-and-never-activated account, so that made me happy. Unfortunately, my rebate never went through. Again. And the wrong name was still on my mailing address.
June: I am finally connected with an AT&T woman who knows the system, and I learn that due to the account error at the beginning, I can’t get the $100 rebate without having an AT&T person in the store I got it from call AT&T and reverify that I do deserve it. Also, their computer system has a monthly reset button which means no matter how many people ‘fix’ my address each month, it will always revert back to the original (hense why that original account had to be scrapped). I go into the store, and some poor lady there spent 45 minutes arguing with various AT&T people before finally getting me my rebate. My world seems to be as happy and settled as possible.
March 2011: I get a phone call from a bill collector saying I owe almost $200 from the thrice-deleted-and-never-activated account. It seems they hadn’t done enough damage to my sanity the previous year, so now they’re going after my credit and finances after I have a full time job (which means no chance of calling them during their business hours). I go to the AT&T store, and an AMAZING worker there takes up the challenge of fixing this problem.
April: The amazing S. is still arguing with the company to fix the problem.
May: The amazing S. finally got my account deleted by the RIGHT people. But it took another week of goading to get the bill collector’s ‘paid in full’. My year and a half long hassle with AT&T is now ended, and to celebrate I bought the amazing S. cookies.
All of the above troubles, ALL of it, caused by the absence of an apartment number on my address back in the very beginning. Amazing what one little mistake can snowball into.
Why Correct Data Entry is So Important
My troubles with AT&T crossed a span of over a year. While the problem, ultimately, is my own fault for choosing that company to begin with, 100% of the problems that followed were caused by one little typing error when they created my account.
It was January of 2010, and I had just become the proud renter of my first apartment. Because AT&T offered the best deal for internet at the time, they were the ones I chose. I went into the store, gave them the address, and got all set up for my internet a week later. It didn’t come.
When I finally called in, I learned that whoever had put in my address had forgotten to include my apartment number, so the account was never activated (note that the never activated thing should be very important here). And because AT&T can’t actually change an address on an account, the woman had to delete the never activated account and create a new one. No charge to myself since it wasn’t my fault and within a couple days I had my internet.
My first problem came when in February I received my bill for my current account. It had the wrong last name on the mailing address. Thankfully the first name was correct, along with the actual billing information. A phone call in got this name issue fixed. Of course, then there was a bill for the incorrect-and-never-activated-and-also-deleted account. Half hour phone call later, and my bill had been ‘paid in full’ and the account deleted. Again. I mail in my $100 rebate (which I had been assured would work fine despite the change in accounts), and my world was happy.
March: No word on the rebate, I call in and they inform me they’d not received it. Thankfully I’m smart enough to keep copies of everything, so I follow instructions and mail it in again. My current account had my correct name listed BELOW the incorrect name, and I also receive a bill for the twice-deleted-and-never-activated account. I call in, again, and have the bill ‘paid in full’ and the account deleted for the third time while also getting my name fixed, again, on my real account.
April and May: No bill this month from my thrice-deleted-and-never-activated account, so that made me happy. Unfortunately, my rebate never went through. Again. And the wrong name was still on my mailing address.
June: I am finally connected with an AT&T woman who knows the system, and I learn that due to the account error at the beginning, I can’t get the $100 rebate without having an AT&T person in the store I got it from call AT&T and reverify that I do deserve it. Also, their computer system has a monthly reset button which means no matter how many people ‘fix’ my address each month, it will always revert back to the original (hense why that original account had to be scrapped). I go into the store, and some poor lady there spent 45 minutes arguing with various AT&T people before finally getting me my rebate. My world seems to be as happy and settled as possible.
March 2011: I get a phone call from a bill collector saying I owe almost $200 from the thrice-deleted-and-never-activated account. It seems they hadn’t done enough damage to my sanity the previous year, so now they’re going after my credit and finances after I have a full time job (which means no chance of calling them during their business hours). I go to the AT&T store, and an AMAZING worker there takes up the challenge of fixing this problem.
April: The amazing S. is still arguing with the company to fix the problem.
May: The amazing S. finally got my account deleted by the RIGHT people. But it took another week of goading to get the bill collector’s ‘paid in full’. My year and a half long hassle with AT&T is now ended, and to celebrate I bought the amazing S. cookies.
All of the above troubles, ALL of it, caused by the absence of an apartment number on my address back in the very beginning. Amazing what one little mistake can snowball into.
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