Validas: Kill Your Bill

the Wireless Butler comes to the rescue!

A good friend (we’ll call him John) of one our associates at Validas uploaded a wireless bill he was concerned with. My president asked me to give him some WB (Wireless Butler), and I saw he saved a decent amount, 77% (great is 90%).

John then wanted to know how to tell AT&T to credit a plan mistake he encountered in their store. He had upgraded to a Blackberry and in changing his price plan, AT&T neglected to enter the Blackberry unlimited data plan. As a result, John wound up with almost $160 in pay-per-use overages. John sounded a tad frustrated with the situation and I told him a fundamental law I learned from being a rep at the store–the reps aren’t stupid; instead it’s the flawed systems they are using.

I told him to forget about it, adding that I would draft up an email for him to send to AT&T. In that email, I provided all the relevant information plus the evidence of the mistake to ensure that John didn’t have to do anything except copy, paste and send.

First email to AT&T:

Hello,

My account number is xxxxxxxxx
Name on bill: xxxxxxx
SSN: xxxxxxxx

I recently purchased a Blackberry (upgrade for my wife xxx-xxx-xxxx which has the $30. unlimited data plan) and the price plan has not been set up correctly. I requested to have unlimited data access but yet I have been charged $158.74 in Data Access. Please see a screenshot of my bill below illustrating this overage on my xxx-xxx-xxxx number.

Can you please make my mobile number xxx-xxx-xxxx the correct plan and change it to: Family Messaging Unlimited plus add Data Unlimited and credit my account $158.74 for the overage.

Please complete this, I cannot afford any more time to call or go into a store to have this fixed. I’ve spent enough time on this issue that is AT&T’s and I’m not satisfied with the billing service I’ve received so far.

Thank you
John

That should have gotten the job done. All the required authorization data and an explanation of John’s problematic situation should have made everything crystal clear. Yet, this was AT&T’s reply:

Dear Mr. xxxxxxxxx,

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail the new AT&T. We regret any problems you’ve encountered . My name is xxxxxxxx and I am happy to address your concerns.

The questions available to choose from at www.att.com/wireless are specific questions and serve a specific purpose; that purpose is to allow those questions that can be answered in a timely fashion via e-mail to be accessed online.

I also see that you are replying directly to the e-mails being sent to you, which provide no verification of your account. So that we may assist you further, please log into your online account at www.att.com/wireless and submit questions, concerns, and /or requests via our e-mail system. This will ensure that your account has been properly verified.

If the subject matter of your concern is not listed in the e-mail options, due to the nature of the issue and constraints of e-mail, please contact our customer service at 1-800-331-0500 or 611 from your AT&T phone for further assistance.

Again, I apologize for any misunderstanding or confusion that this may have caused.

We encourage you to visit our web site (www.att.com/wireless) often to view current and previous monthly statements, make payments and to shop for new product and service offerings. Thank you for allowing AT&T to serve as your wireless company. AT&T values you as a customer and we appreciate your business.

Sincerely,

xxxxxxx
AT&T
Online Customer Care Professional.

OK, so I just had to push them a little harder with the reality of this situation: AT&T will not allow a Blackberry to NOT have a data plan.

Hello xxxxxxx,

I understand but I am not calling in, or getting on a chat to spend more time on an issue created by AT&T. Regardless if I am xxxxx or not it is very obvious what the issues are on my account: It is my understanding that a blackberry MUST have a data plan (at least that’s what the sales rep told me), so why does my account have pay per use data charges?

Just like on the phone or on a chat, I can provide any information required to verify my account. Please send me what I should verify and I will reply with authorizing information.

Thanks

John

This did the job: John received a $160 credit on his account, a data plan for his Blackberry and AT&T keeps one more customer.

To sum up this entire story into one sentence: A billion dollar system did not catch or correct a mistake made by a human interacting with it, and the billion dollar company that owns the billion dollar system nearly profited as a result of that mistake.

The moral of the story is to audit your wireless bills through Validas to ensure that you’re getting a fair deal with your wireless carrier. Email admin@myvalidas.com and ask for the Wireless Butler if you’re ever in a pickle with your carrier…I’ll give you some WB.

Delighted to serve you,

Wireless Butler