att.com ATT Wireless/ ATT Premier/ Cingular Wireless ATT customer service is horrible and their operations are criminal! Little Rock, Arkansas

ATT Wireless/ ATT Premier/ Cingular Wireless

ATT Wireless, ATT Premier and Cingular Wireless are a corrupt and manipulative company that should be put out of business. The customer service and support for this company is an F. I am being forced to drop my current great plan, so I can add an additional data plan; I also have to now upgrade my phone and service. Apparently, they have found a way to force people to give up good plans (grandfathered plans) to be over-charged and treated like they are a commodity. FYI, I have a 600 minute plan @ $40 a month, so how much money is ATT/ Cingular really losing? And by the way, why not give these loyal and long-standing customers a free plan upgrade rather than punish them because the company decided to make more money from them.

My interactions began when I tried to add a data plan to my Palm Treo 750- keep in mind, this is a great phone and still has most of the features the new smart-phones have. Interestingly, the tech department refused to speak with me because I could not call from a separate phone. What kind of policy, treats people like they are being difficult because they do not own or have a second phone? I will answer- ATT treats their customers like they are an inconvenience, because they cannot afford to own two phones! Yes, ATT sucks!

First Call-I was told the reason why my plan (internet), that I just signed up for and activated, was not working, was because something was wrong; this is how brilliant the customer service representatives are at ATT. Eventually the personal told me, You will have to hang-up, power-down your phone (take battery and SIM Card out) and it should work. I realized this meant I would be forced off the current call, but I went with it and did what she asked. Needless to say, I had to call back.

Second Call- I called back to moron number two who actually went through the exact, yes exact, same script then asked me to hang-up power down and that should work. Remember, at no point did any of these morons walk me through the set-up menu to see if my settings were correct. The whole time I am waiting to do just that, because I was at home, where I do not have internet access, so that is exactly why I was calling for technical support. Also, it is important to note I do not have a land-line phone; my cell is my only form of communication. I then asked the guy to call me back in five minutes, so I can try what he said. Yes, I had to ask him to call me back. Keep in mind, if I hang up and follow his instructions, then I am obligated to run through this stupidity again on call number three. He agreed, but he never called back-In fact later I discovered he put in his notes he called and left a message, which was  LIE; THIS WAS THE FIRST OF MANY, I CAUGHT THIS COMPANY IN. Third call- the third actually got a guy that had some common sense and was proactive. Unfortunately, at this point I was upset and my battery was going to die. All the power downs and phone calls had drained my battery.

Third Call- called and spoke with Virginia Caldwell or something. She was very nice and helpful. Here is the problem, you do not equip these people with the resources, tools and information to solve any problems. After two hours on the phone with her we figured out that ATTs system is the problem and my phone is not capable of streaming media and the email feature I needed. Interestingly, a year ago, when I originally had the data plan on this same phone everything worked fine.

So here I am trying to get a data plan and am being forced to buy a new phone. Here is where the plot really thickens. Unfortunately, I cannot get the free phone or discounted rates because my plan is grandfathered in, and none of the staff, including two supervisors, have the ability to bi-pass this authorization. I have nicely avoided elaborating on how they pit ATT Premier Service against hired Call Center(not ATT or Cingular) and ATT Corporate verses ATT Wireless; If you do not believe me, ask them for their address and phone number see where that conversation goes.

NO ONE IN THIS COMPANY TAKES ANY RESPONSIBILITY!!!

Then it got really murky because I was told I would have to pay hundreds of dollars for the supposed free phone for everyone else.

Here is how it started: I was adding a Data Plan.

Here is how it has ended: I am being told I need to pay for a new phone, I can have the Data plan but it does not work or find a new carrier and service provider. Any sane person would have dropped these idiots long ago. I am in the process changing carriers now. Unfortunately I will be giving up a great plan and over 2000 stored/ credited (roll-over) anytime minutes. This is just criminal.