Small Bank vs. Big...Phone?

I've been an AT&T customer for about half a decade now. We've had our highs and lows, but this last week was the lowest of the low.

Now, before I tell this story, let me just say that this is not some kind of loony "Occupy telecommunications company" story or anti-capitalism rant. I love capitalism. And the only things I occupy are my house (where I pay the rent) and my car (that I own because I paid for it...with a little help from my grandfather).

So, first, long story short: I had my monthly phone payment set up to come out of my checking account on a certain day. Not long after I set up this arrangement, I realized I set it up for the wrong date. I'd made the decision without consulting a calendar, so I called and asked if they could switch the days. They said it was fine, even talked me into switching from Comcast to their cable/internet, and I thought everything was great.

Until last weekend.

I got an email confirmation on the date of the original arrangement letting me know that the payment had been successfully taken from my checking account. My checking account that doesn't have a ton of money in it (hey, it was just a few days before Christmas!) and already had a few other pending payments that would be coming out later that week. On Monday morning, I called the bank, and the super nice lady I spoke to told me that she could return the payment, but that they'd probably try it at least twice more, each time costing me $32. Not only that, but because the $32 payments would be taking up what little money I did have in the account to cover other stuff, all of that would bounce and cost me $32 more for each thing. I was looking at paying several hundred dollars for this little error.

So, I called AT&T. They put me through to some lady who had the intelligence of a...I don't know, a goat? Are goats dumb? I tried to explain the situation, but she couldn't seem to understand what happened. She assured me that the payment wouldn't go through again because I had stopped it, but I told her I didn't "stop it;" the bank just returned it. I asked her what the next step would be on their end to handle this error that was their fault. And she said she was sorry, but there was nothing she could do, that it was just too bad.

I was livid at her lackadaisical attitude more than anything. A decent apology would have been nice.

So, I called my bank again. Let me take the time to tell you that the bank I'm with has four branches. My family went to church with the bank's president, and when I drive up, the tellers know my name. They even let me get into my parents' account when they ask me to do do something for them. I've banked with the biggest of the banks, particularly when I used to travel more and lived in a different town, but I switched back to these guys a few years ago, and I've yet to regret it. Everyone there has been unbelievably kind, and they've never resorted to misleading or complicated policies.

The lady at my bank confirmed that the lady at AT&T was wrong, that she hadn't stopped the payment, and that it would go through a few more times, causing my account to overdraft each time. So, I called AT&T back and told the person who answered this time (she seemed somewhat competent) to NOT transfer me to the other department. I explained to her the situation, she looked it over and agreed with me that they had royally messed up, and she vowed to see to it that it was fixed. After nearly an hour on the phone, I was feeling pretty good about this lady. She had it all straightened out. She told me they'd refund the overdraft fees to my checking account (within so many business days and after I faxed proof, but whatevs), and I was just about to hang up the phone when I happily asked, just to be sure, "So, you did manage to stop it from going through my account two more times?"

"Oh, no, no, that I couldn't do. You'll have to stop the payment."

"Seriously? You put me through all that only to tell me you didn't really fix the problem?"

She apologized and told me, essentially, that the company is so big, she has no way of contacting whomever does the payments and stopping it. Once it goes through, it's through. She doesn't even know if this happens in the same building or even the same city as she's in! I told her I'd be stopping the payment as soon as we got off the phone, she noted that, apologized again, I thanked her because for what it's worth, she had been pleasant - even in the end when I turned into bitch Sarah, and that was that.

I called my bank back and asked them what I had to do to stop payment. The lady told me it'd be another $32, and I'd have to come sign something. In case you're counting, this was going to cost me a boatload of $32. I sighed, made a comment like "there goes my Christmas shopping, and told her I'd be up there later in the day to sign the paper. She was very apologetic, but then she asked if she could call me back.

A few minutes later, she did call me back, and she sounded really excited. "I talked to my boss, and she's agreed to waive the overdraft fees."

"Seriously? Thank you so much, so I just need to pay the $32 to stop the payment?"

"No, you don't even have to pay that. Since it's Christmas and this was so not your fault, we're going to let it all go, but you still have to come sign the paperwork."

I didn't know what to say. In this day and age, how many companies, particularly banks, would be so willing to waive several fees out of the goodness of their hearts? I went in to sign the paperwork and the receptionist must have thought I was nuts, because I was singing their whole department's praises and talking about how they saved my Christmas.

So, I assumed this little episode was behind me.

Friday, two days before Christmas, I'm out running around, doing some last minute shopping, and I kept trying to get online to double check the ingredients I needed for a recipe, but my signal wasn't coming through. As an AT&T customer, this is something I'm beyond used to, but after going through two counties without a signal, I tried to make a call. I got a message that my service had been disconnected.

Yeah.

I rushed to my parents house, cursing everyone who has ever worked for that entire company and grabbed my dad's cell phone so I could call. Very calmly, I told the woman that my phone had been disconnected and that I wasn't even supposed to make the payment until two days after Christmas. Very stupidly, she told me that my phone had been disconnected because I stopped the last payment. Again, trying to be friendly, I told her to keep reading the notes on my account, because this was all their mess. Finally, she figured it out and told me and I quote, "Well, you should have told someone you were stopping the payment."

Holy crap. I DID! Not only did I tell someone, but someone else even swore up and down that I did when I hadn't yet. When I told her this, she just said, "oh" in such a way that you could tell she was annoyed, but she finally went on to tell me she'd restore the service and waive the reconnection fee...as if she were doing me some huge favor.

So, finally, today is the day that I was to pay my bill, and I just logged in to make a payment online. I put in all the info, and it says there is a problem with my checking account. I called and tried to pay over the phone, but again, it says there is a problem with my checking account. I assume it has something to do with the stopped payment, and I'll have to deal with that tomorrow as customer service is closed for the day, but...

Look, I have no problem with large companies and corporations. I think they're great for the most part. But they're only as great as they aspire to be. Some are wonderful; some are not. AT&T has a monopoly on phone service, so they don't have to do better. In my opinion, they aren't so much too big to provide decent services, decent customer service, etc., but they don't really have to because there is very little competition. Hell, they tried to buy up most of of that competition just this month.

On the other hand, you've got my bank, a small business, that offers phenomenal personalized customer service. They survived a economy that many small and large banks didn't. As far as I know, they didn't do with the help of the government. Anytime one of the big banks start charging a ridiculous new fee, my bank is quick to prove that they don't and won't do the same. They know how to do business.

Somewhere in here is my argument against bailouts and stimulus packages. Competition drives this country, and sadly, many people are losing sight of that. Little kids aren't even allowed to win ballgames anymore! If a large company can't handle itself despite a few bumps in the road, it should not be rewarded. It should be allowed to fail. Inevitably, smaller businesses will pop up, and they'll compete for each other's customers, and things will be swell again.

Finally, I'm a big buy local type of girl, and I try to do that whenever possible. I try to promote small businesses that have offered me great service or competitive prices. Small business owners know how hard it is to earn a dollar, and most of them will work to make that happen. But that's my choice. I'm glad I live in a country where I do have choices - I can go with the big, national company or the small, local business. I like that they're all allowed to thrive based on their own merits...or they used to be. God help us all if that continues to change.

I know this isn't my best argument, but I'm exhausted.

Update 12/29/11: The other night I took to Twitter to complain about AT&T and one of their social media team members contacted me. She ended up calling me yesterday afternoon, and she couldn't have been nicer. She made a point to figure out everything that went wrong and fix it. She understood (I think) everything I'd gone through, acknowledged that it was their fault, told me I wouldn't be penalized, told me she was in management and assured me that the people who'd "helped" me previously were being dealt with or something along those lines (I know lots of folks throw that line at you, so take it with a grain of salt). She was extremely nice and knowledgeable and knew what she was doing. And if I could remember her name, I'd send her boss a nice letter. But the problem has been resolved and my bill has been paid, and I'm happy to report that AT&T has at least one decent employee.

Though you can bet I'm backing out of that whole cable/internet deal. I can only take so much.