AT&T chief apologizes for bizarre reply to customer: 'We blew it'
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"We blew it, plain and simple." That's AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson's take on a bizarre reply a customer received from a lawyer after making a few suggestions on how the company could improve its business, reports the Los Angeles Times.
Alfred Valrie, who describes himself as a "lifelong" AT&T customer, says he sent Stephenson an email proposing "unlimited data for DSL customers" and the resurrection of "text messaging plans like 1,000 messages for $10," just to be helpful.
The response he received came from AT&T's legal department and reads in part: "AT&T has a policy of not entertaining unsolicited offers to adopt, analyze, develop, license or purchase third-party intellectual property ... from members of the general public. We respectfully decline to consider your suggestion." "I just wanted to give him something to mull over," Valrie says.
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"I never thought I'd get a letter from a lawyer." AT&T aims to "treat our customers to a premium experience every time they interact with us," but "we don't meet our high standards 100% of the time," Stephenson wrote in a letter to the Times, adding that he's "corrected" the misstep.
NBC News notes he didn't specify what that correction was, but the Times suggests AT&T will take a softer approach going forward. A rep earlier explained the legalese, saying "we've had customers send us unsolicited ideas and then later threaten to take legal action, claiming we stole their ideas." T-Mobile CEO John Legere is on the attack anyway.
"I interact with customers on a daily basis so I can hear their ideas firsthand," he says. "If they don't want your ideas, we'll take them!" he tweeted.
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He later directed suggestions to a new email address: IdeasForRandall@T-Mobile.com. (Legere also has a beef with Sprint's CEO.)
This article originally appeared on Newser: AT&T CEO on Bizarre Reply to Customer: 'We Blew It'
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