A recent customer experience with AT&T highlights the challenges families may face when an elderly relative unknowingly signs up for an unnecessary and expensive cell phone plan. In this case, a 62-year-old man with limited technological skills, who had been using a $35 monthly prepaid plan for unlimited calling, accidentally ended up with a $65 unlimited everything plan after visiting an AT&T store alone.
His family, who holds Power of Attorney due to his medical condition, was unaware of the switch for months. Once they discovered the change, they sought advice on how to cancel the plan and return to the more affordable prepaid option. The concern was not with the sales representative diagnosing his condition but rather the difficulty of dealing with corporate policies that enforce contractual agreements, even in cases where an individual may not fully understand what they are agreeing to.Online discussions brought mixed responses. Some noted that sales representatives cannot be expected to recognize medical conditions, while others suggested that store employees should be more attentive to potential red flags when dealing with elderly customers.
Several commenters advised contacting AT&T customer service first, as many cell phone contracts allow cancellations within 14 days (however, months have passed before the man’s family realized what happened). Others recommended switching to an alternative provider with lower costs for talk, text, and data for as low as $15 per month.
Since the contract had already been in place for several months, the family’s best course of action was to visit an AT&T store with the necessary documentation. Users recommended ensuring that they spoke with a manager at a corporate-owned store, not an authorized retailer, and firmly requesting a return to prepaid service. Some also noted that, while AT&T employees might initially claim nothing could be done, they often have the ability to offer solutions, including credits for past charges.
Ultimately, when the family took the father’s last bill, diagnosis paperwork, and Power of Attorney documents to an AT&T store, a helpful sales associate was able to cancel the contract, waive all early termination fees, and return the account to prepaid status. The only remaining cost was the billed months. This certainly falls under the “Happy Ending” category!
