Dear AT&T:

Like a lot of people, we switched to AT&T to get the iPhone back when it was an AT&T exclusive. But unlike a lot of people, I've been vocally happy with your service. I remember fondly the time I applied some goofy hack to my phone to be able to tether while I was lost in the woods of Vermont trying to fix a production server problem (before you offered tethering officiall). Later, I discovered my voicemail was broken, and your always-prompt and always-friendly customer support person knew right away what I had done. She never mentioned my hackery, only directing me to the place where I could remove it. When I was sheepish about being "found out" she said, "I'm not here to judge. Just to make sure your phone works great." And great it was, once I applied the simple fix she gave me.

In short, I've been a very happy customer for these few years.

For the record, I effectively control three accounts with five lines, including four iPhones. In total, we spend about $450/month to AT&T, and I'd guess we've spent in the neighborhood of $15,000 on your services.

Yesterday my monthly billing notification arrived, and it was unusually high. I clicked through to check the bill (which is something I normally don't do) and found two surprises.

First, and most disturbing, was a $10/month charge for something called "Recipe Alerts". Upon further investigation I discovered this charge has been on my bill for at least 12 months (your tool only goes back one year). I have never and would never sign up for anything like this. Also, as far as I know, I don't actually get any kind of recipe alerts and never have. A little digging revealed that this is a fraudulent scam operation (http://www.guessology.com) that somehow tricks you into billing me money and sending them a cut. Your customer service person offered to "add" something to my account so that I have to approve new charges to my account with a pin number in the future (as if anybody on Earth would ever not want this protection). She also offered to refund just the last 60 days worth of charges.

Let me be completely clear: You, me, and everybody knows that this is a scam. I know you don't run the recipe alert service. I know this give you some kind of plausible deniability. "It is a third party. It isn't our fault." But that is obvious baloney. You cut checks to these crooks. There is a contract involved, and you have some mechanism to track what they are owed and to get the money to them. Obviously, you have a business relationship with them. And obviously you get lots of feedback from customers that this is a scam. That your customers are being fraudulently charged for stuff they never asked for. You could absolutely terminate your relationship with them when it becomes obvious they're hostile to your customers. I can only think of two explanations for why you would not. Either you are incompetent to properly police a payment service you run, or you intentionally cooperate with criminals because it benefits you financially. If you have another explanation, please provide it.

Meanwhile, I have paid at least $120 to you for services I never authorized and never received. Your offer to refund $18 is insufficient. An appropriate course of action would be to express concern that you are being used as part of a scam, refund all charges to all impacted customers, and take the crooks to court to recoup what you can. 

I cannot express how frustrated I am that you care so little about my business.

A second reason my bill is too high is more understandable but equally annoying. A few months ago I ordered another line so my daughter could have a phone when she is out with friends, on church activities, or other places where she might want to get ahold of us. We received a junkie free phone with the two year commitment. Meanwhile, my wife upgraded her iPhone 3GS to an iPhone 4S. The feature phone my daughter used was difficult to operate, and frustrating to her (not your fault!). She needed help getting contacts entered, copying pictures to her computer, and sending text messaged. In a moment of annoyance, I decided to try swapping the SIM card into the old, now-unused iPhone 3GS. I was pleasantly surprised when it worked perfectly. It had no 3G data service, of course, but it worked fine on WIFI, and more importantly, it was easy for my daughter to use for calls, texting, and pictures, and easy for me to support.

I'm not sure how long ago I made that switch, but this month for the first time, a new $30/month charge was added to my bill for a data plan for that phone. I never requested a data plan, and certainly never expected to be automatically charged without my consent.

Your customer service person told me I have to buy a data plan I don't need or want simply because the phone is capable of using one. Note that this phone is well out of contract. As far as you should be concerned, it is simply a phone I own with a sim card I paid for. 

If you are determined to charge me for services I don't need just because I want to make life easier for my daughter, that is your prerogative. But it is not appropriate to charge me without my consent. A simple solution would be a call, text, or email letting me know a device is being use in an unauthorized way and giving me options. For instance, I may have decided to purchase the smallest data plan just to keep it in compliance. Instead you unilaterally opted for an expensive plan.

I understand that business is tough for a carrier. But I believe a review of my account would show that we are the kind of customers you want. I have no problem paying for data, paying for tethering, paying for international calling options, paying for text messaging. I have never once complained about these charges because I get that you're a business that needs a reasonable return for your efforts. I suspect if you put your customers into buckets, we would be in one of the very most profitable buckets, and I'm happy to be there, knowing I'm getting good service and paying a fair price for it.

When I contacted customer service about these issues, I expected (based on past experience) a quick resolution. I expected the fraudulent charges to be removed immediately along with an apology. And I expected an apology and some options regarding the iPhone 3GS. Instead I got scripted nonsense about how some ding dong in India "understands how I must feel" while she simultaneously refused to actually do anything about it.

So I come to the punch line: Ball's in your court. Here's what I want:

Refund ALL the fraudulent charges and ensure that no additional charges will be added to any of my accounts in the future without my consent. Refund the $30 data charge and offer me reasonable options for my daughter's phone.

After years as a happy AT&T customer, I have, for the first time, begun analyzing my options with another carrier. I don't really want to do it. It will certainly cost me a lot to pay ETFs and re-purchase phones I already own. But I have no interest in doing business with a company that treats me badly, and I have been fortunate enough in life that I can afford not to. So believe me when I say that I expect a speedy resolution to this, or I will drop my all my AT&T accounts and consolidate service elsewhere.

I await your response.

Geoff Coffey

Relevant phone lines:

602-384-1804

602-288-9118

480-395-2395

602-791-1636

480-600-2766

Why? What a silly hassle.