Yesterday morning I had to file a complaint with the FCC. What is the FCC? It is the Federal Communications Commission of the United States of America founded on June 19, 1934, by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Why did I file a complaint? Well, the story goes something like this.
Sunday morning my son Kevin called and said he wanted to switch his cell phone service to T-Mobile so he could get a new phone. He decided to join Kylie’s plan with her mother because T-Mobile was running some kind of deal. I said sure. No problem.
Sunday afternoon I get a call from Kevin - two calls on one Sunday - and he asked me for the secret pin number on my account. I was taking a walk so of course, I did not have it on the top of my head, so I finished my walk, looked it up on my password cheat sheet, and called him back.
The number did not work.
I needed a different number.
I needed a transfer pin number.
He said they decided to just get the new phone and a new number and we could straighten it out later.
I told Kevin I would call AT&T on Monday morning.
So I did.
First, I called the number on my bill and the recording said that they only take calls from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.
Next, I tried chatting on the website with a bot. The bot gave me another number. I stayed on hold for over an hour. Finally, someone answered and they didn’t know what I was talking about.
I needed a transfer pin number.
Finally, I decided to just go to the AT&T store and ask a real human being.
When I walked in the door and explained my situation, at first the young man assisting me said he could not help me or didn’t know how to help me. He said I needed the app to get the pin number.
So I downloaded the app to my phone.
Once we downloaded the app, he couldn’t find the place to get the pin number.
He kept asking his co-workers and no one seemed to know.
I pulled up my account on my computer and we couldn't find where to find the pin number.
By now, I had made friends with the man trying to help me. His name was Rashad. He was very tall, wore a surgical mask, long, thick dreadlocks and he was African American. He was kind, funny and I don’t think he was acting. He really did not know how to download the transfer pin number.
He kept telling me that recently they changed the system and I had to call the loyalty department - another 1-800 number. So I called the third 1-800 number and a woman, probably in some small town in India, answered the phone. (I found out later her name was Elle.) It was hard and frustrating to understand Elle, but she was a sweet person and I kept asking questions. With Rashad’s help, I was finally able to get the pin number. I thanked Elle and asked her if she was in India at a call center and she said she could not tell me.
During this entire episode, another employee was listening to our situation. The other employee who appeared also to be from India made a comment like “Is my cousin in India not speaking clear enough for you?”
"What?" I replied, “Are you kidding me?”
He said it with a straight face but he had a mask on, so it was hard to tell.
I felt like he was trying to provoke me.
Rashad said he was kidding me.
I stood my ground and said something like, “I am not leaving the store until I have the transfer pin number.” I said this in sort of a raised voice and Rashad said something like that I was becoming a hostile customer.
We laughed it off and I tried to make a joke out of it and I started asking Rashad about his family and children.
I deescalated the situation, but at one point I was afraid they were going to call the police on me.
Finally, I had my transfer pin number from Elle in India with help from Rashad and I sent it to my son Kevin to handle it with the T-Mobile guy - Chris.
I was extremely frustrated with the entire situation, so I wrote a letter to the FCC Tuesday morning, March 1, 2022.
March 1, 2022
To Whom It May Concern at the FCC:
Yesterday, I tried to switch my son’s cell phone account and number from AT&T to T-Mobile and AT&T made it almost impossible. I was on the phone for over an hour and at the local AT&T store for over an hour. Make it easier for people to switch providers. It is a free country.
My belief has always been that this is a free country. I tried to do a simple task yesterday and here is what happened:
At 8:00 a.m. Central Time, I called this number 1-800-288-2020 and was told that the office was only open from 8:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time and to call back.
I started a chat online with AT&T that went nowhere.
I was given another number on the chat and I was placed on hold for over an hour.
I went to the AT&T store in Overland Park and the customer service people there said they did not know how to help me.
I told them I wasn’t going to leave the store until they did.
I felt very uncomfortable at times, but they finally gave me a number to call.
I called the number and spoke to a woman in another country named Elle who I could not understand.
Finally, she gave me a pin number to use.
My son called the T-Mobile store and they said they would help him tomorrow.
The issue is still not resolved.
My son now has two phones with two different numbers.
Please fix this system.
Paula McCarthyLong story short, by the end of the day, Kevin had his new phone operational. It took a few more phone calls back and forth and I did get a call from Hector who said he was a case manager for the President’s Office of AT&T. Hector was the key to the solution and provided another "secret" account number that did the trick.
Anyway, the complaint to the FCC worked extremely fast and the system worked.
Now, I am best friends with Hector, Rashad and a host of other people who work for AT&T and Chris who works for T-Mobile.
It is a free country after all.
You just have to work at it.
P.S. If you know of a cheaper, better wireless service, please let me know. I now know how to change over easily.
This is not the first story about the red tape with cellphone companies. Sorry it was such a mess.