“Power to the people,” we say. A revolution, from “top down to bottom up,” we claim. Mr. and Mrs. Consumer have been “slapped from their obedient stupor”, and, “armed to the teeth with self-made blogs and Googley-sites”, now stand up and tell the world what really bugs us.” Right on!

It seems the Brand Muffin has been quoted by one such Mrs. Consumer in the midst of a righteous rant against AT&T.  (You know, they’re the ones here in Mississippi that ruined Cingular’s good name by dropping calls every 5 miles).

Kathy Rhodes, author of First Draft (one of our Mojo Friends down in the left margin, I might add) has a bone to pick with the big blue ball. Kathy’s husband, Charlie, recently passed away. Charlie was a 20-year business customer of AT&T. Obviously, his business phone line now has to be disconnected. And, on a technicality, good ole AT&T sent Charlie (who is deceased, mind you) a bill for $360 in order to fulfill the remainder of the contract, along with a warning not to breach.

Really, it just boggles the mind.

Now, according to AT&T’s web site, the company’s mission statement reads as follows:

To connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and do it better than anyone else.

I might suggest to AT&T that, if they’re going to bill their dead customers for time unused (how dare you die before your term is up!), then they might want to modify their mission statement to read:

To connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, both here and in the hereafter, and do it better than anyone else.

Joking aside, this is a perfect example of corporate policy run amuck. It’s also a perfect example of how such grievous errors in customer service can quickly spread through the blogosphere. Through the network of blogs spanning outward from First Draft, I would imagine that hundreds of people are aware of AT&T’s customer service blunder. Hundreds, if not thousands. Gone are the days when the big guys can dump on the little guys with impunity.

On the flip side, imagine the good will that the AT&T service manager could have created for her brand by simply saying, “we’re sorry for your loss, of course we’re here to help. I’ll cancel the unused line, effective immediately.” It’s really not difficult…Verizon did it. As did other utility providers. They seized upon the opportunity to create a positive experience. As a result, they’ll get referrals for life. Alas, not AT&T.

I’m proud that The Brand Muffin could contribute our dry little crumb and help make Mrs. Consumer’s point. Hopefully, someone at AT&T will choke on it, step up, do the right thing, and cut their dead customer some slack.

Seriously, AT&T…is it really that difficult?