Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Fuck you, AT&T

On October 8, 2011, I had finally had enough.  My iPhone wasn't working and we were heading down to Parents Weekend and all I wanted was a phone that worked when I needed it to.  And for the husband to have a phone that didn't randomly shut off.  And for the girl to have a phone that . . . well, she didn't necessarily need a super fancy phone, but her $15 no camera, no keyboard phone was kind of sad.

So I spent a solid 20 minutes on the phone, ordering the iPhones from AT&T for all of us [Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Don't expect any birthday presents!] and was really pleased with how efficiently everything was being handled.   Which is a huge surprised, since AT&T usually has below standard customer service.  But I was pleased to find that they had hired people who could be helpful.

And then?

I checked to see when I'd be getting the phones [after cursing myself for not ponying up $6 extra in overnight shipping] and guess what? NO ORDER HAD BEEN PLACED.

Then my head exploded.

And I spent 40 minutes with an increasingly unhelpful person who basically said, "Yeah, we goofed, so . . . you get to wait 21-28 days for your phones.  Nope, can't help you.  Nope, that's your option."

I asked to speak to a manager and was told someone would call me back within 2 hours.  Yeah.  O.k.  Speaking to someone above the manager? That would take up to 72 hours.

You know how when you call Apple a really kind person [my feeling is that they employ Canadians] talks to you and helps you out? AT&T is the exact opposite of that.  It's like they feel like they have to balance out the good customer service Apple offers.

Now, the thing is, I'm not a person who jumps at the next cool thing.  I've had my iPhone 3G for the past 3.5 years, my computer for 5 years and frankly, if they worked at the necessary speed, I'd keep them.

But I was so excited to have worked enough to be able to purchase phones for me and my family with MY MONEY [and when you haven't worked in a while, you know how exciting it is to be able to use YOUR OWN MONEY and to be able to buy something that isn't strictly a necessity] that to be confronted not only with bullshit incompetence but don't give a shit customer service is so upsetting.

Yes, first world problems.  I'm the first to admit that.

But it's more that people won't be kind or helpful.  That makes me nuts.

So I'm trying to figure out where to go and what to do and which service to use.  The other 2 phones have contracts that expire in November, which is about when AT&T said they could ship the new phones.  I may just wait and jump ship elsewhere. 

Why doesn't Apple have a wireless service?

19 comments:

  1. I left At&t recently and worried about the contract breakage - it was only $75. I paid it. Totally worth it. Because this option they're giving you? Unacceptable.

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  2. Who are these kind and helpful Canadian Apple people you have spoken to? I've gotten people who barely speak English and cannot help me.

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  3. I have had nothing but absolutely stellar service from Verizon. Not in the stores, those suck. But over the phone or online they are the best. I will never, ever switch, I don't care what new cool thing some other company has exclusive rights to. There are droid phones that I like much better than the iPhone.

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  4. On the other hand, I have gotten nothing but absolutely SH*TTY service from Verizon. Our offices flooded a over a month ago, and we are still waiting for Verizon to show up and re-wire the landlines. They set an appointment and fail to show, over and over again. Grrrrrrr.

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  5. I fled AT&T seven years ago for Verizon and never looked back, nor have I regretted it (though no carrier is perfect).

    When Verizon got the iPhone I resisted because I didn't want to become another member of Jobs' Army and have a smart phone surgically attached to my hand. However I realized I was a slave to BlackBerry and they kinda suck (case in point: the global outage last week).

    I hate to say anything out loud because it jinxes it but as far as carriers goes, in my area, Verizon has 'ok service' and I haven't threatened the lives of any of it's service people (yet).

    AT&T on the other hand...OMG. Especially with the T-Mobile merger pending...

    BUT it's your call. Basically these days it's the lesser of the evils.

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  6. I am with Verizon and have always had great luck with their service, so that might be an option.

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  7. I have a frills-free, fairly boring phone from Virgin Mobile, and they're wonderful because they just send me friendly email bill statements and they never bug me. I live to not be bugged.

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  8. ATT is horrible. I've had sprint for years. But i carry around a palm centro. refuse to get a smart phone. they seem to make people dumb. or at least rude as shit.

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  9. Phone services are crap. As are call centers. It's unfortunate that you had to go though all that crap. Good luck finding a network provider, they are all lier as far as i am concerned.

    Lynn

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  10. There is no such thing as customer service anymore. Oh wait, there is, but not what it is supposed to be, it's morphed into a business service. As long as the company is making money who cares about who is paying them the money. Sounds like AT&T is just like Rogers out here. bunch of a**holes.

    I have to say the Apple Store out here, the service has been impecable. the people are really crazy nice. I am Canadian, so I can agree with your statement. lol

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  11. LMAO!
    Sorry, but after the day I've had with Comcast - I'm feelin' the provider loathing. I even just posted about it - GMTA.
    I have a Mac, and an iPhone that I've had forever.
    I'm only rude when stupid people talk at me.
    Like the Comcast dip-shits.
    They keep insisting my PC has a bot. Except I've never owned a PC, and wouldn't bastardize my Mac with windows.

    I'm thinking a complete and utter ban on all things electronic is in order.
    And yes, AT&T are douche-canoes.
    And ironically, Virgin financially raped us with the pay as you go plans.
    You know all hell has broken lose when you're raped by the same virgin .. twice.
    I have nothing of any more value to say.
    Amen.

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  12. Wow..where to start....well yes, I am sorry these people at AT&T are being douches.....not cool and no order filed....dear Jesus, my head would have exploded too.
    I work in customer service...sort of....and I do try to talk nicely to people and help them I swear....I do better over email. But all in all most people like me and rhe stupid people ..well I don't care if they like me (yes I do..but don't tell)

    We use Sprint..work uses Sprint and so my husbands phone is with them, it makes sense to have me on that service too. I like Sprint and I hardly call them....I hardly call anyone, but when I do it's never a bad thing.

    I'm sorry they were so shitty to u....want me to "take care of it?" Xoxo

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  13. Honestly, I thought our two main service providers here in Canada were the WORST and so instead of reducing myself to picking the "lesser of two evils", I strayed from the norm and set the hubby and I up with Koodo. Best choice for the cell phones ever!

    On a similar note, I may not be dealing with similar technology-based service provider situations as you, but I just had the "order hasn't been put in" situation with my DOCTOR. Three weeks after the appointment I call to find out why nothing is happening, just to find out that he hasn't done anything on his end yet. My sleep/sanity is on the line, and he's sleeping on the job. *tsk tsk*

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  14. What Unmitigated said. Verizon has been good, very, very good to me. With the exception of not having Hipstamatic and Instagram apps, I am very pleased with my Android X.

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  15. I'm a grandfathered-in Cingular customer to AT&T. I barely ever use my phone, and when I do, it's always to a mobile customer or on a weekend . . . and this means that I barely ever use any minutes. And I'm paying something like $24.99 / month for two phones (plus the ungodly expensive sext & data packages . . . but they're absolutely necessary). The most comparable deal that I can find from Verizon would cost me something like and extra $40 / month, and that is just bananas. So, I keep AT&T . . . and cringe anytime something goes wrong.

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  16. And suddenly, I'm glad I have none of MY OWN MONEY.

    Makes things easier, no?

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  17. AT&T is seriously the devil's playground! I fucking hate them. I have an Iphone but get this: It doesn't work in my own damn house! That's right no service in my house so we also have to have a land line. UGH!!! Go with Verizon and I think you can buy the phones and the plans at Best Buy??

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  18. And then my head exploded - always funny.

    Except when dealing with shitty customer service. And here I was thinking about getting an iphone w/ AT&T this xmas. Hmm...

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  19. My mother in law works for AT&T. That pretty much sums up why we stick with Verizon. :)

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