An AT&T Tale
Been lurking on the ATT threads now since launch, and, like many of you, am stuck in the SG 64 + "10/2-10/13' shipping limbo. No movement or communication since my dates were bumped up early last week. I ordered at 3:26 EST, and got an email confirmation at 7:44am EST that morning. Text confirmations started coming in at 8pm that night, and continued into the next morning (3 in total...I only ordered one phone).
I decided to vent my frustrations on @ATTBusiness and @ATTPremier on Twitter yesterday morning about the bungled launch, and lo-and-behold, I got a call yesterday evening from the Office of Executive Management regarding my complaints. The woman I spoke to was simply lovely - I treated her with respect and made sure that she knew I was not blaming here, and she was very warm and forthcoming about things that I want to pass along to you:
1. ATT is fully aware that they screwed this launch up, and there is an ongoing internal investigation as to what went wrong and how to prevent such a thing in the future. They have been OVERRUN with complaints in the past 4 days, literally drowning in them.
2. As I suspected, based on a pattern I saw, the time that you ordered does NOT matter whatsoever. Your first confirmation email that says your order was processed is the 'first come, first served' basis for when your order got in. I pointed out how this was completely unsatisfactory, and she agreed, saying that ATT management thought so, too. What they will do about it in the long run is anyone's guess.
3. I made a point to explain to her that the $40 'upgrade' fee that appeared on my latest bill was nearly criminal, as I neither have the phone nor have I been upgraded. She agreed, and it was removed.
4. I thanked her profusely for her time, and ended by saying that I would be remiss if I didn't ask her what AT&T was prepared to do to make this better for me, as a long time customer. She waivered for a second, saying that they weren't really authorized to give any adjustments in situations like this (except my activation fee), but she felt truly bad about my situation, and had $100 credit put on my bill. Takes a little sting out of this whole thing for me.
In summary, damn, this whole situation sucks. However, I encourage you to use any means at your disposal to express your displeasure with AT&T (respectfully, mind you) and get credit on your account. You deserve it, and you just need to tell them that.
