Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Rocket Science at the telephone company

I have been "bonding" with the AT&T call center agents about my screwed up account. I decided to bundle all my services when I added their high speed internet. This means that my television service, my internet and my land line should all be coming on one bill. And, at one point they sent me a check for the over payment on my previous internet service. But now my land line was cut off and in spite of repeated phone calls to get this resolved I still do not have a home phone. This is not a BIG deal to me since I only had that number added to make my family feel better that they have another way to reach me. I have been paying the bill but they cannot seem to wrap their head around getting it all on one statement as they promised six weeks ago.

The kicker was when I called again this evening and because I did not have my latest paperwork with me, I needed to answer a security question. The question: Who was your childhood hero? I could not remember giving an answer before but I responded with what I knew would have been my answer >>> Captain Kangaroo. Wrong. I told the agent, if that is not the answer then I have no idea who I would have listed. The agent then told me that there was no answer but because I had provided a response, it did not match and he could not discuss my account. I laughed out loud at the absurdity of the situation.

"So basically you are telling me that I had not ever picked that security question or given an answer and because I answered your question you cannot discuss my account with me??" Yep, that was it in a nutshell. Crazy, huh? But he did say he would update my answer for future reference.

The agent eventually did ask me for information I could provide which verified my identity and we went from there. And, before I hung up I asked for a new security question. The question: "Who has lame security measures?" Answer: AT&T.

He did not let me use that one.

I wonder when I will get my land line fixed??



Oh, yeah. In case anyone who knows me thinks it would be funny to mess with my AT&T account, Captain Kangaroo was not my childhood hero.

9 comments:

betty said...

LOL Donna! I totally sympathize with you; I had trouble with not being able to access my trash bill because I didn't remember my cell phone number that I had set it up with (old cell phone number from Montana). here's the funny thing, do you think a "fraud" would be calling a place to pay a bill for someone else? I don't think so!

hope you get it straightened out; seems like they make it impossible these days to get anything fixed like this. My best one was when our internet went down and I was trying to call to see if it was our personal internet or if it was a problem with service in the area. I was on hold on the phone for a long time and they kept saying on their recorded message "if you need immediate help please access us at www....." I'm like "I have no internet service, how can I access?"

keep us updated; will be interested to hear the outcome

betty

suzypwr said...

Why not get a VoIP phone instead of a landline? I pay $12.50 a month for mine, and it's all inclusive - long distance free all the time, no limits. Hope you got it worked out and I hope I can figure out the google reader soon and not just randomly pick up entries. *sigh* I do tend to read all the entries when I pick up a journal, but only comment on one or two while I am catching up. Good luck with AT&T - I won't touch them with a 10 foot pole, lol!

How I See It said...

I keep a file of all the security questions and answers just so when I have to make that call, I have the information. It's such a hassle... Funny description of what I am sure all of us go through at one time or another...I mean, Do I really bring my file with me so when I make the call outside of my home I have the info right there???? lol, lol

mortonlake said...

sounds right donna.lol oh well,hope you get it sorted soon,take care mort xxx

Lori said...

That is SO funny! We used to have A T & T for our land line and our cell, but they got so idiotic that we left them. We have our cable, internet, and home phone with Insight and our cells are T-Mobile. I don't think I would have been as patient as you were with them.

Leigh/BlueDragonfly said...

Mr. Greenjeans! Sorry, I'm not messing, but that's what popped into my head as I read that last line.
These customer reps all need to take some sort of class "Problem resolution 101". I recently had a "discussion" with the cable company-they wouldn't give me access to the account info-but it was my credit card info on the payment history. The woman actually asked me how I knew the numbers on the card. "Because it's MY card, you bimbo".
The account is in my nephew's name, but it's so much easier to do the payments online-hence the credit card.(with my info listed as the card owner)
I hope your future dealings with AT&T go smoother!
:) Leigh

Missie said...

That was so funny! I know it wasn't at the time to you, but it does make a funny story! LOL

Lori said...

I gave you an award on my blog. Drop by to get it, okay?

Rose said...

Customer Service is not what it used to be and sadly enough all these security questions are needed because we have so many thieves out there just waiting to steal our information.

I too have forgotten answers to security questions. I now have a little book to list them all for every darn establishment I do business with. LOL

Hugs, Rose