AT&T demanded a $750 deposit from Richard before selling him an iPhone, but couldn’t provide service because they improperly entered his address. Richard spent hours at the AT&T store trying to fix the mistake before deciding to cut his losses and recover the deposit. AT&T promised to refund his money in 7-10 days. That was two months ago. Why the hold-up? AT&T can’t issue the refund because they don’t have Richard’s proper address.

Richard writes:

I went and purchased me an iPhone, then went home to activate my service. I was then advised that I needed to go to one of the retail locations to pay a deposit. So I drive 15 miles to the nearest retail store to have my services activated. I was told that I had to pay a $750.00 deposit….wow did not know that deposits could be that high. Anyway I paid it because I wanted the service. I took the activation receipt back home and attempted to activate the service. The registry kept rejecting me stating the my information was wrong and the address did not match. I contacted ATT customer service and spoke with Tasha who told me that the representative at the ATT store ran my credit in the wrong market because the address was not matching the activation code that was given after the deposit was made.

I returned to the store that same day and spent 2 hours while the two representatives were trying to figure out the problem. I felt like I worked there after being there for so long. The store closed and I was still trying to get the problem resolved. After 3 days of problem solving, phone call to customer service and making the same 15 mile drive back and forth to the ATT store and the problem not being resolved, I lost interest in having the service.

I asked the store for a refund of my 750.00. I was told that the money they demanded on the same day that I was supposed to get service, I was going to have to wait 7-10 business days to get in the mail. This was on February 12, here it is March 5 and I still have not received any refund. I was then told by store managers Karen and Joe that the check was in the mail and the hold up was address information, which was how all this started because someone was not doing there job and making sure information was entered in correctly. I was not even notified that there was an address error. I gave them a contact number for that reason. I called again today March 5 and was told the check was in the mail and I should receive it in 7 days. Are you serious! Why should I be required to wait for something that was taken, yes taken and nothing was bought. As far as I’m concerned that’s stealing. So now I don’t have a iPhone because I could not get service and I don’t have my 750.00.

We asked Richard if the high deposit struck him as odd and made him reconsider. He responded:

Yes, I know. Trust me thats the same thing that I said. I know my credit is not great. I believe it is somewhere around 560 – 580. My thing was that as all this was going on I could not even get an explanation as to why the deposit was so high. Most are 500.00 tops. But I just want people to know that this kind of service should not go on. I have reported them to the BBB and the Attorney Generals Office as well.

After another 2-3 weeks I received my monies back but no compensation for time off work and inconveince that all that has caused me. ATT stated that they have no control over the deposit and cant offer me any service because I dont have an account with them. Well thats obvious, the reason that I dont have an account is because they were screwing things up when I gave them the money to set it up.

It’s a shame the Death Star didn’t try to keep you as a customer. You could’ve told them that they don’t have the best track record, and that you’d need a small deposit before accepting their business.

PREVIOUSLY: Contact AT&T CEO, Randall Stephenson
Reach AT&T Wireless Executive Customer Service
(Photo: afagen)

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