AT&T Store — Local services in Evans

Hello US Cellular (ie...AT&T) in Evans at Mullins Crossing!! DO NOT DO BUSINESS AT THIS STORE! They are sleazy, dishonest, underhanded and dirty. My story begins like this-- Walked in to have my sim updated to a digital one to possibly resolve a network issue ongoing over the last few months. I has the displeasure of dealing with Bradley B. I was extremely clear that I wasn't there for any other reason, did not authorize any changes to my account nor did I want to make any changes to my account other than updating to a digital sim. I was informed that he was waiving the fee of $5.40 which I was unaware of and thanked him. He then asked for a card to put on file. When I asked why, he said he was enrolling me in auto pay to save me $10 a month. I then reiterated that the ONLY reason I was there was to have my sim updated to digital. He acknowledged that and moved on with what he was doing on my phone. Little did I know that he was removing my grand-fathered phone protection and upgrading it to Protect Advantage for an additional $10+ a month! He never advised me of this at any time during my visit. As he finished up I received a phone call & decided to take it in parking lot. It was during that call, I received a text message about my enrollment in the new protection plan. I went back inside but Bradley was nowhere to be found. I asked another employee if there was any reason I would receive text messages about a phone protection plan when I only had my sim updated to digital. He confirmed that they were unrelated to his knowledge.

Again, I left the store and went on my with day only to receive 2 emails from AT&T. One was of an invoice showing the addition of the new protection plan and the other outlining that I'd ordered something and to go to my customer service summary. I immediately called AT&T to check to see if any changes were made to my account without authorization. Indeed, I had been upgraded to the new phone protection plan which will cause an almost $20 increase in my bill per month. This was done without my verbal or written authorization, which is required, or my knowledge. It is called, according to AT&T customer service, feature flipping. It is a common practice at these stores that are privately owned by a third party. The staff are not employees of AT&T either. They work on commission and do this to boost their sales. This is a terrible business practice to have. Now I have a real problem because the plan he switched me from is grand-fathered and no longer offered. I have a case with AT&T to return me to the plan or resolve the issue in another way without further financial loss to me. They were nice enough to offset the cost with a credit though. Also, when I received my phone back from Bradley my Google wallet was open. I didn't open it & hadn't used tap to pay in days. So why was it open. Was he stealing card info for use at a later date? I don't know but I locked every card I have as a precaution. The staff hired should at least be trustworthy enough to do the job. We all have sensitive info on our devices and staff with access should not be going through someone's phone. The only tab that he needed access to was settings, connections, then sim manager; which for the record was also open. What a horrible experience! I did return to the store to speak with the manager there. It is my belief that she is complicit in this, as are all or most of the staff there. So there was no satisfaction in speaking with her. I will be returning again to collect the district manager's name & number along with the company owner to file a formal complaint. For all I know they're all complicit but it's worth pursuing if this doesn't happen to another person. Do business here at your own...

We visited this location on 5/20/24. Our goal was to upgrade a phone on our plan - and give it as a graduation gift on 5/23/24. We made our goal clear from the start. We also wanted to inquire about the promotion being advertised on the AT&T website that offers an iPhone 15 Pro at no cost (with eligible trade-in).

STRIKE ONE We should have known things wouldn’t go well when our representative had no clue about the promotion, and nor did the other representative working that day. Our representative looked at us like we were fools … until I showed her the exact promo ON THE FRONT PAGE of the AT&T website.

Once the two of them looked into the promo, we learned that it doesn’t apply to our situation. Okay, that’s understandable (gotta love the fine print).

STRIKE TWO Moving past the promo issue, we picked a standard iPhone 15. Our representative gave us a list of colors to choose from, and we chose “platinum.” She said that was a great choice, but she’d have to order it for us. Okay, that’s understandable. However, once she tried to put our order in the system, she had to inform us that the standard 15 doesn’t come in platinum. She said our options were pink, green, or black. Disappointingly, we chose black. Yet again, our representative had no clue what was going on.

STRIKE THREE Once our representative started putting in our order, she completely bypassed the “park upgrade” option that would allow us to purchase the phone and activate it later. Remember, this phone is a graduation gift (not to be given until 5/23). We did NOT need the phone activated at that time, but she activated it anyway. She disappeared to the back for help/guidance on the issue, but the damage was already done. The activation was “active,” leaving our child’s current phone without service immediately (he wasn’t with us … the phone is a gift).

SALT ON THE WOUND In addition to these three strikes, our representative decided that she was going to open the brand new phone and show us what to do when we were ready to set it up. WHAT? This phone is a GIFT. We do not want it opened ahead of time 🤦🏼‍♂️. Thankfully, I was able to stop her in time. There’s something special about unwrapping a brand new iPhone, and that special moment was almost ruined.

CONCLUSION I miss the old days of customer service. Our representative didn’t seem to care one bit about our situation or our business. She wasn’t polite, she wasn’t understanding, and she wasn’t compassionate. We almost felt like a nuisance, and that’s disheartening. We left with our new phone, but we also left with a feeling of disappointment. I’m sure this day was an off-day, and I’m sure there are better representatives to work with … but for my wife and me, this wasn’t the trip to AT&T...

I went in to this store at about 7:35 P.M. on Saturday, 9 JUNE, with the intention of buying an iPhone 8 Plus out right. I am already an AT&T customer and simply wanted to upgrade one of my existing devices. Unbelievably, they refused to sell me the phone without putting it on a payment plan!! This is got to be one of the truly dumbest policies I've ever seen. They suggested that I drive to the Apple Store in Augusta to make my purchase. Has AT&T lost it's freaking mind?! For starters, why would I choose a payment plan when I can buy out right? Second, why would they inconvenience an EXISTING customer by asking them to drive another 10 or 11 miles further when they are already in the store? Lastly, what would prevent me from purchasing on their payment plan, then immediately pay off the device while I'm there? None of these options make good business sense to me.

The store manager even had the audacity to argue that AT&T loses money on every phone they sell! So, you are in business to lose money I asked? No, he replied, but we can at least make money by keeping customers subscribed for the duration of their payment plan. I asked him how much does AT&T make if I port all my lines back to Verizon?

Terrible policy, awful customer service, too many choices out there to have to tolerate this ridiculousness. I called the District Manager from the parking lot to express my frustration -- as a paying customer having been turned away. To her credit, I believe she was genuinely concerned with my poor experience and stated that what I had been told was not AT&T policy. Wow. What happened to consistency in messaging, people?

She offered to have me go back in the store, but I had already been told that the model/color I wanted was "not in stock" -- after they discovered I didn't want the payment plan. I decided to go home. The juice just wasn't worth the squeeze...