AT&T Sucks (contract, coverage, AT&T, rant)

[didee]

RANT.

I have to write this quickly while I still have an internet connection. I have spent all day, for the second time in 2 weeks, on the phone with AT&T customer support. Issue: no/intermittent internet connection.

1) my DSL filters are bad, I switch filters
2) still no connection. AT&T says "well that filter is bad, too" (what a coincidence!) Connection comes back on. We hang up. It goes out again.
3) I call back. "Your modem is bad. You need a new one."
4) I go to Radio Shack and buy a new modem. Still no connection.
5) AT&T: oh it's not your modem, there's a huge line problem
6) technician dispatched (8 hours of phone conversations later)
7) Technician: oh yeah, there was a network outage


Next incident (no internet connection):

1) It's your modem
2) It's your surge protector. Plug the modem into the wall
3) It's a high filter setting problem. The network engineer just fixed it
4) Not fixed. Call back.
5) Let me look into it and I will call you back.
6) Message from robot: "It's fixed"
7) It's not fixed. I call yet again. "Oh, I see that there is a problem and it will be resolved by February 1st." (Today is January 23)
8) Not acceptable
9) I can give you a contact number for billing and you can ask them for credit.


AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!

I hate them. I'm clicking "submit" now before I lose the connection.

Time to move to TWC for roadrunner I guess. God, I hope they're more reliable!!! Please tell me they are!

[harry chickpea]

No need to rant. Just about all of us who have had any sort of recent dealing with that company know EXACTLY what you are talking about. Have been thinking seriously about stopping ALL phone service.

What good is a company that allows caller I.D. but does nothing about caller I.D. spoofiing?

What good is a company that allows NO blocking of calls from spammers who buy 800 numbers?

What good is a company that refuses to do any trace on known scammers?

Nah, AT&T stands for something other than American Telephone and Telegraph, but I'd get banned if I said it.

You have my deepest sympathy.

[linicx]

Take heart and smile. AT&T has been ranked/rated for having the worse CS for the second year in a row. If you are not within 10,000 feet - or less than 2 miles from your local AT&T central office you are being played like a violin. Companies like Bell and TW do not like rural America because it is not a cash cow they can nurse dry.

Weather can affect the Internet just as easily as the squirrel or the contractor that nicks the backbone. Rural connections suck. You will get a runaround until you quit or file a complaint on like with FCC.

It is very difficult to get a fast or a consistent connection in rural America. And you will pay way too much for what little you do get. Chances are you do not have enough bandwidth. You won't get it until you go to the next tier. I've been playing the game for 20 years.

The only thing Ma Bell has ever been consistently good at is POTS. Its cellphone coverage is NOT any better.

[southgeorgia]

I can offer something to try; find the grey box on the outside of your house where the phone line comes in. Open the cover, and look for a telephone jack inside; this is a test jack. Plug your modem directly into that jack (you'll of course need an extension cord to power the modem) and see if your signal stays locked on. If there is a window nearby you could run a phone cord inside for the test. You will have no signal to your jacks while doing this test. Anyhow, if it works, you should consider a dedicated phone line if you don't already have one.