AT&T review: unfair treatment! 54

All of the above criticisms of AT&T Yellow Pages are right on.! I am feeling like i got slimed after talking with the rep's boss and hearing the obvious lies and lack of concern in her voice. If this is not bad enough, she says we have an automatic renewal in our contract, which, if not canceled IN WRITING, will make you have to stick with this abomination through an entire new 12 month cycle.! This in the face of our repeated, vehement complaints and failed attempts at getting out of this miserable rip off.

We felt we were talking with someone off a 60 Minutes show about scam artists during our conversation with the Claims Dept.who obviously has this same phone call all day long, her responses were so practiced. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. ! SEEK HELP FROM AN EXORCIST AS THESE PEOPLE ARE TRULY EVIL!

Wow, this is absolutley amazing, i really wish i would have done more research before advertising with At&t yellowpages. I have unfortunatley also been scammed/frauded/bamboozled by a rep and now they have me on the hook for $474 a month. I paid 2 months and after finding out that i was lied to about how many people search for what i was interested in advertising for and also them choosing keywords for my company that are completely irrrelevant to what the services my company actually offers. i changed my card number and will not pay anymore. Obviously now they are threatening to send me to collections and destroy my business. Breach of contract, PERIOD. They told me one thing and delivered something totally different. There has got to be some kind of class action suit against these crooks, with all of these complaints? Does anyone know of anything that we can do as small business owners to not let At&t crush our businesses?

AT&T yellow pages called our business phone number while we were driving. I decided to listen as my husband drove. The representative explained a few things and told me there would be a packet coming in the mail if I agreed to look at it and if I like what I saw or needed to alter their design that I could sign and mail back. Then he said if you agree to that (looking over the packet and signing if we liked) would he mind if he got me on tape stating what he just told me. I said no problem, bad decision. The packet came, we looked it over and threw it away. Didn't sign anything, didn't call him back, just forgot about it as it was more than we wanted to spend. About 8 months later we rec'd a phone call from a customer who had seen our ad in the AT&T yellow pages. We didn't tell the customer but thought WOW we never agreed or signed anything to go ahead with this ad. We had no idea it was in there. We did receive mail from AT&T but never opened it up as we thought up until this point that it was more mail sent to get us to place the ad. When we were called from the AT&T rep about a delinquent bill, we told them we never authorized this, they told me they have me on tape agreeing to this. I told them that they had to have left the part out that said they would send us the packet to look over and sign. When they played the tape, sure enough it states I would agree to an ad, but did not capture any of the conversation that was talked about relating to getting a packet and signing before the ad would be placed. Now we continue to receive calls from reps stating we are going to collections. My husband is getting very agitated and not very cooperative with them now. Is there anyone out there that would like to join together to get these guys. I am truly telling the truth, we were totally surprised that a perspective customer called us and said they found us in the AT&T yellow pages as we didn't even approve an ad.

we should all get together and bring a class action lawsuit againt AT&T, THERE MUST BE THOUSANDS MORE JUST LIKE US
MY EMAIL A_SWEENEYJD@MSN.COM

deceptive sales practices by swb att. sales people when i asked what do you do if i cant pay this. they told me everything acept we will sue you this happend at att. okc okla. nw 63 st by veronica ware

PLEASE CONTACT IF INTERESTED IN FORMATION OF A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST AT&T ADVERTISING, (YELLOW PAGES, ONLINE, PRINT, ETC)
[protected]

ROSEMAN LAW OFFICES: I am a California Attorney. I called AT&T advertising to place ads in several of their Yellow pages. They talked me into"Online Advertising" I was supposed to get a reduced rate in the Yellow pages (PRINT/BOOKS), if I agreed to "online Advertising", this was supposed to be a "package deal". I spoke with the representative for over an hour fine tuning the ads; then we taped (audio), what we agreed to.

I followed up with AT&T on several occassions to make sure everything was in order for the Yellow Pages Ads. (they immediately started billing me for the "online advertising" which has to date generated "0", ZERO, clients --all clients are screened as to how they found us). Meanwhile, in June 2010 one of the YellowPage books I was supposed to be listed in came out. I looked in the book for my ad and found I was NOT there. I immediately called AT&T who told me they were "sorry, but your ad was left out".

They assigned the matter to a represenative who today told me I would have to continue paying for the online advertising and would have to pay for being listed in the other Yellow Page book which had not yet gone to print, (I was supposed to be listed in the Lake Tahoe Yellow pages-which I was left out of completely, and the Lake Mendocino Yellow pages which doesn't go to print until November 2010).

I found this to be ludicrious. I have a signed contract with them--which they breached. I am talking with a supervisor within the next 48 hours. but this is absolutely absurd . I would like to file a Complaint in Federal Court against AT&T for numerous causes of actions, (non-performance, breach of contract, unfair business practices, negligence, fraud, deceipt, to name a few).

Regardless of which state you live in, please contact my office. I have a 800 number which you can call free of charge. I am more than willing to go after AT&T--they count on individuals doing nothing and that is why they keep getting away with this. It is not fair nor is it right. Together, as a group, I feel we have a better chance of "WINNING" and STOPPING AT&T from engaging in this type of conduct.

Also, please contact the FAIR TRADE COMMISSION, THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU, THE CONSUMER TRADE COMMISSSION, & THE U.S. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION. I do not have the phone numbers sat this time, but I will post them on my website: www.califonialegalgroup.com and again the phone number is [protected]; my email julieroseman@lawyer.com.
Thank you,
Julie Roseman ESQ.

After reading everyone's similar complaints about AT&T deceptive advertising and misleading customers to costly advertising with their nonproductive company, I have come to the conclusion that we all need to form a class action suit against AT&T. My attorney in San Francisco would love to take this one on as they deserve the hell out of this! Also, I am going to file a formal complaint with the Public Utilities Commission and see what they have to say about it as well. We are currently being sued to the sum of $54, 000 +/- for all of the same reasons you have all complained about. We did not receive the returns we were promised, we were coerced into advertising with multiple books and signing contracts that had no bottom line dollar amount on them, our internet service was a joke and couldn't spell our business name correctly, fixing it was a nightmare and a public embarrassment, we ultimately had to hire a different company to create our website. This has literally been a financial nightmare. I'm done! They need to be punished in a legal matter and own up to their deceptive practices. I recently learned that because so many people in "our area" had the same problems with their contracts about bottom line prices not revealed on their original contracts, AT&T decided to change the way the their contracts read now. You actually do see a total price before you sign anything on their contract. All this information was provided to me by the original sales rep we had. Incidentally, we will be seeing him in court too. If anyone is interested in joining in on a class action suit, you can contact me at sbsandrakay@gmail.com, We would love to hear from all of you!

Hello,
My name is Kathyern Lane and I have to agree that AT &T does NOT care about the customer at all...it is all about the money to them. I was contacted about placing an ad with the yellow pages as well. I was told I would have the first ad in color under" paint." I would have a secondary listing under" drywall". And the internet ads would be up in February to help me obtain business even before the book came out in April of this year. I was also supposed to get a website, but the guy who builds it for AT &T and I just played "telephone tag" most of the time. In April the book came out...my full color paint ad is the THIRD ad on the left page underneath the big 1/2 page ad. There is no secondary listing under drywall. When I called AT &T after receiving the bill, I spoke with a lady whose name begins with an "M", Melba I think, and she could not find the internet advertising even after sifting through several pages. She was nice and I think intended to resolve the issue. She said her manager would call me. No one did. I received more bills but no service on the bad advertising. Finally, a man named Earl Young called and said he was the investigator for AT &T disputes. I told him about all the problems and said I don't think they should bill me full price when they haven't provided the service that I'm paying for;however, I am willing to re-negoiate a mutually acceptable price for the ad in the book. That was a few months ago. Earl and I played telephone tag and now there is a demand letter for the full amount or they will send it to collections (hurting my credit report). It looks like either I pay the full price for shoddy service or I slam my own credit report, but you know what, I called Ms. Tippy and she said I could get it investigated again but they found "no error on AT&T's part" I told her that was a ridiculous thing to say when their own book shows the "error". She said that was my only choice. Well, she is WRONG. I told her my next move is to sue AT&T and they would lose.
She said she'd make note of that and start the collection proceedings. Does any of this make sense to you? They COULD have gotten some money from me without lawsuits and court costs but, instead, they have only pushed me to sue. Some company. I think either AT&T should re-think their policies or get out of the advertising business...as for me I REFUSE TO BE VICTIMIZED BY ANYONE INCLUDING A BIG CORPORATION. So if you too, need to file a lawsuit, let's talk. I'm ready, willing, and able to go after abusive entities! Kathyern Lane of BOBKAT PROPERTIES

AT&T yellow pages is a disaster. Fortunately, we did not sign up for their questionable internet services but we have been screwed by them nonetheless. I am coowner and marketing director of a medical practice. First, you feel like you are dealing with a used car salesman when trying to figure out their ad options and pricing. They won't give you a straight price and will continously soak up your time trying to upsell you on their bundled packages - a single ad is redicously expensive and mysteriously more expensive than the ad plus other various ad-ons. The first year we signed up they printed our home phone number and fax under our business phone listing causes many awkward phone calls where we had to explain to our patients why they had reached our home phone number.

The next year, I told the rep that I would only buy an ad if they made the process ALOT less painful. I told him the exact ads that we wanted and he proceeded to "talk to his manager" to get us a discount on an ad package that was three times bigger than what I asked for. He then said that he could not discount the ad size I orginally requested (all of their prices are inflated with the expectation of negotiations - just like used cars), because he had already taken up his managers time and was not willing to talk to him again. At that point, I cancelled all of our advertising.

Then I got a call from another sales person disguised as a "customer service rep", wanting to understand why we would no longer run our ads with them. To her credit, she gave us fair pricing (as far as I can tell) for the ads that I actually asked for. Here's the kicker. We ordered 2 1-inch ads as part of a package. She said we could only get the ads at that price if we also took the free on-line presence manager. Now the book is out. The 2- 1" ads were identical ads under different headings. While 1 printed correctly the other one was completely screwed up and only contained 1 e-mail address for 1 of our 2 locations - no address, phone number, description, etc. NO ONE from AT&T will return my phone calls or e-mails. I have filed two "claims" with two different people who have told me that "customer care" will call me back to get the details of the claim. When I don't receive a phone call, I call again to be told by another rep that my complaint was mysteriously not entered into their computer system from the previous calls. One rep even told me that my ad was supposed to turn out that way. I guess she is too lazy to look at the documentation I actually signed off on or think logically. I have sent multiple e-mails to the 3 people who I have spoken to through this ordeal asking if anyone is going to get back to me, and they won't even reply. Worst yet, someone told me that their bundled pricing was listed differently in their internal computer systems than what I was told. Apparently, the ad they screwed up is listed as our "free" ad (under the bundled pricing) and, get this, the "free" online presence manager that they threw in, is listed with a monthly charge. So, why should they have to compensate us for our "free ad"?! Worse yet, the online presence manager does not work! From reading the other reviews, I gather that this broken or fake service will automatically renew next year. This company is FRAUDULENT and a NIGHTMARE. For the 40 patients that found us through the phone book last year, this is simply not worth the heartache and hassle.

AT&T Yellow Page advertising department is corrupt! They omitted info I gave them and placed my ad in the wrong section. I have emailed the proof to them twice and they never reply back. When I advise them of their error, they say they will get back to me and never do. They continue to bill me and call for payment. What planet are they on?
I have been in customer service and sales for years and have never experienced this level of unfairness and unaccountabilty!
Tom Smith

AT&T are crooks and steal peoples money even disabled people and noone stops them Sad. They rip people off everyday. I know because I own an Insurance agency and they have placed my add wrong three years in a row and wont give me knew add unless I sign there letter stating I wont sue them. I have never seen a bigger scam in my life

AT&T is a great company, but salespeople, who sell on commission, will always want more commission, especially if they are under extreme pressure to obtain objective.

Advertising in any medium is a gamble. No salesperson can guarantee anything.

If any decision maker hears overblown statements be careful. Many headings in the book and the Internet don't have enough traffic to generate positive results. Remember any decision maker is relying on the honesty of the salesperson, who is biased toward commission.

If a company wants to advertise in the AT&T Yellow Pages for the book or the Internet, always try to meet your return on investment, which is based on your conversion rate for the number of calls received, monthly cost of the ad, visitors to the heading, and profit per customer. Statistics quoted by the salesperson are fine, but remember many factors affect the results. True, potential customers, who search the AT&T Real Yellow Pages or their Internet site, are "ready to buy".

Content and dominance are vital, but AT&T is only trying to give companies more calls. AT&T is not converting these people to customers. By all means try to be dominant, and have the proper content. Websites are a must! Even with all the preceding factors, the attitude of the company, product, location, parking, and customer service will have a greater impact to obtain and increase the number of satisfied customers.

Whether your ad works in the AT&T Real Yellow Pages or not, you will be required to pay the fees, if the deadlines to cancel are passed. The advertisement on their internet site will be removed after a certain number of months, if a customer doesn’t pay, but delinquencies are not tolerated at AT&T, whether the ad works or not.

AT&T to enforce the contract uses the voice verification for the sale. Whatever a decision maker is told during the sales part of the call is not legally binding to AT&T, so enforce your rights during the voice verification to use some of the salesperson’s overblown statements against them. If the decision maker calls AT&T customer service with a complaint only the voice verification will be played, so use their business practices for your benefit.

We are now YP.com run by Crooked Managers, General Managers and Cyber-Sales Reps. We all LIE to make a fat commission and BONU$ check! :) Thank you AT&T, Bellsouth and most of all YP Holdings LLC for making me RICH and paying for me and My Ho's to go to CEO club! Raena, Pinkie, Ebony, Tyesha, Renee, Crystal, Nickie, Natasha and Pam. Ya'll gave me great head in Tucker, GA!

I have had yellow page ads for over 30 years always having to renew contract. But amazingly last year my contract had a automatic renewal. Maybe before, not sure but always had a rep call to renew. Now on the hook for another year. Very crafty guys, but someday you will want me advertising on your web pages and Now that is out the door. You are just as bad and the rest, adding in ### stuff and its all legal. Shame on you