Thursday, March 13, 2014

Corporate Kindness: AT&T and Verizon

I have a family member going through a difficult cancer journey. I also have a friend who loves this family member dearly and recently spent six weeks with us as a caregiver.

My friend did not have a smart phone that would allow her to continue in her roll as caregiver when she went home: texting was difficult, conference calling wasn't easy, and she couldn't browse medical records on her old, tired phone.

So I dropped my AT&T account to join my family member's plan and add our caregiver to it. I had to break my contract with AT&T to make this switch. I explained the medical situation and the reasons I had to move to Verizon. Without my asking, the AT&T rep spoke with her supervisor. AT&T voluntarily waived my penalty for breaking our contract. Out of nowhere, AT&T gave us an act of corporate kindness. 

A few days ago I dropped and shattered my new Verizon phone. Yep, no insurance! I went to the Verizon store expecting to pay big money for a new phone. I brought along my family member's health POA documents so Verizon could make me an account manager. As they took care of this paperwork we discussed why I needed to manage the account and why I switched to Verizon a short time ago. The Verizon rep spoke with his supervisor and researched our current account. He came back out with a new plan that allowed me to get a new,much nicer phone at no additional monthly charge. He also bought my broken phone and my old phone from AT&T.

In short, I walked out of the Verizon store spending $34.00 for an $800.00 phone and Otter Box case that cost $60.00. And my phone bill isn't going up. Another act of corporate kindness!

Sometimes a phone is more than a phone. It's a lifeline.

Thank you AT&T and Verizon

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