AT&T Inc
Forty Minute Wait at Store for Warranty Replacement Phone

Cingular AT&T We don't care; we don't have to - Norman, OK After many years of acceptable service with Cingular, I had the misfortune to get a crappy phone on my last upgrade. Not complaining about that here; that's a subject for a Nokia review. Suffice to say that I had to have it replaced twice on a warranty replacement. The second time I went to a local Cingular storefront, so I could show someone in person what was wrong with the phone, rather than trying to describe it over the phone. The place was festooned with "The New AT&T" banners, and the place was badly understaffed. Had to give my name and wait to be called to talk to a human being. I showed the guy the phone and he agreed that it should be a warranty replacement, but then... He had to call the EXACT SAME NUMBER that I would have had to have called to get the return authorization. And we had to wait on hold exactly the same as if I were at home. So, for the next 40 minutes, I sat there, listening to the screamer ads ("THE NEW AT&T!!!") on their "hold" message, while my hapless clerk moved over to another desk to help some more customers. While I sat there, I watched the local staff try to help not one, but two separate small business customers who had come in, wanting to add some more lines to their accounts. People who wanted to give AT&T more money. In both cases, the local staffers had to call the same numbers the customers would have had to call, and in both cases, they got passed from office to office, transferred from number to number, were cut off, got lost in voicemail hell... Finally, the manager of the office called someone and said, "We have customers here who want to buy more service! Do you have anyone there who can help us?" This is the way AT&T treats *their own people*. This is the way they do business. I resolved then and there that the next time I have to replace my phone (undoubtedly very soon), after my current contract runs out, that I will change carriers. The only problem is that I'm not sure any of the other carriers are any better. I'd like to try Verizon, but they don't have coverage in this area. Gah.

Company: AT&T Inc
Country: USA

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