Did AT&T Really Threaten A Customer With Legal Action For Emailing Feedback To CEO? [Updated]
from the customer-service-hall-of-fame dept
You may have heard the stories recently that Steve Jobs seems to regularly respond directly to emails from customers -- often making certain points that he knows will be spread throughout the press. However, if you have a complaint about your iPhone, you can send it to Jobs, but apparently you shouldn't send it to AT&T's CEO, Randall Stephenson. Someone sent over the story of a guy named Giorgio, who was upset enough about the new data plans that he sent an email expressing his displeasure directly to Stephenson (whose address he apparently got from the Consumerist blog).Now, to be clear, the email was a bit gripey, complaining about the new plans, and announcing his plans to switch to a different phone and different provider. In response, however, it appears he got a phone call from someone at AT&T telling him that if he emailed the CEO again, AT&T would issue a cease & desist against him. From the recording:
"I want to first thank you for the feedback. Going forward, I need to warn you that if you continue to send emails to Randall Stephenson, a cease & desist letter may be sent to you..."For what? That's not explained. I can't think of any legal basis for such a cease & desist letter. Honestly, the whole thing seems so outrageous that you have to wonder if it's a hoax. If it turns out to be true (and please, please, someone tell us that this is a hoax) then it reflects incredibly poorly on AT&T.
Update: Well, now it's been confirmed by AT&T that they actually did make this threat. A PR person working for AT&T (but not an AT&T employee) contacted us with your typical bland PR statement, issuing an apology, and saying "this is not the way we want to treat customers." But it is how you treated your customer... and, notably, nowhere in the statement does the PR person explain why AT&T responded this way to a customer.
The full statement is:
We are apologizing to our customer. We're working with him today to address his questions and concerns. This is not the way we want to treat customers. From Facebook to significant customer service channels, AT&T strives to provide our customers with easy ways to have their questions addressed.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: cease & desist, customer feedback, randall stephenson
Companies: at&t
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Randys Contact Info
rs2982@att.com (direct)
randall.stephenson@att.com
phone: 210-351-5401 (direct to his secretary)
fax 210-351-3553
alternate phone: 210-821-4105 (headquarters, press 3, ask for Mr. Stephenson's office)
175 E. Houston
San Antonio, TX 78205
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Re: Randys Contact Info
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Re: Randys Contact Info
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Re: Randys Contact Info
rs2982@att.com (direct)
randall.stephenson@att.com
phone: 210-351-5401 (direct to his secretary)
fax 210-351-3553
alternate phone: 210-821-4105 (headquarters, press 3, ask for Mr. Stephenson's office)
175 E. Houston
San Antonio, TX 78205
Perhaps the surprising part - is that he too, uses AT&T.
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Re: Randys Contact Info
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Re:
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Re:
Response options, ranked by smartness
1 Reply, addressing concerns
2 Reply, with generic "thanks for feedback"
3 Fwd to relevant business unit exec telling *them* to respond.
4 Fwd to relevant business unit exec to do what they want with.
5 Fwd to customer service
6 Read but delete email
7 delete email
...
...
...
99 Threaten sender with legal action
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Re:
Oh, well it must be the harassment... huh? He's a customer discussing issues related their corporate relationship?
Well, perhaps the language was inappropriate. No?
I'm sorry, what point were you making again?
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Re:
What should a customer do? I'd complain to someone who can change things.
If the CEO is not concerned about customer satisfaction with their product please suggest something he should be concerned about?
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Re: Re:
Yep, Bingo.
But I guess if AT&T's CEO is 'too good' for customer service issues, I guess we should take that as a hint. Less customers means less customer service issues to bog down his precious time.
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I'll have to remember that: according to this particular commenter, threatening legal action is "a polite reminder."
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Re:
Well that's just too bad.
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Re: Law
> their ceo directly
Them not liking something hardly gives them grounds for legal action. In order for legal action to be taken, the guy has to be violating some kind of law and communicating with the head of a company with whom he has a business relationship doesn't cut it.
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Re: anonymous coward
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Streisand Anyone?
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if not true, then AT&T should be on top of this
12,000 in less than a day!
This is horrible pr for AT&T.
If this is true, then AT&T is filled with idiots.
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Re: if not true, then AT&T should be on top of this
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Not a hoax...
I sent the Engadget editor every email correspondence I've tried having with Mr. Stephenson as they wanted to make sure I've never been belligerent/threatening/etc towards AT&T's CEO.
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Re: Not a hoax...
Do you email him often?
HM
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I can see it now...
All he had to do was answer one call. Now he's made to look like a corporate idiot who doesn't understand the frustrations of his customers. To actually have someone call to say that they'll basically order a Cease and Desist letter after having to call twice is just a poor choice.
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Re: I can see it now...
he didnt even have to do that... who honestly expects the CEO of any large corporation to actually respond to anything these days?
had he simply ignored it all, no one would have thought twice about it. but this? this is someone sending a clear message to their customer base that they hold you all with the utmost contempt and care only for how they can squeeze every last penny possible out of you.
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The conventional wisdom (or at least mine) is that Steve Jobs might be a controlling, egomaniacal prick, but at least he understands what his company is doing day to day. If someone told me Randall Stephenson doesn't use a single AT&T product, and just sits in an office spouting buzzwords about market caps and mindshare viability while looking at his stock options, I would not doubt it for 1 second.
True or false, this news doesn't change that perception one bit.
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But in the end this PR potential nightmare will probably be forgotten in a day or two and everything will get back to "normal".
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It's one side of the story, I need both then the truth may be evident somewhere in between.
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Good Morning!!!
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Re: Good Morning!!!
regardless of service.
ftfy
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Re: Good Morning!!!
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Re: Re: Good Morning!!!
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irregardless
FTF both of you.
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Re: Re: Good Morning!!!
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Corporate plans will not change.
Oh well, no IPhone for me. The Droid Does. (No affiliation with Droid or its subsidiaries.)
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Re: Corporate plans will not change.
Actually, at my company - we get a choice between a few providers. I, for one, did not choose AT&T. I'll forward this around to let others know - how much AT&T's CEO 'cares about the customers'.
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observations
well the question...is it real has not been answered...
as a ceo incoming emails are a direct input from your customer base... not from those 15 "yes" men who feed you your information.. telling what they think you want to know.
by having no reply does not feed the flames to more publicity good or bad.
if it's true,then a word that a treating phone call has been recieved, to the police,might take this to a different level.
2 cents worth
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observations
well the question...is it real has not been answered...
as a ceo incoming emails are a direct input from your customer base... not from those 15 "yes" men who feed you your information.. telling what they think you want to know.
by having no reply does not feed the flames to more publicity good or bad.
if it's true,then a word that a treating phone call has been recieved, to the police,might take this to a different level.
2 cents worth
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Re: observations
well the question...is it real has not been answered..."
I suggest you re-read the article and also the post above by Giorgio Galante.
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What doesn't AT&T appear to understand here?
So how do they miss the fact that good customer service is the most valuable marketing they have? Advertisements will get customers to look, but good customer service will keep them loyal. And word of mouth like this, as others here have noted, is doubleplus ungood.
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Re: What doesn't AT&T appear to understand here?
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Data plans
Sometimes I think 95% of the people in this world have nothing better to do than find something to complain about with large service providers. I don't care what company you do business with, they all have their faults and will all piss off someone. It is inevitable...........Verizon, Sprint, At&T, T-Mobile, power companies, cable companies, etc. etc. Why doesn't anyone get pissed off about the crap that WalMart does..............nope - they can do ANYTHING, including buying million dollar life insurance policies on their employees and hope they die so they can collect. Why no uproar there????!!! HECK NO........."they are cheaper" well look at the bullying they do to their product providers to see what they do to bring you "cheap" prices. You think you're getting the same exact product all the time?? think again.
Wake up people!!
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Re: Data plans
Yeah! Like poeple who go off on Walmart in a AT&T topic......
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Re: Re: Data plans
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Re: Data plans
This article is about a CEO offering a C&D over a customer complaint email and how it is a bad PR move.
This knucklehead probably uses Outlook with an Exchange server and he can easily create a rule to forward all incoming email from this guy to the consumer complaints department.
The CEO's actions really do display contempt for his customer base.
Yes, every provider has issues and they all do some crappy things but a C&D letter for registering a complaint and looking for satisfaction.
Rediculous!
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Handled all wrong
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Re: Handled all wrong
Fair enough. But *none* of that deserves the threat of legal action.
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Re: Handled all wrong
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CEOS & VP's
Actully recieivng a Cease and desist letter could be turned into a major publicity headache for the sender. Just be sure to never ever use threathingi language.
While a CEO certainlyhas better things to do than listen to my problems, he is responsible for everyon eunder him,andif you suceed in annying him for 15 minutes, he just might change things.
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Re: CEOS & VP's
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Updated with AT&T confirmation
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AT&T U R fools
"A PR person working for AT&T (but not an AT&T employee)" wow, how slimey. So they're using non-employees (contactor I assume) to contact angry customers and then make their threats. Did they completly forget what PR stands for? I worked for a large tech firm once, they hired contractors to do the internal IT, saves loads of cash you see as these contracters were willfully underpaied; maybe this is the reason? Or is this so they can later say "well yeah but it wasn't really us". So angry about a silly email. please. I guess they don't know of email blacklists... AT&T, I'll give you a hint here, your making lots of money, shut up already!
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Re: Re: Good Morning!!!
irregardless - 3 dictionary results
ir·re·gard·less [ir-i-gahrd-lis] Show IPA
–adverb Nonstandard .
regardless.
Origin:
1910–15; ir-2 (prob. after irrespective ) + regardless
—Can be confused: irregardless, regardless (see usage note at this entry ).
—Usage note
Irregardless is considered nonstandard because of the two negative elements ir- and -less. It was probably formed on the analogy of such words as irrespective, irrelevant, and irreparable. Those who use it, including on occasion educated speakers, may do so from a desire to add emphasis. Irregardless first appeared in the early 20th century and was perhaps popularized by its use in a comic radio program of the 1930s.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source | Link To irregardless
Word Origin & History
irregardless
an erroneous word that, etymologically, means the exact opposite of what it is used to express, attested in non-standard writing from at least 1870s (e.g. "Portsmouth Times," Portsmouth, Ohio, U.S.A., April 11, 1874: "We supported the six successful candidates for Council in the face of a strong opposition. We were led to do so because we believed every man of them would do his whole duty, irregardless of party, and the columns of this paper for one year has [sic] told what is needed."); probably a blend of irrespective and regardless . Perhaps inspired by the double negative used as an emphatic.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
ir·re·gard·less (ĭr'ĭ-gärd'lĭs)
adv. Nonstandard
Regardless.
[Probably blend of irrespective and regardless .]
Usage Note : Irregardless is a word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style, when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing. Coined in the United States in the early 20th century, it has met with a blizzard of condemnation for being an improper yoking of irrespective and regardless and for the logical absurdity of combining the negative ir- prefix and -less suffix in a single term. Although one might reasonably argue that it is no different from words with redundant affixes like debone and unravel, it has been considered a blunder for decades and will probably continue to be so.
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Re: Re: Re: Good Morning!!!
So if I say I'd like to "debone" your girlfriend, what I mean is...
As to the AT&T rate change, my girlfriend is happy about the change since it will save her money. Me, I refuse to waste my money with companies that overcharge for their services.
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Off on a tangent
AT&T sucks. AT&T has always sucked and will continue to suck until they no longer exist. With enough bad PR like this, that may come sooner than later.
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grammar and spell check arrogance
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Re: grammar and spell check arrogance
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ATT telling wrong statement
When i called the service department in march 2010.The offer me internet & phone service.
I wanted the high speed internt 6M or higher but ATT represent said the area i live they
provide maximum 1.5M. I started att service in march 2010 & att sale representative told
me there is no contract if you don't like the internet service or the speed you want then
I can cancel it anytime & att started taking Internet charges out from my credit card.After
7 months I called att to ask them if they have high speed internet service available in the area i live.
Att said not yet so i canceled my service & att cancel service department canceled the the service & said.
I have some refund left which att 'll send back & i received some amount back to my card.
After 2 months i got charge from att $120.00 on my credit card.
I called att collection department & spoke to Michal Cambel according to him he is supervisor for this department.
He said they charge $120.00 because of early cancellation fee.I said there was no contract when i got the service
& att representative said if i m not certified with service so i can cancel it anytime that's why i canceled but he said
it was a contract.We can't do anything about it. I called the att service depart as a new customer to find out what
they say when someone start new service with att & the att sales representative said exact same statement
what he told me 7 months ago."There is no contract & if you are not certified, you can simply cancel it & there 'll no extra charges".
ATT is lieing with there customers & telling wrong statement when someone want to has there service & once they get service they put
them under contract & if customer stop the service then att charge cancellation fee &
say when you got the service we might had some other plans & now we have some different
plan.I m going to leave this feedback on internet also i have businesses & i m going to
switch my internet service for all my offices with someone else.
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I know it is TRUE because ATT threatened me too
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WOW
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Stephenson
Randall Stephenson is above his head! He has run this company into the ground because of his poor CEO management and because of his lack of management skills this company will be dissolved into many small companies.
The big losers in this will be the dedicated employees of a once great company the benefited the public as a whole.
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