AT&T really knows how to rub me the wrong way. They recently bought out SBC, which had been my internet service provider. I'd had the phenomenal discounted rate of 12.99 a month on my DSL bill (which had, I guess unsurprisingly, "crept" up throughout the year to 14.99, something I was willing to accept). I called on July to renew service and see if I could keep this rate. I got an electronic voice, which misunderstood not only my voice but also my button-pressing enough times that eventually I was forwarded to a human. (The machine was very polite, too: "I'm sorry I'm having so much trouble understanding you. My fault.")
Once I got to human #1, the procedure was as follows:
1. I confirm name, phone number, and last four digits of SSN for security reasons.
2. I explain that I want to renew service
3. I am listed the options, which include simply continuing with my promotional pricing: I ask to continue with promotional pricing
4. It is pointed out that for simply X number of dollars a month, I could get another option: I turn down several such offers
5. I am offered cell phone service: I turn it down, and they get nosy as to why
6. I am asked if human # 1 has done everything possible to make my customer experience as good as possible today.
7. I am forwarded to someone who can take my order

So I get to human #2. The procedure is familiar, with only steps 2 and 3 missing:
1. I confirm name, phone number, and last four digits of SSN for security reasons.
2. I ask to continue with promotional pricing.
3. It is pointed out that for simply X number of dollars a month, I could get another option: I turn down several such offers
4. I am offered cell phone service: I turn it down, and they get nosy as to why
5. I am asked if human # 1 has done everything possible to make my customer experience as good as possible today.
6. I am forwarded to someone who can take my order

So I get to human #3, who is very talkative and chummy. However, there is a strange sense of deja vu hovering over our conversation:
1. I confirm name, phone number, and last four digits of SSN for security reasons. (I assume because by now I've been on hold enough that maybe someone's clubbed me unconscious and has seized the phone in a desperate attempt to sign me up for unwanted services)
2. I ask to continue with promotional pricing.
3. It is pointed out that for simply X number of dollars a month, I could get another option: I turn down several such offers
4. I am offered cell phone service: I turn it down, and they get nosy as to why, and offer to pay my old cell phone bills if I switch to their provider
5. I am asked if I am sure I don't want any upgrades
6. I set up my contract and confirm the price.
7. I am asked if human # 1 has done everything possible to make my customer experience as good as possible today.

Well, an hour well spent, I thought.
Fast forward to my most recent bill, and the first on my new billing cycle. I'm charged more than what I expect. So today I called AT&T, and reach human #4 (for continuity's sake):
1. I confirm name, phone number, and last four digits off SSN for security reasons.
2. I ask about my bill. Human #4 says, "just a moment." Silence for about two minutes, punctuated with the occasional, "Just a moment."
3. It turns out that they haven't upgraded me. I was just billed for slightly over a month. However, the rate has, indeed, gone up by several dollars. Three dollars is not a big deal... unless you spent a frustrating hour of your time a few weeks ago confirming a different price. I explain what I had expected to be charged.
4. Human #4 apologizes for the inconvenience and explains that my promotional pricing had expired, and that they only had the packages (which, of course, I had been offered).
5. I explain that I confirmed the promotional pricing with three different people, and that I thought I'd set up a contract to that effect.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 several times with slightly different wording. Ending with "I'm sorry, I can only offer you the new price," and "Well, is there anyone who can offer me the old price?"
7. Human #6 gets fed up, apologizes for the inconvenience, and forwards me to her manager.

Manager:
1. Manager opens with a simple, "Hello." You may be thinking, what about security concerns? My number? SSN? But clearly, by this point I am not a valued customer in need of protection but a customer simply intent on making trouble for an innocent corporation.
2. I explain the situation.
3. Manager pulls up my record. "They offered you the 14.99 price," she explains. "I don't see any record of acceptance. It's kind of hard to give you a price if you don't accept it, now isn't it?" She sounds like she's explaining something to a dummy.
4. I explain that not only did I accept it, I accepted it three times.
5. She explains that the rate (which I confirmed three times) may not have been available to me without upgraded services, and says she'll have to check on that. She explains that she'll get back to me "by Wednesday."

I feel like I should put some sort of final, exasperated statement at the end here to summarize, but I think this sequence speaks for itself. It is absolutely ludicrous. But at least it's also humorous.