A Message to AT&T Users

I don't usually do this but I was flatly pissed off by AT&T this evening. I called in to find out where all my minutes are going each month. I don't talk a lot on my phone and the most calling I do is to family members. We are all on AT&T and are supposed to be talking to each other free. Well, the friendly representative who handled my call told me that I was not receiving any mobile to mobile minutes because "it's not on your plan."

Come again?

I have a Blackberry. When I upgraded last time I took the Blackberry plan which I was given to understand included all features such as mobile to mobile calling. The friendly representative I spoke to informed me that this was not so and that I must have misunderstood. Then she offered to upgrade my plan for an additional $20 a month. I hung up after threatening to move to a different provider, to which she made no reply.

A few minutes later another rep called to see what had "upset" me "so badly that you hung up on the other rep." I was happy to share this with him. He then explained that there must have indeed been some mix up when I got my Blackberry and proceeded to add the mobile to mobile feature onto my plan for me. I also got an additional 100 anytime minutes per month. My bill only goes up $2.68 per month. That's more like it.

Okay, this did smooth over the edges of the first call. But I warn everyone reading this blog: Check out your AT&T plan and make sure you aren't being ripped off because you might not be getting what you thought you were supposed to. AT&T isn't very interested in you unless you mention changing providers. This is bad business. BAD BUSINESS.

I hope AT&T is reading this. In today's economy, shady dealings with customers can have far reaching repercussions. Especially when the power of the internet is on the consumers' side.