AT&T: TOO BIG FOR THEIR BRITCHES?

Some companies work very hard to provide good customer service and satisfaction, then grow like crazy and forget all about their roots.  That's why I switched from Verizon to AT&T over 20 years ago.  To be sure, my local AT&T store is friendly, courteous and always very helpful.  The parent company would do well to take some lessons from the local store and get back to the basics that made them big. 

My son, who lives in another state, had severe problems with his local cell service operator.  He's recently lost his job, so he really needs his phone badly.  So... why not add him to my business cell plan with AT&T, get him signed up immediately and get him a new phone the same day.  Could it be done and, if so, how?

I didn't figure the local store could help me, so I got on the internet and went to the AT&T website to see what I could see.  I was promptly asked if I would like to chat and decided that would be a good avenue, as opposed to sitting on the phone for an hour waiting for a rep.  And things went along fairly well, with the agent assuring me my son would have a phone in his hands that afternoon.

The time came to submit the order into their system, which it refused to allow.  We fooled around trying again a couple of times and she eventually switched me to another chat person, who went through the same routine, all of the time assuring me that my son would have his phone that afternoon.  Again, the system balked, but we eventually worked through that issue.  As he was signing off the chat, he assured me once again... all my son had to do was to go to his local store and pick up the new phone; AT&T would ship a new phone to that store to replace the one they would give my son.  

When my son got to the store, they didn't know anything about it.  They told him they couldn't give him a new phone until they physically received it from AT&T.  So, I got on the 611 line and was told not only that my son could not get the phone the same day through a chat order, the order had been set up to send the phone out two weeks later because it was on back order.  This agent, a supervisor himself, refused to back up the promises made by the chat people, (I have a printed copy of that chat session).  

Now, call it what you want, but that's shabby and shoddy service and a total misrepresentation.  Of course, I canceled the order and the local store where my son was worked through the problem with me over the phone and my son did get his new phone.  

Nevertheless, this four-hour exercise in futility proved one thing to me: AT&T is the new Verizon... too big for their britches.  It's time for me to sell my stock in the company, because they're headed for the dark side.