Today’s rant revolves around the run-around I received from my cellular carrier AT&T. I purchased a new cell phone several months ago and just recently my phone started switching off for no apparent reason. The phone was in good condition, never dropped but I have been keeping it in the charger so I suspected that the battery was losing its capacity to keep a full charge even when the phone showed full power.

I took the phone to my local AT&T store where I purchased it and explained the problem to a sales clerk, asked if they had a replacement battery since I should still be on warranty. They didn’t have one on stock so he informed me to go to a bigger store a few miles down since they should have one in stock (he didn’t check its inventory or anything). So I drive down to the bigger store and explain to another clerk that the other store sent me there to pick up a new battery, he asked me if they called the store to check and I said no. Of course they do not have the battery in stock. For some reason this new phone, which is advertised in their store and ads they do not have batteries in stock! He checks the inventory of stores locally and he tells me that there are none available. I ask if I should call the 800# customer service if that would be helpful and he says that I could try. Gee, thanks for your help.

I go home and call customer service and then get asked to call another line for warranty…sure. I call the next number and get transferred to a customer service person… in India. Yes, overseas offshore customer service, it’s G-R-E-A-T. I explain for the fourth time in an hour to an AT&T rep. my phone problem. I let her know that two stores do not have batteries and none in my location have them in stock. She asks me how do I know if it’s the battery that is broken, did the store clerks check the battery? I told her over and over, how can they check the battery if they do not have another battery in stock to replace it to see if it works properly. Heck, they didn’t offer me any help at all besides letting me know they have no batteries at all? She explains to me sometimes it’s the phone that breaks and not the battery.

I’m going in a circle trying to get a new battery for my IN WARRANTY phone from this lady who does not understand the concept that no one can check the battery if it’s faulty since no one in a 30 mile radius has one in stock. I ask her to send me a new one, she puts me on hold for several minutes to check her network. She gets back on the line and tells me there’s none in STOCK! She further tells me that I should call Nokia directly to ask for a battery. Never mind that I spoke with a total of four AT&T reps already, and now she wants me to call another rep. again, no thanks. They advertised the phone, sold me the phone, take my monthly payments, but when I request a simple battery replacement (for a new in-stock model currently advertised), they have none at all.

I am about to go ballistic so I decide to check store stock myself. I get on the internet and start calling stores near me. A few have none in stock, then one store 10 miles away says they have one! How the heck did the one local store tell me none were available at all? I go to the AT&T store in Mission Viejo’s store near Ladera Ranch and wham-bam after telling them on the phone to hold their ONE battery in stock for me. The sales counter guy was cool enough to switch out the battery, have me sign the replacement slip and I’m outta there. No service at two stores and the phone customer service was horrible. It goes to show if you need to do something, do it yourself even when it’s somebody’s else’s job.

AT&T Wireless Cellular + Customer Service = FAIL