AT&T can fuck off, Episode 4597

[Francisco 2.0 32,389]

Not for me personally, but for a family member.

Aunt, 89 years old, was placed in assistive care earlier this month.  My sister has power of attorney for her.  Aunt has no children or spouse.

My sister found through aunt's banking and bills and whatnot that she has been paying AT&T around $235 a month for the past two years for internet, Directv and her land line.  Her cell is through another carrier, no issues there.

She has no computer, no smart phone, no wireless, no land line (or at least no phone in the house that would require a land line).  In other words, for the past two years, she has handed over $5000 for services she does not use.

Sister has tried to get AT&T to cancel all the services, but AT&T refuses to, even with power of attorney, because aunt or my sister has no idea what her 4 digit pin code is.  

Sister left AT&T corporate store earlier today saying there would be no more payments to AT&T.  The person advised her against it, because "it could mess up her credit".  To which my sister stated at 89 and in her condition, I don't really think credit is something she is going to worry about. They even gave her some bullshit that POA law changed in 2018 so they couldn't help her at all.

So, anyone else ever came across this?  I googled for a while, and apparently, this has been a real thing for years now from coast to coast.  AT&T will not recognize a POA, or just will bounce you from person to person to department to whoever endlessly, each saying that they cannot take care of this, but the next person will.

Thanks all.

[texas08 1,599]

Fuck that, end any auto pays and don’t pay shit.

Get a new landline.

[Knoxtnhorn 5,975]

I'd go to a corporate site in person, stand in front of a counter, and start guessing the 4-digit PIN - starting with 0001.

[Lobwedgephil 1,139]

At&t should be able to verify without the pin, lots of different ways, have done it many times. I would try another agent, but I would also stop payment to them, who cares about her credit at this point. 

[Updawg 2,266]

They suck almost as bad as txtag

[PilotsError 2,287]

Why wasnt the first action to not immediately stop payment?

 

 

[Iceman 2,704]

4 hours ago, PilotsError said:

Why wasnt the first action to not immediately stop payment?

 

 

Credit scares...um...scores matter...

[Francisco 2.0 32,389]

6 hours ago, PilotsError said:

Why wasnt the first action to not immediately stop payment?

 

 

All of this came to light in the past month, and sister just received the POAlast week.

Refusing to pay isn't that big a deal, but sister wanted to at least cancel the service first, plus pay out any outstanding bills.  You know, like civilized folk would.  But armed with Power of Attorney, isn't good enough for ATT.

Also, this is the second store she went to.   The first wasn't a corporate store, so the folks there referred her to a corporate store where they could easily handle a situation like this.  Turns out, the corporate store would not help at all, and in fact, got combative about the deal.

It's one thing to go back and complain about the actions of a sales agent a few years ago in selling services to an elderly customer who does not need these things, and then putting them on the hook for over two years of services they will never use.  That's water under the bridge as far as we are concerned.  We just wanted to close out her ATT accounts.  Turns out, that's apparently an impossibility even with Power of Attorney.

 

 

[TwiceHorn 31,457]

One thing that might be fun is to sue them in small claims court for fraud.  The reaction you get from Fortune 500 types can be amusing, and sometimes the reaction is nothing at all.  Then you get a judgment.  Problem is you have to have an attorney.

Buddy of mine sued Amex over something shitty they were doing, they didn't answer.  He took a $5,000 default and sent sheriffs to an Amex Travel Services store at the Galleria (Dallas) to execute.  That got their attention.

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

Taking advantage of older people is a telecom tradition.  My 71-yo MIL was paying Comcast $300 for cable and slow as shit internet.  Basic cable plus HBO on and old package, with huge extra charges so she could get HD downsampled to her old SD TVs (2 13” tube TVs from the early 90s).  They also kept her on the 5mbps  plan and even though it didn’t exist anymore, and charged her $100/mo for that privilege.

No one told her they were charging her extra to make the system work with her TV or that a much faster internet plan was available for less.  Or that she could just buy new TVs.

When we canceled all of it, the local office refused to take the boxes and old modem  back because they were “old and useless.”  Then a month later they tried to charge her over $500 for non returned equipment.

 

[BearSchlong 8,088]

Take to social media, there is usually a troubleshooter or "executive escalations" department who monitor that medium.  They wield more authority and can cut through corporate bullshit.

Also, if you have her invoice the PIN may be somewhere on that document, defeats the purpose of a "secret PIN" but Spectrum has it right under the account number on their invoices, at least on the business side.

If I were you I'd go scorched earth on @ATT and also @ATThelp on twitter.  You will get a pm.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,905]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

One thing that might be fun is to sue them in small claims court for fraud.  The reaction you get from Fortune 500 types can be amusing, and sometimes the reaction is nothing at all.  Then you get a judgment.  Problem is you have to have an attorney.

Buddy of mine sued Amex over something shitty they were doing, they didn't answer.  He took a $5,000 default and sent sheriffs to an Amex Travel Services store at the Galleria (Dallas) to execute.  That got their attention.

This is what i'd do.  I love small claims court and you don't need an attorney.  I'm 3-0 in small claims court representing myself.

[Lobwedgephil 1,139]

2 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

All of this came to light in the past month, and sister just received the POAlast week.

Refusing to pay isn't that big a deal, but sister wanted to at least cancel the service first, plus pay out any outstanding bills.  You know, like civilized folk would.  But armed with Power of Attorney, isn't good enough for ATT.

Also, this is the second store she went to.   The first wasn't a corporate store, so the folks there referred her to a corporate store where they could easily handle a situation like this.  Turns out, the corporate store would not help at all, and in fact, got combative about the deal.

It's one thing to go back and complain about the actions of a sales agent a few years ago in selling services to an elderly customer who does not need these things, and then putting them on the hook for over two years of services they will never use.  That's water under the bridge as far as we are concerned.  We just wanted to close out her ATT accounts.  Turns out, that's apparently an impossibility even with Power of Attorney.

 

 

I would try a phone call and not a store. 

[destroya 377]

Call your aunt’s State Rep. or State Senator. They’ll call ATT’s govt relations who will have a higher level customer service rep who can handle this.

[Francisco 2.0 32,389]

1 hour ago, Lobwedgephil said:

I would try a phone call and not a store. 

Oh, that was tried as well.  Paraphrasing:  "You need to visit a ATT corporate store to verify the Power of Attorney agreement"

 

 

[Quagmire 2,147]

Oh, that was tried as well.  Paraphrasing:  "You need to visit a ATT corporate store to verify the Power of Attorney agreement"
 
 

Can’t sister just call and pretend to be her ?

[Francisco 2.0 32,389]

15 minutes ago, Quagmire said:

Can’t sister just call and pretend to be her ?

Sure.  Then they ask for the PIN.  Tried this.

AT&T considers a PIN far more valuable than anything on this planet.  Seriously, before sister had full POA, she called aunt's credit cards, pretended to be her, and with some cursory info (SSN, address, whatnot) credit card companies were far more helpful.  With AT&T, the almighty PIN code gets in the way.

Hey, I do get it---AT&T doesn't want to make it easy to add or change services, etc.  But with a POA, that should be more than enough. 

[crash_davis 23,108]

take it to twitter.  companies do not like bad pub, especially they preying on the elderly kind.

fuck at&t.  

[CooterBrown 18,008]

I'd go to a corporate site in person, stand in front of a counter, and start guessing the 4-digit PIN - starting with 0001.

To save time, he could just try 6969.

[EuroHorn 3,263]

On 8/23/2019 at 9:36 AM, TwiceHorn said:

One thing that might be fun is to sue them in small claims court for fraud.  The reaction you get from Fortune 500 types can be amusing, and sometimes the reaction is nothing at all.  Then you get a judgment.  Problem is you have to have an attorney.

Buddy of mine sued Amex over something shitty they were doing, they didn't answer.  He took a $5,000 default and sent sheriffs to an Amex Travel Services store at the Galleria (Dallas) to execute.  That got their attention.

And sometimes you have to create a whole new website...

Edited August 24, 2019 by EuroHorn

[Onetinsoldier 35]

Nobody should use AT&T for anything. This thread tells you all you need to know about them. Been that way for 50 years.

[Iceman 2,704]

8 hours ago, Onetinsoldier said:

Nobody should use AT&T for anything. This thread tells you all you need to know about them. Been that way for 50 years.

I haven't used them( or DirecTV) for about 5 years now.

Their(non) Support Desk might possibly be the worst I have ever used.  The first word in your company's name is American, and 98% of your staff speaks fucking non-functional English?

Felt like you hit the lottery when you got the one US citizen working that day.  No CR.  It's just fucking the  reality of the fucking beatdown those calls were.

Edited August 25, 2019 by Iceman

[Mappable 37]

AT&T will usually relent on making in store account changes if you have a copy of the bill.

[ButtFumble 5,172]

hey here is part of a solution let me dig through the trash for one of the 5,325 postcards they send me per week to see if I can get her a better deal on a bundle

oh wait those are only for "new" customers nevermind

[TwiceHorn 31,457]

I guess I should clarify.  No you don't need an attorney to represent yourself in small claims court.  However, you can't represent aunt.  And if you sue a corporation of any size, it's probably advisable to have an attorney in the event they answer with an attorney.

Also, executing a judgment can be a bit tricky for a layperson.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8,817]

To save time, he could just try 6969.

Why you gotta out south Austin's mom like that

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,905]

12 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

I guess I should clarify.  No you don't need an attorney to represent yourself in small claims court.  However, you can't represent aunt.  And if you sue a corporation of any size, it's probably advisable to have an attorney in the event they answer with an attorney.

Also, executing a judgment can be a bit tricky for a layperson.

One of my small claims court victories was helping out the ex before we got married.  I just went with her as a friend and told her what to do and say.  Another of my wins was against a landlord.  He brought an attorney and I kicked his ass.  Most of the small claims court judges know zip about the law.  The attorney in that one case filed a motion for a change of venue and I had to point out to the judge where in the Texas Property code it stated what the proper venue for the case was.

[Francisco 2.0 32,389]

Conclusion of story.

Sister on a whim called into ATT a couple of days ago.  Told the rep they were my aunt (never mind she has tried this previously) and they not only gave out the PIN, let her reset it over the phone.  After sister got off the phone, she went to ATT website and created a portal of aunt's account, then proceeded to start canceling service.  Only kicker now---ATT wants her to return the wireless equipment and DirecTV gear they have sent over the years...and none of it is present in aunt's house.  

Two morals of the tale.

One, keep trying.  Someone eventually in a large ass faceless organization like ATT will eventually relent and break whatever rules they have in place to prevent something like this from happening.  In my sister's example, having my aunt's bday, address, SSN, date of first service and mother's maiden name was what did the trick.  

Two, if your folks or other loved ones have cellular service, ask them to write down the PIN code and store it someplace or if they are willing to share, give it to you (or reset it if they've forgotten it).   

[kevwun 15,783]

I was trying to make a change on our AT&T business account last week and needed to know who our account rep was which turned in to a never ending saga.  I have a pin, am an authorized order placer and know all of our account info.  One of the morons I talked to actually told me she wasn't allowed to tell me who our account rep was and that I would have to get it from our HR Dept.  How does that make any sense?  I have dealt with a lot of customer support idiocy over the years, but that might be the best one I've ever heard.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21,905]

Don’t pay the bill.  When they call tell them they have to talk to the bill payer, but you’re not allowed to tell them who it is.

[Redneck Mutha 7,954]

We have been AT&T-free for several years and I feel I am a better person for it.