Why is AT&T so deceitful

Was this at a store? And if so was it an Authorized AT&T Retail Store or an AT&T Corporate Store? They both look exactly the same so you need to ask when you go inside or carefully look at the receipt you were given (it should indicate that it's a Retail Store if it is). Did you read the TOS?

It is a corporate store 

How did you confirm that? Did you ask when you went in? The reason being is that Retail Stores are not owned or operated by AT&T, nor do they have AT&T employees. They are just there to make a sale and sometime they are not clear or leave out important information just to make a sale. AT&T will on honor what is listed, in detail, on their website.

Hello @pweems22,

Your contribution to AT&T is highly valued, and we certainly don't want you to be feeling this way about our services.

We do see that you have an issue and would like to investigate it further.

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We confirmed in store and on the phone with customer service 

Did you read the TOS before agreeing to anything? Post paid accounts are locked to AT&T for 90 days (I believe), prepaid is one year.

If what you are saying is accurate, then file an online complain with the BBB. That will get forwarded to AT&T Upper Management and someone will contact you so you can discuss it directly with AT&T.

We did read it, I know we are out of the 14 days return period, but we felt because we were lied to and mislead, they needed to make it right.  I will definitely look in to filing a complaint with the BBB

If I am understanding your first post, your wife switched to AT&T and didn't purchase a phone as part of her switch. Now she cannot upgrade for 90 days. That is standard AT&T practice. She should have purchased a phone as part of her switch.  Since she made the switch at an AT&T store, it should have been very easy to buy a phone at the same time she was porting her phone number. 

I can't imagine why the store wouldn't have informed her that she should buy a phone since her phone was broken.  

I don't know how this amounts to a bait and switch.  

And yeah switching her line over incurs a $35 activation fee for her phone line. It also would have a partial month service and her full month's service ahead. It would be even more if she had purchased a phone.  Even free phones, are not " free " They are free with bill credits over 36 months, but the bill credits take 90 days to start 

Can't quite figure out why your wife would switch with a broken phone and not tell the people in the store that she needed to buy a new phone and switch her phone service over?  🤔

She was purchasing a phone, but they did not tell us she would have to wait 90 days to do that until they had me upgrade mine first and pay for everything.  This was after they had already told her she could switch over and we could get everything activated that same day.  

@pweems22 

So it's a credit limit issue.  

At&t has a super secret credit limit internally.  It still doesn't make sense why you didn't have her go first since her phone is broken