At AT&T, we’re committed to resolving our customers' disputes in a fair and efficient way. If you're not satisfied after chatting online or calling customer service, we’d like to know.
Your options are outlined in the AT&T Consumer Service Agreement. At part 1.3.2, it includes an “arbitration agreement,” where we agree to resolve any disputes in small claims court or arbitration, instead of a more complicated jury trial or class action.
If you decide to take your claim to small claims court, look up the small claims court in the county of your billing address. Then follow the court’s rules. (Note: Most small claims courts will require payment of a filing fee).
If you decide to take your claim to arbitration, follow our arbitration agreement, which can be found in part 1.3.2 of the Consumer Service Agreement. An “arbitration” is a less formal alternative to a jury trial or class action. It’s where you make your case to a neutral third party (an “arbitrator”) instead of a judge or jury in court. AT&T generally pays the arbitration fees, with a few exceptions. Any hearings will be in the same county as your billing address, or they might be held by phone or videoconference. And the arbitrator can award the same thing a court could award you. The arbitration will be between just you and AT&T. That’s because our agreement doesn’t allow us to bring class arbitrations or claims on behalf of other people.
If you choose arbitration, the first step is to send AT&T’s legal department a completed Notice of Dispute form. Our legal department will investigate your claim, and we’ll have 60 days to try to work it out informally.
This step is mandatory before initiating arbitration. And it’s important to fill out every required blank on the form. After all, we want the chance to make things right. Our agreement is purposefully set up in a way that encourages AT&T to settle disputes before an arbitration is ever filed. In fact, in most cases, if we don’t resolve the dispute informally and an arbitrator awards you more than our last settlement offer, we’ll pay extra to you (and your attorney, if you have one).
There are two ways to send us a Notice of Dispute.
You may also need to send us an Account Authorization form (PDF, 21KB) to give us permission to share your account information with someone else. To protect your information, we need your permission before we can share your account or account information with anyone (including your family members or an attorney).
Once you send us all the required information, we’ll pause the time limits for filing claims for at least 60 days. During this time, you’ll have the opportunity to schedule a phone or video call with someone in the legal department.
Tip: At this stage of the process, AT&T customers often find that they don’t need to pursue an arbitration because they’re able to satisfactorily resolve their dispute with AT&T’s legal department before arbitration.
If we weren’t able to resolve the dispute after at least 60 days, you can take your claim to the American Arbitration Association (AAA). AAA is the nation’s largest non-profit company that manages arbitrations. Follow these steps:
We'll always abide by the terms of our current Arbitration Agreement and Dispute Resolution Provision. We've made the current terms available to all current and former customers. That includes people who were customers of Cingular Wireless, Cricket Wireless, DIRECTV, U-verse, the former AT&T Wireless, BellSouth Mobility, Ameritech Mobile, Pacific Bell Wireless, SBMS, SNET Mobility, and SBC Wireless.