AT&T's proposed filtering policy is bad news

AT&T’s big plan, which CEO Randall Stephenson shared this week at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, is to monitor traffic over its online network in what he claims is an effort to stamp out theft of copyrighted material. He failed to mention that such a plan is also unethical, impractical, insane, and given the CEO’s explanation, probably more than a little dishonest.

“Do you guys want AT&T to read your e-mails?” Johnson asked the Thompson audience, when he should’ve been talking about gadgets. “Do you want AT&T to like, open up your instant message conversation and look and see if you maybe said something that they didn’t like or maybe the government didn’t like? Yeah? No. I don’t think anybody wants that.” A chorus of “Noooos!” echoed from the audience before producers shut him down.

AT&T: Will it ever end?

I logged into one of my AT&T/Yahoo email accounts this morning and saw my list of email in the portal, but when I clicked on inbox, all of my mail disappeared. Yes, all of it. ARGHHH!!!

I was on the phone with AT&T for over an hour as they had me do stupid stuff that had no bearing on recovering the email. I was passed off from Level 1 to Level II, then told that a yahoo engineer would be in touch with me in 24 to 48 hours and that they are very busy and it could take quite some time.

I was informed that I do not pay for the email service, it's a free courtesy of ordering DSL. This was said in response to asking for a credit since this was my home business email account and they just lost my messages. I'm most worried about the new ones that were in the inbox that I hadn't read or downloaded yet.

This is the very first instance I've experienced where the inbox just disappeared. I find it very interesting that they can't just pull the emails from a server. I would assume they back up their data. We will just have to wait and see what happens with the yahoo people. Ugh.

But, I do have some good news. After months of trying to sort out the $10 DSL mess, the lady in the business office I was transferred to was able to credit my account $19.99 (the last bit required to make up for the difference between $10 and $14.99 DSL over the course of a year. And - she even credited my account $10 for the email snafu that has occurred. I guess it takes losing all of your mail to get some response. I'm thankful for the response, just missing my email, and not quite trusting the service anymore.

More AT&T Woes

Imagine my lack of surprise when I received a Disconnection Notice from AT&T today in the mail for failure to pay my bill last month. Considering that they forced me to give them a credit card to have on file to automatically charge my credit card each month (apparently being a Cingular customer for the past few years doesn't count as being an AT&T customer), and that I had confirmed with someone that my credit card was charged, that wasn't enough and they just had to send me the notice.

So I called the 1-800 number and explained the situation to the lady who was just as shocked as me for having received the notice. Especially since she could see that the bill was paid. She called the "disconnection people" and they said, "oh that was an error." Gee, thanks.

Meanwhile, I asked the lady helping me (who thought all of the issues were absolutely insane) if the credit had been applied to my account for the DSL issue. She looked and it hadn't been. Ugh! Can you feel my frustration? So she said she would put some notes in and transfer me to the right people and they would have to take care of the matter. Yeah, that didn't work. She transferred me to the technical issue resolution people who spent 30 minutes trying to transfer me to the billing department who then promptly hung up on me.

I so did not mean to waste an hour on the phone with AT&T tonight, but luckily some magazines came in the mail so I did some reading.

The saga continues...

Possible AT&T Solution

After two more phone calls to AT&T to try and get resolution I might actually be getting somewhere. I reached a person who was said it was ridiculous that I was having this much trouble getting a problem addressed, that she grabbed her manager as he walked by and took care of it right then and there. We will see on the next bill if it carries through and I certainly hope it does.

I am amazed that the two managers I spoke with were so rude about the situation and I am amazed that they threatened to pull the tapes but in the end would not do it.

I did contact a lawyer, like I said I would. Ummm, he never returned my phone call. I was told on the phone that I'd spend more money fighting it than I would get. I told the person that it was principle. The bait and switch move that AT&T did is NOT RIGHT. And who knows how many people they do this to. It's wrong. Shouldn't we stand up to the big companies? I think so. We should demand better service.

Why I regret getting AT&T DSL Service

It all started on June 19th....

I heard on the news that AT&T is offering $10 DSL to people now! It's such a secret that they aren't advertising it on their website.

But, never fear because I'm here! I've done the hard work of figuring out how to place an order. I even had to "chat" with an online rep because I spent 30 minutes looking myself and couldn't find it.

Start here.
Click on "See if you qualify" which is under the $14.99 basic plan. (It's written in blue and underlined. It's above the words, "learn more". Answer the following 2 questions and then enter your phone number for an availability check. If you don't have a phone number, you'll have to order phone service. Note: Within 6 months AT&T will offer DSL without requiring you to have phone service. But, heck, their cheapest phone service (25 calls per month) is only $7.00. The two together is still tons cheaper than my cable internet.

Finally on August 14th...(yes, it took that long to make up my mind to switch)

I was so excited to get my phone connected yesterday and the DSL set up today! Now, I just have to remember how to set up the wireless to work with the new DSL. That's a project for another day.

But, I have to say, I'm quite disappointed in my phone service. There is so much static on the line I can't have a conversation with anyone. What a bummer.

So, of course I have no idea how to troubleshoot a phone issue. I started with the phone a friend let me borrow until I go buy my own phone. Picture this, it's a Minnie Mouse phone. Well, it's been 7 years since I've had my own land line!

I try a different DSL filter, a different jack, a different phone (another from my friend) and the noise is there every time. Then I go outsideto try the phone at the box junction to the house. I unplugged the line to the house, plugged it into the phone, and what do you know - it still has static. So the problem is outside of the house (thank goodness).

It took AT&T two trips to out here to resolve the problem. The first time they basically "dialed" down the static. The second time they had to lay a new phone line (it was buried about 5 days later) because the original line was frayed.

August 29th....

I'm not impressed. I'm extremely frustrated!

I called AT&T today 3 times and was disconnected the first 2 times and the third time I could not get through to a human being. I find this customer service experience to be unacceptable and reflect poorly on the AT&T brand name.

Earlier in August I decided to get rid of my cable internet (that I had since 2002) and go with AT&T and DSL. I ordered a phone line and DSL online ($10 a month for the DSL) and had trouble submitting the order. The website told me it was having technical difficulties and to call AT&T. I called AT&T and somebody completed the order fo me. They said they needed a credit card from me and that's why the online order didn't go through. I guess that's because I haven't been an AT&T customer since 2001 when I last had a landline. I made sure that the guy submitting the order verified that the phone was $15 a month and the DSL was $10 a month as that was the reason I was switching. I had heard on the news that AT&T wasn't advertising this $10/month special, but that it was there, just hidden in the background.

Today I received my first bill. I was charged $14.99. I called AT&T and was transferred 3 times as I had to explain the problem each and every time and everyone said they couldn't help me, they didn't have access to the online pricing. Then, the last time I was transferred they just hung up on me (accidentally I would assume). That call took 45 minutes. The next time I called, I explained the situation yet again and he said he couldn't help me and that no manager was available to help me. So he transferred me to a phone number and gave me the number. The number said it was NO LONGER IN SERVICE! And then it hung up on me. WHAT? You must be kidding. This call took 20 minutes. I called back again and after being on hold for 15 minutes I gave up. My shoulder hurt from holding the phone and there isn't a speaker phone on the phone I'm borrowing.

Next, I tried getting in touch with AT&T via their online email method. I had barely gotten 1/5 of the story down and it said I was out of characters. WHAT? How can I explain the problem with just 250 characters? You must be kidding.

So, I don't know how to resolve my problem. AT&T doesn't seem to know how to help me and can't transfer me to the right person. What do I do?

September 5th....

The nightmare continues. Why did I switch? Is saving money really worth it? And why do big companies think they can get away with crappy service? I just don't understand it.

So yesterday I call AT&T again and after another hour of being transferred around the country....and numerous people I finally had someone help me who was able to credit the account the difference for a year of $10 vs $14.99 DSL. Now, I don't know which is my favorite of the people I spoke with - it could be the lady in retention who couldn't help me because she only had access to California and Nevada accounts and then when she transferred me to the Texas retention people she sent me to someone who was definitely not able to help me. So he transferred me back to billing (which is where I start every 1 hour session with AT&T, and finally I got the nice lady who helped me.

But...today a manager called me (who returned my phone call from last Thursday). Umm, that was the longest 48 hours ever! And she was adamant that they could not honor the $10 DSL price because when the AT&T website tells you to call them when trying to place an order online it means you did not qualify for the online promotion. I explained to her that it was not clear at all and had I known that I would not have placed the order. Then she tried to tell me that the $10 DSL was for low-income people only. Then, she tried to tell me that you had to meet certain credit ratings to get the $10 DSL. And since I was told to call AT&T and I had to give AT&T a credit card in order to get an account that means I didn't meet the credit rating to get the $10 DSL. What? Are you kidding me? None of that is clear. First of all, the website said it ran into trouble and told me to call AT&T to finish my order. At no time did it specify I needed to give them a credit card, at no time did it tell me I couldn't get the $10 DSL. Then, when I called I explained to the guy what I wanted to order, he submitted it (after getting my credit card), and before he did that I made sure he ordered the right things. $10 DSL. Only reason why I was switching.

The manager was not helpful at all. Took the credit (from yesterday) away. Finally she said she would research the matter and pull the tapes from the conversation. Yes, please do I told her. I bet she thought I was lying and I would back off if she said that. Heck, I wish I had thought of it first. So - they will pull the tapes. They will hear me order the $10 DSL. They will confirm that he said nothing about $14.99 DSL.

But - then what? She already made it quite clear she couldn't honor the $10 DSL because it's an ONLINE promotion and they have no access and no capability to give it. She did offer to give me one month free. I told her no. After investing 5 hours on the phone chasing this issue down I'm not giving up that easily. No company should be able to get away with such poor customer service. It's horrible. The fact that it takes 20-30 minutes to reach a person is bad enough, the fact that you get transferred 3 times on average in one call just sucks, the fact that it takes a week to get a resolution is unacceptable, the fact a manager calls you a week later is pathetic, the fact that manager takes away your credit is unforgivable!

What is happening to customer service? Why do people put up with this crap?

September 7^th….

The manager at AT&T called me back late this afternoon and informed me she did her research and my original submittal online did not go through therefore I was not eligible for the $10 DSL. I asked her if she had pulled the tapes like she said she was going to do and she said she didn’t say that. Ok, so either I make stuff up, I don’t understand what they are saying, or they lie. She told me that the call placed for the order was not to her department/organization and those tapes could be in another state and she can’t pull them. I asked her who could pull them and she said only the manager of the original representative I spoke with. I asked for her manager to speak with me (of course it won’t be until Monday or Tuesday) now that it is late on a Friday.

So what is this? This is a bait and switch. You go online to order something, the website says it’s having technical difficulties, you call the number it tells you to call, the representative completes the order without telling you the prices are going up and not what you are verbalizing to him that you ordered, and then they charge you the higher price and refuse to honor the original price or credit the amount.

So, tonight I received a referral to a lawyer who specializes in Consumer Law and I’m going to do something about this situation. It’s wrong what AT&T is doing.

AT&T's Mistakes

Mistake #1: The manager says that when you receive the technical error page that it means you didn’t qualify for the special. How am I supposed to know that? It didn’t say that to me. It just said it ran into difficulties processing the order. It made it look like an error on AT&T’s side.

Mistake #2: The representative who finished my order did not tell me that I could not receive the $10 DSL pricing. In fact, I recall him reiterating it to me.

Mistake #3: It takes a week (3 phone calls each lasting 1 to 1.5 hours) to get to a person who can help me. No problem should take that long to find a representative to assist you. Most people would have given up after the first phone call.

Mistake #4: AT&T’s phone representatives don’t know how to transfer you to the right department. I was disconnected twice and transferred to a blatantly wrong department once. One disconnection occurred when the transferred me to a number that was no longer in service and the wrong department was when I was sent to ‘retention’ and the person could only access accounts in Nevada and California. Ummm, I don’t live in either of those states.

Mistake #5: Saying you are going to pull the tapes and don’t. Was it supposed to be a threat?