Alabama man goes to AT&T for a simple phone upgrade. His wife discovers their bill jumped by $60 

An Alabama woman says a routine phone upgrade at an AT&T store turned into a costly dispute after an employee allegedly made account changes the couple did not request. The woman, who posts on TikTok as @no.name.nancy3, said the trouble began when her husband visited the store to replace a damaged iPhone 13.

In a recent TikTok video, the woman said her husband was eligible for an upgrade and expected a simple exchange. Instead, she said the store employee allegedly created a new eSIM phone number, leaving her husband with two numbers tied to a single device.

The woman also said the employee removed a grandfathered-in $20 monthly Wi-Fi plan without their consent. “The salesperson at AT&T deleted our grandfathered-in Wi-Fi that was $20 a month,” she said in the video. “We have dealt with their deception for the last time.”

Customer says she was told the new plan would lower the bill

The woman said the employee told her husband the changes would make their bill cheaper. “She’s telling him our bill’s going to be cheaper. It’s going to be cheaper,” the woman said. However, she said that after reviewing the account online, she found the new line added significantly to the cost. “That added $60 just for that one line,” she said. Unexpected charges showing up after a purchase has become a recurring theme in viral consumer videos, with other customers reporting similar surprises at checkout.

The woman said her husband spent about two hours at the store attempting to reverse the change to the Wi-Fi plan. She said staff told them that once such a grandfathered plan is removed, it cannot be restored. She said the call with AT&T was disconnected before the issue could be resolved.

Facing a 14-day return window, the couple decided to return the phone. The woman said she received conflicting instructions from AT&T customer service and store employees about how the return needed to be processed. She said she was initially told the device had to be returned in person because it was purchased with cash.

The woman said she returned to the same store and repeatedly told an employee she only wanted to return the phone. “The only thing I am here to do today is give you this phone back,” she told him. She said the employee first claimed he could not process the return and suggested she call AT&T herself, but later completed the return without contacting customer service.

According to the woman, the couple was charged a $55 restocking fee despite the circumstances surrounding the return. She said she and her husband went to a different AT&T location in another county, where staff reportedly confirmed that unauthorized or unwanted changes had been made to their account. “We already went to a different store in another county to confirm that they [expletive] us,” she said. Other consumers have described comparable frustration after routine purchases led to unexpected bills.

The video drew a range of responses from viewers, some of whom questioned parts of the technical setup described. “New iPhone doesn’t have sim card u only have 1 number,” one commenter wrote, appearing to push back on the claim that the device ended up with two separate phone numbers.

Other viewers sided with the customer regarding the disputed restocking fee. “I would dispute the $55 restock fee. The employee messed it up not the customer,” another commenter wrote. Some viewers said they had avoided similar issues by using a different carrier altogether. “I’ve never had this problem getting phones through straight talk lol I just pay 60$ a month and don’t deal with any bs and can do the same thing y’all can do,” one commenter wrote.

The woman also described two earlier incidents she said she experienced with the same retailer. She said that during a previous upgrade, she asked for the same iPhone 13 model her husband had received, but was instead given a more expensive iPhone 13 Pro Max. She said that when she discovered the error and returned to the store, she was told the return deadline had already passed.

In a separate incident, the woman said a foldable smartphone valued at roughly $3,500 was lost by the carrier’s mail service. She said AT&T attempted to charge her approximately $800 after she filed a claim for the lost device. 

She said she is now considering filing complaints with consumer protection agencies and possibly consulting an attorney. “I probably need to see about a class-action lawyer as well, because this is [expletive],” she said. As of writing, AT&T has not publicly responded to these allegations. 

Federal regulators have previously taken action against wireless carriers over unauthorized charges, a practice sometimes referred to as “cramming.” According to PBS, AT&T agreed to a $105 million settlement with federal and state authorities following allegations that customers were billed for services they did not authorize.