A Tale of Deception and Dial-Up - Customer Service Representative AT&T Employee Review

2.0
Dec 26, 2018
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- decent pay - very supportive and genuinely helpful co-workers

Cons

- It's a sales job, first and foremost. The titles "Customer Care Rep" or "Customer Service" are a farce. It's ACTUALLY "Mobility SALES and Service Rep". Reps are always on the wrong foot and despite people calling in for their concerns, reps are to make sales offers on EVERY CALL. Yes, even on the ones when customers have been calling about the same problem five times and have low confidence in the company/brand. YES, on calls when people just had a house fire and lost everything. YES, on calls that people were just robbed, minutes prior. Reps are instructed to beat around the bush, build rapport and make sales offers based off of needs (despite these being luxury goods, but whatever) EVEN IF the call can be less than five minutes. Ever wondered why your AT&T calls take so long? There ya go! That AND your rep is probably under-trained. - You're tasked with having to shove tv products down people's throats in an age where less and less people watch television, let alone want to pay for it. - You get GOD awful "Virtual" training which is barely a step above "Blue's Clues" and does little to nothing to prepare you for actual calls. - Reps are encouraged to be less than honest in the name of a sale and also to "build rapport". There's very little integrity, if any in that company. Most of your calls are fixing the mess someone else created by lying to the customer. In-store reps and "At-Home Experts" are the WORST as their conversations aren't recorded for quality assurance and pretty much tell unsuspecting customers ANYTHING to get the sale. - Managers are only eager to help you on calls when/if you're about to sell something. This is very discouraging in the first few weeks on the floor as you're getting your bearings. - Avoid if you consider yourself not a big talker or very introverted. Dead air is the devil! - The center itself is often noisy with reps yelling at each other and loud trap music (yes, TRAP MUSIC - Migos, Cardi B, etc.) is played over speakers for a"fun" environment. - Prepare for conflicting demands from management. One week, you're told to build rapport for "needs-based" selling, but later, you're told to offer every product you're responsible for (some sort of TV service, wireless line (voice only) and "High-Speed Broadband" (in most cases, these speeds were comparable to dial-up speeds circa early 2000s).

Explore other reviews about AT&T

5.0
Apr 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Hybrid schedule; the managers stay with you every step of the way and help you get better at what you need.

Cons

DEI could be better. Not enough diversity.

5.0
Sep 23, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

1 of the best things about AT&T is the training you receive as a New Hire. The company sends you to a designated location for a month's worth of training. They teach you the basics of sales and how to maximize your customers in-store experiences. While at training if it is necessary, they will pay to put you in a hotel, give you an American Express card for daily meals and reimburse you for any travel expenses in a very timely manor. The training you receive is top of the line. Next, lets talk pay. At&t pays their employees extremely well. With a base salary with paid overtime and full benefits and a compensation program, you won't want to leave the company just for that reason. They take care of their employees for the time you spend with them. Room for advancement. At AT&T moving up is a breeze if your motivated and a hard working individual. My current assistant store manager has only been with the company 10 months and is already looking at becoming a small business rep.

Cons

The work and life balance. The hours are long and tiring to the point were when you get home all you want to do is sleep and on your days off as well. Customers you have to deal with and the ability for a sales rep to control the interaction . That is one of the biggest complaint I have about the company. A lot of times customers come into the store hot and as sales reps we don't have the discretion or ability to waive ridiculous fees or fix issues. Everything seems like it has to be refereed to customer care which makes for a bad customer experience in store.

319
avatar
AT&T Response
11y
We pride ourselves on providing world class pay, benefits, training, and growth opportunities. Thank you for acknowledging one of the things we do well. But more importantly, thank you for your overall feedback and what we can improve upon. We look to develop and empower our employees and make every experience, whether internal or external, seamless. We will ensure your feedback is heard. Thanks again.
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All