AT&T sales rep lied and now we’re stuck with thousands in debt. What can we do?
My dad recently switched carriers to AT&T, and I got home from college to find out he had signed up for a contract after speaking with a sales/customer service rep over the phone. The issue is that the rep apparently made a ton of promises that either were completely misleading or outright false.
According to my dad, the rep kept telling him things like:
“Grab any phones you want!”
“Sell or trade your old phones to us and get newer ones for free!”
“They’re all free!”
My dad repeatedly told her that he already had an iPhone 14 Pro and didn’t need new devices, but she kept pushing him to add more lines and devices. She specifically told him the only thing he would pay upfront was “taxes,” around $288 per device, and claimed even those taxes would later be refunded.
He ended up getting:
3 new iPhones
1 iPad
She also told him:
He could trade in his iPhone 14 Pro and get an iPhone 17 Pro “for free”
AT&T would include free home Wi-Fi
The devices themselves would cost nothing
After signing, my dad called AT&T because some of the charges didn’t make sense afterwards. The representatives he spoke to afterward said they were confused why the sales rep told him any of this because those offers apparently do not exist. One rep even warned him not to ship out his iPhone trade-in because it could get lost and wouldn’t guarantee anything.
Now my dad is stuck owing monthly payments on all these devices and lines he never intended to get. He can barely afford rent as it is, and this whole thing feels like a sales rep saying literally anything necessary to secure a commission.
What I’m trying to figure out is:
Does AT&T record sales calls like this?
Is there any way to dispute or cancel this based on deceptive sales practices?
Is this something worth reporting to a government agency or consumer protection office?
Has anyone here successfully dealt with something similar?
At this point we’re trying to figure out whether there’s anything we can realistically do besides just paying off the debt and eating the mistake.
He signed a 36 month contract, this reddit post can give more context: https://www.reddit.com/r/ATT/comments/1r13j4h/free\_phones\_is\_it\_really/
Please help us!