I'm a victim of bait and switch, poor customer service and invalid charges.

I would like to start out by saying that I've been a customer of AT&T for 23 years.  I've had the same number and starting with Bell South to Cingular to AT&T.  Below is a summary of how I've been mistreated.

I recently switch from a consumer account to a business account.  This was the worst mistake I could have made.  All of this started  January 2024 when Anthony Montgomery called me soliciting to convert from a consumer account to a business account with the promise of lowering my bill.  I agreed.  He was having trouble converting the account to business.  (1st Red Flag).  Once he the account was converted he offered me a free Samsung Watch.  I initially declined because I didn't have a use for it.  After listening to him speak about all the features and kept repeating that it was free, I agreed.  He was having trouble getting the watch ordered at no charge to me.  (2nd Red Flag).  As the conversation went on he let me know that since I already had the Galaxy 21 I could trade it in for the new Galaxy S24 which was coming out in the following months.  I explained numerous times that my current phone was fine but he was persistent saying that it was free.  I agreed.  I got the new phone and turned in my S21.  Long story short, a few week later I received a call from AT&T stating that I owed over $700 for my bill that need to be paid to prevent interruption of my service.

I called customer service the Rep I spoke with informed me that I was being charged fees for the watch and new phone.  I debated back and forth with the Rep for a while placing emphasis that I was told that these items were free.  She informed me that even though these items were free I was still responsible for taxes and fees.   Note - by definition free means - adverb 1. without cost or payment.  If there were fee involved this should have been disclosed to me from the start.  I resolved this by asking for return label to return the watch and the phone.  (remember there was nothing wrong with my phone).  At that time I was told that I couldn't return the phone because the phone I exchanged was damaged.  I was livid because there wasn't anything wrong with the phone when I returned it.  The phone had always been in a case and had a screen protector there wasn't anything wrong with it when I returned it.  (This is another debate all together since I wasn't interested in trading the phone from the start.)  I've spoke with customer service reps, customer loyalty team and billing dept and everyone tells me something different.  I've been promise numerous credits but for whatever reason I never received them and I get various excuses as to why the credits were not applied.  Where is the consistency? On 4/16/24 I spoke with Hansel in the customer loyalty dept.  After the imaginary credits I made a payment of $191.21 and was told I have a zero balance only to receive and call stating I owed $662.96.  I only have one phone on this account.  My bill is suppose to be $100 and it's not due until 21st of the month.  I've been without service for over a week and my business is suffering.

During the month of April my phone service was interrupted 4 times.  In the 23 years I've had the phone my service had never, never, ever been interrupted due to none payment.  Now it's the end of May 2024 my service has been interrupted again.  As a result, I've loss 1 week of business.  I've spoken with several Reps in Jamaica and the Philippines for a total of 6 hours only to be hung up on.  The only thing I did find out that I'm being charged a early termination fee for the watch that I didn't keep.  I'm also being charged $200 for reconnect fees.  Unfortunately I can't confirm this because I've never received a bill (3rd Red Flag)  And, when I asked for a copy of my bills I've been denied multiply time and was instructed to go online.  However, no one is listening to me...  I'm unable to access my account online due to some type of system/account error.  I've never received a bill but I'm just suppose to pay a bill just because someone said this is what I owe.  (This is another debate all together.)  

I'm tired now, I can see the era of the customer loyalty is a thing of the past.  I'm making preparations to leave AT&T it's obvious my issues and concerns don't matter.