AT&T AT&T - blatant lies, indifferent customer service reps, and zero ethics. Dallas, Texas

My ordealstarted the first week of July. I was moving into a new apartment and exploring my options for internet service. I have been an AT&T cell phone user for almost 10 years, so I decided I would give them a call to inquire about high-speed internet service.

Initially, AT&T's offer seemed to be a decent deal, so I told the sales agent that I was interested. She went over some of the terms with me, then collected some information (Address, SS#, Etc.), and asked about a start date.

So, I gave her the date that would best suit my schedule. However, after we established this, she disclosed some, "additional" terms. One of which, was the fact that I would owe a relatively substantial amount if I decided to cancel the service within 2 years. Upon hearing this, I informed the sales representative that I was no longer interested in the service. She
accepted this, and told me that the sale had been canceled.

About 2 weeks later, I receive a phone call from a, "technician" stating that he is here to set up my new internet service. I informed him that this must be some sort of mistake, and after hearing that, he agreed, and I thought that all was well. The very next day, I receive an internet modem, along with set-up instructions. This, of course, was very disconcerting. I
called AT&T immediately, and the representative said that they saw that my service had been canceled and informed me that the only action that I needed to take, was to return the modem. So, my wife took the modem to UPS (No packing
label was enclosed) and returned it to the address listed on the package.

Much to my dismay, the following month, I received a bill from AT&T for $100.20. Charges were for internet service, installation, and equipment. I immediately called AT&T, and the "customer service" representative that I spoke with seemed confused at the fact that I never wanted the service. I informed her that I initially told the sales rep that I did not want the service at the end of my inquiry and that this bill is some sort of mistake. She basically proceeded to tell me that there was nothing that she could do, and I had to pay the bill. I immediately requested a supervisor, and her response was, "My supervisor is busy, they will have to call you later." Attempting to keep my cool, I said, "Okay that will be fine." Then after asking for her name and contact information, I was magically disconnected. I called back, and was connected to a different rep. I told him the situation, he told me to ignore the bill, and that I would have a statement crediting me for the full amount the next month. Again, I said that I would still like to speak with a manager, and he gave me the, "Okay, they will call you in 2-3 business days speech." Then I asked for his name and contact information, he gave me his first name, and told me that there is no way to contact specific reps. I never received a phone call from a supervisor, and if I did, I did not answer the phone due to not recognizing the incoming phone number. No message, or contact information was provided.

The next month... I received the same bill, this time saying that the amount was now over due. Once again, I contacted customer service. This time, I was directed to billing. The AT&T rep there told me that I had not returned the modem. In response to this, I gave them the UPS tracking number that I received upon returning the modem. After that, I was put on hold for 3-5 minutes, and the rep came back on and informed me that I would be credited for the modem, but not the connection fees and the service. I asked, "Why not?" and she responded by saying that because, I gave the sales rep my ss#, I legally consented to the transaction. Also, if I wanted to cancel service with no charge, I had to do it within 3 business days, otherwise, I would receive a bill, like I had. I responded by telling the rep that, even if I had given my ss#, that it wasn't a consent to service, and even if it was, at the end of the initial sales call, I had told the sales rep that I no longer wanted the
service, thus, negating any sort of consent. I also informed the rep, that even if giving my SS# was indeed consent to service, by saying that I no longer wanted the service at the end of the call, I would be well within the "3-Day" limit for service cancellation. I then asked if the sales calls were recorded, and she informed me that they were not, however,
supervisors listen to the calls, and they had not "heard" me say that I did not want the service (This, of course, is an impossibility, since I did tell the sales rep that I was no longer interested in the service). Then, the tech rep, with whom I was speaking, told me that she agreed with my interpretation of "what constitutes a transaction." She informed me that she was just a tech rep, and that she could not help me further, but should contact customer service, and they could potentially help my cause.

Since I had basically been called a liar by whatever manager supposedly, "listened" to the initial sales call, I again, asked to be called by a supervisor. She said okay (Supervisor never called... again) then transferred me to a billing rep, who supposedly could help me. This rep said that, after my credit for the modem, she would credit the rest of the account. I thanked the agent and asked, "So now this account is clear, I now owe NO money."

She responded, "Yes Sir, please wait 1 billing cycle to receive the credit."

The next month, I received the same bill... with no credit. Weary of what the rep had told me about the credit taking up to 2 billing cycles, I ignored the bill. The following month, I received ANOTHER bill, no credit applied. I called, and again, spoke with AT&T customer service. This representative informed me that the credits were in the system, and that I had to wait for the next bill to see them. Again, I asked if these credits absolved me of having to pay any money. He said "yes sir."

I was thinking that this had been solved, until today. I received yet ANOTHER bill. This time, for $25.20. I had only been given a credit for $19.95 worth of internet service, and $55.05 for what I am assuming, is the remaining balance
of the modem, which was $75. Since the initial bill was for $100.20, I was NOT credited the remaining balance as stated by BOTH customer service reps that i had spoken with. I will be contacting AT&T again tomorrow... and more than
likely, will be met with more lies, and indifference.

After this, my wife and I will never use any service provided by AT&T again The practices used by their sales staff and sales managers is clearly unethical, and the company appears to have no desire to rectify this issue. I only hope that other people do not fall victim to this atrocious abomination of a company.