[Support Rep]: Welcome to [Cell Company] Andy ! My name is [Support Rep] and I hope you're doing great today. Please let me know how can I help you to make your day even better
Me: Good morning, [Support Rep]. I am hoping you can make my day even better.
Me: I've been a [Cell Company] user since September of last year. Very happy. Things are wonderful.
Me: I have one minor annoyance and I'd like to fix it.
Me: I am enrolled in autopay. This is wonderful and working correctly.
Me: However, on the 14th of each month, all 3 of the phones on my group plan receive a text that states the following:
Me: Just a quick [Cell Company] reminder! Your monthly Auto payment for account ######### will be processed tomorrow for $##.##. You can always manage your Auto Pay by logging into your account at [Cell Company].com or using the My [Cell Company] app.
Me: Then, on the 15th, we all get this message:
Me: Got it. This is [Cell Company] confirming we received your $##.## payment for account #########. Did you know that you can manage your account at [Cell Company].com?
Me: Last month, I had a chat and tried to get this notification turned off. They tried updating my settings. However, I got the "Just a quick [Cell Company] reminder!" again.
Me: So, on Monday, I chatted again.
Me: After both the 2/15 and 3/14 chats, I got this text:
Me: A heads up from [Cell Company]! Changes were made to your My [Cell Company] account. You can check out your account at [Cell Company].com or using the My [Cell Company] app.
Me: So, I could tell some update had been made.
Me: However, on Tuesday, subsequent to my chat and receiving a pair of "A heads up from [Cell Company]!", I once again got the "Got it." text.
Me: I know this is not a major deal. I know I'm not getting charged for texts.
Me: But, it is annoying to get this pair of texts every month.
[Support Rep]: Please let me check your account
Me: Yes please. By all means. :)
[Support Rep]: : )
[Support Rep]: The notifications that you are receiving are automatic by the system
Me: Correct. I would like them disabled.
[Support Rep]: OK
[Support Rep]: I am going to perform a change on your account
[Support Rep]: Let me know if you got the notification
Me: Yes. I got a notification
[Support Rep]: About what?
Me: A quick [Cell Company] account update: The number [my cell number] you asked us to send messages to regarding your Auto Pay credit card is no longer on your account. If we need to remind you about an expiring card we will send a message to [my dad's number]. To change the number, use the My [Cell Company] app or log in at [Cell Company].com
[Support Rep]: After that
[Support Rep]: No other?
Me: That's the only one so far.
Me: In truth, [my number] is the "primary" account, and it's the other 2 that really don't need any notifications.
Me: Then, on my primary line, I'd like to only receive notifications of things that require my attention. I don't really need a pair of texts each month reminding me that I've signed up for a program that is supposed to let me not think or worry about my billing each month. ;)
Me: I just got another notify
Me: A heads up from [Cell Company]! Changes were made to your My [Cell Company] account. You can check out your account at [Cell Company]qireless.com or using the My [Cell Company] app.
[Support Rep]: Yes
Me: And another.
Me: A heads up from [Cell Company]! Changes were made to your My [Cell Company] account. You can check out your account at [Cell Company]qireless.com or using the My [Cell Company] app.
[Support Rep]: Yes, I was testing that
Me: Yup. I'm just reporting the results. :)
[Support Rep]: It seems that disable this is not working
[Support Rep]: Have you tried
[Support Rep]: Registering your phone number here https://www.donotcall.gov
Me: Really? I need to put myself on a do not call list. Shouldn't [Cell Company] be able to stop sending me messages, without getting the .gov involved?
Me: Are you able to tell if these are also being sent to my parents?
Me: At the very least, I'd like to turn those off.
Me: [###-###-####] Andy (me); [###-###-####] mom; [###-###-####] dad
Me: Mom and Dad got confused about both of them having a payment of $90 due the next day. They were worried that they needed to do something, and that it meant our total bill was $270, which freaked them out.
Me: So, I'd like the "account management" type texts to only be sent to [my number]
[Support Rep]: I understand your request Andy
Me: And then, in addition to that, if I could turn off the auto-pay related messages, that would be great.
[Support Rep]: I submit the request from here and you are still receiving the notifications
[Support Rep]: That is the only tool that we have
Me: Hmm. Does someone else have more tools?
[Support Rep]: The website that I gave you
Me: DoNotCall.gov
[Support Rep]: Correct
Me: That sounds drastic.
Me: I'll go out there and take a look, but I'm imagining that's the national Do Not Call list. I don't want to disable all texts to my phone, or even all texts from businesses.
Me: Just the pair of monthly autopay notifications from [Cell Company].
[Support Rep]: Those would be sent to your phone number
[Support Rep]: That is the one enable to
[Support Rep]: Andy?
Me: Hmm. I just pulled up that website. I don't really think it's the correct solution to this problem.
Me: The 3 main options are: Register a Phone Number; Verify a Registration; Submit a Complaint.
Me: I think, if I register, it would mean no companies should attempt to reach me.
Me: And then, if I kept getting these auto pay notices, that I'd "file a complaint", but I don't want to get [Cell Company] into some sort of trouble.
[Support Rep]: From here I just submit the request again, even tough I am going to provider your account number to my supervisor can escalated the situation
Me: So, on your end, what you can see about the numbers on my group account, do you see them as enabled or disabled?
[Support Rep]: Disabled to receive those notifications
Me: So, from what you're seeing, if I hadn't told you I was still getting texts, you would believe that everything should be turned off and I shouldn't be getting any. Correct?
[Support Rep]: Correct
Me: Is there some way to report a system bug? It seems like something isn't quite behaving as it probably should be, and the technical development team would need to code a change.
[Support Rep]: Yes, I am going to give to my supervisor your account number in order to resolve it
Me: Cool. If they want to reach out to me, I would welcome that. I'm happy to help trying to get this resolved.
[Support Rep]: Sure, we will get in touch with you
Me: Awesome. Thanks.
[Support Rep]: You are welcome Andy
It doesn't seem like it should be this hard. They are in the communication business. 3 different support chats, trying to something "as drastic" as turning disabling an automated notify. At the very least, one should be able to choose that the notifies only go to the primary account.
But when they recommended I "solve it" by going to DoNotCall.gov?!? Are you kidding me? (Andy: "Uhm, yeah, my chicken seems a little under-done. Any chance you could throw it back in the oven for a few more minutes?" Server: "Sorry, bra. What you might want to do is eat it, and then, if you get sick, go to the emergency room. They can take care of you.")
