Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
It’s no secret to anyone who knows me well that I have no love for unexpected guests, especially people trying to sell me stuff I don’t want or need. My welcome mat says “Welcome-ish” for a reason! Of course, I live in a town where occasionally I get door-to-door reps for various things. I usually just ignore them until they go away, but when someone with an AT&T logo on their shirt showed up at my door, I decided to answer it just to see how the experience would go.
One of my main areas of focus here at Android Authority is cellular service coverage, so I figured it would be nice to have a better idea of what people are up against anymore. And, oh boy, was this an experience.
Normally I avoid door-to-door sales reps but this time I decided to hear them out.
I want to preface this by saying that there are legitimately great customer reps at AT&T and every big carrier, but door-to-door salespeople aren’t really employees in any real sense. Typically, companies like AT&T will hire agencies to handle door-to-door sales, who, in turn, use third-party contractors that rely on commission and have virtually no real loyalty to the company they are representing. Some reps likely take the job seriously and do an honest job, but there are plenty of cases out there to highlight how many people are willing to take advantage of this position if they think they can get away with it. Even AT&T Cyberware has official guidance on how to protect yourself from door-to-door scams.
Unfortunately, the door-to-door salesperson who visited my home was decisively in the second camp. The rep started by asking what my cellular service provider was. I considered my responses, but decided to say I was on Verizon, but I was considering leaving soon for prepaid service in order to save money. This is true, though what they don’t know is that I’ve already done very much done my research, but I wanted to see how the rep would respond. They also asked how many lines I needed, and I said four.
I swear, the rep’s face almost seemed to light up with my words as if to say, “We have a sucker here!” They immediately launched into a spiel about how, for a limited time, AT&T is offering Verizon switchers an amazing promotion that will give me a “free phone for every new line added.” Not only this, but with the holiday season in full swing, the rep said that they were even offering a “free Bluetooth speaker and watch” with this deal.
It was immediately clear that something was off
Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority
Considering I’m very familiar with AT&T’s current offers, I was immediately skeptical but kept a straight face. I did ask for more details about how this promotion would work. I was told I needed to sign up for four lines of AT&T unlimited service and that I’d get it for just “$30.99 a line”, which was a savings of “nearly $20 a line”. It also included a free AT&T Essentials Portable Wireless speaker (allegedly valued at $75) and a “free” Apple Watch SE. After some pressing, the rep did admit that you’d need to add a watch line and an installment plan, but that the “bill credits would kick in within about 3-6 months typically”.
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