We had an AT&T Sales Agent, who went door-to-door in my neighborhood selling AT&T U-Verse service. We already had HDTV/Internet/Phone service through Comcast, so I was reluctant to talk to him. After talking with my wife for a time, she asked me to speak to him. He offered HDTV/Internet/Phone through AT&T U-Verse at the U450 level which includes a similar set of channels to what I currently had with Comcast at the U300 price, which is around $30 per month less expensive than the Comcast pricing. I talked to him further and he explained that we didn't have to sign a contract, just the work order, and that the price he quoted me was "locked in" and would never go up. When the rep filled out the work order, he checked the U300 service. I asked him about that and he said "it doesn't matter." I said, yes it does - if we are getting U450 service like he said, the order should say that. He changed the order, and I signed up and ordered the service.
After the installation was complete, the installer told my wife that we didn't have HD service. My wife told him that the sales agent told us that we would and he said, "oh, a salesman lied" very sarcastically. She showed him the order with the U450 service marked and he said "oh, it IS marked. Well, you have to take that up with the sales agent." My wife called him and he said, yeah they got it put in wrong and I will fix it.
I called AT&T today to see if he had put in a request to fix it. He had not. They also informed me that the rate he quoted was not valid for U450 service, that the best rate that they could give me was $26 per month higher, that what I signed was a 12-month contract (in which case, why are they not obligated to honor it?) and that even that rate was a 12-month promotion. I complained to that person's manager, and then they transferred me to another department, where they further reduced the bill to by $13, although after the promotions expire it will rise by $58. I told them that I felt that the agent did a bait-and-switch and they said that wasn't their policy but there was nothing that they could do because he was an independent agent and didn't work for AT&T (At this point I had not given them any info about the agent so I'm not sure how they knew this already). I told them that they could at least revoke his ability to sell AT&T services and make money off lying to people. The agent told me that because she was in South Carolina and the salesman was in Alabama she couldn't do anything. I said that was ridiculous because AT&T was a national organization and was not restricted in the way she described. She then said, "Do you have the salesman's name? I can give it to my supervisor." I gave to them, but I suspect that I was wasting my time.
My complaint is that not only was I lied to completely about what I received, but that AT&T acknowledged the lie, told me there was nothing they could do about it, and then basically is going to charge me much more to get what I was sold. I told them that I wouldn't have even signed up for the service at the price that they gave me, and they told me that they were sorry for the inconvenience. I have 30 days to terminate the service and go back to Comcast or I will have to pay a termination fee.
After all this I tried contacting the sales rep again. He hasn't responded.
I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
