AT&T Connectech AT&T t Support Plus Remote Technology Services from AT&T ConnecTech Internet
The technicians all work from home via Citrix servers and
they all communicate via IM chat clients where they talk all sorts of garbage
about their current customers, apart from sharing their technical knowledge for
unknown problems. The technicians are
obligated to work on 2 appointments at the same time at minimum and this also
means that they are not giving you their full and undivided attention. They are also expected to complete 1
appointment per hour. To them, you are
just another appointment number to meet their quotas with the goal being to
take as many appointments as possible per hour.
In fact, there are weekly competitions for prizes with respect to the
aforementioned.
When RadioShack sells you an ATT Connectech Remote
Diagnostic appointment for about 30 dollars, they dont tell you that youll be
charged an additional 70 dollars after the 20 minute maximum diagnostic time
limit passes if you want the technician to continue working on the
problem. The additional 70 dollars will
turn it into a Single Instance Service that costs 99 dollars total and is only
good for one incident, so if you have a virus infection but then also cant
connect to the Internet, that single instance will only cover the no connect
issue and not the original virus infection.
To cover both problems, the customer will have to upgrade to either
the Monthly Subscription plan for 15 dollars or the Six Month plan for 150
dollars, both of which provide 24/7 access to remote technology services.
To sum it all up, a no connect with a virus infection that
might result in the operating system being reinstalled would cost about 115
dollars not including tax. This is
because a person cannot purchase any subscription plans unless theyve already
purchased a Single Instance Service that includes the remote diagnostic service
for 99 dollars. If the problem turns
into one requiring an onsite technician, then thats a separate fee that will
cost 179 dollars.
The subscription department lies to the customers just to sell them a subscription. They tell them that if they purchase a 6 month subscription, they will get the ATT Internet Security Suite (McAfee Internet Security) for free. The truth is that whether or not they get it for free is completely unrelated to them purchasing any remote technical support plan. Its based on how fast a DSL connection they are paying for. The top 2 fastest speeds get it for free and all others get it for 5 dollars a month thats billed to their phone bill.
6 Updates & Rebuttals
Markdark666
USAUpdate to original posting
#7Author of original report
Wed, March 02, 2011
The technicians are obligated to work on 2 or more appointments at the same time at minimum,
whether by phone or chat. They are also expected to complete 2 or more appointments
per hour with calls lasting no longer than 20-30 min, regardless of whether the appointment is finished or not.
To sum it all up, the customer will get hung up on 20-30 min into the appointment no matter how much or little has been accomplished, and the time starts at the moment that the technician answers the phone. If the call is a no connect, the call will be ended at 20 min with the customer being either hung up on or transferred back to DSL support. If the call is not a no connect, the call will be ended at 30 min with the customer being either hung up on or told to call back.
The subscription department lies to the customers just to sell them a subscription. They tell the customers that the technicians can remotely connect to their computers, regardless of whether there is an Internet connection or not and without any action from them. I guess they think we can remote in with some "magic fairy pixie dust".
The subscription plan has an early termination fee of 10 dollars per month until the yearly subscription billed at 15 dollars per month ends for them. The other non subscription services have a 5 day warranty and cover only that specific issue, and anything else will require purchasing yet another service.
Markdark666
USAUpdate to original posting
#7Author of original report
Wed, March 02, 2011
MarkDark here and I’m back once again to update the article written over a year ago. The technicians are obligated to work on 2 or more appointments at the same time at minimum,
whether by phone or chat. They are also expected to complete 2 or more appointments
per hour with calls lasting no longer than 20-30 min, regardless of whether the appointment is finished or not.
To sum it all up, the customer will get hung up on 20-30 min into the appointment no matter how much or little has been accomplished, and the time starts at the moment that the technician answers the phone. If the call is a no connect, the call will be ended at 20 min with the customer being either hung up on or transferred back to DSL support. If the call is not a no connect, the call will be ended at 30 min with the customer being either hung up on or told to call back.
The subscription department lies to the customers just to sell them a subscription. They tell the customers that the technicians can remotely connect to their computers, regardless of whether there is an Internet connection or not and without any action from them. I guess they think we can remote in with some "magic fairy pixie dust".
The subscription plan has an early termination fee of 10 dollars per month until the yearly subscription billed at 15 dollars per month ends for them. The other non subscription services have a 5 day warranty and cover only that specific issue, and anything else will require purchasing yet another service.
connectech1
United States of Americastay away
#7UPDATE Employee
Tue, February 15, 2011
Stay far away from this service. As an employee I can tell you that we are only allowed to spend 30 mins with a customer and if you spend any longer you get in trouble. On top of that they want your 1st goal to be getting a customer off the phone and to a chat tech who is out of the country in costa rica so that's real nice. So when they tell ya oh yea we are a us based blah blah don't believe them. They treat all of us like crap and it's really through plum choice or Sutherland so don't waste your money or time and stay far far away.
scamassassin
Orlando,Florida,
United States of America
Connectech was legit for me
#7Consumer Comment
Fri, July 16, 2010
I had a great experience with connectech. I have 4 PC's a Linksys Router a wireless printer an xBox and an Iphone that they have helped me with. The service sometimes takes some time to resolve an issue, but in the end my issues have been resolved. I would challenge anyone to find a better service for those prices. Regardless of what was stated in the report even if it was true...they do what they say they deliver what they promise and as far as I'm concerned thats not a ripoff, thats a service!
John A
United States of AmericaI personally didn't have a problem with them.
#7Consumer Comment
Wed, June 23, 2010
I called their service because my computer was running slow. I didn't know what the problem was so I asked them for a diagnostic. They explained to me that this could be for up to 20 minutes and they could upgrade my service once they knew what the problem. It turned out I had viruses from tons of stuff that me and my family were downloading. I accepted the single service and they worked on it remotely. It took them about half an hour or so to get it cleaned and it was even running a little faster.
At the end the diagnostic with the full service was $129. They offered me to upgrade to a subscription but I didn't feel like it. I just took their advise on what to stay away from and that's it. They said that this service is guaranteed for about a week or so and that if something goes wrong during that time I could call back and they could work on it at no extra charge. When I asked if I could get the AT&T antivirus and how much it would cost they told me I could download it for free and told me where to get it from. I don't know what is all that other stuff that the report talks about but I had good service from them. If I ever have another problem I'll probably call them back.
John A
United States of AmericaI personally didn't have a problem with them.
#7Consumer Comment
Wed, June 23, 2010
I called their service because my computer was running slow. I didn't know what problem was so I asked them for a diagnostic. They explained to me that this could be for up to 20 minutes and they could upgrade my service once they knew what the problem. It turned that I had viruses from tons of stuff that me and my family were downloading. I accepted the single service and worked on it remotely. It took them about half an hour or so to get it cleaned and it was even running a little faster. At the end the diagnostic with the full service was $129. They offered me to upgrade to a subscription but I didn't feel like it. I just took their advise on what to stay away from and that's it. They said that that this service is guaranteed for about a week or so and that if something goes wrong during that time I could call back and they could work on it at no extra charge. When I asked if I could get the AT&T antivirus and how it would cost they told me I could download it for free and told me where to get it from. I don't know what is all that other stuff that the report talks about but I had good service from them. If I ever have another problem I'll probably call them back.