Adventures in Customer Service - UPDATE!

If you didn't read about my awesome adventure in customer service with AT&T, you can catch up with Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.  Epic fail was, indeed, epic.

By the way, Twitter account for customer service from AT&T (@attcustomercare), when you ask me to DM you, why didn't you ever respond to the DM I sent to you as requested?  Tweet from AT&T Customer Care

I wrote those posts before the situation was finally resolved - here's the conclusion to the story.

After doing some research, I decided that I was going to switch providers.  A competing provider in my area (who will, admittedly, treat me no better than AT&T - I switched to AT&T from them, so I know them well) has a similar internet service for about $30 less a month than I pay currently.

If I'm going to have bad customer service, I might as well get it cheaper.

So I call AT&T.

I confirm I'm going to get a credit for my internet outage, as I was repeatedly told several different CSR's in the midst of the outage fiasco.  The nice guy on the line (and I do think they hire very nice people overall) tells me he will manually make sure I get issued the credit and confirms the amount.

Wait... "manually issue the credit"?

That's not funny, AT&T.

If I didn't call in and specifically request it, would I have automatically received the credit?

I asked the CSR this question, and he responded that they couldn't know how long my internet was down and thus what to credit me for unless I called in.

I would not have received the credit if I hadn't called in and specifically asked for it!

I received a robocall on the day service was restored telling me the ticket was closed.  So yeah, they knew I was back online.  The promise of a credit was basically a promise they weren't going to argue with me about it, I guess?

Here's the deal: I'm a big corporation veteran, so here's my (admittedly cynical) bet:  I bet they are hoping I forget or miss it on my bill so they can keep the money.

It's like how a percentage of people let gift cards expire and the company gets to keep the money.  It's one of those little things they do that flows directly to their bottom line. It's smart on a spreadsheet.

It's horrible customer service.

So, next, I tell CSR guy that I'm going to fire them for a better deal, and he wants to transfer me over to the Retention Department.  I agree to listen (hey, never hurts).

Retention Department Dude is a very nice guy, and he offers to give me the next tier of faster speed for about $15 less a month than I am paying them for the slower service (and the faster service starts immediately).  Plus, they are going to upgrade my modem at no charge (which is what the service tech recommended).

The equivalent service (the faster speed than what I had) from the competitor costs almost double that, so, after three (and now four) blog posts complaining about them...

I'm still a customer of AT&T (just barely) for another year.

Even if they just had to end that call with that stupid, mindless reminder about texting and driving (seriously, AT&T, stop it!)

Here's the thing:

I think AT&T is trying very hard to deliver good customer service (given they are in a captive market, which I talk a little about here) and are completely missing the mark.  I think, on some level, they know this, and that's why they have a Retention Department authorized to reel me back in with a (relatively) good deal.

They overcame my anger by finding the tipping point whereby I would let it go in order to get a better price.

They can afford to this, because they are very big.  You know how I bet they are hoping I miss my credit (and thus give it up) above?  This is the flip side of that bet.   

You (and I) are very small.  We can't afford to do it this way!

To sum up:

1. Don't require your customer to solve their own problems - that's your job
2. Don't say things you don't mean
3. Don't put your priorities ahead of your customer's

Are you disappointed I stayed with AT&T?  Let me know in the comments below!