AT&T offered a plan where users would be rewarded for enabling autopay by bundling a new cellphone and internet service, but little did Melody Kasick know that it would cost her a lot of inconvenience and $500. Kasick claims that she does not usually talk to people in kiosks who are trying to save money for her, but this time, it was different for her as the representative promised they could save her money.
A local TV network helped Melody Kasick get a refund in 24 hours after she had been going back and forth with AT&T
After the deal was finalized, Kasick asked the AT&T sales representative for a receipt, and he told her that it would be on the phone and that she should not be worried about it. Kasick went home without proof of a transaction or any other kind of deal, as she had no confirmation number or documents to support it. Within two days, Kasick received two phones from AT&T; feeling overwhelmed, she returned the pair of phones without even opening the packages. AT&T sent back some papers to Kasick, which confirmed that the carrier had received the phones, and while all of it should have ended here, Kasick began to receive monthly bills from the service.
It was quite strange, as AT&T knows that Kasick was not using the service at all. Kasick called AT&T support to solve the issue, but she was requested to provide a passcode that she did not have or receive. Since she did not have a passcode, the support representatives would just hang up on her, which stirred up quite a lot of emotions. Annoyed, Kasick went to the AT&T store to speak to a manager about the sad ordeal that she went through to save some money. However, the manager said that he could not remove the autopay option even after trying to restrict it.
Seeing that AT&T was no help in this regard, Melody Kasick went to Sacramento KXTV, a local ABC network affiliated with a series called “10 On Your Side”. The show intended to help customers with similar issues, and the issue was resolved within the next 24 hours of contacting the local TV network. Kasick had now received the $500 she paid to AT&T, and the sad story finally came to a close. This is what the carrier had to say about the issue.
“Our goal is to resolve customer concerns quickly and, unfortunately in this instance, we fell short of our standards. For that we apologized to the customer and resolved her concerns. Passcodes are just one of the steps we take to secure customer accounts.”-AT&T
To avoid such scenarios and cumbersome issues, it is always wise to take receipts wherever possible, especially if they involve money. This will allow you to have proof, which you can present later if there is any inconvenience. Do you think AT&T could have resolved the matter independently to avoid negative publicity?