Why does AT&T Suck So Very Much? WHY?!?

[rhino]

I have concluded that it's impossible to get DSL internet service from AT&T if you are an existing phone customer and all you want is to keep the phone service and add DSL.

I've been working in the customer care field for a while now, so I have a decent idea of how to interact with customers and potential customers. At this point, I am at a loss as to how these people can stay in business. They must be so freakin' big that people like me literally don't matter to them.

I have now tried four times to have DSL added to existing service and each time they found a way to make it not happen. Is it possible that they purposely seek cretins, dullards, and insolent, defensive, condescending, aggressively stupid weasels to fill their customer service positions? Do they go out of their way to intentionally make my life more difficult?

All I want is someone to connect DSL service to my phone line. I'll install everything. I'll pay a fair price. Is it too much to ask?

I don't want television service, a new cable coming into the house, or a service technician also coming into my house for whom I have to lose a day of work awaiting their arrival. I just want someone to hit the keystrokes to let me have the DSL. That's all. Is that too much to ask?

When I try to buy an advertised product, all I want is to buy is what I've chosen. I don't want to hear about all of the other nifty things I could also get if I were just bright enough to listen and do what is best for me if I was only capable of making my own decisions. I want what I want, nothing more, and I'll pay a fair price. Is that too much to ask?

rhino out!

 

[Cameramonkey]

I hear ya. I called them for Uverse. Was told "its not in your neighborhood". I said "They installed the DSLAM near the entrance to our neighborhood 6 months ago, and have talked to techs. Its available!" Once again I was told no. The day after the DSL I settled for was installed I was talking to my neighbor across the street who mentioned "they are installing Uverse for us tomorrow". He had gone into one of the AT&T stores in the mall and they hooked him up. I ran right home and checked... yep. Online tool STILL says its not available.

And this is the same company that screwed up the phone lines and reused my wires for a neighbor two blocks away without disconnecting me from the system after I cancelled service. When I discovered I had dial tone on a line that was disconnected two years prior I called them from my house, on that line and they still wouldnt do anything about it because I wasnt the "owner" of the line. "what if the problem is in your neighbor's house? You cant authorize a billable event because you arent the customer." Even after pointing out that if I am calling on HIS line from MY basement, there is absolutely NO WAY the problem is inside his house. They still refused to do anything. Well, they did tell me they would call him back to talk to him and for me to not answer the phone so he could pick up and authorize the service, I had to remind them that it was almost midnight so that was probably a bad idea.

 

[K_W]

I have regular old fashioned non-VOIP phone and UVerse internet through At&t, so it is possible.

They do push services... HARD, but I hate GSM phones, VOIP phone service, and they charge far too much for TV me to bite.

 

[atvdave]

I just dropped AT&T DSL service from my house. I went with a local cable company. I'm sure their Uverse is fine, but IMO DSL is too slow for this day of age. I'd go with Uverse or cable.

 

[suzgsxr1300]

For months the people across the street had Uverse, but it was not available on our side of the street. Something to do with being to far from the main box. I guess that 50 feet makes a big difference. When it became available we picked it up, but have recently decided to drop it for cable. The internet is just too slow. It's advertised at up to 25mbps, but I am lucky to get 20. Plus, our bill has gone through the roof. The next door neighbor regularly gets over 50mbps on his "up to 50mbps" service from Xfinity. Hoping for the same...we'll see. When we called to drop them they tried everything under the sun to keep us.

 

[jrogers]

Telecom in the US is a complete joke. Most people don't seem to care that we pay insane rates for awful service over increasingly inadequate infrastructure. I'm just thankful that my ISP is only mostly terrible and doesn't cap my data usage.

 

[wtburnette]

Yep, all caused by our corrupt politicians, bought and paid for by big business. If the Comcast - Time Warner deal goes through it'll only get worse.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I need to call AT&T back. Just a couple of weeks ago, when my bill (for Uverse tv, internet and phone) jumped inexplicably by 10 bucks I called them and threatened to drop them. After speaking for awhile with a hard-to-understand customer service rep, I was finally connected to someone in their customer retention department (I guess). I explained that I was tired of my bill creeping up every few months, and that this last jump was the last straw. After listening to his spiel about how much "value" they add, he finally agreed to knock what amounted to about $45/month off my bill for the next year. I asked what would happen when that year was up and he said that I could just call back and they would do it again (something about "customer loyalty discounts"). I agreed. As a part of this negotiation process, he said that they would also be giving me a faster internet connection, effective right away. Well, if it's faster, you sure couldn't tell it by me. If anything, it seems to have gotten slower! I would like to know exactly how fast (or slow) my connection is, but I don't know how to measure that. Any tips from anyone?

 

[Lectric102002]

I would like to know exactly how fast (or slow) my connection is, but I don't know how to measure that. Any tips from anyone?

Try this......

Go 4 Speed Test - World Wide Broadband Speed Test

 

[hornadylnl]

What could one be doing on the net that 20 mb would be too slow?

I live in the sticks and have 5 mb DSL. My phone company is great. The head tech answers emails after hours and I can usually drive the 2.5 miles and walk right in to talk to him.

 

[rotortech]

The best solution is to just disconnect from everything and live without it - but then you couldn't visit this forum. I have had some similar experiences and find that all of these companies are difficult to deal with. I am reminded of the movie Brazil.

 

[hoosierdoc]

It took me ten minutes to explain to them I wanted service removed from a property. They explained no existing account was in service there. I said I was ripping the house down and wanted their overhead line off my house and the pole. They tried to sign me up for new service four times on that call when clarifying what I was asking.

 

[wtburnette]

I would like to know exactly how fast (or slow) my connection is, but I don't know how to measure that. Any tips from anyone?

Speedtest.net by Ookla - The Global Broadband Speed Test

 

[churchmouse]

It took me ten minutes to explain to them I wanted service removed from a property. They explained no existing account was in service there. I said I was ripping the house down and wanted their overhead line off my house and the pole. They tried to sign me up for new service four times on that call when clarifying what I was asking.

These people are reading scripted responses and are watched like a hawk to make sure they push new service. I have experienced these "rooms" while repairing/servicing the HVAC systems and they are just crazy. It takes a special person to sit and run their gums all day towing the company line.

I have AT&T and am the last one on the line. My SIL next door can not get the service. We loose cable 2 or 3 times a year due to a terrible service line that needs replaced back to the main a few blocks down. Squirrels and age let it get wet and my net and TV fad. The come out after several conversations with "Haji" and repair sections of the line promising to get a cable crew out to replace the line in total.....never happens.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

What could one be doing on the net that 20 mb would be too slow?

I live in the sticks and have 5 mb DSL. My phone company is great. The head tech answers emails after hours and I can usually drive the 2.5 miles and walk right in to talk to him.

Who is your phone company? Ours is Frontier and the lines and electronics out our way are so shot and obsolete, I actually had one of the techs call me one day (as he was fixing yet another outage) and pleaded with me to call the utility regulatory commission and complain. He said that that's about the only way they'll address the issues with the system in my part of the county.

 

[atvdave]

What could one be doing on the net that 20 mb would be too slow?

I live in the sticks and have 5 mb DSL. My phone company is great. The head tech answers emails after hours and I can usually drive the 2.5 miles and walk right in to talk to him.

That was my thought also... I now have cable @ 15 mb and think it super fast. My DSL was up & down from around .5 mb to 3 mb tops depending on what time of day I was using it.

 

[hornadylnl]

I had about 6-800kb until the phone company recently ran new fiber optic up my road. For a Podunk independent phone company, they're pretty visionary considering the small customer base.

I've got 5 mb now.

 

[22rssix]

Rhino,

We also have AT&T, tried to get the u-verse but couldn't.

So we went with a 3rd party vendor.

TOAST.net Internet Service - Business and Residential Solutions I know it sounds like a goofy company name but we have had the service for 6 years now and only had one issue. that issue was with a server at Toast but was fixed in a few hours.

Prices rage from 25.00 to 40.00 per month.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Rhino-

You need to stop into an AT&T store vs. calling them on the phone. Even one of the independent retailers should be able to help you. If not - then the corporate store in the mall in Lafayette.

Talk to someone face to face. Screw doing it over the phone.

-J-

 

[CountryBoy19]

When I upgraded DSL speed it took 2 months and about 12 phone-calls (totalling at least 12 hours of my life wasted) before it actually happened. As it was explained to me, when you add/upgrade the low-level employee fills out the paperwork (electronic most likely) and sends it up the chain. Somebody somewhere is hired soley for the purpose of "checking a box" that permits mgt. to see that this paperwork is in the que. If that box doesn't get checked it goes into electronic oblivion and just sits there. I'm not even kidding, that is exactly how the lady on the phone (12th phone-call) explained it to me. You need to call, ask for the highest level mgr working at the time and talk to them about it. It may still take multiple attempts.

Now, on the flip side of that, about a year ago I upgrade to Uverse internet and their CS is night & day difference on competency level. Uverse and standard services are different depts within AT&T from what I understand so they have completely different service depts. I'm happy with Uverse... just dreading when my introductory rate expires...