![\"user-pic\"](\"/css/images/default.gif\")
Working for a large (10,000+) company I can confirm that story and the bosses are furious with AT&T.
Partly why they are transitioning us to verizon blackberries and telling AT&T to kiss off.
I do hope they burn for that.
1 replies
Working for a large (10,000+) company I can confirm that story and the bosses are furious with AT&T.
Partly why they are transitioning us to verizon blackberries and telling AT&T to kiss off.
I do hope they burn for that.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-348208-100x100.png\")
You covered this exact topic about a month ago.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-174912-100x100.png\")
they also charge you if you have two individual plans and merge them into a family plan.
@cotr: On top of that, you lose all of your roll-over minutes this way. I think both parties lose them, although we didn't really care about that point since both me and my GF had maxed our rollover minutes, and they were expiring each month. And, no, we don't have a lower tier \"Anytime minutes\" plan to switch to either.
I don't get how ATnT can have ads where they explicitly say that your rollover minutes never expire, when they DO expire after 12 months.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-307161-100x100.png\")
@ludwigk: They're very sneaky about that. The commercials always have the kid say \"These are old\" or \"They're from six months ago\" and the response is always \"They're still good!\".
@blueneon:
Those adds with the nagging mom always saying the roll over minutes are just as good as new minutes. She states specifically that they don't expire.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-375555-100x100.png\")
@PriceIsWrong: If you look closely, the text on the bottom of the screen states that rollover minutes expire 12 months after they were received .. granted, it's in fine print but it is there
I cannot wait for the day when consumers snap and figure out a way to go Boston Tea Party all over these corporations with the excessive fees.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-891311-100x100.png\")
@redskull: I'm sure any \"Boston Tea Party\" plans nowadays would ironically be quite illegal under the PATRIOT act.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-926607-100x100.png\")
@redskull: I cannot wait for the day people stop using Tea Party references.
What would we do? Throw our cellphones into the harbor? I mean, I can get there pretty easily, but you know I don't want to hurt the jellyfish.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1037-100x100.png\")
@veg-o-matic: Yeah the harbor is just starting to be non toxic for the first time in about a century. Why don't we just all cancel our text message plans which we probably should have done already since it's their most shamelessly marked up service.
I still get my discount... Im done with my 2yr contract as well... If they decide to charge me to get my discount, i'll be going elsewhere... That's ridiculous... Im sure Sprint and Verizon do no such thing with their discounts...
If i were Vz or Sprint, i would start a huge promotion campaign telling people they dont charge for discounts...
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-53233-100x100.png\")
@JeanStork: I just renewed my contract and there was no fee for the discount, so we must be grandfathered in.
Had I not already been an AT&T customer, this would have been enough not to consider them for wireless service.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-861868-100x100.png\")
@JeanStork: \"Unlike our three letter competitor, we don't charge you a fee when our posted prices mean nothing. Who pays retail? Suckers do!\"
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-537475-100x100.png\")
How exactly do you get a discount code? I put in my email address, got the \"congratulations, you qualify\" and then a link to the web store, but not a discount code.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-24730-100x100.png\")
@pecan 3.14159265: The e-store to which the email sends you is for your equipment discount. You have to call AT&T or go to a store to have them apply the discount to your monthly service.
They might ask you for a business card or pay stub as \"proof\" you work where you say you do.
The fee is not charged if the discount is added within a certain period after activation (I believe 30 days), or if the company's contract with AT&T specifies their employees are exempt from the fee to receive the discount.
This isn't too dissimilar to a membership fee, really. Pay an annual membership fee, receive discounts on purchased products. This, though, is a one-time fee.
this is why i like sprint, especially with their improved service lately. their cheap and include everything in their packages, no fussing around with retarded add-ons.
@xamarshahx: Yup. Sprint has plenty of problems and has screwed me quite nicely over the years, but I'll take them any day over Verizon and AT&T. This article is just another reason why. Sprint has been finally working to improve themselves the past couple years and it shows.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-87038-100x100.png\")
@xamarshahx: And on top of Sprint's competitive prices, I get a discount like the one in the article via my employer. For all I know, Sprint charges now to add that discount, I've had it for 6 years or so.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-665956-100x100.png\")
+1. Sprint gets beaten up on this site, but their unlimited plan is the reason I stick with them. I happen to like Sprint.
just another reason why at&t sucks compared to vzw... no surprise here... by the way, those not in a major metropolitan area, how you enjoying that 3G coverage on your iPhone?
@Jon Porter: VZW sucks just as much. They always charged me roaming even though I was on a national coverage plan. They nearly always fixed them with one or two calls.
The kicker was when the auto-debited my account for $600 (20x my normal bill) after I had called to correct the error. The rep recognized the error, and agreed they never should have charged that much, but couldn't put anything back for 6-10 weeks.
I left that day for Cingular, turned off automatic payments on all my accounts, and have been happy since - except for the $5k in extra interest I have to pay for a NSF against my student loan.
Two weeks after I left, VZW called me to ask what they could do to win me back. I told them to send me a check for $5K as I hung up.
@Jon Porter: I'm in northeast tn with a population of 60,000 and my Iphone 3G coverage is great thanks!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-386420-100x100.png\")
To everyone saying \"This is why I stuck with \" They all have, at one point or another, screwed a customer or all of their customer's in some fashion. It happens, it's how these guy's work. I'm lucky in that I've never had a problem with VZW, but I guarantee you there are people here that will reply to this and say \"oh man, I had horrible service with VZW, it's why I switched to AT&T\" and someone else that goes \"A&T sucks, they did 1, 2, 3 to me and now I'm with Sprint\" and a third guy that goes \"Sprint? Bastards, they screwed me royally. I'm with VZW now!\"
I stick with VZW because their coverage is the best for southern mass/north rhode island, not because of some amazing deal or customer service.
MY biggest problem with this is that at NO POINT prior to paying the $36 are you told exactly what you will get for it! There is lots of ambiguous language with phrases like \"qualified charges\" and \"select wireless devices\" and \"may require purchase of additional equipment\". NOWHERE can you find out exactly what your current plan and device qualify you for! I could spend my $36 only to be told I don't qualify for ANYTHING! What kind of idiot does that?
I've written to our AT&T rep asking for details, but have yet to get a response.
@Romeyn Prescott: It comes off of the base rate plan charge....single lines get the discount off of the \"voice or minute\" portion of your rate plan (meaning it does not come off of text packages, data packages, etc.) if it is a multiple line account, the charge that the primary line receives (60 for 700 mins, 80 for 1400 mins, 100 for 2100 mins)therefore...2100 minute Family Talk plan with a 10% disount would receive a $10.00 discount each month...
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-21984-100x100.png\")
Fear the asterisk, always fear the asterisk.*
* Taxes, fees and other charges may apply.
Sounds to me that this might be a \"material change\" to the contract. Anyone know?
Sounds like an activation fee to me.
When I switched activated my discount at AT&T I was told they were waving the standard $36 activation fee for new accounts (even though I had the account for 2+ years at that point).
Other than that I've never been charged extra.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-184636-100x100.png\")
That's complete BS.
get your code, and call 1-866-499-8008. That's the Premier (business) phone line. They can add the discount to your account. I dealt with people without work e-mails all the time working for the AT&T Business side of things.
Report the store as well.
And after reading that through completely a second time... good work, AT&T. No wonder I was a t-Mobile customer when I worked for you. I feel bad for the folks hard up enough that they're stuck working there if that is indeed a new policy and fee. can't imagine how many screaming calls they're going to get. :/
The fee really is BS.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-129735-100x100.png\")
This is probably not a \"Discount Activation Fee\" but rather an activation (or upgrade, or whatever they are calling it these days) fee for modifying her contract (and consequently signing up for another 2 year contract.
Anyone who sticks with AT&T deserves exactly the ripoff crap treatment and terrible coverage they get.
This is absolutely no surprise.
@From the cubicle of PGibbons:
Funny i've never once been ripped off by AT&T, nor do I have problems with their coverage. In fact I have friends who absolutely loath AT&T so they use the only other carrier with decent coverage here. If it wasn't for their wifi enabled phones that can make calls through their home wifi network they would have no coverage in their own house yet I get 5 bars.
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1013895-100x100.png\")
Why is it that all these companies can hold us accountable for anything we do (or don't do) and we can't hold THEM accountable?
We as consumers should have the right to withhold payments and charge ridiculous fees when corporations do not hold up their end of the transaction / bargain / contract.
That would straighten them out and make them get their act together...
I'm with Tmobile, and I get a $15 discount every month for working for the county. They had to adjust my billing period for some reason, but no charge for the discount.
They did however double the fee they charge to collect fees. In the list of retarded fees, Tmobile's fee to collect fees takes the cake!
AT&T knows that the 2/3rds of its customer base joined just for the IPhone. Those people have shown they have excess disposable income and a willingness to be gouged, so AT&T is simply complying until its exclusivity ends.
looking over my recent bill,like other utilitie bills..sure would like to hear a realistic explanation for some so-called charges w/At&t:USAGE Charges. An add-on?Regulatory cost recovery charge? Federal universal service charge,taxes,ok, then there\"s county tax..never paid that..can I deduct it? I would also call and ask for explainations but know what I\"d get..from some air head that knows less than me ! Recently E-mailed the electric and gas Co.over the same problem.Guess what...no reply.They have a 'gun to our heads\" so...pay up,or live in a cave.
Um no, actualy over in howardfourms.com we had been discussing this topic. The reason for the fee is to prevent abuse of the system. There was several stores/reps that would toss on the higest discount to people who dident even work at said places, and showed no proof. The idea is that anyone that has an employee discount will have a work email they can use to verify their elg. vs comming to a store. Now i do feel AT&T should be waving this fee upon sufficient proof of employment, such as a paystub dated within 2 weeks of attempting to add the discount in store.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-344098-100x100.png\")
Pffft - I see no reason why a cell phone company needs to see my paystub. It's not a freaking mortgage!
If you want to confirm my employment, contact the person who negotiated the national contract and have him/her check the employee directory. If it doesn't show up, yank the discount. Plain and simple.
Wow. you'd be awesome in prison, being all polite and stuff when taking it in the ass from the other prisoners. They'd be lining up for you.
Stop complaining about this company and that company and take some responsibility for finding out information before you sign a contract. If a sales rep says there is a $36 fee two seconds before signing on the dotted line, then don't sign. Or get them to waive the fee. I have never paid a activation fee or a restocking fee ever. Not at Verizon, Cingular or AT&T. When they say there is a fee I ask them to waive it or I walk. In some cases I have left the store without the new contract or new phone, but a call to customer support or and order online usually helps we bypass the fees.
Hah! Verizon! What a laugh, you guys. Let me assure you that, from what I last knew, they do not charge you a fee to add the discount. HOWEVER, you'll have to wait 1-2 months for the discount IF that department decides you meet the eligibility & they haven't lost the paperwork and IF your fax/online application goes through or IF the store representative knows what they're doing.
All the companies are the same, let me reassure you of this. I've worked for a few of them and they're all soul-sucking, money grubbing jerks.
I just found this out the other day. Got the new IPhone a little over a month ago, my company is getting everything set up to get a discount through AT&T. Called AT&T to see if they could do it over the phone (email verification isn't working yet. They told me about this during that phone call, and I'm not very happy about it. I will get the discount, and I will NOT pay the extra activation fee.
The woman on the phone even had the audacity to say 'Well if it was in the first month that fee wouldn't have applied but since you are just over the first month it does apply'
Hopefully my email ends up working once everything is setup correctly because they want pay stubs as proof of employment but my company does that paperless. Who knows if they would accept an 8.5x11 sheet of paper I printed out from my web access I have to pay stubs as that.
This whole thing is just turning into a pain.
When I had Verizon they just entered my email address, it sent me an email, I verified then done. No fees, no having to call in.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-952983-100x100.png\")
That's awesome, I had just actually discovered this fee yesterday and was pissed off about it. End of contract I am unlocking my 3G and going to t-mobile. F AT&T.
If you have AT&T wireless and AT&T home service and you do combined billing, calls between your cell phone and any AT&T land phone do not count against your minutes. However, if you sign up for one of these employee \"discounts\" through your employer, calls between your cell phone and any AT&T land phone DO count against your minutes. My \"discount\" ended up costing me an extra $50 to $75 dollars per month, so I switched back to my original plan, but I have had to call AT&T every month for six months to correct errors on my bill. They keep turning off my unlimited family messaging. What a nightmare!
I'm not quite sure which is the real problem: the fee, or this person managing to get into the gray zone between a large company implementing a procedural change and maybe the guys on the bottom missing the memo, or having it not yet arrive.
Regarding the fee, I don't see the problem. It's your choice to take it. Go somewhere else if it doesn't please you. They may just be trying to cover themselves by asking for a committment: we're not willing to take a loss on the first couple months unless you're willing to make a finanical committment. Something like that. But, again, don't like? Go somewhere else.
Regarding the peformance of AT&T while integrating this new policy, it was definitely not something they're proud of, I'm sure, but what are you going to do? Yep, go somewhere else.
The more people to go somewhere else the more the company will stand up and take notice. Customer feedback is great but, clearly, in this case this person did exactly what AT&T wanted: she spent time going after the discount and was, apparently, willing to pay for it. That's a sign of a successful program.
Just a heads up: a CSR at AT&T has the right to:
Apply <= $250 USD Credit to an account AND/OR apply up to an additional 1000 rollover minutes WITHOUT REQUESTING AUTHORIZATION FROM A SUPERVISOR. If they say they need to go ask a manager for a simple $36, then they are just talking to their cubicle-mate and gossiping or playing another round of solitaire. Simple as that. So dont let them play their little game. If you insist its ATT's fault (you weren't told about a charge, or a representative promised a discount), they won't have a problem applying the credit.
Just a heads up! Source: Family member is a CSR for an ATT callcenter.
Switch to Verizon their employee disount is actually a discount.
Everyone commenting here is ridiculous. Its an ENROLLMENT FEE....for a discount program. You pay a membership fee at SAM's Club? And why? So that you can save money from that point on. The list of companies that get a discount with AT&T is endless...and a ton of people benefit from it. A one-time $36 enrollment fee is not anything to complain about...you generally end up getting that back after 2 or 3 months of receiving the discount. Quit complaining.
Yes, I totally agree that AT&T shouldn't charge to add a discount, but the the author of the original letter straight up lied to the customer service rep saying that the rep didn't tell them about the fee. Hopefully the store rep doesn't get reprimanded somehow because they were doing their job.
From what I have heard from talking to our reps with AT&T, they only started charging this fee about a month ago.
If you are an IRU account, individual paying for their own account, then you are going to now be charged a $36 fee for adding the FAN (foundation account number) to your line. They used to not do this. I don't believe that if your company pays for the account (CRU), that you will be charged this fee. I do my company account stuff on their Premiere portal site and haven't seen a charge yet. But, I tried to add the FAN number I'm supposed to use for the discount the other day and they told me that a fee would be imposed.
This is a stupid fee that is just for extra profit/revenue. All they do is input the number into your account and voila, it's done. So, they are basically charging $36 to enter in a 9 digit number or so into your account. This is like a setup fee.
When will AT&T learn. Hopefully they won't charge this fee to 4chan members.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-63820-100x100.png\")
I had a hell of a time getting my mom's discount on our family plan after I was told in the store that a) we aren't supposed to be charged activation fees, and b) our discount went up by 5%. When I call AT&T I find out that no, we aren't supposed to get our activation fees waived.
The CSR was so nice, she waived them for us anyway :-)
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-131723-100x100.png\")
AT&T is also doing this to students who ask for a student discount, they call it a \"Scholarship activation\" fee or something like that
If enough people around the country would contact their congressmen/women and their respective states Public service Commission ( Public Utility Comission ) and demand that wireless phones be regulated by this governing body you would see a dramatic change in quality of service and these funky charges would have to be approved before they could trick you into something that you don't want. How many people reading this would put up with the pitiful call quality on their landline phones that they recieve on their mobile phones and the landlines are cheaper.
Who the hell PAYS for a discount? Isn't the point to the discount to SAVE money? Blood Sucking Leeches. That is all.
I work for At&t and let me tell you that you might not even be able to get that fee waived anymore since now we can get fired for waiving it. Even with that fee customers still save more money than $36 if you add up the discounts you'll get in months.
To be honest I don't really blame them, I think they're doing this since they lose TONS of money giving customers credit all the time because of their lack of responsibility. Customers call in all the time to get credit for things they can just keep track of or educate themselves about. Those bastards know that if they bitch enough or call multiple times they can get their bill paid in full. Trust me, you won't really know how much money they really lose until you work for them. It's ridiculous. A lot of customers are worse than any greedy corporate stereotype out there.
I personally work for a local company called Cincinnati Bell which services Cincy, Dayton, and NKY areas. Although we don't have the national firepower as some of the other companies that you speak of, we are one of the only carriers out there to offer home phone service, internet (which was ranked top 3 in the nation), Fioptics cable/internet (where available) wireless service, home security and DirecTv as bundles. We not only can bundle all these together, but we require no contracts. I actually work in our Corporate Partners group which offers a substantial discount on all products for our top 1000 corporate partners (many of which are HQ outside of our local area) so it's interesting for me to hear about this ridiculousness. We can change your plan at anytime (even to bump you to save overage charges or lower you to save money on the minute plan) and add corporate discounts at any time with NO CHARGE. So I am intrigued to see this happening and if you are a customer in our area, this is yet another reason to check us out. This may not pertain to many of you as you are outside of your area...and I'm not making a sales pitch here, but just getting the word out and it may really make you rethink just what your carrier is looping you into. If you are local call us at 513.397.5084 or go to cincinnatibell.com/corporatepartners to check it out. Until then, you should demand those charges to be waived bc that is nuts!
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-412923-100x100.png\")
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-268564-100x100.png\")
Sounds like one of that shady name change fee's that Comcast charges. Glad you got it reversed. I think if you get a discount via your employer then your employer should be paying the fee's to let you into the program. It shouldnt be passed onto the customers.
Chances are the only reason employers can get discounts is because the carrier knows it will cost them nothing and will drive business to them so charging this kind of fee is pretty crappy.
@parad0x360: Whoa whoa, so you balk at a retarded fee from AT&T and say the employer should pay it? WHY? They didn't tell you to get a cell phone. This is an incentive offered by AT&T to companies with a lot of employees because it will give them access to more people.
And not passed on to customers?! What you think taxes and fees of all kinds are just paid out the CEO's piggy bank? Why the hell do you think that latte your drinking costs you $4 to drink about $0.50 in materials to make but they only make a 20% profit?!? It's called embedded costs. If your employer now gets charged this fee, what ever they sell will reflect it.
@parad0x360: It's not just \"Comcastic!\". I had to fork over a fee with my utility company as well. I was just lucky they didn't make me pay a bigger security deposit (I read over their TOS, and technically, they could have, since I was moving out of an apt and into a house).