Thread: AT&T rant

I just need to vent concerning AT&T and their lack of service and "general screw you" attitude.

Don't read this if you are looking for answers!

I have used at&t for many, many years and was always pretty much satisfied with service and the value of services provided. Actually, I started with Southwestern Bell which was bought or merged with AT&T a few years ago. That seems to be the beginning of problems.

Well, no more.

I have battled with poor DSL internet connection for over a year with repeated calls to fix intermittent service even paying $150 out of pocket for a new modem a few months ago with no results.

I recently moved and in conjunction "ported my number" over to my Sprint cell phone which is normally a 1-3 day process.

It took 2 weeks for AT&T (probably the maximum allowed by law) to release the number.

Of course my DSL internet connection went down when the land line was disconnected and I was out of luck to get it restored in less than 2 weeks!
Not a good option since I was moving in a week.

Now I get a bill from AT&T telling me I own them $180 for early cancellation on my "reduce" rate phone plan.
Now, I am sure this is just their policy and they might win in court but How is it that I owe them for services not delivered in the future?
By what rational except the phone company is this legitimate?

Next page.
At the apartment I just moved to, guess who the only provider is?
You guessed it, AT&T is the only phone, internet, and cable provider allowed.
This is AT&T Uverse and while I no longer need a land line, I need internet and want TV so I call to set it up the week before I move and after two or three different calls, the scheduling person sends me an email telling me they have to have more information before they can schedule.

Remember, they just shut down my internet at the old place so I have no internet to get her emails.

I am sitting outside my daughters house at all hours of the day using her wireless connection to check me email, send out reports, etc.

I get no less than 5 emails to get all the information that they already have on file.
Finally, they are supposed to show up to install everything at the new apartment the same morning I am moving at 9:00. I make it to the apartment by 9 with the movers in tow (they showed up on time! and had me loaded in less than an hour).
Half an hour past their two hour window the installer shows up, diddles around an hour, calls in back-up, and they can't figure it out because there is no signal to the building.

They have to leave and get a different guy to fix the feed to the building.
He shows up the next day and says he has signal to the building now and verifies it is in my unit but he can't hook up the equipment, the other guy has to come back and I need to call in and get it scheduled.

I email the scheduling person (remember, I have no internet) and she tells me they can't get to in for another 2 weeks!
I ask for the contact information for her supervisor and she says it won't do any good, the supervisor can't get it scheduled any quicker and REFUSES to give out any contact information but will have the supervisor contact me.

I never do get a call from the supervisor but I get an email telling me that the installer will be there the next morning between 9 and 11. I have to be at the title company at 11:45 to sell my house so about 10:30 I call my daughter to come wait on the installer.
As I am leaving at 11:30 a different installer pulls in.

I get back an hour later and the installer is still there. An hour later and he is still diddling in the parking lot talking to another installer who he called in because he was out of patch cables.
45 minutes later, I call down from the second floor balcony asking when he is going to get through since I have an appointment.
5-10 more minutes he says.
So to summarize, it took no less that 15 emails back and forth, 5 different installers, 3 days to make a connection on a building wired by them 3 days after service was promised.

Now I see their advertisements telling me that for what I am paying you get a bunch more channels, dvr, phone, two rooms.
The first opportunity I get I will be ditching AT&T. The only more screwy way to run something would be having the IRS or Congress get involved.

And then there is the billing by third parities that I have never heard of through the AT&T.

EVERY month for the past 4-6 months I have been billed by AT&T for $25-$35 for services that I have never used and never heard.

I have sent a letter with every payment disputing the bill and instructing them to block all third party billing.

They tell me they cannot reverse the charge, that I have to contact the company that billed it.

So I have to contact the scammer that intentionally put an erroneous charge on my bill to ask them to remove the charge.

Just a word to the wise, check your bills.

Don't use AT&T if you can avoid it and watch them like a hawk if you can't. They will screw you every chance they get.

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Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

I just need to vent concerning AT&T and their lack of service and "general screw you" attitude.

Don't read this if you are looking for answers!

I have used at&t for many, many years and was always pretty much satisfied with service and the value of services provided. Actually, I started with Southwestern Bell which was bought or merged with AT&T a few years ago. That seems to be the beginning of problems.

Well, no more.

I have battled with poor DSL internet connection for over a year with repeated calls to fix intermittent service even paying $150 out of pocket for a new modem a few months ago with no results.

I recently moved and in conjunction "ported my number" over to my Sprint cell phone which is normally a 1-3 day process.

It took 2 weeks for AT&T (probably the maximum allowed by law) to release the number.

Of course my DSL internet connection went down when the land line was disconnected and I was out of luck to get it restored in less than 2 weeks!
Not a good option since I was moving in a week.

Now I get a bill from AT&T telling me I own them $180 for early cancellation on my "reduce" rate phone plan.
Now, I am sure this is just their policy and they might win in court but How is it that I owe them for services not delivered in the future?
By what rational except the phone company is this legitimate?

Next page.
At the apartment I just moved to, guess who the only provider is?
You guessed it, AT&T is the only phone, internet, and cable provider allowed.
This is AT&T Uverse and while I no longer need a land line, I need internet and want TV so I call to set it up the week before I move and after two or three different calls, the scheduling person sends me an email telling me they have to have more information before they can schedule.

Remember, they just shut down my internet at the old place so I have no internet to get her emails.

I am sitting outside my daughters house at all hours of the day using her wireless connection to check me email, send out reports, etc.

I get no less than 5 emails to get all the information that they already have on file.
Finally, they are supposed to show up to install everything at the new apartment the same morning I am moving at 9:00. I make it to the apartment by 9 with the movers in tow (they showed up on time! and had me loaded in less than an hour).
Half an hour past their two hour window the installer shows up, diddles around an hour, calls in back-up, and they can't figure it out because there is no signal to the building.

They have to leave and get a different guy to fix the feed to the building.
He shows up the next day and says he has signal to the building now and verifies it is in my unit but he can't hook up the equipment, the other guy has to come back and I need to call in and get it scheduled.

I email the scheduling person (remember, I have no internet) and she tells me they can't get to in for another 2 weeks!
I ask for the contact information for her supervisor and she says it won't do any good, the supervisor can't get it scheduled any quicker and REFUSES to give out any contact information but will have the supervisor contact me.

I never do get a call from the supervisor but I get an email telling me that the installer will be there the next morning between 9 and 11. I have to be at the title company at 11:45 to sell my house so about 10:30 I call my daughter to come wait on the installer.
As I am leaving at 11:30 a different installer pulls in.

I get back an hour later and the installer is still there. An hour later and he is still diddling in the parking lot talking to another installer who he called in because he was out of patch cables.
45 minutes later, I call down from the second floor balcony asking when he is going to get through since I have an appointment.
5-10 more minutes he says.
So to summarize, it took no less that 15 emails back and forth, 5 different installers, 3 days to make a connection on a building wired by them 3 days after service was promised.

Now I see their advertisements telling me that for what I am paying you get a bunch more channels, dvr, phone, two rooms.
The first opportunity I get I will be ditching AT&T. The only more screwy way to run something would be having the IRS or Congress get involved.

And then there is the billing by third parities that I have never heard of through the AT&T.

EVERY month for the past 4-6 months I have been billed by AT&T for $25-$35 for services that I have never used and never heard.

I have sent a letter with every payment disputing the bill and instructing them to block all third party billing.

They tell me they cannot reverse the charge, that I have to contact the company that billed it.

So I have to contact the scammer that intentionally put an erroneous charge on my bill to ask them to remove the charge.

Just a word to the wise, check your bills.

Don't use AT&T if you can avoid it and watch them like a hawk if you can't. They will screw you every chance they get.

Yes, Att is a rip off. But, Your problem is that you signed up with as third party thinking it was ATT because this is how they identified themselves as if you were setting it up directly with ATT instead of what you were really doing was a third party making a commission for signing you up.

I did the same thing over 2 1/2 years ago when I originally scheduled for Uverse to be hooked up. When the man showed up for the install he announced everything
he was going to do. It was the absolute max on every item from phone to television to internet. I told him to put his bag down and find out where the screw up was. 2 Hours later he was finally able to cancel everything that he came to install and I mean the entire service call an reschedule for the time he was here exactly what I set up to be instyalled. ATT uverse 30, 30, 30 plan was plenty enough. Taxes and fees maybe 120. What they were goind to install was the max internet, max phone and max telavision was a couple hundred more with the taxes and fees.

On top of all that the third party even tried to bill me for the original install. I called directly to ATT and got that squashed.

For those out there answering to advertisement from "ATT" don't believe it. Call ATT directly and purchase directly thru them including all scheduling.

Jim,

Ditch that crap and sign up with Sprint. Get you the wireless internet card and you'll be in business. Works great for me.

rick

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

Yes, Att is a rip off. But, Your problem is that you signed up with as third party thinking it was ATT because this is how they identified themselves as if you were setting it up directly with ATT instead of what you were really doing was a third party making a commission for signing you up.

I did the same thing over 2 1/2 years ago when I originally scheduled for Uverse to be hooked up. When the man showed up for the install he announced everything
he was going to do. It was the absolute max on every item from phone to television to internet. I told him to put his bag down and find out where the screw up was. 2 Hours later he was finally able to cancel everything that he came to install and I mean the entire service call an reschedule for the time he was here exactly what I set up to be instyalled. ATT uverse 30, 30, 30 plan was plenty enough. Taxes and fees maybe 120. What they were goind to install was the max internet, max phone and max telavision was a couple hundred more with the taxes and fees.

On top of all that the third party even tried to bill me for the original install. I called directly to ATT and got that squashed.

For those out there answering to advertisement from "ATT" don't believe it. Call ATT directly and purchase directly thru them including all scheduling.

Nope, I called AT&T directly, AT&T trucks, uniformed techs and everything. I don't think a third party could not be that incompetent unless they tried really hard. Not only incompetent, arrogant to boot.

Originally Posted by Rick Hurst

Jim,

Ditch that crap and sign up with Sprint. Get you the wireless internet card and you'll be in business. Works great for me.

rick

I tried the AT&T wireless card and was not real happy with the speed or coverage, had to use an extender cable to get the card up high by the window to get decent signal strength. Not a big issue for normal email and IN but when uploading a large report, it sucked.
Is Sprint any better?

Based on my experience in the Chicago area, if you are in a Sprint 4G area, it's about as fast as a good DSL connection, bust not NEARLY as fast as my 10/40 Comcast cable modem.

Originally Posted by Michael Thomas

Based on my experience in the Chicago area, if you are in a Sprint 4G area, it's about as fast as a good DSL connection, bust not NEARLY as fast as my 10/40 Comcast cable modem.

My nephew is the manager of time warner service in the DFW area. They are in charge of all the towers. I will ask him which service is more into the 4g. It should be very fast but more than likely 80.00 per month.

I also tried the ATT card a few years ago. It was slower than you know what. I undestand they are faster now but again 4G is on its way.

I must take this opportunity to say that ATT is the worlds worst. I have had several disputes with them from missed yellow page ad to over billing to piss poor service. They attempt to bill you for their screw ups. I have refused to pay. They said they would sue. I told them I look forward to it. Never heard anymore. They may have put it on credit report - don't know...don't care. I will absolutely never do any business with them again.