Finally the unending war against AT&T Wireless ended.
The whole time I was having problems I was a pain the ass. I constantly called to report problems on my phone. Towards the end I kept telling whoever I talked to I want all these problems documented. I give them credit, they did.
I gave up and switched to Verizon in September. When I got my final bill from AT&T I decided to contest the early termination fee. What did I have to lose? The worst they could say is no.
I didn't know who to call though. A customer service rep told me only a manager could waive the fee. I already beat my head calling customer service and dealing with them.
The best I could come up with was to call AT&T corporate headquarters in Dallas. I got the switchboard operator and explained my situation. She transferred me to the Office of the President. A lady answered the phone and again I explained everything. She said she'd look into my account. I asked her if she would go back and look at my problems for the last several months and take that into account. She said yes and I should get a reply within 48 hours.
Two hours later at while at the store, my cell phone rang and I didn't recognize the number. Normally I don't answer but I did. It was the lady from AT&T. She told me she looked at my account and saw my problems went back to January of this year. She decided to waive the termination fee.
It was a complete capitulation by AT&T. I finally received a satisfactory resolution to a nightmare of a situation. The service by AT&T reach a point of complete unacceptable levels. Initially it was dropped calls and no service from a piece of garbage Lv-Vu phone. Customer service reps were baffled that I had a strong signal and still had problems. A new phone improved call reception but everything else went downhill. It reached an apex when I missed countless text messages, several voicemails and internet access. No matter what the technical department tried nothing worked. It even reached a point after the gave me a new SIM card and then a new phone that they told me there wasn't anything more they could do for me.
My recommendation to anyone who is considering AT&T is to avoid them at all costs. Their service, not just based on my experience but coworkers and friends too, is unreliable and customer service is nice but support for phones is garbage. That it took a call to headquarters to finally resolve my case is pretty pathetic.
Showing posts with label ATT Wireless. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ATT Wireless. Show all posts
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
AT&T Wireless Saga Part 2
Everything went smooth for a few months. Then I noticed I'd go a couple of days without a text message. I'd send my friends a test text asking for a reply. I'd never get one. I'd call AT&T and the usual power down, remove sim card and battery and put it back together routine. It would work for a while and then start over again. I'd call again and they'd do what little troubleshooting they could do over the phone. It was a cat and mouse game. Then the routine got old.
The whole problem reached an apex two weekends ago when I was in San Antonio. I wasn't getting text messages, phone calls or voicemails. I had to call AT&T three times and still I had lingering problems. One customer service rep tried to tell me it was because I wasn't in my home area. I call bullshit on that. They have all these commercials about nationwide coverage and they can't get me a message or call 200 miles away from my home? One of the reps was nice enough to credit my account $25. Another rep was just a dumbass. He could never quiet understand my problem. The third said to go into a store when I get back to Houston and they will replace my sim card.
I'm pissed off all weekend because I have friends I want to see and can't make plans cause I can't communicate with them.
The real pisser happened after I got home. Someone left me a voicemail on Saturday and it didn't show up in my voicemail inbox until Tuesday. I was extremely pissed off at that moment. I called AT&T immediately and told them what happened. Again they offered to replace the sim card.
I finally got the sim card replaced this week. I again went out of town. Between work and out of town I didn't have time to change it until two nights ago.
I got into the habit of calling AT&T every time something went wrong. I wanted to leave a phone record of all my complaints. At the very least, if they didn't document my exact problem someone could see I've repeatedly called. I told one rep that I didn't think the sim card replacement would work.
And the result with the new card? The same garbage. More missed text messages, text messages received in duplicate and sent in triplicate. One buddy told me to quit texting because everything was coming across three times.
I've about had it. AT&T has offered to replace the phone. As far as I'm concerned it's a last grasp hail mary. If this doesn't work I'm going to cancel my account whether or not I have to pay the disconnect fee.
Yesterday again I had trouble with text messages. I have seven verified messages sent by others that I didn't receive. So I called in today to once again make it know I was having issues. I asked the rep at what point does this become an exercise in futility? When does it become a point where I can cancel my contract without penalty? His reply was under the terms of contract I have to pay a penalty. I replied with a simple fact. I don't pay for my service my phone gets disconnected but if I don't get service I can't cancel my contract. Again he repeated his claim of contract terms don't allow it. I reminded him that their are two parties to a contract. I pay for services provided by AT&T and if I don't get the services then AT&T isn't living up to their end of the contract. I could tell I was frustrating him with simple logic. Finally he told me that if the new phone fails to talk to a manager and they have the power to waive the fee. I asked is it impossible to get a manager to do and he said it was pretty close to impossible. He said it would take an extreme case to get the fee waived.
Finally I asked the rep to please document the fact that I'm having problems again with the text messaging. He obliged and read back to me all that he wrote. I thanked him since I overwhelmed him with logic.
Tomorrow I'm going to try and get the new phone. Like the sim card replacement, I don't think a new phone will work either. This problem has happened over the course of two different phone models. I seriously doubt a third will be any different.
AT&T's service, for whatever reason, has turned into total garbage for me. The customer service was horrible with the LG-Vu until I threatened to cancel. This time around customer service has been more understanding and better but still equally worthless. If the third phone doesn't work I'll cancel service whether I have to pay early termination or not.
The whole problem reached an apex two weekends ago when I was in San Antonio. I wasn't getting text messages, phone calls or voicemails. I had to call AT&T three times and still I had lingering problems. One customer service rep tried to tell me it was because I wasn't in my home area. I call bullshit on that. They have all these commercials about nationwide coverage and they can't get me a message or call 200 miles away from my home? One of the reps was nice enough to credit my account $25. Another rep was just a dumbass. He could never quiet understand my problem. The third said to go into a store when I get back to Houston and they will replace my sim card.
I'm pissed off all weekend because I have friends I want to see and can't make plans cause I can't communicate with them.
The real pisser happened after I got home. Someone left me a voicemail on Saturday and it didn't show up in my voicemail inbox until Tuesday. I was extremely pissed off at that moment. I called AT&T immediately and told them what happened. Again they offered to replace the sim card.
I finally got the sim card replaced this week. I again went out of town. Between work and out of town I didn't have time to change it until two nights ago.
I got into the habit of calling AT&T every time something went wrong. I wanted to leave a phone record of all my complaints. At the very least, if they didn't document my exact problem someone could see I've repeatedly called. I told one rep that I didn't think the sim card replacement would work.
And the result with the new card? The same garbage. More missed text messages, text messages received in duplicate and sent in triplicate. One buddy told me to quit texting because everything was coming across three times.
I've about had it. AT&T has offered to replace the phone. As far as I'm concerned it's a last grasp hail mary. If this doesn't work I'm going to cancel my account whether or not I have to pay the disconnect fee.
Yesterday again I had trouble with text messages. I have seven verified messages sent by others that I didn't receive. So I called in today to once again make it know I was having issues. I asked the rep at what point does this become an exercise in futility? When does it become a point where I can cancel my contract without penalty? His reply was under the terms of contract I have to pay a penalty. I replied with a simple fact. I don't pay for my service my phone gets disconnected but if I don't get service I can't cancel my contract. Again he repeated his claim of contract terms don't allow it. I reminded him that their are two parties to a contract. I pay for services provided by AT&T and if I don't get the services then AT&T isn't living up to their end of the contract. I could tell I was frustrating him with simple logic. Finally he told me that if the new phone fails to talk to a manager and they have the power to waive the fee. I asked is it impossible to get a manager to do and he said it was pretty close to impossible. He said it would take an extreme case to get the fee waived.
Finally I asked the rep to please document the fact that I'm having problems again with the text messaging. He obliged and read back to me all that he wrote. I thanked him since I overwhelmed him with logic.
Tomorrow I'm going to try and get the new phone. Like the sim card replacement, I don't think a new phone will work either. This problem has happened over the course of two different phone models. I seriously doubt a third will be any different.
AT&T's service, for whatever reason, has turned into total garbage for me. The customer service was horrible with the LG-Vu until I threatened to cancel. This time around customer service has been more understanding and better but still equally worthless. If the third phone doesn't work I'll cancel service whether I have to pay early termination or not.
AT&T Wirless Saga Part 1
I've been with AT&T wireless since 1999. Until the last year or so I haven't had any long term problems with them. Until the last year or so.
To make a long story short. I had the LG-Vu because I added an old girlfriend to my account. It would be cheaper to be on the same account for both of us. The phone was in her budget and we each got $50 gift cards. Almost immediately she had problems with the phone. Mainly the screen would turn green. She replaced the phone three times and all three gave her the same problem. I cut her phone off for nonpayment of her half, no explanation to where she was and also using up ungodly amounts of minutes and pushing the limit. I didn't care about paying the early
termination fee. I just wanted her off my account and gone.
Around January of this year I start having my problems. Like her phone, the screen occasionally turned green or the touch screen keyboard would get all out of whack. Then I started having problems with text messaging. I wouldn't get any of texts from friends. Then calls started dropping off. I had to stand in a certain spot in my apartment to make or receive calls. Then I started having to go out on the deck to hear anything.
If I lived in the boondocks or middle of no where I might not have a big problem with it. But I don't. I live right in the middle of Houston. Literally. I'm between downtown and the museum district. AT&T customer service once admitted that I shouldn't be having the problem because the signal was so strong in my area.
I called AT&T for troubleshooting. AT&T's suggestion is to every problem is turn the phone off, take out the battery and sim card, wait 30 seconds and put it back together. Every time I called it was the same routine. Going into the store to complain did no good. They wouldn't offer any solutions. A waste of time.
I was due an upgrade. Or so I thought. My online account said I was due an upgrade so I figured I'd go in the store and choose my new phone. LG-Vu is a cheap piece of garbage anyway. I can afford better. Much better. I go into the store and they tell I don't have an upgrade. Why not? Because when I took my ex-female friend off the account that affected when I could upgrade. I tried and tried but they wouldn't budge from their stance. The said wait until May. Ok fine.
Unfortunately the dropped calls got worse and more texts were missed. I complained some more but they wouldn't do anything. Finally I decided to just suck it up and try to get a new phone again. I complained in person about how bad the service was. I want a new phone. Sure, at full cost plus a $50 upgrade fee. No thanks. I went to another store. I again explained the situation. Sure no problem said the salesman. He took me over to a low end phone. I said no thanks. I want to get rid of this garbage phone and you want to sell me another garbage phone. Oh and by the
way, he added the small detail that it would cost me $75 upgrade fee plus the full price of the phone. My exact words were,"That's bullshit." And I walked out the door.
I had it. I got online and looked up Verizon. I decided right then and there to cancel my AT&T line and move on. When I called customer service I told them to disconnect. I don't care about the early termination fee. Did that change their tune or what. She upgraded me to a $300 phone for $29. No I didn't leave off a zero...that's twenty nine dollars. I agreed to the new phone and it worked fine for a while.
Until the last few months....to be continued.
To make a long story short. I had the LG-Vu because I added an old girlfriend to my account. It would be cheaper to be on the same account for both of us. The phone was in her budget and we each got $50 gift cards. Almost immediately she had problems with the phone. Mainly the screen would turn green. She replaced the phone three times and all three gave her the same problem. I cut her phone off for nonpayment of her half, no explanation to where she was and also using up ungodly amounts of minutes and pushing the limit. I didn't care about paying the early
termination fee. I just wanted her off my account and gone.
Around January of this year I start having my problems. Like her phone, the screen occasionally turned green or the touch screen keyboard would get all out of whack. Then I started having problems with text messaging. I wouldn't get any of texts from friends. Then calls started dropping off. I had to stand in a certain spot in my apartment to make or receive calls. Then I started having to go out on the deck to hear anything.
If I lived in the boondocks or middle of no where I might not have a big problem with it. But I don't. I live right in the middle of Houston. Literally. I'm between downtown and the museum district. AT&T customer service once admitted that I shouldn't be having the problem because the signal was so strong in my area.
I called AT&T for troubleshooting. AT&T's suggestion is to every problem is turn the phone off, take out the battery and sim card, wait 30 seconds and put it back together. Every time I called it was the same routine. Going into the store to complain did no good. They wouldn't offer any solutions. A waste of time.
I was due an upgrade. Or so I thought. My online account said I was due an upgrade so I figured I'd go in the store and choose my new phone. LG-Vu is a cheap piece of garbage anyway. I can afford better. Much better. I go into the store and they tell I don't have an upgrade. Why not? Because when I took my ex-female friend off the account that affected when I could upgrade. I tried and tried but they wouldn't budge from their stance. The said wait until May. Ok fine.
Unfortunately the dropped calls got worse and more texts were missed. I complained some more but they wouldn't do anything. Finally I decided to just suck it up and try to get a new phone again. I complained in person about how bad the service was. I want a new phone. Sure, at full cost plus a $50 upgrade fee. No thanks. I went to another store. I again explained the situation. Sure no problem said the salesman. He took me over to a low end phone. I said no thanks. I want to get rid of this garbage phone and you want to sell me another garbage phone. Oh and by the
way, he added the small detail that it would cost me $75 upgrade fee plus the full price of the phone. My exact words were,"That's bullshit." And I walked out the door.
I had it. I got online and looked up Verizon. I decided right then and there to cancel my AT&T line and move on. When I called customer service I told them to disconnect. I don't care about the early termination fee. Did that change their tune or what. She upgraded me to a $300 phone for $29. No I didn't leave off a zero...that's twenty nine dollars. I agreed to the new phone and it worked fine for a while.
Until the last few months....to be continued.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Customer Service Is Dead
I know customer service has been dead for a long time. Business small and large view the customer as a source of income and not a resource. They just want you in the door, make a sale and out the door. Most businesses do little encourage customers to return or spread word of mouth.
Years ago I worked for a chain restaurant as a waiter. Back then the philosophy was treat the customer well. They want repeat business and the customer to enjoy the dining experience. On top of that, they knew word of mouth could not only help but hurt business too. I can't remember the exact numbers but they did surveys and found that bad word of mouth is a multiple times worth of damage versus good word of mouth. In other words, don't piss the customer off because not only do you lose repeat business but chances are he will tell his friends and they won't come either. Smart thinking in my book. Not sure it really worked that way but it was a good assumption to work under.
So why my sudden focus on customer service? Simple. Two days and three bad experiences and another one a week ago.
AT&T Wireless Headaches
We all know about the Stalinesque tactics of cell phone companies. Iron clad two year contracts with high early termination fees or Mafia like fees to change the a clause and it will cost a two year extension.
The phone I have is an LG-Vu. I wasn't in my right mind when I bought it. I was helping out a friend by putting her on my account and it was a phone they offered. It's total garbage.
I went in December to remover her from the account and see my upgrade options. AT&T happily removed her from the account for $120 and blew me off on the upgrade. The customer service dork said I can't upgrade until March or there about.
The phone is garbage. I live in the middle of Houston. A few miles from downtown. I get full bars on my signal indicator. I have a hard time sending texts or talking on the phone. I have to stand outside on my patio or in a certain corner to get service.
I figure they could do something for me. I went to one store. He took one look at my account and offered me an iPhone for full price. I said no thanks, told him never mind and walked out the door. I went to a second store. The rep there offered me any phone I wanted for full price plus a $75 upgrade fee. I told him that was bullshit and walked out.
I call customer service and she just wants to trouble shoot my phone. I hung up. I called back and she told me to look online because there are deals there that are better than the store or phone. I looked. Nothing.
I decided enough was enough. I'm changing phone services. I looked up another service and decided to change. I call AT&T one more time to inquire about the early termination fee. The service rep asked me if she couldn't resolve my problem would I terminate. I said I don't know I'm just weighing my options. I explained to her what all happened.
This is what she did. In a heartbeat she sold me a $350 phone for $29...that's twenty nine dollars. And she didn't charge me an upgrade fee either. Just a two year extension of my current contract. Hell she even threw in free shipping for good measure. My grand total for an upgrade was $29 plus taxes and two hours of hitting my head against the wall.
I stayed with AT&T not because I'm happy with the service. I'm not. I stayed because someone finally pulled their ears and their head popped out of the companies ass long enough to make me a deal and used some actual customer service to keep me.
I have more complaints but maybe next time...I'll just say I hate the whole store concept of Ikea.
Years ago I worked for a chain restaurant as a waiter. Back then the philosophy was treat the customer well. They want repeat business and the customer to enjoy the dining experience. On top of that, they knew word of mouth could not only help but hurt business too. I can't remember the exact numbers but they did surveys and found that bad word of mouth is a multiple times worth of damage versus good word of mouth. In other words, don't piss the customer off because not only do you lose repeat business but chances are he will tell his friends and they won't come either. Smart thinking in my book. Not sure it really worked that way but it was a good assumption to work under.
So why my sudden focus on customer service? Simple. Two days and three bad experiences and another one a week ago.
AT&T Wireless Headaches
We all know about the Stalinesque tactics of cell phone companies. Iron clad two year contracts with high early termination fees or Mafia like fees to change the a clause and it will cost a two year extension.
The phone I have is an LG-Vu. I wasn't in my right mind when I bought it. I was helping out a friend by putting her on my account and it was a phone they offered. It's total garbage.
I went in December to remover her from the account and see my upgrade options. AT&T happily removed her from the account for $120 and blew me off on the upgrade. The customer service dork said I can't upgrade until March or there about.
The phone is garbage. I live in the middle of Houston. A few miles from downtown. I get full bars on my signal indicator. I have a hard time sending texts or talking on the phone. I have to stand outside on my patio or in a certain corner to get service.
I figure they could do something for me. I went to one store. He took one look at my account and offered me an iPhone for full price. I said no thanks, told him never mind and walked out the door. I went to a second store. The rep there offered me any phone I wanted for full price plus a $75 upgrade fee. I told him that was bullshit and walked out.
I call customer service and she just wants to trouble shoot my phone. I hung up. I called back and she told me to look online because there are deals there that are better than the store or phone. I looked. Nothing.
I decided enough was enough. I'm changing phone services. I looked up another service and decided to change. I call AT&T one more time to inquire about the early termination fee. The service rep asked me if she couldn't resolve my problem would I terminate. I said I don't know I'm just weighing my options. I explained to her what all happened.
This is what she did. In a heartbeat she sold me a $350 phone for $29...that's twenty nine dollars. And she didn't charge me an upgrade fee either. Just a two year extension of my current contract. Hell she even threw in free shipping for good measure. My grand total for an upgrade was $29 plus taxes and two hours of hitting my head against the wall.
I stayed with AT&T not because I'm happy with the service. I'm not. I stayed because someone finally pulled their ears and their head popped out of the companies ass long enough to make me a deal and used some actual customer service to keep me.
I have more complaints but maybe next time...I'll just say I hate the whole store concept of Ikea.
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