These are the three letters sent by Michael Shames to cancel two wireless phone contracts with AT&T on the basis of poor reception.    They can serve as templates for any consumer who finds themselves with chronically poor cell signals, dropped calls or other network problems.   UCAN's position is that if a wireless company can't provide reasonable coverage then any consumer should be able to cancel without the threat of early termination fees or any other penalties.  

In this case,  AT&T ignored the first two letters sent to its Customer Care address listed on the phone bill.   BUT it didn't disregard the letters when sent to AT&T's executive offices via certified mail.   So if you want to get a phone company's attention,  certified mail often does the trick.    Note Letter #3 --- it is probably the key to getting a company's attention. 

AT&T indicated that it was going to investigate why the first two letters were never acknowledged (or, apparently, even read) by the Customer Care folks.   We waited two weeks but never heard any more about the reason for the letter fumbling by Customer Care.   

LETTER #1

February 25, 2008

AT&T Customer Care
P.O. Box 68058
Anaheim Hills, CA 92817

RE: Cancellation of account 539412430

Dear AT&T Customer Care,

I am writing to request that you cancel this account and the two phone
lines associated with it (619-758-5844 and 708-1059) This action is
taken, regrettably and reluctantly, because the service has
deteriorated so greatly as to render the phones unusable. Since
December of 2008, I've personally contacted AT&T repeatedly trying
to improve the reception for the 619-758-5844 service and the AT&T
8525 handset associated with it. The number of dropped calls and
non-existent reception in so many public areas made the phone unusable.
Your CSRs and tech advisors acknowledged the problems but despite their
efforts to troubleshoot, they were unable to fashion a solution.

Finally, out of exasperation, I purchased a Verizon phone and service
and used that phone at the same locations where I was unable to get
AT&T service. Sure enough, the phone works flawlessly and reception
is fine. If you review the calling records of the 758-5844 number you
will see for yourself, as your CSRs confirmed, that the number of
dropped and incomplete calls were substantial.

Now that we've established that the Verizon service is able to provide
what AT&T could not, we need to cancel the service even though the
full 2-year contract period has not expired. We will contest any effort
to impose an ETF or any other penalties. The reason for our
cancellation was AT&T's failure to provide reasonable service - not
any reason from UCAN's end.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this request. Please note that
we are no longer using the AT&T phones and we are willing to return
them to you upon your request.

Sincerely,

Michael Shames
Executive Director

LETTER #2

March 31, 2008

AT&T Customer Care
P.O. Box 68058
Anaheim Hills, CA 92817

RE: Cancellation of account 539412430

Dear AT&T Customer Care,

This is our second request that you cancel this account and the two
phone lines associated with it (619-758-5844 and 708-1059) As we
explained in our February 25th letter to you, this action is taken,
regrettably and reluctantly, because the service has deteriorated so
greatly as to render the phones unusable. Since December of 2008, I've
personally contacted AT&T repeatedly trying to improve the
reception for the 619-758-5844 service and the AT&T 8525 handset
associated with it. The number of dropped calls and non-existent
reception in so many public areas made the phone unusable. Your CSRs
and tech advisors acknowledged the problems but despite their efforts
to troubleshoot, they were unable to fashion a solution.

Since sending that letter, we've come to learn that the cancellation
has not occurred - and we received just last week a bill for this
coming month. Please know that we will not make any payment for service
subsequent to February 2009. We will also contest any effort to impose
an ETF or any other penalties. The reason for our cancellation was
AT&T's failure to provide reasonable service - not any reason from
UCAN's end.

I ask that you honor our request to cancel this account and please
acknowledge receipt of this letter. Please note that we are no longer
using the AT&T phones and we are willing to return them to you upon
your request. Please also know that if we do not hear anything from you
by April 20th, then we will assume that AT&T is declining to cancel
the service and we'll be required to take additional legal action to
enjoin AT&T from continuing this service.

Respectfully,

Michael Shames
Executive Director

LETTER#3 - SENT CERTIFIED MAIL

June 5, 2008

AT&T California
Executive Office
525 Market St.
San Francisco, CA 94105

RE: Cancellation and collections of account 539412430

Dear AT&T,

I have written you two times since February, in which I indicated
that your failure to provide service made it impossible for me to use
the cell phone service. Both of the earlier letters requested that the
account be canceled. (see attached) You have not responded to either
letter.

This letter is to inform you that I will not pay the outstanding
charges, as you did not provide the service promised. Moreover, I
contest any outstanding balance and plan to file a complaint with the
CPUC to challenge your right to collect monies for service not
provided.

I am informing you that I am also making a claim for relief arising out
AT&T's improper practices described below, as well as to demand
that the alleged outstanding balanced owed to AT&T be cancelled and
all debt collection actions (including but not limited to placing this
dispute on my credit record) be ceased immediately.

Your conduct violates numerous laws of this state, and also constitutes
a violation of the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Cal. Civ. Code §1750
et seq. Specifically, the practices described above constitute
violations of California Civil Code §§1770(a)(16), (a)(9), (a)(14),
(a)(19).

In addition, your conduct in this matter does not appeared to be an
isolated situation; I have reason to believe that your conduct is
systematic. These claims for damages to other affected consumers are in
addition to any remedies that might be available to me. To avoid such a
claim you must undertake all of the following actions to resolve the
issues raised by this letter, as well as to satisfy the requirements of
California Civil Code §1782(c), and any other applicable provisions
under the law, whether in tort or in contract:

(1) identify all affected consumers in addition to me,
(2) advise all such persons of the right upon request to a full,
complete and timely refund of all improper charges imposed pursuant to
the above-described practice, plus reimbursement of any associated
expenditures (such as postage, time and telephone calls), interest on
all such sums, and
(3) agree to cease from systemically engaging in this practice.

I reserve the right, after thirty (30) days from the date of this
letter, to file or amend a complaint, as permitted by Civil Code §1782,
to assert claims for actual, statutory, and exemplary damages under the
CLRA as appropriate, unless a full and adequate response to this letter
is provided by you. Thus, to avoid litigation, it is in the interest of
all concerned that you address this problem immediately as set forth
above.

I regret having to take this action, but it is necessary in light of
your refusal to respond to my earlier letters and your recent attempts
to collect this contested debt by threatening to affect my credit
record.

I reiterate my request that you cancel this account and the two phone
lines associated with it (619-758-5844 and 708-1059) I also ask again
that you honor our request to cancel this account and please
acknowledge receipt of this letter.

Respectfully,

Michael Shames

From: Michael Shames <mshames@ucan.org>
Date: Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 2:17 PM
Subject: Re: Your AT&T complaint
To: "O'BRIEN, DEBBIE A (ATTCINW)" <DO5061@att.com>

Hi Debbie -

Thank you for your call this afternoon.  I very much appreciated your
forthrightness in acknowledging that the service problems were a
justification for my canceling without being subjected to a termination
fee.   And I also felt good about your acknowledgment that the way my
account was treated was unacceptable and that you are going to
investigate why my first two letters were ignored.    You demonstrated
both professionalism and fairness in resolving my complaint fairly and
promptly.   But I do look forward to learning why my first two letters
were not acknowledged or acted upon, as I believe that AT&T may
have a systematic problem with its customer response process.    Thank
you for your anticipated follow-up.

Sincerely,
Michael Shames

On July 8th,  AT&T finally reported as to the findings of their investigation.   Here is it............unedited.    It explains NOTHING.

Mr. Shames,

I have just received the response from the Correspondence Center. They advise that all of the correspondence received in Anaheim Hills is logged into a dedicated database. They have reviewed that data base for the time frame of February 25, 2008 (the date of the first letter) through May 31, 2008 (2 months after the date of the second letter) and can find no information logged under your name, the company name, or the account number. As such, I am unable to determine where the letters may be.

Thank you again for allowing me the time to assist you.

Sincerely,
Debbie O'Brien
Customer Relations Specialist
Office of the President
AT&T
West Region

Well, at least one can say that AT&T reliably disappoints.   If you are a current or thinking about becoming a future AT&T customer,  consider the above.  And caveat emptor! 

Click her to file an AT&T COMPLAINT