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Well, after three years of mishandled accounts, overbillings, and customer service nightmares, I am preparing to dump AT&T (formerly SBC) and switch to a cell phone. I am not a fan of cell phones, but every time I start to calm down, AT&T pulls some new line of crap. Most recently, they overbilled me $50 and refused to correct it, treating me like I'm some idiot who must've just forgotten to send a check in somewhere. (I must have told the guy I had the individual bank statements in front of me at *least* ten times).
Anyway, I have a few questions.
My current plan is to switch to T-Mobile, which--along with Qwest--is one of the few companies that has refused to comply with the NSA wiretapping initiative (and don't even get me *STARTED* on that). They have pretty decent coverage, a wide variety of phone options (the geek part of me wants a Sidekick, but the rational part knows that's not a practical choice) and plans, and I should be able to work out a package to my taste.
Here are my questions:
1. Of the major phone options, what have people had the best results with, in terms of durability, battery life, sound quality, and reception? I just want a basic cell phone; I don't need it to do a bunch of crazy stuff. That's what my MacBook Pro and DS are for
2. (This probably depends partly on the phone...) Is there any type of device I can get, a docking cradle or somesuch, that will let me use my "traditional" land-line phones through the cell connection while I'm at home? I have a really nice multi-handset cordless phone ensemble, and it would be nice to be able to plug the cell into this while I'm at home and just use those. I know they make VoIP adapters for land phones; is there any sort of device that lets you connect through a cell?
3. Slightly unrelated...but ditching my land line also means I'll be "losing" (boo-hoo) my DSL connection. (This is one of the primary reasons for the change, actually; read the link at the bottom of the post). Are there any alternatives to cable? Comcast is the carrier in our area, and they're pretty bad both in terms of privacy and in trying to undermine 'Net neutrality. I may end up moving to Mountain View in six months or so, where Google provides the entire city with free WiFi...but until/unless that happens, I need something to work with. I suppose I could deal with being a coffee shop leech, but I'd really prefer to have something at home.
I work for T-Mobile and while I don't think they have AMAZING handsets and data devices, you get what you pay for. No hidden fees, hidden contracts and bullshit. You can activate service with the standard $35.00 fee (or $75.00 if your credit sucks), get a phone on a one year contract and some really decent plans. When T-Mobile raves about their own stupid rate plans, I suppose that they honestly are decent. There's ways to avoid overages by using their self help options and they don't screw up on billing, if they do, they WILL correct it unless you're a total asshole.
GratefulDead wrote:There's ways to avoid overages by using their self help options and they don't screw up on billing, if they do, they WILL correct it unless you're a total asshole.
If *they* screw up on billing, they WILL correct it -- BY LAW -- regardless of whether or not you're a total asshole.
True that--but it took me over half an hour to convince them that there was even a *chance* that I hadn't just missed a payment somewhere, and that they should look into it.
There was a mistake before, where they signed me up for long distance I didn't order, and I had to jump through hoops to get it cancelled. Never did get refunded on the couple of months it was in place, though.
Also, when I moved last summer, I made it clear that I was moving out of a shared household, and they wouldn't let me transfer the account to any of the other people in the house, which meant I was forced to take the line with me and leave five other people without phone or Internet service. (I learned the hard way not to trust someone else--even a close friend--with an account that's in your name).
Stemming from that: when I moved, they screwed up my contract. When my account was moved to my new apartment, they were supposed to downgrade my Internet connection for the remainder of my existing contract, to save money since I would be living alone. This was VERY, VERY CLEARLY STATED, and was confirmed by the person on the other end.
Unfortunately, the person who actually processed the account move got *everything* wrong. The contract was renewed, which stuck me under a service agreement through August instead of June. They stuck me under the TERMS of a new contract as well, which was no deal...it had me paying the same amount for half the speed. I'm *still* stuck under that...I'm paying $26.99 a month for 1.5Mbps DSL, which is absurd. Their normal contract rate for this package is $12.99, but when they moved my account, they didn't have any incentive specials running...so when they accidentally renewed the account, it stuck me under these new terms.
It took me a couple months to figure out exactly what was going on with the account, and when I called to get it corrected, the official response was "too bad." I tried to explain what had happened, and I got quoted company policy...so I asked for the manager.
I explained the situation, and asked for a refund of the overcharge and to have my contract corrected accordingly. They told me that (1) they can't make any retroactive billing changes, so whatever I had been charged was done, and (2) my current contract stands, period, since that's my contract and a contract is a contract. I tried to explain that that is NOT what I had been agreed to, or the terms and rates I had been given when I made the change, but they told me that they "can't do that," that my current contract stands, and that if I want to change it, I have to renew the contract (which I certainly didn't want to do) at whatever their current rates were...which weren't very good.
It's quite possibly the most frustrating phone conversation I've ever had in my life, and it took over two hours. In retrospect, I really should have taped it, so I'd have some grounds for legal recourse.
And this was all BEFORE they "lost" one of my payments, and before the wiretapping scandal broke...not to mention shoddy tech support, occasional Internet outages, and somtimes-crappy phone connections.
So, this is why I am willing to go out of my way to avoid doing business with AT&T or its affiliates any more. I'm currently working on a research piece about AT&T, which I will combine with my personal experience into a letter I will send to the regional AT&T office, the company president, the Better Business Bureau, my Senators, and my representative (relevant because of the wiretapping/client logging).
I unfortunately do not have records of these conversations, so I have no evidence for legal action. I've been unfairly overcharged two or three hundred dollars by this point, which I will likely never see back. But I'm going to do my damnedest to make sure other people don't get screwed in the process.
So please, if you know anyone who's thinking of subscribing to AT&T long-distance or DSL, show them that there are better options. Look for local carriers, or EarthLink, or Working Assets, or EarthTones. If you're looking for phone service, Qwest and T-Mobile have both said "NO" to the NSA's demands for client records. For the sake of your privacy, and for the sake of your finances and your SANITY, stay the hell away from AT&T.
I'm so frustrated over all this that I'm even giving up my land line, the number I've had ever since I moved to Santa Cruz, in favor of a cell phone...because AT&T owns the local circuits. I'm 23. I take care of myself, and fully expect to live to be at least 84, barring any accidents. That's a good 60 years of business they have lost, not to mention the couple of friends and family members I have already convinced not to sign up for their services.
I hope to whatever is holy we manage to find another leader like Teddy Roosevelt, because we're in need of some serious trust-busting.
GratefulDead wrote:There's ways to avoid overages by using their self help options and they don't screw up on billing, if they do, they WILL correct it unless you're a total asshole.
If *they* screw up on billing, they WILL correct it -- BY LAW -- regardless of whether or not you're a total asshole.
Rand.
Not particularly. They *SHOULD* correct it by law, but we know that we don't live in a perfect world. Depending on what kind of situation it is, system or human error can have a big impact on the outcome.
When there's system errors, they're very quick to correct them. Otherwise we'll make sure to escalate the issue to corporate levels. Most people don't know about these, or there's an adjustment made on their next bill... news flash about it, etc. Pretty common with any service provider.
If there's a billing error on a single account, it's extremely rare.
When I talk about billing problems, I'm talking about when someone requests a rate plan change, it doesn't go into effect and they incur overage. Bull like this probably happens to everyone and it sucks. If there's no account memos documenting this requested change, T-Mobile and other providers will generally try telling their customer that they don't have a good business case and offer anything but monetary credit.
But as a courtesy or depending on how escalated a customer is they will correct matters and backdate the rate plan and rerate/compensate for overages. If the customers don't say anything about it, do you think anyone will go out of their way to correct matters? Most likely not. I always do, but most don't. I have a cell phone and I don't work for T-Mobile directly (we're outsourced in Canada) so it's not like I care too much about T-Mobile at all. I hope they have a happy customer base and I do what I can to support this, but within reason. If someone has a past due account, hangs up on all the outbound collection reps and has multiple credits on his account, I will not offer a courtesy rerate or credit. Scew them. T-Mobile changed their policies to permit only one 'to satisfy' credit per contract term because millions was being given away each month for issues that weren't errors. I have worked for a lot of weird companies over the years and T-Mobile has the most policies BY far than any other. Quality calibrations go on for hours with people picking apart policies, debating and screaming... man, it's crazy.
AT&T sucks though. I feel for ya, fiddler. If you did not request a change to be made to your account, they should re-rate your bills and offer to credit the charges that you paid for. I'm assuming that there were entire billing cycles that you paid for and likely prorated charges for the cycles where you didn't have this feature on for an entire month. Saying they can't make retroactive changes is crap. They should pull out a pad of paper, a pen and a calculator to add up the money they owe to you. When you escalate calls to a senior rep, supervisor, manager, etc my best advise is to not say shit like getting a lawyer or bickering like a child. Just present yourself in the most professional and calm mannor that you can, even if everyone is a bunch of morons. Politely ask to make sure that they're exhausted all options, explored all policies and ensured to you that there is no room for error in what they are telling you. Test them and push them to their limits without making them tune you out.
If that fails, go to the BBB or your state public utilities commission if you have a valid business case. If you ARE right, they should fold and things should get done. You really shouldn't have to push things to this level, but I'm talking about worst case secarios.. AT&T is notorious for crap like this. And yes, T-Mobile's staying away from the NSA and not complying with any of this spying bs. That lost payment thing is ABSOLUTE crap too. Fax them a bank statement and get your money back.
Exactly. Unfortunately, like I said, I don't have any kind of hard evidence regarding the contract-change debacle. I'm going to get the "lost" payment fixed, since I have the bank statement showing that the check cleared, so that will get resolved, but I've spent a year at this point paying twice what my service is worth because someone processed my account transfer incorrectly. And then they had the audacity to tell me that they had been saying "no" to the NSA wiretapping and Internet monitoring, when they PHYSICALLY REWIRED THEIR INTERNET BACKBONE FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT SNOOPING. The documents were leaked to Wired Magazine a week or two ago, and I have printouts.
Sadly, the Better Business Bureau was somewhat declawed during the Reagan administration. Believe me, I will still be filing with them, and sending copies of this letter to the company and to my state and federal representatives. AT&T is the biggest telco in the nation, and the fact that they can do this to people makes me feel like I'm living in the 1870s. I want it STOPPED. I'm leaving the company when my contract expires in August, and to be honest, I don't really expect to ever see my money back. But nobody should have to suffer this BS.
When all else fails, and I have to recommend this, claw your way up the chain of command. Even when you ask for a supervisor it's likely a team floor lead or senior rep that takes the call, but ask for a supervisor... ask for their supervisor or manager, ask for the site manager, operations manager, general manager, ceo, anyone you can. Keep on asking and do not stop. They will get so fed up that they WILL fold.
With T-Mobile, if you mention bringing the media into play, even if you're a joe redneck our executive customer relations team will be contacted, they'll phone you on their PCS line and basically do ANYTHING they can to shut you up. If this means sending a free phone from a warehouse and not even documenting it on your account, it's cool because they're in corporate and don't need to follow rules. Their calls aren't audited for quality and they don't care what it takes to shut you up. The BBB and FCC won't really do too much, and the FCC will charge you for investigations that go no where. I say that you need to start getting beligerant and they WILL release you from contact. Even if it means that they send you a threatening letter, screw them, pick up your phone and get cocky with them. What's the worst thing that they can do, get mad at you or hang up? Make sure to ask for identification numbers when you talk to them, ask for call back numbers in case you get disconnected, get first and last names (or last initial if they don't release this) and get in their faces about the whole situation.
It's either go crazy no the phone or go no where. Forget acting intelligent, put on your best asshole routine and let them at it.
...Okay, I think I'm done now.
