AT&T store in STX ripoff

I totally sympathize. There are some great folks who work there, but this being the islands, there are some customer service gaps. I've found I get excellent service from ATT customer service, either for buying phones or clearing up issues, by dialing 611 on the phone.

Hope this helps.

I don't step foot in the local AT&T store anymore. It's always too busy and I'm not going to wait an hour to spin the customer service roulette wheel and see if I get lucky or not. I do my dealings by phone/web. I've bought new phones a couple of times in the past couple of years and they're always in my hand within 2 business days of ordering. If I have a problem with one I have 30 days to return it with no hassle by mail.

If it isn't too late take rks' advice and call the national customer service number. They should be able to see your local purchase on your account and can hopefully help out.

i called the National Customer Service number. The person to whom I spoke was very helpful. He credited my account for the full price of the phone and then some. He said he would send my complaint to the appropriate people at AT&T. Anytime I have call customer service, I have gotten a very good response. The local store on the other hand...

I'm glad you were able to resolve the problem with the merchant. If that had not worked, then the next step would be to dispute the charge with your credit card company. 80% of the time, the customer will prevail over the merchant in a dispute.

I have often found that local reps for telephone, or whatever, simply don't know what is appropriate action. TRAINING is not a know word in this part of the world. I was happy enough with my Iphone purchase a month ago (who wouldn't be?). The lady I dealt with at the ATT store was nice enough and seemed to know what she was doing. However; got home and tried to use some the the features and wound up having to call ATT for help, who told me my phone was not correctly activated at the store. C'est la vie!

I've had good luck at that store, but not so good luck at other stateside phone stores over the years. Depends on who you get.

The "no box" rule is pretty common. Hang on to the box!

I've been given the runaround online and over the phone before with ATT and Verizon. It's ROULETTE.

I've also had TWO iphones shipped here to St Croix and had them "mysteriously disappear" in the mail room at Mail Boxes Etc (who by the way STILL owe me a refund on my cancelled contract and promised to send me a check, but never seem to get around to it. Darren, you should be ashamed.)

Funny you should say that Neil. Husband sent an HP laptop to me for repair when he first got here. It never made it to Michigan. Got insurance money for it but usually the word is that things get lost coming here, not going out. We used Mail Boxes Etc. before getting a PO box in town.

I always found radio shack much better to deal with and they sell the AT&T products.

On St. Croix if there is a non local option, use it.

Statement is too general to be correct, but I understand the sentiment.

I've always been treated courteously and professionally at the AT&T shops on STT and STX.

The wait is a nuisance, but I always take some reading material.

I have a GoPhone. It's just right for me, as I use the phone very little. My total phone bill is about $5-$10/month.

Its not about the courtesy, its the policies.

Correction: it's about getting a CSR who knows the policies.

Having sold cellphones both in the states and here in the VI, I can tell you that there's a reason that they need the box. There are serial numbers and stock numbers printed on the box that are specific to your phone, so it saves a lot of time to the company if you return it in the box. That means that at the store, service center where the phone is refurbished, and warehouse they don't have to take the phone apart, take out the SIM card, copy down the IMEI number from under the phone battery, copy down the ICCID number from the SIM card, put it all back together, and find some way to keep the phone, charger, and the books or CD that came with it together in transit. By accepting a phone without the box, it causes a huge hassle and a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong. It's much more practical to require the box for a return--it's just standard industry practice. I worked for Alltel, Verizon, and now for Radio Shack, and the rule has been consistent with all of them: No returns without the box. I had a customer the other day who threw such a fit in the store that we nearly had to call the police to have him removed, but that's just how it works. If you buy electronics, you keep your box until your warranty is out, period. Every electronics retailer I've ever worked for or bought from has had the same policy. That's standard both here and in the states.

Yes, but if a phone is defective - does not work - and did not work when it was purchased, it should be replaced at no additional cost. That is the corporate policy at ATT and that was done when Ric called the national customer number. Fact is the local office screwed up.

Just got a new iphone at the ATT store in Sunny Isle.

Other than the long wait for a rep (15 minutes), I had another good experience.

They didn't have the iphone in stock and said it would be more than a week.
But when I got home I already had a thankyou email from ATT, with a link to fedex tracking!
Phone got here in 2 days.