AT&T AT&T billing for services not received; incompetent customer "service" Carol Stream, Illinois

My AT&T nightmare began in September, 2010. At that time I subscribed to Comcast for internet and cable, but because I was an AT&T wireless customer, if I bundled services with AT&T I could save myself $30 a month. In spite of warnings from friends regarding their bad experiences with AT&T, I decided to take the plunge and scheduled my installation date. Late that afternoon, nobody had showed, not AT&T, not the direct TV folks. I called Direct TV; they had me down for a different day, even though I had a computer printout showing that installation was scheduled for that day. Then I called AT&T. The rep said that service had already been hooked up at the pole, and she asked me to try my phone to see if it worked. It didn't. She said there was a problem and she could send a tech out to fix it, but it would cost $89. I didn't want to spend $89, and since I'd already wasted a day sitting at home, I wasn't about to waste another day waiting on Direct TV and AT&T. I told her to cancel my service, and she said she'd send me a mailing label for the modem so I could return it. When I asked for the address so I could just run it to the post office the next day, she refused to give it to me.

The mailing label was never received, but AT&T sent me a bill for serviceand also a postcard stating that I'd be billed for the modem since I hadn't returned it. After waiting on hold for about a half hour, I reached a customer service rep who was sympathetic and polite and assured me she'd rectify the situation. Great, I thought, they'll straighten it out. They didn't. The next month, another bill arrived, and again I spent my free time waiting on hold only to reach another rep who said I'd have to speak with the IS department, then transferred me to a non-working number. Multiple calls yielded the same result....everyone was nice and said they could help me and said they'd cancel my non-existent service, but nobody did.

I kept sending my bills back with notes written in a Sharpie: "NO SERVICE. Check your records." A disconnect notice arrived, which wasn't a big deal since there was no service to disconnect - I'd gone back to Comcast back in September for my cable and internet. I wrote a one and a half page letter and sent it to the billing address. No response. Now an ominous-sounding "Final Bill" has arrived that must be paid by 1/28 or they'll send my account to collections. I attempted to use AT&T's live chat feature, but because my situation involved a final bill, I was told I had to call. Great, another 3 days on hold.

I have now filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Hard to believe that a company so big and so well-established has such horrific customer service...but I've done some internet research and it seems that my complaint isn't unusual.