WARNING --ALLTELL customer service is non existent!!
Written: Aug 11 '04
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Pros: None that I can see. Their customer service is horrible. Avoid at all cost.
Cons: They REALLY don't care about the customer and I am generally a very optimistic person.
The Bottom Line: If you expect a company to honor their agreement, don't sign a contract with Alltell. They care nothing about customer service and do not honor their end of the agreement.
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| tbarwell's Full Review: General Reviews of Alltel Customer Service |
If you are considering signing a CONTRACT with Alltell for cellular "service", RUN, don't walk away.
I can echo almost all negative reviews thus far. They fully expect the customer to honor their end of the SIGNED service agreement yet, when it comes time to honor their end, they inform you that the prices and/or terms of the service agreement have changed.
Let me start at the beginning. Sorry this is so long but I feel it is important to get the whole story out. My husband and I, with two teenage boys, decided it would be a good idea to sign up for a family cellular plan so we could stay in contact with each other given the boys' newfound mobility. (Driving teenagers! Be afraid, be very afraid!) Alltell offered the best rates on 1000 anytime minutes in the area so we signed up with them. The sales rep went over our "contract" with us at the point of sale which went something like this: 2 "free" phones, 1000 anytime minutes, unlimited nights and weekends (after 9:00), all the goodies; voice mail, three-way calling, blah blah, blah, unlimited mobile to mobile and mobile to home and a coverage area over the entire state of Wisconsin, upper and lower Michigan. This plan also offered the option of changing our service to nationwide -"no roaming"- for 100 minutes for one month, in case our family takes a vacation or whatever for just $10.00. The plan would then change back to the original "service agreement" after that month. Since we take at least yearly vacations out of the state, we thought this would be great. This was the real sales hook for us. All this for $39.99 per month plus $20.00 for the second line. This sounds great, right?! Well, I'll answer that one. Yes, it does "sound" great.
We got the phones home and realized we did not receive directions on how to activate the voice mail features. This was easy enough to solve. We just called the boy at the store and he instructed us. This doesn't really qualify as a strike against Alltell. The rep was just a kid and I think he was pretty excited to make a sale. But it did make me a little uneasy....
Okay, next we get the phones working and my husband realizes his icon is blinking on the screen indicating that he is roaming while he is sitting in his OWN recliner in the state of WISCONSIN. Another call to the sales rep. He says don't worry, Alltell is "good on their word" and will not charge roaming. Well, he was right, we haven't been charged so far but we will never really know if he is roaming or not and, he is planning a trip out West in September. This part of the story continues below.
First bill arrives and the plot thickens. We discover that we are charged $35.00 for each of the "free" phones and the standard activation fee which skyrockets the bill and my blood pressure. The bill also states we are being charged $39.00 per month for 700 anytime minutes!!! We contracted for 1000 anytime minutes so, signed "contract" in hand I once again call Alltell "customer service".
I finally get through the automated teller and speak with a live customer service representative. She is condescending and downright rude from the get go. I explained to her that we had the signed thingy stating we should get 1000 anytime minutes and not 700 as indicated on the bill. She informs me that that promotional package had expired on March 30th and we did not sign that contract until April, 4, so we did not qualify for the 1000 minute deal! Needless to say, this did not make a whole lot of sense to me so I asked to speak with the manager. I was put on hold for more than a few minutes only to hear the SAME rep come back on the line to inform me that all of the managers were busy at the time. (No doubt dealing with other irate customers. I'm sure they are quite busy most of the time.) She had been instructed to obtain my contact information so that a manager could call me when s/he became available. I insisted on speaking with a manager immediately. I was again placed on hold only to hear the same voice come back on the line informing me that I would not be able to speak with manager. I reluctantly gave her my home phone number and informed her that I expected a call no later than that night. She agreed to pass this information along. I stated to her that, in the event a manager could not contact me that night, I would be home from work the next day after 4:00 p.m.
The next day, around 10:30 a.m. I got a call from an Alltell manager. (See the irony here? Turns out I wasn't working that day after all. ;))I explained the situation and after a lengthy "discussion", we settled the DISAGREEMENT and they granted my 1000 anytime minutes at $39.99. I also reminded them that I had not signed up for their Mr. Rescue roadside assistance program and she informed me that the charge would be removed. To this day we are paying for Mr. Rescue. This is minor, right?
We went along for the 3 months without problem other than the minor oversights noted above.
On to the present day!
This is where things really fall apart for me and the customer service reps at Alltell. My husband, who plans to take that trip out west, called Alltell this afternoon to request the $10.00 nationwide plan the sales rep had informed us of when we signed up for this "deal". The customer service representative (I have a sneaking suspicion it is the same rude little bugger I spoke with in May) informed him that in order for us to qualify for the deal, we would not be eligible to go back to our current 1000 anytime minute plan. Because this package had expired, it was impossible for Alltell to offer it again. We could go to the 700 anytime minutes for $39.95 but the 1000 minute plan was out of the question. She further informed my husband that he was not eligible to make changes to the "contract" because it was under my name. He then requested to speak with a manager. He was told this was not an option open to him at that time and the condescending little thing then asked him if she could help him in some other way. Well, my husband, who is not the most level headed person in general, pretty much told her Alltell employed a bunch of crooks. She then stated to him, "Have a good day," and HUNG UP ON HIM! Now that's what I call customer service!
So, I get home from work and call Alltell myself. I get a person on the line who seems very accommodating at first but comes back with the same line. I remained very calm and informed her I wanted to speak with a manager. I get the same runaround as the time I called in April. I was put on hold and she came back on the line requesting my info. I informed her I would remain on the line until I spoke with someone higher up. She came back on again and reminded me that someone had already called about this and that the answer was not going to change. She could not understand why I found it necessary to call a second time in the same day. I informed her that I was aware of that fact as it had been my husband who called. She then seemed to get very impatient and told me a manager would call me back. I told her that I would remain on the line and I found it very hard to believe that the same customer would get hung up on twice in the same day. I told her I was very dissatisfied with the service I had received thus far and I insisted on speaking with a manager. She did not seem to care much about how I felt or thought but finally got someone to come talk with me.
The manager got on the line and pretty much gave me the same speech as everyone else. His tone was also condescending although not as rude as his underlings. He pretty much compared Alltell service to that of buying something at a retail store or anywhere else. "Prices change." I reminded him that I did not sign a contract the last time I bought a shirt. He did not empathize with the situation at all and would not budge. I explained to him that I felt Alltell was breaching their agreement with me. He stated that no specific contract language is written into the service agreement which gives them the right to change the terms of service whenever they want to.
So, at the end of the conversation, I informed him that I would like to end my side of the agreement with Alltell without penalty to which he responded, "That's not possible. You signed up for 12 months." If that ain't a kicker!!! I asked to speak with his manager to which he responded, there is no one here you can talk to. I asked him for a contact number and he said there was no contact number but I was free to write a letter if I wanted to. I informed him that I found it very difficult to believe he was not given contact information for his own boss and he said, "I am sorry you feel that way, unfortunately we cannot help you in this matter."
Needless to say, at the end of 12 months, I will discontinue my SERVICE AGREEMENT with Alltell and plan to share this information with anyone who asks and even those who don't.
Please take my advice and buy your cellular service elsewhere.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 2 much
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Epinions.com ID:
tbarwell
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Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
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