How AT&T Got Me as a Customer…But Just Barely

Written on August 24, 2009 by Susan Payton

I’ve long been envious of the iPhone. I won’t lie. And after being a T-Mobile customer for six years,  I’ve finally amounted enough reasons I need an iPhone to actually order one.

I almost didn’t get one.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMOCXUVX1P8[/youtube]

When I first placed my order online, I was envisioning the hours I’d while away playing with apps. Then I got an email saying my order had been cancelled because either AT&T couldn’t verify some information or I’d applied for too many lines. I was encouraged to make my purchase at an AT&T store.

Problem was, I was trying to buy a refurbished phone, and the stores don’t carry them.

I placed my order again. Once again, I was denied.

After a politely heated conversation between myself and a lowly customer service agent, whereby he also encouraged me to buy from a store,  I started to feel duped. Was this the great bait-and-switch I’ve heard tell of? Was AT&T going to refuse to sell anyone a refurbished iPhone so that they would have to buy a more expensive new one? Didn’t they care that I was on the verge of burning down their building, wherever it may be??

I asked to speak to a manager. He put me on hold. For 30 #%#@ minutes. Then my TMobile phone turned off, which is why I’m getting AT&T.

And so, I did what any normal angry 30something would do. I turned to Twitter. And Facebook. And I expressed my frustrations. Others chimed in that AT&T was the devil. Others said to persevere; the iPhone is worth it. After a while, I reached out to AT&T’s Twitter profile and voiced my frustration. I was immediately referred to an AT&T employee’s Twitter profile. She soothed me and told me someone would call me to resolve the issue.

I waited all Friday, but the call didn’t come til Monday (I think an instant call was in order but I’m sure AT&T employees also have other work to do besides calm me down). The woman (not sure her title) was very soothing and said she couldn’t see a reason why my order had been cancelled (What??  There’s not even a good reason I’ve gone through hell for this??). Anyway she was very nice and told me what to do to get the order placed.

A week later, I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of my phone (due to arrive tomorrow. Expect not to hear from me for a few days!).

What AT&T Did Wrong:

• They didn’t empower the snippy customer service man to help me. He kept saying he was not authorized to verify the information over the phone. Disney does a great job of empowering every Cast Member to assist an unhappy Guest. AT&T could learn a lot from them.
• They made me wait for a manager. Maybe it was just a ploy to piss me off more, but if I’m at the point of needing a manager, I should not have to wait 30 minutes.
• When reacting via Twitter, an AT&T manager should have called me immediately. It might have nipped my angry flood of Tweets and reduced the number of people who witnessed the trouble I was having.
• AT&T was not searching the Twitter stream to see who was talking about them. Had they done that, they could have immediately helped me, rather than me hunting for them. @comcastcares does a great job of proactively finding people who talk about them.
• They did not make me feel like they valued me coming on as a new customer.

What AT&T Did Right:

• They responded to me via Twitter openly.
• They called me back (albeit late).
• They worked to resolve the problem.

Now the question is: if they didn’t have the iPhone, would I have still switched to AT&T? Probably not.

Posted in Customer Service and Loyalty

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