In a nutshell... I had a problem of static and dropped calls on my AT&T digital telephone service, so I called for repair service. The technician came out to my house... He didn't seem to really know the source of or how to correct the problem... And decided to change the box that the telephone signal is sent to, (on the outside of my residence) as he "thought" the box looked old. [I've only had AT&T for about 2 years.] After he did this... He was kept on hold by his supervisors for 1 hour and 50 minutes, as he was now having trouble getting a signal to the box at all, his supervisor telling him that they were experiencing network problems. After the two plus hours that he was on the phone holding for further instructions... A different supervisor came on the line and asked what he was holding for... The tech told him... And the tech was then informed that the supervisor that he had originally been working on the problem with had gone to lunch a while ago, leaving him on hold!!! The frustrated tech then informed me that he had other calls to get to and that he was leaving... And thus. After he had come to my home to "repair" a static and dropped call problem. He was leaving me with TWO DEAD PHONE LINES... (as well as I later discovered that callers to my numbers were NOT able to leave a message on my voicemail, as they got a message that "your call did not go through. Please try again.)
The tech had said that he would return later that day or the next, at the very latest. I called customer service immediately as he was leaving to inquire as to when exactly someone would restore my service. I was told that the tech was coming right back. He never did... Nor did he the next day... And ultimately... I was without phone service due to the tech's "repairs" for THREE (3) days!!!
Throughout this time I spoke to customer service numerous, numerous, numerous times. Each time the hold time just to initially reach a service rep was 15 minutes or MORE. Each time, the customer (dis) service personnel were inept, disinformed, seemingly lacked any viable options to actually do anything about the situation... And generally had a very obvious, "I DO NOT CARE / OH WELL/TOO BAD" attitude, all the while condescendingly & insincerely stating & asking..."I apologize. Is there anything else I can help you with?" (with the exception of two reps that tried to be helpful, but ultimately could do little because of the way AT&T's operations are set up.) I should have thrown their question back to them..."you should answer that yourself. IS there ANYTHING that you can help me with?!?!?"
I asked for a supervisor on several of the calls and was told that none was available; I was told none was even working on those days!!! I asked for their corporate offices / complaints number and was told that they didn't have that information available; I later obtained it from one of the few reps that knew anything. I informed one very rude customer (dis) service rep that I was extremely unhappy, that the situation was unacceptable and that thus I would possibly have to consider switching my service to another telephone service provider... To which he replied..."I can cancell your service right now... If you would like ma'am!!!"
I was NEVER rude with any of the customer (dis) service reps. But many were surely rude with me.
Obviously... AT&T, (which USED to be a reputable company) does not give a damn about their customers... Whether it regards competent service or keeping them as customers.
Eventually, a different tech came out in the middle of the third day with no service and restored the telephone lines. The initial repair tech had simply given the incorrect serial number of the new signal box that he had decided to install!!! And because of that ineptness and lack of concern... I had no phone service whatsoever for three days... Which is a major problem for me since I work from my home office, and thus none of my clients could reach me, nor I them, costing me greatly. And AT&T didn't care.
Needless to say... I had already contacted another telephone service provider and switched my service BEFORE they took their time to come back and correct the problem that they had caused. And the bottom line is... No one there knows what they are doing... Customer service reps are obviously poorly trained and ineffective... I was lied to many times... Their company operations are a joke... No one has any information or ability to seemingly do anything if you have a problem, even if they caused it themselves... One department has no idea what the other is doing/there is no competent internal communication within the company employees... And basically, if you don't like it, they don't care... As was evidenced by their ACTIONS... And not their insincere, condescending poorly trained customer dis-service representatives. As well as... The customer service reps that I dealt with, (I am in Los Angeles) were not even in this state, and thus... All they can do is look at a computer screen and have virtually NO IDEA what is going on in the offices where you actually live and where the operating base and service personnel are dispatched from.
By the way that they are CHOOSING to run their company it is more than obvious that they DON'T CARE, (about their service, nor their customers.)
That is... Until they realized that I had switched my service to another company. Then... Surprise, surprise... I got a call from a "concerned" rep. And no surprise... My response was, "Thanks... But unequivocally... NO THANKS."
I'd be better off with two tin cans and a long string than with that joke of a phone company.
AT&T... Better known as Alot (of wasted) Time & Tension.
Tell all your friends... If your phone calls are important to you... DON'T use 'em... If you wanna reliably talk to those friends by telephone, that is.
I've had a half dozen friends cancel their AT&T service for similar reasons. And after visiting this website... I see that we are not alone in our experiences.
AT&T... Get your shit together or shut down your business altogether.
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