Complaint Review: AT&T Broadband - Unknown Florida

The rebuttals here must be from the "OLD" AT&T not the "NEW" AT&T that they are advertising now. From my experiance no one is honest there and they will not lower your bill even if it was their fault. NOW YOU HAVE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR MONEY BACK! I just had a run in with 3 different people at customer service because they lied to my 80 year old Mother. I was told a "Flat Rate" account would be at $10.86 plus mandatory fees. When they found out that the phone had been in my family for 48 years the couldn't find the number and the woman told me that this was an "AT&T leagacy account" and gave me a different phone number. Hey AT&T employess. What is an "AT&T LEGACY ACCOUNT? Why does the basic rate jump from $10.86 a month for flat rate to the AT&T LEGACY ACCOUNT flat rate of $25.00 a month? I bet none of you will give me the correct answer just like the customer service reps supervisor over the phone. Everyone in this family is dropping their AT&T phones, wheather they are cell or landline. AT&T is going to lose well over $500.00 a month because I, my siblings and all the Grand Children will not allow anyone to treat Grandma that way. BYE AT&T!

I really did think that the title spoke for itself. Apparently, some people don't take the hint. "I would instantly write you and probably dismiss you for even thinking such thoughts" Wow, you must be a magician, no t a manager. Instantly write me, eh? That would be a good trick. Dismiss me for thinking? wow... you don't have employees, do you? I really don't think you can read minds. So you must just enjoy firing random people for no reason. Great business practise. "If the customer has a problem - YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. It's that simple" So you're saying that my demarcation includes troubleshooting internet connection, and they call in because their dishwasher leaves spots on glasses, that's MY PROBLEM? Interesting... how much do you get paid? "I can hire and train 5000 more just like you in the same time with the same money that I invest in retaining that ONE CUSTOMER" Lets do the math on this one. 1 customer @ 45.95/month divide that by 5000... no, I don't work for less than a penny per month. I don't think anyone does. In fact, it's actually illegal to pay less than mininum wage. So, sorry, but no. "The corporate offices don't have a phone number? " Yeah, call that number and tell them you need nic drivers... see how far the call goes. You see, if you call that number you'd get a person like you. Someone that doesn't have the faintest clue as to what they're talking about. And oh, I know what a corporation is. Apparently so does your dictionary. "because your manager's manager's manager's manager " No, I clearly stated that we don't have them. They do not take calls. And they don't because they're not technical agents. They wouldn't be able to answer them. Again, it's a giant "international" corporation, you don't know what that is because you got your diploma from a cereal box. "In our CORPORATION, a complaint wouldn't get that far. It would stop with me. If a customer is breathing THAT hard and heavy they are going to end-up on my desk." Really, you work 24/7? That's when we supply OUR subscribers with technical support. Personally, I thought most "managers" worked 9-5. Good for you. What was I thinking? Food? Sleep? Those ARE for suckers, aren't they? "I'm going to kiss that customer's tush" yeah, that's just not sanitary. I don't get paid enough to eat fecies. But you have fun with that. "I'm going to tongue-bathe their car" I find that tends to leave streaks since the saliva on your tounge could potentially damage the outer coating on the vehicle. And again, I don't think your doctor would recommend that... well, maybe just to you. "I'm going to personally haul my butt out to their home with a new freakin' computer under my arm and I'm going to move their flippin' data to the new hard drive. " That's neither cost effective, nor within our demarcation. You'd be fired on the spot for that. :) "Remember that and practice that and someday, you might discover what it means to be a manager" no, but I understand how you got your job. I wish I could get a job based on my breast size and not intellegence. "the company dies a horrible screaming death" how nieve... monopolies never die. "someone wakes up, catches you, strings you and everyone else like you up by their entrails, and spends the next four years personally apologizing to every single (former) customer you offended" former customer? I think not. They whine and complain but they always come back. Why, because they know we're right. You see, it's people like you that give people like me a bad name. You're all talk. You pretty much said that you'd be willing to invest more money into reatining a customer than you make from their business. The only reason your company is still in business is because you don't run it. Somebody, in your company is working double time to correct the gouges you create through your own dimwitted stupidity. Really, think before you speak.

Dear Editor: I did a registration search and AT&T Corporate reports their address of record as: 32 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10013 Phone: (212) 387-5400

As the Chief Technology Officer for a CORPORATION, I would instantly write you and probably dismiss you for even thinking such thoughts. If the customer has a problem - YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. It's that simple. I don't care how unreasonable that customer seems. I don't care how 'stupid' you think that customer is. _He pays your paycheck and mine_. Without him, THERE IS NO CORPORATION. How can I make this clearer to you? I can hire and train 5000 more just like you in the same time with the same money that I invest in retaining that ONE CUSTOMER. The corporate offices don't have a phone number? Really? A simple company registration search will turn up that phone number, as is required to do business as a corporation in the United States. See - what you fail to realize is that a CORPORATION is a legal entity. It has the same responsibilities and rights as any other citizen. It can own property. It can assume debt. It can be sued. It can go BANKRUPT, because your manager's manager's manager's manager is encouraging an attitude like yours. It's really not your fault that you hold such poor customer service thoughts in your head. STS. Selection, Training and Supervision. You are either poorly supervised, poorly trained or they did a crummy job selecting you. Either way - it's the fault of the manager. And the same applies to that manager's manager. At the end of the day - it comes squarely to rest at the feet of the CEO. In our CORPORATION, a complaint wouldn't get that far. It would stop with me. If a customer is breathing THAT hard and heavy they are going to end-up on my desk. And I'm going to be just a tad-bit tweeked that it came to that. So I'm going to kiss that customer's tush. I'm going to tongue-bathe their car. I'm going to personally haul my butt out to their home with a new freakin' computer under my arm and I'm going to move their flippin' data to the new hard drive. Then I'm going to buy them dinner and whatever the heck else it takes for that ONE customer to feel like "wow. They really DO care about me." And that will lead to a thousand sales that we had no hope of closing. (And before you ask - yes, I've done all of that with the exception of literal butt-kissing and literal tongue bathing. But neither of those are out of the question.) There is only ONE customer. And when that one is happy, the next one you talk to is the ONLY customer. They are the ONLY thing that stands between you and the soup-kitchen line. Remember that and practice that and someday, you might discover what it means to be a manager. Forget that and you'd best hope someone else gets suckered into selecting you prior to your unemployment benefits expiring. Because YOU are killing a multibillion dollar company everytime express that attitude toward customers. It's only a matter of time before: A) the company dies a horrible screaming death B) someone wakes up, catches you, strings you and everyone else like you up by their entrails, and spends the next four years personally apologizing to every single (former) customer you offended. It only takes one...

"there was a really bad storm and we lost our internet connection as well as our windows where windows would no longer recognize our network drivers so we couldn't get online" So AT&T is responsible for controlling the weather and repairing your operating system. No wonder Bill Gates is rich, he doesn't have to pay for tech support. "In calling I was put on hold for no less than 40 minutes" because severe thunder showers only affect you. Just one cloud sitting over your house. How many people are in your city? How many have AT&T Broadband as an ISP? How many people do YOU think would be calling? "I gave them my neighbor's email address." So, if you can use his e-mail, maybe you could have used his internet to download the drivers youself? No, that would have been easy. Sorry I mentioned it. "(free weekend minutes thank god)" why, wasn't it god's fault you lost your drivers in the first place... oh right, that's not god that controls the weather, it's AT&T. My bad. "either take 3-5 days or 4-8 days" yes, 3-5 business days is like 4-8 total days. YAY, we can do math now! "numerous attempts to get the drivers via email or us mail" Sucker, I had them in my pocket the entire time! This isn't Granny May's Bakery, it's a global corporation. You talk to a tech in Canada, he sends a request to a Tech in the head office in Colorado, 72 BUSINESS hours later, someone gets to that request in the pile that sits there growing, sends that to the local office with a big happy "Approved" on it, then they get the disk (which you get when you sign-up, you just lost it or threw it away thinking it was just a funny looking coaster) and mail it out. then it's up to the US postal service to deliver the package. "I asked for their corporate telephone numbers" So did I... they don't exist. It's a corporation. That means that if you ever do find the number, you call them, and say where are my drivers? They'll reply with 'I don't know, the limo is still parked around the back.' AT&T is made up of serveral hundred tiny portions that are barely linked together. The head officeS, there are some for each little category, the local dispatch offices, the local payment centers, the national call centers, the sales departments... each barely able to communicate with the other. It's called a corporation. Write that down. "NEVER a manager or any other means of resolving our internet issue" OK, really. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK! A MANAGER goes to school, learns about business. They don't knwo what a driver is, anymore than you do. They do thinks like create schedules and enforce company policy. You're lucky to get a supervisor. That's usually another 30 minute wait. :) "I finally got smart " no, if you were, you'd be back on by now. Really, all it took was to call in, say I'm not connected. I need to have my drivers reinstalled. The tech will then proceed to transfer you to the second tier tech support (senior). Then ask that person to set you up with remote access, the free dial-up service that comes with your broadband connection. Then you can go online and download the drivers off the website. The only reason you need to do this is because you lost the Virtual Technician CD that was given to you when you signed up. Then you install the drivers with the aid of the tech from tier 2 and then you're back online. total time < 1 hour. :) "I will call every single shareholder of broadband" HAHAHA... that's a good one. Try using your magic free weekend minutes to call a few billion people. Remember, saying something THAT realistic is going to get you laughed at, not taken seriously. "Mind you our bill every month is $80" no, it costs you $45.95 per month. Less if you own your own modem. "extremely unprofessional" This one takes the cake. You see, the entire time you "could not connect", your modem was online. You had internet service, and it was working. Anyone with half a brain or a law degree could tell you that AT&T, legally, doesn't have to give you the time of day. You pay for an internet connection, you had one. YOUR problem was with your computer. Your NIC. That's like going to your Chevy and telling them to replace the flat, new Firestone tire on your '77 Silverado. It's not going to happen. Now, we do have some kind of sympathy. Think of all the time you wasted, calling us and wasting OUR time, other people's money, because you couldn't solve YOUR problem. You SHOULD have been calling your NIC's (Network Interface Card) manufacturer to have THEM replace the Driver. Because really, that's where you should have gone. Anyone can point a finger. But really, think before you speak. Because really, read what you wrote and then look at it from an educated perspective. You spent all this time complaining about the service, complaining about the hold time. If people like you weren't calling in to whine, then the people with REAL issues wouldn't have to wait on hold. Turn that finger around, crawl into a hole, and don't come out until you've had an epiphany.

I used to work as a tech Agent at AT&T Broadband, so I would like to put my 2 cents in. 1) The new tech support is not AT&T, its not even in this country. We (employees of AT&T) were laid-off. Our entire department, with the exception of the billing dept. We were replaced by a bunch of folks who didn't have a clue then & apparently still don't have their acts together. The Support you are complaining about is a Contractor. AT&T outsourced their tech support to a Canadian company. When were the techs & someone needed drivers, we would email them (the same day, the same hour as a matter of fact.) Even if we had to download them ourselves. If that wasn't feasible, then we would copy them to a floppy disk & mail them immediately. We had the supplies right there on the floor.

Although the "LIARS" post lacked some very pertinent information, such as whether the NIC card belongs to AT&T, there are some obvious precautionary measures that may be taken to avoid this kind of problem in the future. First and foremost, the PC should be unplugged/disconnected when there is a storm. Serious damage can result to the broadband cable modem, the PC, and the peripherals asoociated with it (NIC card). If you do not take these measures, an interuption of service is possible. You may be fortunate that the drivers were all that you lost. Furthermore, if the NIC is not the property of AT&T, they are no more responsible for supplying the NIC drivers, than they are for cleaning the dust out of your power supply. It is unfortunate that you were given conflicting information regarding the driver replacement process, and that you waited a long time for tech support. In all fairness however, the "hold time" would likely be quite similar with any ISP, especially after a storm causes interuption to service. If there were a hailstorm, and your car was damaged by hail, do you suppose that there would be an insurance adjuster available to you immediately? Also, to my knowledge, no individual is paying $80.00/month for residential internet services, this charge must reflect the authors cable t.v. services as well. Aaron (CSR/tech support agent)