Master
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69 Messages
Lost $20 receiver discount when rep said I woudn't.
I'm a long-term U-verse user and used to be a Community Leader on this forum.
My fridge went out so had to disconnect the VIP1200 set-top box on top of my fridge. Then once reconnected I was having some box problems including the HDMI handshake issue.
8/30/17, I called Uverse technical support and spoke with rep Shay. I had already done the soft/hard reboots of the box and she said she'd just ship me another box at no charge. Meanwhile I got the box working fine while on the phone with her. She said since this box is a 2008 model it would be better that I just replaced it since it's free. She also said this would be a brand new box with new software. I would think it would be a re-manufactured unit. She did say I'd have to return the old box via the UPS store or I'd have to pay a $150 fee which I understood.
I told her a couple times I do not want my package (U450 TV, 24 internet, voice unlimited phone) to change at all or lose any type of promos or discounts on my multiple boxes. She said getting a replacement receiver has nothing to do with my account, promos, or discounts so not to worry about it.
9/2/17, I received an email from AT&T thanking me for my order. Then it showed the itemized bill and I lost one of my receiver discounts which is an extra $20/month or $240 a year! Unbelievable and this is exactly what I told the rep I did not want to happen while the rep assured me I would lose NO discounts! This pushed my bill over $200/month and it was too high to begin with.
I'm going to call support on Tues and tell them I want to return the unopened VIP1200 box while getting my discount back. Hope they're able to do this since it's pretty underhanded to say my account/discount will stay the same when it's the complete opposite. Anybody have any success with this? Thanks ahead of time.
At least I learned something from this forum and do have the date, time, rep's ID number, call reference number, and logged what was said during my call. Hope they even recorded the conversation but doubt it.
PS. Hi to some of my old friends on here!
If you get to thinking you're a person of influence, try ordering someone else's dog around.
Need help? Contact AT&T at 800-288-2020.
Uniblurb3
Master
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69 Messages
8 years ago
9/5/17, 11:30am ET, I just spoke with a real good tech support rep named Kelly. He said the first rep Shay was completely correct in saying that sending me a new replacement set-top box my package/promo pricing will stay exactly the same. But I mentioned I received a bill/email the next day showing an additional $20 equipment lease fee which wasn't on my bill before. He said this is wrong and there's a glitch in the system where it shows customers have additional charges when actually there are none. He said to ignore this email and look at my next bill which should show no additional charges.
Since this rep was so good in communicating I brought up my current promo pricing and discounts. I told him in April I received additional discounts on grouping my unlimited voice phone along with internet 24 together. But I told him my U450 TV promos will expire this December where I'll need to renegotiate the promos/pricing. Currently I pay nothing for 4 boxes and have a $40 discount for 2 of them. He quickly looked at my promos and found another $20 discount on my internet 24 because of having to hassle with this replacement box/billing issue. My bill will drop from $179 before taxes/fees to $159 with this additional $20 internet discount. He also extended all promos/discounts for another year until Aug/Sept, 2018 which was real nice of him.
Guess the "squeaky wheel gets the grease" and helps to talk to a real good TS rep/agent. I'll mark my original post/issue as resolved but will wait until I receive my next bill.
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DIRECTVhelp
Community Support
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255.1K Messages
8 years ago
Thanks for keeping us posted here. We appreciate your feedback shared and we did pass on the information to our leadership & development team for review. Our goal is to help make our overall customer service experience as awesome as ever. This may not be resolved immediately and must but with feedback like yours, it truly helps with our direction for success. Just know we’re here for you if you need to reach out to us again in the future. Thanks, ~ATTGeofL DIRECTV Social Media Manger
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Uniblurb3
Master
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69 Messages
8 years ago
You're welcome ATTGeofL and thanks for addressing my issue.
It's been a while since I've made any equipment changes to my service w/o a tech visit. Since my old VIP1200 non-DVR set-top box seems to be working again fine I decided to return the new replacement box AT&T shipped me so as to not lose any grandfathered free box discounts.
I made sure I didn't even open the new box and took it to my local UPS store today to ship back. I was pretty surprised the shipping supervisor had to open the new box, scan the codes on the bottom of the set-top box, then repackage the unit in another box. I will say that new box looked awfully nice and maybe I should have kept it? Lol, too late. I did receive a receipt for proof I returned it along with tracking number.
I didn't realize every change I make I'll receive a new email from AT&T which looks like a bill. It was only 1-2 hours after returning that new box to the UPS store I received an email. It still showed there was a $20 equipment lease fee but now also showed a $20 credit for this lease fee. Nice I'm given this credit as soon as the box was scanned at UPS and this was my whole issue to begin with. I'll still wonder if this equipment lease fee would have been removed if I would have kept the new box and returned old unit?
I'm still not going to mark my issue as being resolved until I receive my next bill to verify any changes, charges or discounts.
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DIRECTVhelp
Community Support
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255.1K Messages
8 years ago
Hello @Uniblurb3,
I am glad to hear this has been resolved at this time! If you are in need of further assistance we are always here to help!
I thank you for your time!
ATTGeofL DIRECTV Social Media Manger
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Uniblurb3
Master
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69 Messages
8 years ago
There's a darn good reason for not marking a thread as "Accepted as Solution" or saying an issue is resolved w/o waiting a while. Granted maybe I will receive the $20 monthly discount on my bill but now have other issues.
One of my U-verse boxes quit working this morning and it just happened to be the old one I called about a month ago. Doing a hard reboot of the gateway didn't help nor did a soft and hard reboot of the VIP1200 box itself. And I kept getting a prompt "box not matching account number".
Thought this was too much of a coincidence this box quit working Oct 1st and called tech support. Sure enough they added the new box to my account I shipped back to them 3 weeks ago and deleted my old box which is still connected! And after an hour on the phone with TS reps they couldn't connect the old box until tomorrow. Find it surprising there's no tracking whatsoever on the new box I sent back other than I returned it. Wouldn't doubt that box is probably being used my another U-verse account holder even though supposedly it's connected to my account. Will see what tomorrow brings....
BTW, since the tech did ask if there's anything else he could do to help me with my account I had to express my thoughts on another issue. Told him how disappointed my wife and I are with AT&T/U-verse failing to reach an agreement with local channel 10 (CBS) based out of Columbus, Ohio. Realize these negotiations are a 2-way street. But this channel has not been in our U-verse lineup for over a month now with both watching it for 60+ years. Way too close to home to lose this channel and very frustrating to say the least.
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Uniblurb3
Master
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69 Messages
8 years ago
After more than a month working on this back to square one with $20 equipment lease fee back on my bill.
On Oct. 1, 2, 3 & 4 ended up spending at least 1 hour each day dealing with technical support. Never ever let AT&T U-verse disconnect a box online and remove it from your account or you'll never get it added back on. While most all reps said it will be added back onto my account at the end of the business day they could never accomplish this.
Finally had a tech come out yesterday through an appointment. They asked him on his laptop to add my old box to the account and he said no way he's doing this and installed a new VIP1200 STB. Nice tech and he finally had it working so at least that problem is solved.
The tech did say there is no charge even though I received a bill via email right after he left showing the $20 equipment lease fee. Guess I'll just have to wait until next month to see if this charge is still on there or removed? What a hassle and shouldn't have to take months to get this straightened out.
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