AT&T Launches Two New Mobile Share Data Plan Options

[ValSalva]

I work for at&t... This coming Friday will be my last day in a retail store because I'm SO sick of idiots like you. A $36 upgrade fee is charged because of the following reasons:
- Some customers literally come in every week to change their plan. That takes time for sales reps, who could be selling more products or services. Customers change rate plans in the middle of billing cycles, receive a pro-rated bill, get pissed off and don't listen to the explanation, and revert back to the original rate plan (hastily ignoring the fact that going back will result in pro-rating.) Then, a new bill comes, and the cycle repeats.
- At my store, at least 20 SIM cards are given out daily. They are not free to at&t, but they are free to customers with an active account. Some customers literally come in every week to get a new SIM card. They lose them, chew on them during class (not kidding), let their kids play with the phone (which means the SIM gets lost), people lose their phones, people buy used iPhone 4's which requires a smaller SIM than a ****** feature phone, etc.
- People try to rent phones. They get a Galaxy S4 because it's been shoved in their face that they need one... We say "how long have you had your iPhone? You'll hate it." (The opposite holds true, but not as strongly. 90%+ iPhone users hate Android once they've tried it, less than half of Android users hate iPhone once they've tried it.) We tell customers of the restocking fee of $35 and the 14 day trial period, there is a bright T-Mobile pink restocking fee sticker on the box, and the back of the receipt, again, shows this. They throw a tantrum like a three year old and refuse to pay it.

There are many, many reasons upgrade fees are charged, but mostly it comes back to the stupid stunts that customers try to pull every day.

And, to contrast the many reasons upgrade fees are charged, there is only ONE reason a customer should ever visit a carrier's retail location. To try out a phone before it is purchased. Everything, EVERY SINGLE THING customers come into my store for could be done online, over the phone, or at Best Buy, Walmart, or Amazon for far cheaper. But, people are needy, ignorant, and lazy.

So just pay your upgrade fee and shut the hell up, you ignorant wretch

Wow, and we all wonder why AT&T customer service is so bad Either they hire ill-equiped to handle the public employees or they are not providing them with adequate training.

These problems seem to be bothering you personally. You don't own AT&T, do you? It's a job.

If this is your view of customers then it's a good thing you are leaving your job.

 

[sawah]

I have to question something where people keep saying mobile share plans are cheaper than family plans on AT&T with more smartphones. Here is what we have:
700 minutes family plan with unlimited texts, 16% fan, 5 phones data
300mb
300mb
300mb
3gb
3gb

And everytime I've had them check it's more expensive to switch to a share plan. My bill right now is about 260-265$. The share plan is consistantly 5-10$ more. How is that supposed to save anyone money.

 

[tl01]

So if I switch from my two old unlimited plans I could now afford only 2GB (4GB shared).
They're sure not doing a lot to tempt people off of their unlimited plans are they?

Agreed! This is totally ridiculous! Makes the 5gb of LTE I get on 3 of our line before I'm throttled look like an awesome deal!!

 

[zephonic]

Frankly, AT&T and Verizon are within spitting distance when it comes to pricing.

But the US cellular market is f'd up. These plans are just incredibly retarded and deliberately obtuse.

Europe is much more competitive in this regard, but Africa trumps all! When I lived in Kenya I got used to excellent mobile networks with innovative products (mobile banking via sms happened in Kenya before it took off in Europe) at affordable rates. Moving back to Europe (Netherlands) was a step backwards, but not as bad as the US.

A textbook example of free market failure.