Yet another reason to not use AT&T. Things like these make me honestly wonder why anyone would ditch *any* carrier to go to them.

@nerdtalker: AT&T is a solid cell provider. I've not had a problem yet.

Reading this story makes me feel a little better about getting bad AT&T service.

Eck, I just got off the phone with AT&T over internet issues I have been getting over the past YEARS! I just got home from school and wanted to surf a little bit before studying and but couldn't because the internet was down. I call their "tech support", they wanted to trouble shoot the router/modem with me.

I explain that I am connected by both wireless and wired into the router. I can see other computers and I can pull and upload files to each computer on my home network.

Still he insisted on trouble shooting, I told him I don't want to waste my time doing unnecessary steps. I think it's a problem on his end, I insisted it was. He hangs up on me and magically within 30 secs, I have internet again.

Amazing

@nerdtalker: Infrastructure problem in my region. I need a wireless internet plan with unlimited data restrictions.

I work for a phone company(not at&t) and I have to tell you that once a call is escalated all previous courtesy offers are normally off the table. I don't know how at&t works but with my company notes are considering legal documents and are read only. a rep can lose their job by not adding accurate notes and calls are randomly recorded so you never know who's listening. Bottom line is this, if a courtesy offer was made customer turns it down, will not listen when the rep tries to tell her the answer won't change with a manager I really can't blame them for taking the offer away. If this was a rare polite pollyanna customer then sure but 80-90% of the time it's people cussing, insulting, and/or threatening the rep before a manager jumps on the call. Not to mention, someone actually believes her daytime minutes include calls all over the world with no extra charge? Is she 12?

Just because calls are recorded it doesn't mean that every single one is. And they are not used for disputes. That being said, the international information is available on their site.

I can sympathize with the manager, this is the kind of thing you hear day in and day out. And only about 1% of the time is the customer right.

I'm in quiet awe of the accompanying graphic.
No kittehs. Even so, damned foine impressive!

@nerdtalker:
for a hipster phone of course

I'm sorry you had to go through this Claire, but whatever gave you the impression that International calling WOULDN'T incur an additional cost?

I mean, besides the rep...Which if I was told that, my "too good to be true"-o-meter would be pegging.

I'm certainly not one to come to AT&T's defense, but international calling costs carriers money. Take the 50% refund and be happy that you got even that much.

@nerdtalker: in my region, all carriers are equally evil.

AT&T sucks! The first 3 months I had them for high speed internet they F-ed over my bill really bad! They promised me rebates that never came and that the CSR's couldn't find on my file. I was able to get things corrected but it was really a hassle! HOURS spent on the phone!

I live out in the sticks so my only choice for high speed internet is cable with Mediacom or AT&T. I really like my Dish Network service and am only 4 months into a 2 year contract so switching isn't possible. Plus Mediacom charges a small fortune for basic cable, which costs a bit more than my upgraded Dish package.

@nerdtalker: Sprint. 'Nuff said.

Not all networks are available universally. Whenever I visit my family back in the Midwest, the only two carriers that get decent reception are AT&T and Sprint, and I've learned enough from my first go-around with Sprint that I never want to deal with them again.

AT&T, for the most part, has somewhat decent customer service (though this story isn't exactly indicative of it), and I've never really had a negative experience with them. Not blaming the OP - she genuinely got one of the bad ones - but the only time my stepfather had a bad experience with an AT&T rep is when he yelled at them. He deserved it. I'm sure the OP didn't do anything of that sort, though; nothing hints at negative behavior on her part. She just got a CSR who really either needed to quit her job (if you don't like finding resolutions for customers, don't work in customer service) or be sent back to some sort of training.

I love the people who say she shouldn't have used AT&T in the first place. It's like saying you shouldn't drive a honda after you got into an accident.

I've used their World Plan in the past when I need my phone for the occasional call overseas. However, I prefer to unlock my phone and use a prepaid sim.

Recently I did not activate the World Plan for a trip to the Caribbean. I left my phone on in case of emergency...later I found out that I actually couldn't receive calls, but that 4 people tried to call. Guess what? I was charged $20 for these voicemails anyway.

(If anyone from AT&T sees this thread, then your crappy service is precisely why I unlocked my Motorola.)

Dspt th chng n th cmpnstn ffr, Clr, thnk y shld chlk ths p t th ld "dmmy tx." f y r gng t cll ntrntnl, jst g Skyp. s T∓T s wll, nd knw fr dmn sr nt t s my cll t cll ntrntnl.

@Bodgy:

You think the % is that high?

@richcreamerybutter:

Hold on a sec. Let me get this straight: While you were in the Caribbean, you received four phone calls that went to voicemail, and you got charged $20 for them? I have to assume that you checked your voicemail while you were over there, right? Because otherwise to charge $5 a call to make your phone ring is absurd.

@ShrigauriCorinthus:
"Not to mention, someone actually believes her daytime minutes include calls all over the world with no extra charge? Is she 12? "

Its not like it takes that much more effort on the part of the telephone company to make international calls anymore. Being charged $1.39 a minute to make calls on a cell phone is outrageous in its own right.

@ShrigauriCorinthus: This.

When did ATT start offering contracts on international minutes with unlimited nights and weekends and free international roaming?

I'm with mykie (comment above). Sorry Claire, but you're an idiot if you think that AT&T was going to give you free international calls (i.e. just deduct it from your rollover minutes). GET REAL. International calling is not free, ESPECIALLY on cell phones!!! Even if the rep told you what you said they did, your "too good to be true" bullshit meter should have been full on. Sorry, you lost. Accept it and move on.

When I moved from Texas to Florida, I called AT&T to get a new phone number with a Florida area code. They gave me a new phone number but said I would have to wait for a new SIM card to be shipped out to me. After a week and no new SIM card, I called them back. The call center rep who sounded like she was in India but surprisingly had an American name couldn't figure out why I didn't get my SIM card. So I asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor told me point blank that AT&T cannot control what happens with shipments they make through UPS.

After that call, I investigated what happened to my SIM card which never arrived. After tracking down tracking numbers, I called UPS to ask them why my shipment was canceled. The nice UPS woman told me that the shipment of my new SIM card was canceled by AT&T en route to me.

So the AT&T call center supervisor LIED to me!

I wasn't under contract, so I fired AT&T and went with one of their competitors. I could not believe how incredibly stupid AT&T was. 1. I was no longer under contract. 2. I was changing my phone number anyway. So AT&T would rather cancel shipment of my SIM card, not notify me of this, and then lie and pawn it off onto UPS. I guess they don't need any more business.

Customer service with AT&T is absolutely horendous. I asked for the most BASIC telephone service I could get with NO LONG DISTANCE service. Just a land line for local calls, no frills, bells or whistles. They gave me a price of $29.99 but it was ALWAYS a lot more than that due to all kinds of fees tacked onto my bill. I asked them to take the *69 feature off the phone so my teenagers would stop using it. They told me it would COST me $6.00 to have that feature blocked! I finally told them just to cancel my phone service completely. Suddenly, POOF!, they had another basic plan they could offer me that cost half the price, with none of the unwanted features. Why wasn't I offered that plan in the first place? This was after an hour on hold and another hour giving up on trying to navigate their non-user friendly website. They should be ashamed of their shabby service.

@JessMeNU:

I heard Clearwire is going to offer just that once they roll out their nationwide network.

@Herbz:

AT&T doesn't keep 100% of that $1.39; the terminating carrier takes their cut, and some international carriers demand quite a bit to connect to them.

I've fond AT&T's customer service to be poor at every turn. This is after all, a company that charged me $18 to UPGRADE my phone and take Additional features (a $30/mo data plan) with them. In 18 months when this contract is about to expire, I plan on calling AT&T every day and asking them what they plan on doing to keep my service. If I have to make them get a supervisor to sing me Rick Astley's "Never gonna give you up" I will and I'll feel good about it, because Tom help me if I ever have to jump through as many hoops again, I may end up having a psychotic episode.

@tgrwillki: found, not fond. I got on a roll there.

1.) We have a magical company directory. We can look up the rep. you spoke to in about 2 seconds and all their employee info. Including manager. Not to say all calls are recorded, but their immediate manager would know.

2.) Also curious what the account notes state. Account notes are an F+ at best among reps. Until recently you could put shotty as hell notes, and it wouldn't count against you on a Quality Score.

3.) I guess it all depends on the manager you find too. I clearly educated a gentleman once about dialing rates in France, and noted his acct. of the exact rates he would incur. He went to France, made a ton of calls, racked up a huge bill. When he called in to complain, he got a full refund and I got a talking to.

Try back. Who knows.
Oh right, I work for said evil company.

@djreedps: It sounds more like the "nice" UPS woman was the one who lied. Who cancels a shipment mid-way through?

Also, can somebody explain to me what the significant difference in cost to the phone provider is between me calling from NYC to Los Angeles and me calling from NYC to London?

$1.39/minute to the UK is too expensive. As soon as I had heard that that was the rate, I would have gone to the pharmacy around the corner from me and bought a prepaid phone card.

@mykie: She'd love to, but they took that offer away.

I'm not surprised, in fact this is expected with AT&T. When you contract up with AT&T you willingly sign away all rights. They could come over, rape your daughter, and set the house on fire if they so choose. It's in the contract... somewhere.

Good lord, miscommunication is right, on BOTH ENDS!

1. International calls are NEVER free, someone somewhere pays dearly for them. While they should never cost and arm and a leg, often on a wireless handset they do.

2. Why would anyone believe a "too good to be true" deal, ESPECIALLY from a wireless provider. As we seen with Contracts, Early Termination Fees, and the infamous Administration Charges they tack on our bills, why would you believe anything they say is "free" or "discounted"...10 to 1, its not!

3. Any and all offers any one or company offer you, SHOULD BE IN WRITING ON PAPER OR ELECTRONIC. You dont expect a "verbal" contract to be upheld between different people, let alone different states do you? Ultimately in the end, any offer anyone gives you, TAKE IT IMMEDIATELY, and then negotiate for another offer at a later date.

Ive dealt with T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, AT&T and the old Cingular and old AT&T and all the time, its the same - so just get ready for a battle.

@sodomanaz: That was disemvowel worthy?

@mykie:

THIS

"The representative was very informative about what I was adding onto my plan but we obviously had a miscomunication because when I asked her whether the $1.39/minute to call the UK would just come out of my monthly minute allowance at a higher rate, she said yes."

So you knew that it was $1.39/min to call the UK going into all this, but you some how thought that AT&T had some sort of a table to convert minutes into money? Like a $1.39/min call is either $1.39 OR 6 minutes for each minute talking?

Frankly if I were the AT&T rep I might have done the same thing. Chock this up to learning to understand what you're buying (in this case a 45 minute phone call)

@retailriter:

You were offered a retention plan. The plans are not offered to new customers, just to customers who want to cancel. Usually they'll have either basic service at a low cost, or a higher cost for a lot of features/usage. You have to say the magic words before anyone will offer them, which is "I want to cancel", and you usually have to be a customer for 6 months to a year first. This is usually the best way to resolve your issue, whether it be to lower your bill, a billing issue, etc; threaten to cancel, wait until you're talking to somebody's whose job it is to prevent that, explain your issue politely and tell them what you want, and usually you'll get it, depending on the person you're talking to and how ridiculous your demand is.

@Megan Squier: You get cable internet from AT&T? Do tell..

@slickdealer: It's quite common. If your phone is on and connected to an international tower, the international carrier and your carrier know it. Then when someone calls you, even if you don't answer, the call gets routed to that international carrier.

Happened to me the first month that I lived right on the Canadian border. I would get charged with a single minute of international calling AND call forwarding when someone would call me and I'd let it go to voicemail. Reason being is because the call first got routed to the Rogers tower I was connected to (I have T-mobile), then Rogers forwarded it back to T-mo voicemail.

@Herbz:

Its not like it takes that much more effort on the part of the telephone company to make international calls anymore. Being charged $1.39 a minute to make calls on a cell phone is outrageous in its own right.

The fact that they may or may not make large profit margins on these calls is irrelevant.

If you feel it's outrageous then feel free not to ever use their service--clearly people are using it for $1.39 or they'd stop offering it.

As much as I know we all love to bash AT&T, they're absolutely right for refusing to give you the 50% off deal after you rejected it. As part of contract law, when you reject an offer, or try to re-negotiate, the original offer becomes void. The one part can still give a new offer, that's exactly the same as the previous offer, but they're not entitled to do it.

You should've known better than to think that anytime minutes could be used for international calling, and thinking you're entitled to receive a discount after you've already denied the offer.

@tgrwillki: What do you expect them to say? "Please don't leave us, how could I ever live without you?!" Nobody you talk to will care whether you stay, and most would prefer you to leave. Expect to get hung up on a lot, too; I work in a call center, and the "what will you do to keep me" calls never end well. Wouldn't surprise me if a lot of CSRs just decide they won't bother with you.

Whenever I'm talking to a customer and they threaten to cancel, I always have to fight an urge to respond with "I don't care!" The best you can hope for is a retention deal, as I mentioned above, but don't except to get anything beyond what a normal cancelling customer would be offered.

@femme_dork: Yeah, my contacts with AT&T have mostly been tolerable but I one time got a CSR who repeatedly called me a liar, yelled at me, and eventually accused me of being bad at my job. (Because apparently shrieking at customers when you're a CSR, that makes you good at yours.)

I realize it's not generally indicative but I'm still pretty put out with AT&T about it some three-ish years later and I dread having to call them ... just in case I get someone like that again.

@nerdtalker:
Yet another reason to not use AT&T.

? I've been using AT&T for my work cell phone for 7 years, it functions all over the country and can roam all over the world. Their terms when it comes to roll over of minutes, and M2M are best in the industry.

I wish the minutes would roll over on my Verizon personal cell phone--and it would be nice if VZ did not intentionally obfuscate your monthly minute usage by making it seem like Verizon M2M calls are counted up toward your monthly allotment

Things like these make me honestly wonder why anyone would ditch *any* carrier to go to them.

Things like what? A customer who does not understand a very basic concept like long distance billing is billed the exact rate that they knew they would be billed for a call they did make? I know, the horror... how dare AT&T bill a customer at a mutually agreed upon rate.

Why don't you go look up what the other carriers charge for calls to the UK? Verizon is $1.49/min, Sprint is $1.49/min -- Looks like AT&T is actually cheaper then the other two large national carriers.

Would you be "honestly wondering" why anyone would go those carriers either if they charged a customer for a call made to the UK?

@ShrigauriCorinthus: Not to mention, someone actually believes her daytime minutes include calls all over the world with no extra charge? Is she 12?

That's not what she believed at all. She believed that the charges would take the form of her normal minutes being used up at a faster rate.

"...when I asked her whether the $1.39/minute to call the UK would just come out of my monthly minute allowance at a higher rate, she said yes."

@sodomanaz: The only thing I can tell is that it's blaming the victim. Which is also done in some comments below.

@richcreamerybutter:

This is one thing that I have to agree on--it is absurd that the carriers will bill for unanswered calls internationally.

If a US caller calls me phone and leaves me a VM, why on earth should I have to pay the international roaming rate for the minutes they use leaving the voicemail--particularly when I would not pay those minutes if I had simply left my phone turned off.

I can understand charging 1 minute for ringing the phone (because if they didn't then people could use unanswered phone calls at a free international paging mechanism) -- but I should not pay when a rambler leaves me a 3 minute voicemail.

For International Calling use Skype. Free for computer to computer and pennies a minute if you purchase Skype out minutes. If you do not have a computer, or are afraid of technolology purchase a prepaid international calling card.

@Wireless Joe:

Agreed... djreedps, you sound a little paranoid there :)

If they shipped the SIM card why would they cancel the shipment before delivery? Makes no sense :)

AT&T offered the OP an appeasement offer of 50% off to settle the issue at the lower level. The OP rejected this offer when she demanded to speak to a supervisor (since this does not resolve the issue at the lower level). Once the OP failed in her appeal, she tried to revive the original offer. AT&T was wholly in its right to refuse the original offer because it was dead after the OP rejected it.

The amount is too low to be worth even a small claims court challenge. I say chock it up as a lesson learned the hard way and not make the mistake again.