My Troubles With AT&T: Update May 24, 2018

After three different AT&T employees, on two different days, assured me that my service would not be interrupted until May 31st or June 1st, while the problem of the bill was being solved, today I woke to find my service had been shut off. But after a couple of calls, involving a total of seven AT&T people, it seems that the problem may be at an end. As you'll recall, I had been promised that two bills would be reduced to $0 because of the poor service. But Patrick, the man who made the promise (on March 12th), failed to follow through, and also failed to document the call. So I've been fighting for what I was promised ever since.

Here is the latest (and I hope final) installment in "My Troubles With AT&T":

May 21, 2018 (continued)

• At 4:53 p.m., I got the mail, including a notice that my service will be shut off on the 23rd. The last I was told was that nothing would happen until May 31st. Can no one get anything right?
• At 4:54 p.m., I once again called AT&T and was put on hold.
• At 5:03 p.m., Scarlet (badge number VHRKVD6) answered and said she couldn’t hold the account any longer. She said the dispute was settled on the 15th, a lie. Then she asked me to watch my language, because I was like “Fuck me sideways.” I apologized for my tone, but seriously fuck me sideways.
• At 5:13 p.m., she told me she couldn’t do anything, and transferred me to customer service and told me to request an escalation. Well, that’s what happened last time. I was put on hold again.
• At 5:14 p.m., Alexander (badge number XL242D) answered. He told me I’m all set, that my services will not be shut off until June 1st, but that I should be hearing from them before then with the resolution to my problem regarding the bill.
• At 5:27 p.m., the call ended.

May 22, 2018

• At 4:29 a.m., when I turned on my computer, my server wasn’t connected. It only took a moment to connect, but this is how the trouble has started in the past.

May 23, 2018

• At 6:56 a.m., AT&T responded to a comment I had left on the company’s Twitter page. This was the response: “Hello Michael! We are here for you. If you don't mind could you please shoot us a DM with more details regarding your service concern along with your account number for further assistance. We are eagerly standing by. Thanks! ^RazR”
• At 9:39 a.m., when I saw this response, I in turn responded: “I don't believe you. I've gotten that same message from AT&T multiple times. Then I explain the problem. And then, nothing. Just nothing. My messages get ignored and so on. I need to talk to someone in charge.”
• At 9:45 a.m., AT&T again responded: “We would love the opportunity to change your opinion about us! May you please send us a DM with more details of the issue and provide us with your account information as well? Let's get this going for you! ^JalG” (Once again, notice that it is a different name each time – RazR and JalG.)
• At 9:47 a.m., I responded: “I sent ATTCares a message via Twitter two days ago, actually, with a link to my blog detailing the latest in this ongoing problem. Did you not read that message?”
• I then sent them the link to my latest update on the blog again. No response.
• At 11:10 a.m., I got another automated call from AT&T asking me to call the company’s 1-800 number to discuss my bill. Bloody hell, that’s all I have been doing. I’ve called that number so many times in the past few months. Now I demand that an actual person from that company call me.

May 24, 2018

• When I woke up, I discovered that my phone and internet service had been shut off. Yup. Even though both Kelly and Cheryl promised (on May 1st) that my service wouldn’t be interrupted until May 31st, and Alexander (badge number XL242D) promised me (just three days ago) that my services would not be interrupted until June 1st (and that the problem would certainly be solved before then), my services were shut off. Incredible.
• At 10:19 a.m., I called AT&T using my cell phone, and of course was put on hold before reaching a real person.
• At 10:20 a.m., Marie (badge number KS338R) answered. I asked to speak with the head of customer service and explained only that my services were shut off after I was promised that nothing would happen until June 1st. I didn’t get into the specifics of the whole problem, though I did give her Alexander’s badge number. She said she would speak with her supervisor, and put me on hold.
• At 10:28 a.m., she got back on to tell me that the head of customer service would be calling me back on my cell phone. I asked if it was possible to get this person on the phone now, as no one has ever called me back during this entire thing. Marie was surprised by that, and was so sweet, and said she’d try to get him on the line now for me.
• At 10:30 a.m., she got back on the line to tell me that she tried to reach him, but he was on another call. She promised me he would call me back in ten to twenty minutes. I told her I would try to remain optimistic.
• At 10:50 a.m., he had not yet called, making me wonder if he really would.
• At 11:06 a.m., my optimism began waning. Why can no one at AT&T help me? I tried to remain calm, but I didn’t want to spend yet another day dealing with this problem. I had stuff to do. Of course, most of those things required that I be online.
• At 11:15 a.m., I was getting depressed. Ten to twenty minutes had now stretched to forty-five. At what point do I call again, and start over? And is there even a point to any of this? I was beginning to doubt that anyone at AT&T was even willing to help me, never mind capable.
• More than an hour passed since Marie promised I would be hearing from the supervisor within twenty minutes. Did he get the message? Did his phone call run long? Is he at lunch? Have I been forgotten once again? I wish Marie would call me back to let me know. That would have been nice.
• At 11:43 a.m., I was almost certain that no one would be calling me.
• At 11:44 a.m., I called again. Depressed and angry.
• At 11:46 a.m., Jake (employee number JP250M) answered. I told him I needed to speak to the head of customer service. He put me on hold to find out who was available.
• At 11:50 a.m., Ron (employee number RC100R)  answered. I briefly told him the story. He said he needed a couple of minutes to read over the report. He then told me he couldn’t make the adjustments that were promised. I told him my bill would have to be $0 for me to stay with AT&T. He saw in the record that my services should not be interrupted until May 31st. (I guess Alexander didn’t follow through on his promise to adjust that to June 1 to accommodate my work schedule.)
• At 12:03 p.m., he put me on hold to check something, not sure what exactly.
• At 12:05 p.m., he got back on to tell me he was reaching out to someone from collections, and put me on hold again. This time, with music.
• At 12:06 p.m., I heard a ringing. And an automated voice told me my approximate wait time was seven minutes, and more music played. So I guess he transferred me to someone. Would I have to tell the story once again? And did this mean Ron wouldn’t help me any further?
• At 12:15 p.m., Mike in accounts receivable (employee number MD1415) answered. I briefly told him the delightful story. He pulled up the account and read some of the notations.
• At 12:22 p.m., he told me he saw the note about the guy calling me back within 10 to 20 minutes, and said he was going to try to get that guy on the line for me, because he was the one who could help.
• At 12:24 p.m., I heard ringing again, and was placed on hold. I’d been transferred again. John (employee number JO608H) answered. I told him the story. He said the only person today who put any note in my record today is Jake.
• At 12:37 p.m., he told me he’d restore my services, and that nothing would happen until the end of the month. I’d heard that before, but was still hopeful. I told John that basically there are many people at AT&T who are not doing their jobs. I mean, this would never have been an issue at all if Patrick had simply done what he promised, or at least noted the promise in my record. He did neither. And of all the people I’ve spoken with today, only one made a note in my record. So who knows how much of the actual story is in even in the record for John to read? My guess is that 20% of it is in there, and that’s an optimistic and kind estimate.
• John put me on hold, while he was restoring my service. And I realized this second call (which I placed at 11:44 a.m.) was now nearly an hour long.
• At 12:44 p.m., we hit the one-hour mark in the call, and I was still on hold.
• At 12:45 p.m., I got a call on my home phone. So is my service working? Or maybe I still can’t call out? I figured it was AT&T testing the line, and I answered, but the woman on the other end asked me if I speak Spanish. “Yes,” I said. “Is this AT&T?” The woman replied, “No.” So I told her I needed to go.
• Though still on hold, at 12:47 p.m., I placed a call using my home phone. And it worked. So, hurrah, John followed through.
• At 12:49 p.m., he got back on to tell me that my services had been restored. Regarding the bill, he said he was escalating the matter to the head of customer services so that the problem would be resolved. As far as I recall, this is the third (maybe fourth) time I’ve been told the issue was being escalated.
• At 12:53 p.m., I heard a ringing again. Gina (employee number GBW9BY9) answered. As I started to tell her the problem, she interrupted to tell me that I’d been connected to the wrong department. Oh boy. She was from the wireless, cell phone department. I asked her to transfer me back to John, but she told me she was unable to do that. So I asked her to transfer me to the head of customer services. “I can’t make any promises,” she told me. Hey, there is some honesty! And I was put on hold again.
• At 1:03 p.m. Peggy (employee number PW4247) in Atlanta answered. I told her the story. She put me on hold to see if a supervisor could make the necessaryadjustment to the bill. She came back after a few minutes to say it would be a little longer. I was calm and suddenly optimistic. Could this be the person who finally solves the issue?
• At 1:18 p.m., she came back on the line and said that her manager will take care of it, but that it might take a little while, and I needed to be placed on hold again. Peggy was so nice, and now I was certainly optimistic that the problem was going to be resolved.
• Peggy came back on to say her supervisor gave the adjustment the okay, and that all that was left to do was get the okay from the manager who had already left for the day. So tomorrow morning it should happen first thing. Hurrah!
• At 1:26 p.m., the call ended. And I then listened to Grateful Dead’s “Peggy O” in honor of the person who finally solved the problem. And then I listened to “Uncle John’s Band” in honor of the person who had my services restored.

What do you think, folks? Could this be the end of the story?