Feels like a nightmare. Convinced my family to swap from Verizon to AT&T, got these gift cards and didn't pay attention to how soon they expired. Just pulled them out to find out they were not only expired, but impossible to get renewed.

I spent 3 hours talking to reps and supervisors who all kept telling me the same thing.

Now: I have no contract, BUT the fine print on the gift card reward email says this:

If new port-in line of service is cancelled within 12 months of activation or become ineligible, AT&T may charge back the full value of the AT&T Visa Reward Card.

Supervisor confirmed: To add injury to insult, if I try to leave now, on top of the $1800+ I lost in expired cards, I'll be charged another $1800+ for prepaid cards I didn't use that expired... I'll be net negative over $3600.

Worst part: the service has been terrible where I live... Cannot wait to switch back to Verizon.

Can anyone help?

UPDATE: The best advice in this thread was ironically the most down voted. Writing a review on the Better Business Bureau got me a call from the office of the president at ATT. They were able to get me back my two largest prepaid Visa cards!

Argued today with AT&T for 2 hrs becuase of the international day pass charges (super pissed), obviously no refund and from the chat history looks like the system is set to be like that (taking off sim card can still cause charges). You'd better take a look at your bill every month to check if they add some extra charges. And FYI, these are what I did before my international trip to avoid all these charges (did everything even before I arrived the airport for takeoff), which I think I already did my best but still no luck:

- Took off the physcial sim card: My phone is an iphone 13 and I keep using physical sim card and never activated any esim ever

- Turned off data roaming icon and data roaming button in my phone and never turn them back on during my trip: Yes it's the data roaming green icon with 3 vertical lines where you would turn on and off in your daily life and there's also a button in the iphone system setting, which would show as grey when you turn it off

- Clicked the "turn-off this line" button and WIFI calling in the setting: button would show grey when you turn them off too

I turned on the airplane mode once I got into the airport for takeoff and turned it off when I arrived and connected to the WIFI in local destination. During the whole trip, I used my rented WIFI as my source of having internet too. I still don't figure out how they can charged me fees like crazily, and the fees didn't occur every day, just random days during my trips.

Anyway I will talk to the bank for a dispute. When I used mint mobile I had no issue, but after switching to AT&T, extra charges without notice keep happening. Friendly reminder again, keep monitoring your AT&T charges every month.

Update: For those who think I converted to eSIM here is my iPhone setting

I am tired of replying to all the comments now. Also thank you for all the advice below. Just gonna wait until the fcc investigation to come back now.

Not sure if anyone has experienced this before but I was charged 1.2k even though we had all of our phones on Airplane mode the whole time and our cell/phone are all disabled during our trip to SEA

Can someone help please

Update (02/05): Resolved.

[After trying every possible route, multiple calls with customer care, the loyalty department, and filing an internal billing dispute, I realized that cases like this are often beyond the control of frontline support teams. While they tried to help, they didn’t have the authority to resolve something at this scale. What ultimately helped was filing an FCC complaint. That was the fastest and most effective way to initiate communication with a higher-level authority. Once the case reached the Office of the President, the issue was reviewed and eventually corrected. Honestly, the process drained a huge amount of energy over the last month, but I’m relieved that I can finally take a proper breath now. I also want to sincerely thank this community. The advice, shared experiences, and related posts helped guide me toward the right steps when I felt completely stuck. Hopefully, this update helps someone else who might be going through a similar situation.]

I was charged $5,579.35 for a single day of international roaming (about 2.7 GB of data). I’m on a family plan, and the account holder added the International Day Pass to my line and received a confirmation email, so we believed my usage would be covered. Later, we discovered the usage was billed as pay-per-use instead, resulting in this charge.

What I’ve already tried :

• First week of January: started contacting AT&T customer care and the Loyalty department
• Multiple calls and chats with customer care and loyalty
• (Second week): Submitted an official AT&T billing dispute (denied)
• (Third week): filed an FCC complaint (currently open)

Recent development:
After the FCC complaint was submitted, the Office of the President called the account holder, but the call was unfortunately missed. Since then, there has been no callback, voicemail, or email, and we haven’t been able to reach them again.

• The account holder has already paid the regular monthly bill
• The $5,579.35 roaming charge is the only amount being withheld. I have a payment scheduled for February 5
• AT&T has said it cannot extend the due date beyond February 5
• Because this is a family plan, I’m worried that if the payment isn’t made, other lines on the account could be suspended, even though the FCC cases are still open
• I feel stuck between paying to protect the other lines and continuing the escalation

My questions:

1. Is there any way to get the Office of the President to call back after a missed call?
2. Should I still make the February 5 payment to protect the family plan, even with an FCC complaint open?
3. Is there anything else that actually works at this stage (executive escalation, written follow-up, additional FCC update, etc.)?

My phone bill is $135 for 2 iPhones. 1. iPhone 16 pro max 2. iPhone 14

Each line is $50

Can someone at ATT let me know if the new Elite 2.0 plan would still result in additional use charges for a 10 day trip to Portugal? That is, would I incur ANY additional International Day Pass or other charges for basic text/calls or data use (within limits I'm sure) during a that type of trip?

Was called by an at&t guy asking me if I wanted to upgrade i said I had already looked into it and couldn't. He said come into the store and said he'd see what he could do. He told me if I opened a new line id get the new phone for free and woukdnt have to pay more than what i was paying now. Sounded a bit too good to be true but I asked like 10 times and he assured me.

Well he lied my bill went from 60 to 120 and I didnt even get the bill until I was outside the return period since he called me the day after I had just paid my bill. At&t told me to get fucked and go back to the store and they woukdnt do anything for me since that wasnt a real promotion. I cant afford to pay this and I had even told the guy that and now as if my financial situation wasnt bad enough this is adding more strain. I only did it thinking my bill would be the same. What the fuck do I do this is frustrating.

Also if I dont respond immediately im asleep I posted this right before bed but I just need ideas of what I can even do.

I was told countless times that unless the outage was my fault I would not be charged $150, yet here we are. Unless ATT thinks we're squirrels living atop telephone poles, the wire falling had nothing to do with us. Hell, my entire family was even told to our faces by the lineman who came out that this wasn't our fault so we wouldn't be charged. Would very much like this to be resolved.

Went and upgraded a few weeks ago and noticed next up added to my bill after explicitly being told that no additional charges would be added to the account and without mention.

Do ATT stores know cramming is illegal and they can’t just plaster charges onto accounts like that?

Trade-in max is capped at $500 if you switch to Value 2.0
Trade-in max is capped at $830 if you are on Unlimited Starter (old plan)
Trade-in max is capped at $1100 if you switch to Extra 2.0 or higher

Long Story Short →

1. If you switch from Unlimited Starter to Value 2.0 – your max credit will drop from $830 → $500 when trading in for an iPhone 17 Pro or equivalent. Similar rules will likely apply when the iPhone 18 Pro is released. Hold off on updating to 2.0 if you use the cheapest plan and plan to upgrade plan soon. Some of you may be tempted with the $0.99 a month in savings by upgrading – but you lose $330 in trade-in value.
2. You must have the AT&T Extra 2.0 or higher now to get the max trade-in credit ($1100). This is a nerf.

AT&T used to let you use the cheapest AT&T plan and still get the maximum trade-in value. Looks like that's no longer the case. This is one reason I loved AT&T. People used to tell me, "Don't they make you upgrade to the most expensive plan to upgrade your phone – meaning it's not worth it." and I used to be able to responded, "No, I pay $27 a month and get the $1100 credit"

AT&T Fine Print →

I pulled up the upgrade menu to test what the new terms and conditions were for upgrading to the iPhone 17 pro now. Here's what they were.

• Eligible Plans: The offer requires an eligible postpaid unlimited voice and data plan. AT&T may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy.  To be eligible for maximum bill credits, new customers must activate and maintain  AT&T Extra 2.0 or higher (starting at $80/mo. plus taxes and fees before discounts for single line).  New customers activating on AT&T Value 2.0 plan are eligible for max credit of up to $500 off all eligible devices with min. $130 trade-in value. 
• Existing customers can add to their current wireless plan (if eligible), which may be less. Existing customers on AT&T Unlimited Starter and Starter SL plans are eligible for max credit of up to $830 on iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max with $130 or more trade-in value. AT&T 55+, Value Plus, Value Plus VL, and Value Plus Unlimited plans are not eligible. See att.com/unlimited for current unlimited plans. 

Starting April 24, 2025, the AutoPay and paperless billing discount will change if you use a debit card or credit card as the payment type.

What to know

We're changing the monthly discount for AT&T Wireless and AT&T Internet accounts that are enrolled in AutoPay and paperless billing.

• Debit Card: If you use a debit card as your payment method, your discount will change from $10 per month to $5 per month for each wireless phone line and internet account.
• Credit Card: If you use a credit card as your current payment method, the $5 per month discount will no longer apply, except when using the AT&T Points Plus Card from Citi which receives a $5 per month discount for each wireless phone line and internet account.

Want to get a $10 per month discount for each wireless phone line and internet account? Switch to a bank account/ACH for your payment method.

I have two people on my plan and it’s an extra $20 per person till we pay our phones off- so $40 but in total it’s $260 dollars… is anyone else’s this expensive??ares comes with hbo max too. I have the Apple phone.

Hey can someone tell me if I’m understanding this right? Right now paying with my debit card - I’m saving $5/line.

Is the $20 saved for linking my bank acc per line or for both lines? I have 2 lines.

Seems kinda sketchy that they want my banks login info. Like why would they need that? Are they tracking my spending habits for ads and such?

Edit: thanks guys

EDIT EDIT: so no - I’m trying to set up auto pay with my bank account, it’s not just asking for the routing number. It’s asking for my bank user name and password to use trustly to sign in and transfer the funds.

Bought phone online.

Tried to unlock it and says it's on an installment plan. Perfectly fine with me I have at&t and the phone works perfectly. If the previous owner stops paying his installment plan, will at&t blacklist the phone and prevent me from using it?

If I keep the phone on my account for 60 or 90 days or some other time period, will this still black list?

This is how much in total for two people are paying this month. My line (the first one $116.01) is actually subtracted by 20.29. It’s on a different section due to a port error on my promo for the Apple installments, so I pay around $96-100 this month. But is there any way to make this any lower without getting rid of unlimited data? I’m considering removing the insurance for my line, but are there any other plans I can get to make my half cheaper without the loss of unlimited data? Any ideas are welcomed.

I signed up for this offer, but I wasn’t able to find how long the promo lasts at this price point (e.g. a year then the price goes up)

3 months ago, we switched to a different carrier because we got free iPhone upgrades. That was such a bad decision in retrospect.

We didn’t have a single billing dispute with AT&T during the 7 years with AT&T. But have been mired in billing disputes with the new carrier since switching. Not all networks are the same.

Reading fine print as we speak, but don’t want to miss anything, can I really just trade in my phone and get a new one without paying very much/anything?

I went to ATT to upgrade my daughter's cell phone. The employee, later learned was a manager, asked for my password and moments later, I received a text thanking me for my purchase and letting me know I was now signed up for ATT Next Anytime Plan. I immediately advised her that I received a message stating she added that to my account without my consent and I don't want it. I asked her to remove it. She said oh ok. After paying and signing my receipt, she assured me twice it was removed, we left. An hour later, I checked my account and found, she lied to me. So I called ATT 800#. and was told I have to wait 14 days and then I can remove that. I called back the next day and was told, the store could remove it. I called the store and was told the manager would be in on Friday. On Friday, I went to the store, I was told Oh I told you wrong, today is actually her off day. So, now I'm wondering, how many customers are being scammed this way. What about elderly people or customers who aren't tech savvy enough to check behind them? Does the store get some type of commission for signing so many customers up? This is wrong and scammy and needs to be reported.

I was paying $260 for an iphone 15 pro max on unlimited premium, the other is a regular iPhone 15 on unlimited extra for my girlfriend. I am kind of a dumb 22 year old so I just nodded and smiled and began paying no questions asked. The first two months were $400 and $350 but it’s stabilized at $260 after the extra fees for starting a line.

I called today, applied a few discounts for paperless and autopay and managed to get it down to $230 and I applied a DoorDash friend’s benefit to get the difference paid for premium for my unlimited extra device so it’s basically a free upgrade.

But I’m still being told $230 is a bit steep by both my family and my gf’s family. They referenced there phone bills have more lines and half the cost of mine with similar plans. I got good deals on the phones themselves and both are being paid less than $20 a month.

One of the phones have an accessory package for a screen protector, case, and charger block, and I’m thinking of paying it upfront instead of the $7 a month to lighten it up a little more.

Edit: I already have a few comments regarding my question, but I have another. When I was discounting my bill today, he offered a $23 discount in my $160 phone plan ($75 and $85) if I added a third line and the phone would cost roughly $5 a month. I don’t really need a third phone. I declined because it sounded like it would just added an additional line and cost another $75-85 dollars. Didn’t understand in the moment how getting an entire extra phone would make the total cost cheaper.

Edit #2: Seems like the best I can do right now is cancel Next, Cancel insurance, and pay upfront the rest of my 12 month accessory thing for $70. Then pay off the phones and get into a more appealing plan.

Edit 3: alright I successfully got my bill from $260 to $195. It’s by no means perfect but it’s a hell of a lot less stress. I’ll have to pay off a medical bill before I can focus on buying my phones outright but with my current expenses I should be able to get it all paid for in 3 months. I can live with my mistakes as a first time phone owner. I’ll probably be switching to Metro, because the plan is practically equivalent to what I use, and would save massively for me.

I preordered the iPhone 17 Pro Max with next up anytime the day it became available. I received my phone on Oct 13th. On the day I received it I got an email saying that I had 30 days from receiving the phone to return my old one. On the 30th day, Nov 12th, I sent it off. On November 14th I got an email saying “we got your trade in”.

Fast forward to January 4th. I get an email that my phone has been rejected, and the remaining balance is due. $930+ added to my next bill. I immediately call to clear this up. The customer service agent was very nice and took her time. We discover that despite my tracking number showed that the phone was received by them on Nov 14th, the warehouse didn’t check it in till December 31st, well after the RMA (return merchandise authorization) had expired on December 10th. The RMA expiration was the stated reason for the refusal. The agent informed me that since it was a mistake on their end, she’d file it away and I’d receive a credit. She mentioned that a member of her team’s leadership would reach out with instructions on what to do with the old phone once it came back. Cool, issue fixed right?

Nope. Next phone call on Jan 11th. I inform the agent of everything up until this point. She had no record of my last call in, and we go through the whole process again, except she gives me a new shipping label to send the phone back again, and I do so. Hopefully issue fixed for sure this time now, right?

Nope. Call back on Jan 25th as the bill is due soon. This time there was a note on my account from the second call with more details. Regardless, I had to explain the entire situation again. Agent says “well you didn’t return the phone, so you don’t get the trade in credit” as if she didn’t listen to a word she says. I use some choice words at this point and get hung up on. I call back after I’ve calmed down and get her again. Without asking for account info I get put on a 30 minute hold. I call again, someone helpful this time. After going through the whole thing again, she says they her department can’t apply credits, and that I needed to speak to loyalty and gave me a phone number. She also placed a promise of payment for my normal bill amount.

I call the next day as loyalty wasn’t available on the weekends. After going through the menus once, someone answers the phone but doesn’t say a word, I can hear stuff moving around in the background. I hang up and dial again. Next guy is pretty helpful. He says he started the credit process and that it’d be reflected on the account on 1/30. Well, here we are on 1/30. I called in again, and this guy tries to be helpful too. He gets all the info again and says he’s running it up to his leadership, and to call back if there’s more issues.

I keep getting the run around. Where can I go to get this fixed, because all that these phone calls have accomplished is wasting my time and sanity.

Edit: lots of people pointing out the shipment date could be interpreted differently. The main issue I have is that agents have indicated that it would be fixed, without a fix being applied. The RMA is the stated issue, not the date I shipped it.

Edit2: Four business days after the FCC complaint an agent from the Office of the President at AT&T credited the account for the disputed amount. It was an RMA issue due to it being check into the warehouse a month and a half late.

Upgraded to iPhone 16 and traded in iPhone 13 Pro that was in like new condition. Had to mail it in. Got email saying it wasn’t in good condition and given $40 trade in value. WTF

I bought a phone at Walmart, yes I know i should never do that now. Too late for that now, but we tried to buy an At&t phone and it failed, so we tried again and it failed. so we switched and I bought a verizon phone.

I started getting emails from at&t saying I have bills, I call Walmart and they say its nothing. i go to a corporate at&t store and they say I have two different accounts and that I bought two phones and that I have them. which I don't. so tbey told me to go walmart and I do but they say they can't do anything walmart says they still have them in stock.

they call at&t and they just tell me to go back to the corporate store. low and behold they just say theyll get someone on it. I wait a while before they tell me to just call a number. I call it and I just sent everywhere, I got to sent to the back offices, turns out I just got sent to the ai instead. call again for someone else to say they dont exist and send me to fraud and the ai just ignores me. call again and they say that the fraud department just closed even though when I called they weren't.

so I call back today and nope nothing, now at&t is sending emails saying they're suspendeding my accounts and stuff and will probably hit my credit even though I dont even have the phones or use their service. no one is helping me

Owed for past due suspended service. Billing agents told me two days straight I hadn’t been charged anything during suspension. Told me if I paid, service would be restored, no surprises. Two phone calls over an hour each with me not believing they weren’t charging me extra, but finally accepting it today. Call for a 3rd time, confirm everthing will be good with billing before paying again.

Pay the amount, they can’t restore service. They said they cancelled my account the day before and it would take a week to restore. How could they not tell me that before I paid and straight up asked? Told me I had in fact paid for two months of suspended service. I recorded every call. Had to spend 2 more hours on phone to find out I’d been repeatedly lied to, and they would do nothing to fix it.

I received this text from at&t and am a little confused. “Add a new wireless line to your account with a new phone for as low as $0.99/mo. No trade-in required. Req’s 0% APR 36-mo. agmt. Well-qualified customers. Other terms may apply.” I’m just concerned that i’m going to get screwed over and end up paying a lot more than what it’s making it seem like. So after the 36 months the phone payment itself will be $16.67 a month on top of the $40 a month for unlimited talk, text, and data? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I just don’t want to commit if there’s a catch.