AT&T CEO on weird Reply to Customer: ‘We Blew It’

Though Stephenson admitted AT&T “blew it” with its harsh response, he said the formalized response Valrie received was created in response to past experience in which customers had submitted suggestions and later threatened legal action claiming their ideas were stolen.

Company CEO Randall Stephenson sent a letter to the Los Angeles Times, which had reported on the exchange between the company and its customer, Alfred Valrie. According to AT&T, it treats all customers like potential adversaries on the off chance that they might try to sue the company.

“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”, the response read in part.

The company’s chief IP counsel, Thomas Restaino, thanked Valrie for being a lifelong customer, then firmly declined to consider the suggestion.

“Unfortunately, we don’t meet our high standards 100 percent of the time”. “It’s to protect ourselves”, Taylor told The Los Angeles Times. “That’s why our responses have been a bit formal and legalistic”.

That circle-the-wagons mentality apparently will now give way to a kinder and gentler approach to customer feedback.

The company’s CEO, John Legere, sent out a number of tweets mocking AT&T and its leader. In other words, we’re not going to listen to your idea. From that perspective, it’s very understandable why AT&T would have a policy of telling people who send in suggestions that it doesn’t take ideas from customers into consideration. T-Mobile released a press release (such elaborated trolling!) shaming AT&T for the way in which they would approach a simple concern from a lifelong customer. T-Mobile will keep the best ones and send Randall – and his lawyers – all the ideas we’ve already fixed.

In this response, T-Mobile tells consumers they are always welcome to contact their CEO at John.Legere@T-Mobile.com with all their issues, comments, suggestions or complaints. I interact with customers on a daily basis so I can hear their ideas firsthand. “It’s called living in the 21st century”, he added.