I chose ATT wireless as my cell provider for business when I moved from Alabama to begin a new business venture in Colorado. I had changed from Alltell (a nightmare of their own) because Alltell did not provide service in Colorado.
When I first arrived, I began a search for things like insurance. Two insurance agents failed to return calls with quotes. One was based in Denver, and the other in Pueblo. They said they could not reach me stating that they had received a message that my number was "disconnected or no longer in service." Initially I blew them off thinking it was their way of covering for not calling me back. However, a couple of months later, the Denver warehouse manager for the company that I contract with informed me that when he attempted to call me, he received the same message. He even attempted the call in my presence on the speakerphone as proof.
I called ATT Wireless and explained the situation to them. They tried to call me and were successful on 2 to 3 attempts. Because they were able to reach me, they considered it to be a non-issue because they were unable to duplicate the problem. After a long conversation with them, the call ended without any resolution.
Last month (February) I began looking for a permanent home. My realtor was unable to reach me from a landline telephone. Same situation for the mortgage broker (Pueblo) and the home office in California for the company with which I am contracting. I have business associates and potential customers that can not reach me because they get a recording that my phone is not in service.
Again, I contacted customer service at ATT Wireless (now Cingular Wireless). I provided a list of phone numbers, with area codes, from which people had attempted to call me. Again, they could not "duplicate" the problem and therefore there is no problem. After demanding to go up the ladder, I was informed that they had spoken with the company tekkis and that they had determined the problem lies with the local phone companies. They say my number is apparently not programmed in to the switching systems of all local phone companies and and therefore, calls are returned to the caller as disconnected. ATT placed the responsibility in my lap to correct this situation, if it really is the situation, saying that I would have to call those people who cannot reach me and have them complain to their local service provider about being unable to reach my number and then local phone companies should be able to fix the problem.
Don't I pay for service? Shouldn't ATT Wireless (now Cingular) take responsibility and fix the problem? Aren't they part of the telecom industry? Do they not work daily with other telecom companies? Wouldn't it be easier for them to send out a memo to those companies requesting a fix? Do they have any idea of the burden I would have trying to trace down all the different local phone providers and get them to fix the problem / What about those who have given up trying to call? I will never know of that phone company!
I hired ATT Wireless on good faith that the number they provided me would work anywhere and that I could in good faith place the number on business cards and other forms of advertising knowing that any potential customer, client, or average person could confidently reach me.
Switch to a different provider? ATT claims that they are providing the contracted service so I must pay termination fees if I decide on that route.
Their final solution? Switch plans to Cingular! Thjey feel that Cingulars revamping of ATT's cell system might fix the problem! If it doesn't, switch back to ATT within 30 days with no penalty. The ripoff, I have to purchase a new contract thereby extending the original contract by several months. Oh, and I have to get a new phone AND I have to purchase all the accessories again because the accessories with my current phone won't work with the new. And if the problem lies with the local phone company, why suggest that swithching to a Cingular plan may fix the problem?
The only thing I have been able to do in this situation is PAY, PAY, PAY! Pay with lost business. Pay to fix the problem. Pay to switch service providers. Or, pay for all the accessories for a new plan with the same company. Seems that ATT Wireless is responsible for nothing while their customers pay for everything!!!
Eric
Pueblo West, Colorado
U.S.A.
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