AT&T customer turns to FCC to help with his cramming complaint against the carrier. | Image by AT&T
If you’ve been taken for a ride by your wireless provider, you might think that you have no recourse. However, there is an agency you can contact that might be able to deliver justice to you. A Reddit subscriber with the fantastic user name LicoriceTattoo1 posted on the social media site about a problem he had with AT&T a few months ago. His wife’s iPhone 14 Pro Max had died so they sauntered into an AT&T Store and that’s when things went south.
AT&T customer is allegedly the victim of cramming
The wife ended up with an iPhone Air that cost $999 and was given $700 in bill credits for the iPhone 14 Pro Max. However, the AT&T rep told a Pinocchio-sized fib by stating that for the deal to go through, the couple would have to add a line for $55 per month. They would also told that they would have to buy Protect Advantage insurance for $40 per month.
This AT&T subscriber only needed to get a replacement phone for his wife. But as we’ve told you before, reps don’t get paid for selling you a phone unless you add a new line, insurance, a screen protector, a power adapter, and more. And even if you don’t really need these extras and don’t ask for them, some reps have been known to have them added to your invoice anyway.
Contacting this government agency can get you the result you want from your complaint against your wireless firm
As the subscriber explained on social media, his invoice was crammed with an “Unwanted new line, insurance on all lines, next up anytime on all lines, plus a completely crazy merchandise scam that would have made a used car salesman blush.” He wrote that he got nowhere with the AT&T Store, the reps he dealt with at the store, and he even took to writing a negative review about the carrier online. It was then that he took the action that helped him get justice in this case. What was that action? He contacted the FCC.
Two days after filing with the FCC, he received a call from AT&T‘s office of the president. They corrected all the mistakes on the bill and even compensated him for his time when he first contacted AT&T about his experience. Perhaps the most unexpected part of this is that the office of the president said that they would investigate the AT&T branch where the customer had the bad experience.
This isn’t the only time when we’ve heard about an aggrieved wireless customer at the end of his rope call the FCC because he couldn’t get any satisfaction from his wireless firm. In these cases, the FCC was able to put enough pressure on the wireless firm to have someone from the office of the president to take care of the matter. As LicoriceTattoo1 said at the end of his social media post, “If you have really been screwed over, which I know is a pattern at these stores, and you can’t get anywhere, file an FCC complaint. It was the only thing that worked for me, and it worked fast.”
How to file your complaint with the FCC
To file an online complaint with the FCC in the U.S., tap on this link. From the menu on the screen, tap on Phone Issues. You can choose certain kinds of complaints to file. Cramming is when a rep stuffs your invoice with items you didn’t order. You can complain about issues with your phone including device unlocking by filing a complaint about equipment, Billing is the category you would choose to complain about advertised rates, service charges, taxes, fees, surcharges, and lifeline.
To file a complaint, you’ll need to reveal your email address and explain what the complaint is all about. You can also upload attachments that are related to your filing. If you have a problem with a wireless provider and cannot get any satisfaction, file a complaint with the FCC. You’ll probably be glad you did.
