Tutor
•
7 Messages
AT&T - Con Artist that don't honor BOGO iPhone 7 deals
The jouney that I've gone through regarding this BOGO deal spans five months.
When I first called in to AT&T, I was going to cancel my service and swith to Sprint. I had already gone to the Sprint store and they offered me some good deals that I did not want to pass up. However, being a reasonable person, I decided that I needed to weigh my options and check which service was actually cheaper for myself and my family. Ultimately, Sprint was a better deal. On July 28th, 2017, I called AT&T to cancel my service and spoke with a kind lady. She told me about the BOGO iPhone 7 deal that was going on at the time. I had to upgrade one line (buy one), and open up a new line under my account (get one) and also had to have DIRECTV. I told her that my AT&T account billing was at my parents' house because all my bills go there and a friend who was renting a room at our house is paying for DIRECTV. She explained that is fine, as long as I change my AT&T billing address to the same address as the address that has DIRECTV. Ok, cool. I had to thinkn about it so I told her that I would call back a few days later to think about the options that I had in front of me. After the call, I received a post-call email:
Thank you for allowing me to assist you today. As discussed you will receive a $25 refund for the update fee on the line and a waived activate fee if you add. We also are offering $100 off the upgrades phone the free iphone would be the added line. Free priority shipping and a free case with each device and you now have 20GB of data for the cost of the 15GB plan. Just update your address to match the address on the Directv account to get the free phone and can be viewed on your phone at http://www.att.com/myattapp.
It was a pretty sweet deal, so I called AT&T Loyalty department back to move forward. I asked the new rep about the DIRECTV account being under my roommate's name and not mine and if I would still receive the credits if the addresses match. He assured me that I would after 2-3 billing cycles and I shouldn't have any problems at all and if I did, call them back. After about an hour, the rep placed my orders for the two phones and the free cases. There were shipping issues because I wanted the phones shipped to my old billing address (I had switch my billing to my actual home address at this point), but that's besides the point I'm trying to make.
My father and sister are under my account as well and they also wanted new phones. I called Loyalty department back and placed the same orders. They also offered free cases, so I went along with it. Same procedure here - reaffirmed that given the DirecTV and AT&T account are under different names, same billing address, I would still get the credit. Rep again offers reassurance that the credits will kick in after 2-3 billing cycles. Shipping issues again, but all that is later resolved.
When the 3rd billing cycle came, I saw that the credits were not there. I called and the rep filed a claim for me. When I called the Loyalty department the next week to check the status of it, they told me that the rep who filed the claim filed it under the wrong department, so the claim was denied. (AT&T has a real bad habit of not informing their customers of the progress of anything. Thanks for keeping me in the dark...) Speaking with the Loyalty rep, she sees that I have one eligible installment that should be credited monthly. Wrong! I placed two orders under the BOGO promotion. I paid off one of the buy one lines a month after I had placed it. My account was screwed up at this point. The rep couldn't even correlate which line is old and which line is new. It's in my bill -- apparently they have another system that tracks this stuff and me paying off one of my buy one installments called their system to fail integrity. After speaking with the rep, she told me she would pass the information onto her supervisor and the supervisor would contact me if they had any questions. They never did, so I assumed things went smoothly.
Boy was I wrong to trust that they pushed the case forward. I waited until the next billing cycle (today) and noticed that I'm still being charged for the installment plans for the two "get one" lines. I call Loyalty department again and this time, it's a different story. A straight shutdown in my case. They flipped the script and told me that I'm not eligible and that my case is invalid. The rep got all my information down, I explained to her what happened. She told me after our pleasant conversation that she would bring all this information to her supervisor and he would file an ICU case for me. She gets back to me and tells me that since the account holders for the DIRECTV and AT&T services are different, the case would be invalid and they can't push the case to ICU. At least push it to them and have them take a deep dive before telling me no, firewalling me from getting my case through.
To recap: The Loyalty department offered me this **bleep** deal to retain me as a customer. Several reps have told me that I will be elegible. I take the bait - twice. After 3-4 months, no credits. I call the Loyalty department again and they turn around and tell me that the deal they were hardselling to me is now invalid. Don't offer a deal if you can't honor it.
Buyers beware - if you want to cancel your service, cancel your service. Don't allow this department to lie to you. You'll end up like me and have to pay a high price for it.
[Edited due to word filter avoidance.]
bletts
Tutor
•
7 Messages
6 years ago
Another update - still no resolution in sight...
So I've pieced together what I think transpired. I'll try to summarize below.
1. On 9/15/2017 I called AT&T and spoke to Jennifer. I asked if I could take advantage of the BOGO on the iphone 7. I was told yes, since I was also a Direct TV subscriber - but the catch was that I had to add a new line to qualify. I agreed to do that and placed my order. Its been months now, but I think I got an email asking me to acknowledge the terms and conditions for the free phone. I accepted those immediately.
2. On 9/18/2017 I recieved only one phone in the mail - the one for the new line... confused, I immediately called AT&T to explain that I should have gotten two phones. They were apologetic, and said they would take care of the issue. I don't recall, but I believe they sent me another terms and conitions email at that time. I accepted and the second phone arrived 2 days later.
3. Now 5 months later I am still being billed for both phones. After many calls - I keep being told that I really didn't qualify, because the "upgrade" was entered and acknowledged after the offer expired.
I agree that, if you just look at the dates, it appears that I didnt qualify. My beef is that I verbally agreed to do the upgrade before the offer expired. It was because Jennifer did not properly enter my upgrade on 9/15 that I now dont qualify. Nobody told me when aI called back on 9/18 that the second phone would no longer be free.
I still feel that I am paying for a phone that I would not have purchased, had they not have made a clerical mistake on entering my order.
0
0
formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
•
110.8K Messages
6 years ago
@bletts
Both phones and the new line had to be added during the promotion, no later than 9/15. It seems more likely the second phone and line were processed after the promotion ended.
0
0
Gary L
ACE - Expert
•
16.4K Messages
6 years ago
I find it highly unlikely that you'll get another credit automatically every 5 months.
I think you'll have to call and fight for the rest of this.
I'd be VERY happy to be incorrect, but I've never heard of such a thing.
0
0
bletts
Tutor
•
7 Messages
6 years ago
Yes - that is what they are also telling me. I just dont understand why it is somehow my fault that their employee did not completely enter both parts of my order. From my perspective, the entire transactoin was requested on the same phone call. How was I to know that only 1/2 of the reqiest was entered correctly? And why did they not explain that the 2nd phone would no longer be free when I initially called to ask why I only got one phone on 9/18?
I've asked them to pull the phone record from my call on 9/15. It should be very clear to them that I requested (and qualified for) the BOGO. The manager of the person that took my order is supposed to call me back in 48-72 hours. Now lets see if they ever call me... 😞
0
0
Gary L
ACE - Expert
•
16.4K Messages
6 years ago
By logging in and checking. Because you don't' have a receipt to check, you need to check somehow.
I always make it clear that I'll be checking online before I hang up (and I do check, why wait until later?)
They don't like to be the bearer of bad news and get yelled at or ranked poorly for that call.
From reading the forums, the odds are slim...
0
0
bletts
Tutor
•
7 Messages
6 years ago
Most likely this will be an expensive lesson. It is the first (and will also be the last) time I ordered online from AT&T. I had no idea that a reputable company would treat customers this way. I'll be going old school and dealing with a brick/mortar store in the future. That way I will know what I walked out of the store with... I'd suggest the same to others.
0
0
Gary L
ACE - Expert
•
16.4K Messages
6 years ago
On-line or on the phone?
You still need to make sure you qualify for the offer. A mistake by a human is a mistake no matter how it is made (in person or on the phone).
Read the offer. Print off a copy. Check your account to make sure all the steps are me.
0
0
formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
•
110.8K Messages
6 years ago
@bletts
I keep writing this, and it applies to all carriers: These BOGO and sale offers aren’t to save us money. They are to steal customers, add business and make a profit off us.
In the end if you paid retail price, you did not get ripped off, you just missed out on a deal that many are not eligible for.
I don’t see these BOGO offers as a good deal. Your stuck with the carrier for the duration or you lose out on credits.
I pay for service only. I just preordered the Samsung GS9 from Best Buy with trade in GS7 I’m paying $389 for the phone. No credits, they are putting me on Installments for $389. I will pay a month or two, then pay off and unlock my new phone and continue paying service only,
0
0
bletts
Tutor
•
7 Messages
6 years ago
I was told I did qualify when I placed my order. I felt it was not my fault that the order process I requested was not completed by AT&T before the offer expired. And the good news is that someone at AT&T must finally agree. Even though nobody called me to explain why, I now have 7 months of phone payments credited to my next bill!
I'm happy about the credits (obviously) but thier customer service still needs much improvement. It took me talking to 8 people - half of which told me I would get a return call. Never once did they call me. The funny thing is that my final call was to understand the penalties I would incur if I decided to stick to my principles and cancel my service. The lady I spoke to at that time surprised me by telling me my payments appeared to alread have been credited.
Good luck to others that may struggle with thier experience. Stay vigilent if you truly believe you are being treated unfairly. Luckily, in my case it paid off.
0
0
Gary L
ACE - Expert
•
16.4K Messages
6 years ago
I'm curious if they start coming every month automatically. Please come let us know!
0
0