AT&T Wireless

[Attitude Adjuster]

I want to broadcast to everyone that I know about how AT&T Wireless SUCKS! I've been using pagers and/or cell/digital phones since the late 80s and NEVER had customer service (lack of) from any other company. To make a long story short.... I lost my phone and AT&T Rep said that they will credit my account so I can go to one of their stores to replace the phone. When I arrived at the store, the store was ignorant on this procedure and referred me back to the "customer care" (careless) center over the phone. Well when I explained to them what I was told, they told me that they cannot do this and I must go through the insurance that I've been paying for. Well personally I didn't care as long as I can get my phone running for possible important calls (phone was down for two days at that time). Their customer care mgr basically told me that I have to wait until Monday (Insurance already closed for the weekend) unless I want to buy a phone until then. He did not even try to offer me a loaner or anything. When I stated "you telling me, because of your company's mixup, I the customer is going to have to take the hit and have my phone down for another two days when I REALLY need it up now...." and he said "yes." Then persisted to tell me that I cannot break my contract. (I guess he doesn't realize that I write my checks not him or someone else.) I informed him that I will make sure I inform everyone that I know about how AT&T Wireless Sucks. I'm currently back with ALLTEL who I always had good service with but left them to AT&T due to the national service plan's nights and weekend travels with you vs. ALLTEL. ALLTEL service has been phenominal when it comes to call availability and call drops. I'd pick up calls where others would have no service (in buildings and remote areas).

Just my two cents against AT&T's millions,

BTW, a good friend of mine works for AT&T (not in the wireless section).

Off the soapbox....

------------------
Kenji Ligon
91 Red CTSC NSX

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

I had the same thing happen to me with Bell atlantic mobile which by the way is now out of business......" i wonder why ". I had a limited edition " star tac VIP edition "...phone was lost so i reported it to the insurance company...they said it would take some time to replace as the phone is a limited edition model.ok i call the celluar provider and they said they can do a 30 day suspension until i replace the phone. OK....well three months later they finally get my phone and try and back change me for the two months without a phone....i try to explain to the customer rep and the supervison on the phone but they told me they cant do anything and that i was responsible for the payment even thou i had no phone to use or a loaner........arrrrrgh !!!! I even offered to pay half of the service which i was charged and was not able to use ....but NO!!

i would have also been willing to extend my contract to fufill the contract ...but NO !!....They wanted to make me pay for services i could not use because they were not able to replace my phone.

 

[rmani]

couldn't agree more I hate AT&T they suck, Nextel is the way to go, best service and phone IMO. The walkie feature is phenominal and since all my friends use the same service we can talk to one another unlimited all the time. The walkies are also real convenient when we're cruising around with a group of cars.

 

[Joel]

Sprint has great service too.

They were the bottom of the barrel a while ago when cell phones were just starting up. But now, they're at the top of their game.

I don't work for sprint.

 

[ChopsJazz]

I heard a bit on the radio recently about the CEO of AT&T and how he loves to hear directly from individuals like yourself who have been dealt a bum hand. He actually has a team of seven or eight people that work daily to solve problems where the individual falls through the cracks.

It's worth a try.

 

[fangtl]

I think ATTWS is the only wireless company that does nothing to try to salavage any relationship with existing customers. Not only is the customer service subpar over the phone, their CS is even worse at their retail stores. The looks these people give you when you have a true legitimate question is simply ill-mannered.

I called to cancel when my contract expired earlier this year. No one asked me why I am cancelling, no one asked if I was dissatisfied with service. The only thing the person over the phone said was, "Please note your last bill will be prorated." **click**

I am now with T-Mobile/V-Stream, and extremely glad to have disassociated with ATTWS.

 

[Ag NSX]

I currently use ATT wireless and have been satisfied with their service. Customer service has been OK to me. However, I understand the frustration of getting customer service. Many of the companies do not help you until you make that call to cancel your service, then they offer you everything and transfer you to a manager. But by that time it's usually too late.

A few years ago I had a problem with Sprint PCS and I wrote an email directly to the CEO. Well, a few days later someone from Sprint called me and offered me a free phone and 3 months free. So I stayed with Sprint PCS for another year until another customer service fiasco made me drop them and go to ATT.

The way I see wireless phones is that they are a service in which you jump providers every few years (since most only offer new customers the best deals anyway).

BTW, I use to work for Alltel.

 

[Da Hapa]

FWIW, I was an AT&T wireless customer for about 3 years. Originally, I used AT&T because they were the only provider that had any modicum of coverage in S. Orange County.

Nobody in my family uses AT&T anymore because their customer dis-service was so abhorrent. They were rude, and seemed to take joy in making things difficult.

Most of us have switched to Verizon and I (knocks on wood) have had very good luck thus far.

Cellular service is just one of those things where you take the lesser of evils.

 

[Attitude Adjuster]

Originally posted by ChopsJazz:
I heard a bit on the radio recently about the CEO of AT&T and how he loves to hear directly from individuals like yourself who have been dealt a bum hand. He actually has a team of seven or eight people that work daily to solve problems where the individual falls through the cracks.

This is a good idea. I just need to find the direct link to the CEO so I can tell my story.

Thanks,

It's worth a try.

------------------
Kenji Ligon
91 Red CTSC NSX

 

[nsxxtreme]

There was a consumer report done recently on cell phone service. Verizon was at the top at the list for everything. All the other companies were far behind. I plan to switch to verizon as soon as my service contract is up. I really get tired of dropped calls. Then getting charged twice when you have to call the person back.

 

[chrisvain]

i had at&t as my first cell phone about 4years ago, reception here in ny was/is (few coworkers have at&t) HORRRRRRRRIBLE calls always dropped or didnt even get through, but ive never had to deal with their customer service....next i had mci the reception was great but their billing and customer service was horrible, i waited on the phone for hours on end just to talk to someone about my billing errors and then theyd always have to transfer me to someone else, funny the company went bankrupt few months after i stopped service with them...after mci i got verizon, and i couldnt be happier with the phone reception, billing is always on time and accurate, and if there is ever a problem i dont wait longer then 2min on hold to actually talk to a customer service rep. thumbs up for verizon

 

[Ether]

Has anyone had any problems with T-Mobile. Overall, its a good service, but probably once a month, I will get a "Searching" message on my screen for about 2-3 hours. Can't make calls or receive them.
Has anyone else had this happen or know why it does, I'm in Phoenix, so its not like I'm in an area with no reception.
T-Mobile's reason: "It's probably just your phone, a lot of times, different malfunctions happen to random phones for no reason"

 

[fangtl]

My T Mobile/Voicestream service experience is satisfactory, though the signal seems to fluctuate at times. However, I have never had your exact problem.

 

[huckster]

well, i agree about the horrible service of all cellular providers. I think it is a real crap shoot as to who is the 'least' horrible at the time.

I use between 3k-4k minutes a month(my job involves non-stop phone calls). I've had every service at some point except nextel.

MY at&t experience involved fraud. I got a call from them saying they thought my service was being 'cloned'. sure enough, checked the bill, and there were calls that werent mine on there. they tell me to pay an amount different than the bill, adjusted down to reflect the erroneous calls. six months later they are showing past dues above and beyond the calls I wasnt supposed to pay for. they had tacked on late fees. nobody knows anything, i had a letter which nobody would recognize, and they transfer this to a collection agency.

12months after the initial fiasco, i pay the collection, knowing full well i dont owe for the calls, let alone for the late fees resultant, and one month later they report a 'paid collection' on my credit bureau(after insisting they wouldnt report if i paid).

keep in mind this is with at&t, a company with whom i had been over 18mos a customer, and had paid over 11,000$$ for their services during that time.

caveat emptor.

 

[ak]

Originally posted by Syonara:
Has anyone had any problems with T-Mobile. Overall, its a good service, but probably once a month, I will get a "Searching" message on my screen for about 2-3 hours. Can't make calls or receive them.
Has anyone else had this happen or know why it does, I'm in Phoenix, so its not like I'm in an area with no reception.
T-Mobile's reason: "It's probably just your phone, a lot of times, different malfunctions happen to random phones for no reason"

Mostlikely system maintenance of some sort.(esp if it happens on weekend nights)

 

[BB]

I would recommend Verizon for two reasons:

1. They have the best overall coverage area. While companies like T-Mobile (VoiceStream) may have attractive plans, they generally have poor coverage in lower population areas.

2. Verizon offers wireless data service (including a Verizon ISP) with all of their calling plans at no additional charge. Your "data minutes" count exactly the same as your voice minutes. So if you have a plan with unlimited weekend and evening minutes, you can access the Internet from your laptop all you want during that time at no additional charge.

It may not be blazingly fast, but if you use a web browser (such as Mozilla) that includes built-in advert blocking capabilities, you can make many web site come up reasonably fast.

ATTWS by comparison charges additional fees to have wireless data service last I checked.

 

[gatdamn]

Sprint. nothing else has good coverage out here in bumblefu**. Besides the local service providers, which dont have any features. I really like the fact that I there are no long-distance charges. Plus I have the new PCS Vision phone...I get to look at weird colored fish swimming around when I open my phone.

[This message has been edited by gatdamn (edited 16 March 2003).]

 

[rrwildman]

I've been w/ATT / Cellular One etc. for ~a dozen years now. I find their system performance to be good in most areas; however I'd rather take a beating than to go into any of their stores, which seem to be staffed exclusively by morons.

- Richard