Thank you AT&T!!

Three years ago when Chris deployed to Iraq we never had the luxury of him having access to his phone. His service was suspended while deployed and we solely relied on email, hand written letters and phone calls from his base in Iraq. This deployment when Chris headed overseas he had use of his phone most days. After he left the states he was able to text, make phone calls and he was able to access the internet. Although this was a wonderful thing for me stateside, a few days after he left it kinda dawned on me, "oh crap, this is not going to be cheap." I quickly realized yes, it was great that he was able to message me but his international use of data and messaging would not be included in our phone plan. I called AT&T where they set me up on a 50 text message a month plan for $10 then 40 cents a piece after that. Apparently this was the best they could offer us and we knew that if Chris had use of his phone he would well exceed this messaging plan very quickly. So his idea was to have his phone service suspended while deployed this time as well. He would receive his new computer soon and he had access to Skype, facebook messaging, email, and phone calls home. So there was no sense to have his phone in service when we could save money back home. But we had already used a lot of data, messages and phone calls during this billing cycle so we had expected a big phone bill this month. I mean there were a few 18-20 minute long distance calls home after he left the states. But at the time I did not think how much it would cost I was just excited to hear from him. After surpassing the 50 international text messages quickly I was afraid as to where our phone bill was heading. This morning I checked online the dreaded charges we had racked up...and the total was $710.48 for one month of service! I felt sick. My stomach started to turn. I had prepared myself for a $300 something bill but never did I think it would have reached over 700 dollars. I was unable to view an itemized summary of what each charge was for so with a copy of his orders I headed to the AT&T store. I did not really think they could help me much with bill considering this was something we had racked up. I just planned on having his service suspending and taking a blow for that big bill. But I was wrong. I walked into the AT&T store with my big yellow envelope with his orders and the hopes of this going smoothly. Waiting for me were two wonderful women that were willing to help me more than I had ever expected. One got on the phone to do a military suspension while the other started on the other line with a courtesy reevaluation of our account for the month. Granted I was in the store for almost an hour but after the hard work of these two wonderful women and the help of a few phone calls they took our phone bill from $710 to $221!! And our bills is generally in the $170 range!! By now I was on the verge of tears. Chris had racked up over $500 in charges from roaming, messages, and long distant phone calls home. Not all his fault, many of them were me encouraging a phone call or other him replying to a message from me. But I had never imagined it would have added up to this. The ladies in the store were as shocked as me but did their best to bring our bill down as far as they could considering the circumstances. I am so thankful for their hard work and the fact that they did not think twice to help me. I have never had an issue with AT&T but also never a really good reason to recommend them to anyone. After today that has changed. Both Allison and Joanne at the Bowling Green AT&T store went above and beyond to make sure my family was taken care of as well as the superior on the other line authorizing the changes to my account. She went back and prorated my account to get the best benefits available that way we did not exceed the plan we were on. They told me as I was leaving, "the look on your face makes this all worth while." No matter how many times I said thank you it must have been more evident on my face. I got into my car and began to cry. It was so amazing to me that someone would go out of their way for our family. I would have paid the bill but I would have not been to thrilled about it. Thank you AT&T for your wonderful customer service and support of our military as well as their families! I cannot explain my gratitude :)