Dear Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T. Your tech center is down. How much does it cost you when they can’t process online payments? A lot. Here’s my story.
Your company has brought me to hell and back today because I tried to pay a $190 wireless bill. It took two hours and my time is worth much more than the bill I paid, which ended up being more than the due amount because they would not tell me what was due and I rounded up from past bills in case you dinged us for underpaying.
I don’t write checks anymore because it’s easier to pay bills online and I pay mine on time every month for many years. Today after your tech people failed and the system went down, your call center staff was rude and would not help me. I asked for accounting. They would not tell me the amount owed. I am on the account but had to provide information I could not do so at the time. Apparently I switched my husband’s last four SSN numbers to mine.
With accounting still not telling me the amount owed while telling me I am on the account they said my husband has to call them to allow access or I have to go to an AT&T office with passport or drivers’ license to actually call in to pay a bill when your online bill payment is down. And as an additional slap in the face I had to pay a $5 penalty for calling in. I pay our bills on time and will not let your inept staff keep me from doing so.
I told them that I pay the bills and placed my husband’s name on the account. They said I could go to an office and switch names on the account (even though I’m on it) and I would be solely responsible for any charges incurred.
I said that to get the account nearly ten years ago my husband was not required to go to an office and show his passport or drivers’ license to get an account for our iPhones. Of course I’m “just the wife” so I have to go to an office with ID to pay our monthly bill because your computers are down.
As we age, I pay the bills and do yours online on the due date each month. If something happened to my husband what would happen if I was “just the wife” on an account trying to pay my phone and utility bills every month? You can do better, sir, and should for the millions of families you serve. Think of the military where spouses are here with families while their loved ones are at war. Think about it. You must do better. Respectfully, Dee
Cooking with Dee 
With a public website, a contact number must be given. Guess what? AT&T does not provide one. The largest phone company in the USA does not have a phone number. They must be using Verizon and don’t want us to know.