Got a collection notice from AFNI saying I owed $414.53 but I could settle it for just $50.00 I find that very odd that it could be settled for such a small amount. I'm not even sure if I ever had an AT&T cell phone.

I have been a customer of this at&t for years. Phone line, internet and Mobile. I have had problems with all three services. I dropped my phone line service due to high costs. My mobile service is contracted till Feb 2010, and have been having lossy service, which includes dropped calls, poor connection and noise. Called numerous times, they sent me another phone Oct 2009, didn't correct the problems. I called regarding same problems, talked to a manager of customer service which she stated that I have an old phone and to upgrade to a newer phone which would get me into another contract. Are you kidding? The phone is not the problem I stated and do you think I want to honor a another contract with your company when your service stinks? She replied and said there is nothing they can do then for me. The problems worsend due to my contract ending soon. My friends have the same problems with their service.
I was suppose to get a discounted rate for my DSL-high speed internet service since I have at&T mobile service. This lasted for a few months and then my bill was changed to basic for the same price.
Feb 9, 2010 when my contract ends and can't wait, to dump their junk.

I am sending one text message but I am bing charged for two or three.

Text messages that are sent are less than 160 characters yet the network sends them 2 or 3 times. One text message will have 3 entries with the same time stamp, same date and number it is going to.

If the message is greater than 160 characters (but less than 320) than it can be sent as many as 5 times

The issue pertains mostly to international texting, however it is evident looking at domestic numbers as well. It is not applicable to all but majority of messages sent.

AT&T is not capable of resolving this issue despite numerous phonecalls, branch visits and cases opened to investigate the problem.

Below is the quick log of the unfortunate turn of events and still unresolved text messages issue.

Called for the first time to inquire about double and triple charges for text messages. The phone was reset with a rep on the line and signals were sent to my phone in order to correct the issue.
Two weeks later. The problem persists. I called to open the case. A rep told me that he will open a case for me and call with the details, such as case number. The rep did not return the call.
I called again to inquire about the case that was supposed to be opened and was informed by a Manger assisting me that a case can only be opened with me on the phone. He acknowledges that I was misinformed the previous time I called.

A few days after the case was opened I received a phone call from a rep who informed me that there is no issue on the AT&T side claiming that I have sent the messages multiple times to the same number within the same minute. She could not explain how that was determined and was clearly not interested in me explaining the discrepancy between what I see on my phone in sent messages and what is on my bill. When I asked to discuss the issue with a manager I was told that a manager will call me in 24-72 hrs. It has been a week and nobody has called me.

I went to the AT&T Brentwood location. The rep looked at my phone and agreed that for each text that shows as 2 or 3 text messages on the statement there is only one sent on the phone. He told me that he will talk to his manager and they will investigate the issue. I have not heard from him in 3 days. When I called he told me that “some department was called”, unfortunately he could not tell what department he is referring to and could not tell me when I can expect another phone call, not to mention a resolution of this case.
I called the customer service again to inquire why nothing has been done. Moreover I told the rep on the phone that AT&T representative at a local AT&T store verified that the same message is NOT sent to the same number 2 or 3 times within the same minute. The person on the phone told me that the case has been investigated and closed. When I asked for her supervisor she said that one is not available but he (the manager) will call me on Monday. Certainly that was another empty promise as I have not received any calls.

My wife, called the 1010 Pine Street AT&T branch at ph. # 235-9800 on 11/23/09. She spoke with Nikki Sanders, a wireless specialist who could not explain or diagnose the issue and connected her to a supervisor – Clayton Johnson. Clayton forwarded this case to the Intense Care Unit, and informed my wife she would receive a phone call back within 2 hours (5:30 PM central time on 11/23/09) – as this qualifies as a serious and urgent issue that needs to be resolved. He would not agree to make an appointment to meet and discuss this in person. He also offered to call my wife the same day at 6 PM central time to verify that the ICU called her to assist with this problem.

My wife received a call back from Daniel Evans from the Intense Care Unit (11/23/09 at 4:34 PM), who decided to re-open the case and offered to investigate the issue further.
Per Daniel’s request, my wife provided her with some text message log examples, as follows:
10/4/09 4:54 PM 2 messages sent as 5 to 48xxxxxx
10/8/09 7:23 AM 1 message sent as 3 to same number
10/10/09 2:14 PM 1 message sent as 3 to same number
My wife asked Daniel to note that she has an original sim card that came with her iPhone, I, however, have had my sim card replaced. Daniel said she will look into it and informed my wife that all the double and triple charges for text messages were coming from my phone only
She said my wife should expect a follow up call on this new case within 72 business hours.

On 11/24 at 1:54 PM my wife received a message from AT&T:
AT&T free msg. Please contact Customer Service for an update to your recent inquiry by dialing 611 from your wireless phone or 800 331 0500.
She called at 4:56 PM and was on the phone with Camarry (mainly on hold …until 5:24 PM)

He informed her that it looks like the case was closed on 11/24 but there were no notes as to how it was resolved and why it was closed…

She was on hold for 30 minutes.
Hung up and called again.

She asked to talk to a manager – demanding explanation of why was her case closed without any resolution, why did nobody called her with the result of ‘investigation’, why are AT&T employees say they will call with an update – and never do! Why do they promise, offer things if they don’t have the intention to deliver!
Amanda, suggested this could potentially be a sim card issue, offered to replace it and still decided to speak to the tech support team to find out it there could be any other phone/device sources to the texting issue.
She decided to open a third billing ticket/case with a more detailed description of the problem…. (my wife was on hold for another 30 min while Amanda was working on a detailed description of the 3rd case) case # CM20091124_7870293 resolution date of 12/3/09

On 11/30 my wife received a call from Kai Choy (not sure if spelling is correct) from 1 800 -288-8954 ext. 3569 – again she heard the same thing – IT department does not see a problem, according to them this is not an issue with towers, not a networking issue, not a sim card issue (since the recepient of text messages is not receiving multiple messages).
She was was not able to help solve the issue, wasn't sure who to speak to next or what else to do to resolve the case. She offered to call back 12/1 and try to find out more.

We filed a case with BBB. The complaint has been transferred to the local BBB to be handled in their system.

BBB of E. Missouri & S. Illinois (Saint Louis, MO)
15 Sunnen Drive, Ste. 107
Saint Louis, MO 63143
Phone: (314)645-3300
Fax: (314)645-2666
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://www.stlouis.bbb.org


Filed a case with FCC (Federal Communications Commission).

CHECK YOUR AT&T BILL. YOU MAY BE PAYING 2 OR 3 TIMES FOR THE SAME SERVICE!

1. On May 24th, 2009. My wife, Mrs. Iva G. Miller and I visited the AT&T Store at 780 E. Merritt Island Causeway, Merritt Island. FL 32952.
2. We were served by Mr. Cris Fowler, who took our order. We requested that Mrs. Miller’s AT&T GO Phone Account, (321) 298-5662, be changed to a post-paid account and then, added to my existing AT&T wireless account as an additional line.
3. Mr. Fowler took Mrs. Miller’s Driver’s License and SSN information, but was unable to accomplish what we requested. The explanation he provided was that the account was in a billing cycle and that we would have to call him later in the week. He stated that he would continue trying to work the issue when we explained to him that Mrs. Miller was leaving to visit her family in Bulgaria and needed the phone to work. Mr. Fowler assured us that he would take care of everything and we were to contact him on Thursday, May 28th, to make sure the phone was working.
4. Mrs. Miller Departed for Bulgaria on May 28th, 2009 as scheduled.
5. On the morning of May 28th, I attempted to contact Mr. Fowler, and was not able to contact him. Voicemail was not returned. Later that morning, I again called the ATT Store at Merritt Island and was referred to Mr. Christian Wiedman (SP?).
6. Mr. Wiedman informed me that apparently nothing had been done to effect the request for changing the services that were requested for reasons unknown. He was again not able to add her account to my existing wireless account for unknown reasons, but was able to change Mrs. Miller’s GO Phone to a normal AT&T phone and I was able to reach her to verify that her phone worked. I then thanked Mr. Wiedman and thought the matter had been settled for the time being. I told him that as the phone was now working, that the matter of adding her phone to my account as an extra line would be dealt with upon her return to the US in August.
7. On Saturday, May 30, 2009, I received a telephone call from my wife, stating that she had borrowed her sister’s mobile phone and put her MTEL Bulgarian SIM Card in it to call me because her AT&T phone had stopped working. I told her to go ahead and continue to use the MTEL phone and that I’d try and sort the problem out Monday.
8. On 1 June, I called the AT&T wireless office and was not able to reach either Mr. Fowler or Mr. Wiedman, but did talk to a young lady. She explained that Mrs. Miller’s account was on fraud alert and forwarded me to the Fraud Department.
9. The Gentleman in the fraud department refused to speak with me concerning this issue, saying that FCC regulations prohibited them from speaking with me because my SSN was not on my wife’s account and that Mrs. Miller would have to contact them from Bulgaria to clear up the matter.
10. I explained to him that as her phone did not work, and that her Mother does not have a landline telephone, that was going to be difficult, and that Mrs. Miller did not have a convenient way to contact them as they had blocked her phone. I also told him that Mrs. Miller would not return to the US until 3 August and so we would have to wait until she got back to straighten this mess out.

I’d like to make the following observations:
1. AT&T put the account on fraud for no apparent reason. Mr. Fowler took all the information needed to effect the changes to Mrs. Miller’s account when we visited the store on 24 May.
2. AT&T made no attempt to contact Mrs. Miller either on her phone or either of my phone numbers (256) 726-1675 or cell number (321) 848-6499 [changed later to (256) 529-8277], even though this information was provided at the time we visited the Store on 24 May, as well as during later conversations with me when I tried and failed to resolve the issue and find out exactly why AT&T put the account on fraud alert. I was told only that they claimed to have called our home telephone number in Rockledge, FL, but as I checked the voicemail before I had the services at our residence terminated and found no messages had been left by AT&T, I am at a loss to figure out why they said this.
3. AT&T could have called Mrs. Miller’s cell phone number (321) 298-5662 between 24 and 29 May before it was turned off and gotten the information again; they chose not to do so.
4. AT&T billed Mrs. Miller for an account that was only active for 1 full day, with 1 text message and 1 telephone call from me to her phone to verify that it worked. She has not been able to use the phone since.
5. Mrs. Miller is in Bulgaria until the 3rd of August, and will be moving to join me in Huntsville, AL. In the meantime, she will not be able to use her cell phone because AT&T turned it off.
6. I have had to have Mrs. Miller purchase an unlocked cell phone in Bulgaria, using her existing MTEL account. If AT&T wishes to contact her on this line, the number is: 011-359-888091341. I’m sure that she will be happy to answer any questions AT&T might have.

This is not what I would call “Outstanding Customer Service.” AT&T’s shameful and indifferent handling of this issue has already resulted in my cancelling my DSL, local and long distance telephone service, and satellite service at my FL residence, at a cost to AT&T of over $300 monthly. If AT&T does not rectify the problem with Mrs. Miller’s cell phone, all services will be cancelled because I’m sure that I can get better service from another provider.

In the meantime, as AT&T has failed to deliver the services for which they have charged us $123.99, I am not obligated to pay the bill, and have instead, filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, the State of Alabama Board of Consumer Affairs, and AARP’s National Consumer Complaints Office.

If you have any questions concerning the above, please contact me at (256) 726-1675.
Sincerely,

Charles A. Miller
LTC, SC, USA (Ret.)

In December of 2007 I thought I cancelled my contract with ATT Mobility, as we got very poor coverage in our local area. I asked to port my husband's business number to our new carrier, Alltel. Even though I asked what to do if Alltel was unable to port the number, I was never told I needed to call and cancel that line. Alltel was unable to port the number and it is evidently left open and I was charged two months of service on that account as well as the $175.00 buy out fee. In talking with their customer service people I was told it was my responsibility to learn what to do to change carriers and not their responsibility to tell us (me).