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AT&T Wireless Fumbles Number Portability
cloudscout writes "The FCC is demanding that AT&T Wireless Services explain their number portability failures. Apparently, tens of thousands of customers are having their number portability requests delayed because of computer system problems at AT&T Wireless. Sadly, the FCC did not say they were going to be imposing fines for this breach of regulations yet but I'm sure that will follow if things don't improve quickly." Reader (54)T-Dub adds: "As many of you already reported on wed, there have been some pretty serious delays for people switching cellphone providers according to this NYTimes article (free reg required). Most notably former AT&T customers can expect to wait up to a week for their number to switch."
Most notably former AT&T customers can expect to wait up to a week for their number to switch
Why wait when you have Captain Crunch?
When anger rises, think of the consequences.
Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC)
I've personally been very happy with my service from AT&T overall, but still have had a couple complaints. So I considered switching to verizon because they seem to have a very good reputation. I went to the verizon store the other day and the sales person was surprised that I hadn't had more problems with AT&T and mentioned that most of the people trying to use number portability were coming from AT&T. But you know what, verizon doesn't have a single phone with bluetooth and only one known option that works with apple computers. AT&T has several that do both and thier internet access doesn't use airtime (verizons does). So, I'm sticking with AT&T but still wish someone had the ultimate phone- bluetooth, mac and the ability to use ssh without spending $500+. I don't want a camera or to even browse the web, just give me mail and shell and I'd be extremely happy.
My ex-roommate had sprint and his calls to report dropped calls would get dropped all the time, but he got it because he could talk for free to other sprint users. another friend just signed a two-year contract with sprint and I hope she has better luck- there's no way I'd go with sprint.
Now, when will they finally let you transfer the phone you like to a different service provider?
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
AT&T Wireless has some serious customer care issues right now, whatever the actual reason. Hopefully, everyone will be compensated for this bullsh!+, but probably not.
-- PhoneBoy
The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of anyone, including the poster.
If you want to be the very first to try the hot new stuff, be prepared for things not to always go as planned.
This problem relates both to people trying to switch FROM AT&T and to people trying to switch TO AT&T... while it may be a stalling tactic on AT&T, it seems unlikely and they wouldn't want to give themselves such a PR black eye.
All the major carriers except AT&T are using one portability company. Looks like AT&T ought to explore using that same firm.
There are more horror stories at Wirelessadvisor.com.
Zaphod B
When duplication is outlawed, only outlaws will have
There's someone on here (can't remember who) who's tagline goes something like 'Never ascribe to malice what can be satisfactorily explained by incompetence'. I doubt this is really a 'policy' by AT&T ...
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
If I port my land-line number to my cell, and then move to another state, and then port back to a land line.... I like having area codes that are common to most people I know. Just how portable is all this portability supposed to be? The scenario I outlined above is probably not even supported by much of the network.
Either way, I hope the FCC makes an example out of them, to drive home the point for both the industry and consumers that their games will not be tolerated at our expense.
Dude, where's my packet?
If they're fined, they'll just increase their rates, perhaps they'll add another 10 cents to everyone's "Number portability surcharge". It will cost them nothing.
Boo fucking hoo
is coverage. They work at my house reliably (for the most part) and provide some cool features. My T-Mobile service doesn't work as reliably at my house, but is a hell of a lot cheaper.
If it weren't for coverage (which is really the only feature that matters), I'd drop AT&T Wireless (LNP or not) and stick with my T-Mobile service.
-- PhoneBoy
The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of anyone, including the poster.
Click here for your reg free linkage.
Michael Powell is a champion of the people, slayer of the evil telecoms, defender of the little guy ... oh wait. No he's not. He's so far in their back pockets (easier to kiss ass from there) that it took Congress to get him to back down from bending to their every desire. And it seems that their desire is always for him to bend over. Somehow, though, it's all of us that get screwed.
Bark less. Wag more.
It's not a stalling tactic on their part. I'm about 95% sure of this because of some unrelated problems I've been having with AT&T Wireless lately.
They recently switched to a new management system for their GSM phones, and they're having a very difficult time getting everyone up to speed on it. Their website has been broken for accessing account information for a while, and their retail folks barely have a clue what they're doing when it comes to GSM stuff. I was trying to get a credit for a promotion recently, and it took over 3 months, and several different people, before it was done without using the GSM management systems at all.
So, while it doesn't seem that they're screwing up number portability deliberately, they do have some other problems going on. You don't introduce a new system to service without making sure that everyone that needs to use it is already trained on it. And, of course, that it works and interoperates with the rest of your systems properly.
-Todd
"The details of my life are quite inconsequential..."
'fumble' implies that at&t didn't mean for it to happen.
====
Crudely Drawn Games
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I've been waiting a few days for ATT to release my number to T-Mobile. I don't mind the wait, a week is not a big deal so put away the worlds smallest violin, I'm just enjoying my new SE Z600.
What is bothersome though is that even if a week is not bad, many can do it it hours and sometimes minutes. If a Verizon to T-Mobile port can be done in a day, the ATT to T-Mobile should not take much longer. I hope the FCC does fine them. If ATT is using this as a stall tactic they are nuts as people who might not think about LNP might read about this in the newspaper and figure, "Wow, ATT is bad, maybe I should change."
AT&T has a reputation with pulling this crap. It might not be with everyone, but it happens more than it really should.
I've known a few people who've worked for AT&T who claim some of the stuff they do is no good.
For example, when I switched long distance carriers from AT&T, I *knew* I'd have some kind of issue with it. Lo and behold, 2 weeks after terminating service with them, AT&T mysteriously accepts an order "placed by me" and reactivates my service through them. I call back to cancel and to make sure it's cancelled and they tell me I was removed from the system.
A week later, it happened again. I guess I must be sleepwalking or something, because, again, they claim I place a service reactivation order.
In the end it all got straigtened out, but after hearing from people who used to work there that they practice some shady business tactics, it doesn't surprise me in the least bit that the number switching would "mysteriously" fail.
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
Everything. AT&T has gone to hell in the past few days. I've been trying to upgrade my calling plan and order a couple of new GSM phones including the slick Siemens SL56. None of the local stores have the phone nor can they order it, and even if they could the price is $200+, even though it's only $99 on their web site.
So I ordered it yesterday but had a question on the order process, as it appears they've signed me up for a whole new line of service instead of changing my current plan. I waited on hold for TWO HOURS yesterday before giving up. Waited another 45 minutes this morning before the call (over a land lane) was inexplicably dropped. The local stores "can't help me" and keep directing me to customer service.
And all day Wednesday their phone system informed me they couldn't take any phone calls and I should "call back later". If I had any self respect I'd cancel my account at the first opportunity. But AT&T is the best we've got in my rural area, so if I want a cellular phone, I'm stuck.
As of now I'm patiently awaiting delivery of two new phones along with two more service plans that I don't want.
-Ryan, with the unoriginal sig
That one company was found to have purposely *caused* a 3 day delay, and was bombarding customers with ad pitches hoping they'd stay.
Guess we know who it is - and these days I'm not surprised. (I'm a former employee)
I abhor AT&T wireless, they have been a constant source of grief for me. Recently they have placed their own towers in the San Luis Obispo, Californa area that can not handle the load of their customers. It usually takes about 8 attempts to make a call before I can get out. Calls to AT&T Wireless resulted in the Customer Service representative yelling at me and treating me with a complete lack of respect. Once I re-finance my car, I'm going to cancel my 2-year contract and tell them to go to hell when they try to collect the early termination fee. If I wasn't a college student, I would love to be involved in a lawsuit against them.
Only recently have I been able to get decent service. This was only after I mentioned to the rep that I has just submited a complaint to the FCC.
I've been waiting for the cell phone portability stuff to take effect for quite some time now. I've wanted to switch providers for awhile, but didn't want to go through the hassle of telling everyone about my new phone number. So, I went to talk the TMobile and they said I they could support my phone number. I was thrilled to say they least, so I started the process and signed the contracts and everything. A week later, they give me a call and tell me they can't switch my phone number because it is not in on of the governments top 100 markets - I will have to wait until May 2004 to switch my number.
I can cancel my new contract within 14 days, so that's not a problem. But, it is a hassle and it just a little shady on TMobile's part. So no I have to make the decision to go through the hassle of canceling my new contract and wait 6 more months or just go ahead and make the switch.
Back in the beginning of November my phone died and I went to the ATT store to try to buy a new one. I was told to come back the next day because the computer system was not working. I did, and the same thing happened for the next WEEK. That's right NO gsm phones were activated for a whole WEEK.
Once I did get a phone, I emailed their customer service and told them how badly they screwed up and wasted my time. This is the point where good companies realize they made a mistake and go out of their way to fix it, but instead ATT offered me a measly $5 credit. I found this insulting as a loyal customer for ~2 years who has just been given a huge runaround and inconvenience. So I replaied to the email saying so.
Now at the bottom of every email from ATT they append this:
" If you need to respond to this message, we suggest you reply directly to this email for the best service. Please remember to leave all documents attached for reference."
which I certainly did. So to follow the course of our correspondence, all you had to do was start at the bottom and read upwards (like any normal email thread). So about a week later I get this simple reply:
" Thank you for contacting AT&T Wireless regarding the e-mail you recently sent us. Unfortunately, we are unable to determine the nature of your request. If you would like to email us back with more detailed information, we would be more than happy to assist you further. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."
So the point of this rant is that ATT is full of technically incompetant people, and this story does not surprise me one bit.
ALSO, if you change your service plan after you sign up for an annual contract they may extent that contract without telling you. I was on their local plan last year and with a 4 months left on my contract, I asked if they could switch me over to a national plan. They said no problem. When I called customer service a few months left, I found out my contract was extended by another year! Apparently, when I asked for a plan change the customer rep should have told me it would also mean my contract would be extended... After 20 minutes on the phone with customer service, the guy was finally able to void my service contract.
My advice to all current and future AT&T customers: The reception maybe good but the customer service sure isn't!
yow - this is pretty much what is being reported on http://sprintusers.com in the forums...
i'm currently in the portability queue between Nextel and Sprint - i hope it takes less than 5 days...
now that i'm experiencing the real-world delay of number portability, i think i'm just going for a new number next time i switch.
AT&T has started switiching its TDMA based network to GSM (before someone nitpicks, I know GSM is a TDMA based standard) and as such, has started offering GSM phones. They look like any other sim based GSM phone, and many of their phones are tri band, so they can be used all over the world. Small problem though, they are locked to only accept AT&T sim cards, so if you want to use a prepaid sim in Europe or Asia, your screwed. For Nokia phones, this isnt too bad, as their sim locking isn't hard to crack, and there are several programs out there that will generate unlock codes for them. Now Sony Ericksson phones are a whole other ball of wax, their sim unlocking goes to the point that the phones are setup to never accept an unlock code. To unlock the phone requires a service cable, and a phone log, or sending it in to someone with service hardware. T-Mobile will give you the unlock codes after your trial two weeks where you can cancel service with out penalty are up. As someone who travels alot internationally, and has seen what international roaming rates are like, I wont ever get another phone that is not easily unlocked.
"My head hurts, My feet stink, and I dont love Jesus." -Jimmy Buffett
jnichols@www jnichols $ host forums.attwireless.net
Host forums.attwireless.net not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)
jnichols@www jnichols $
I'm a former AT&T Wireless customer care employee. Oddly enough, it was the only call center job where I did *not* hear about people having problems getting through. At the very least, they didn't outsource all the staff to India or contractors.
A lot of the current problems are related to a massive switch to Siebel's backend setup. That could explain the excessive hold times.
In this morning's New York Post, John Podhoretz's column, Cell Hell, gives a good insight of what customers are facing switching from AT&T. I don't think I will be switching from T-Mobile, not because T-Mobile is a great cell phone company, its that all cell phone companies suck. I have learned to with the suckage of T-Mobile and don't want to waste my time relearning the suckage of another. It's really a sad state of affairs in the cell phone provider industry.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
A lot of the stuff that went on at corporate AT&T doesn't take place at AT&T Wireless - they are, in fact, totally seperate companies.
Oddly enough, when I worked at AT&T Wireless, we would do our best to *not* screw customers over. I would go out of my way to hook people up as best as I could - we were empowered to make "good company decisions" as customer care reps, and I took advantage of that.
The reason I quit my job there? I got a job in IT again that paid more.
ATTWS will pass the cost onto the vendor who provides the software for activiation. Siebel. ATTWS is not stalling on GSM issues.
Siebel. The company who's CEO is stepping down because of this mess. Siebel's customer base includes many of the fortune 500, its the leader in customer activiation software.
And checking the news on Siebel via google news.
NEW YORK, December 5 (New Ratings) -- Analysts at Wedbush Morgan reiterate their "buy" rating on Siebel Systems (SEBL). The target price has been raised from $15 to $18.
however, in raising rates they loose a small amount of competitive edge. so the fine would d something--minor, yes--but tangible.
Yeah, I can see waiting up to a week being fine with most home subscribers, but for businesses, it's a real issue. I work for a company that switched the whole corporate plan from AT&T to T-Mobile now. We all got new free Nokia 6610s, and a better plan for each person as part of the deal. But we do network security software sales, and the sales people CANNOT be a week without being able to get calls from customers. It affects the bottom line of business, while AT&T tries to pocket more money by holding onto our service as long as possible.
They knew about this switch with PLENTY of advanced warning. Other providers can switch in hours or a day, it should not take more than that. I've been without my phone for two days now personally, and I'm getting tired of it.
Funny how so many seem to be switching from AT&T...such SHITTY service, dropped calls, overcharges...not sure if T-mobile will be that much better, but the phone rocks at least.
Ich suche die Leidenschaft, die keine Leiden schafft.
Either we've /.'d the ATT WS forums, or maybe they switched them to the new GSM system that suxors so bad :)
:(
Either way, it's 404'ing
No man is an island, But if you take a bunch of dead guys and tie them together, they make a pretty good raft.
There is a reason why I submitted this story in the first place. I have been trying to get my number ported from AT&T to T-Mobile for 11 days now with no luck. Yesterday afternoon I called their number portability group and sat on hold for 5 hours, 10 minutes before I finally gave up.
I have never before experienced such incompetence on such a large scale.
now let's give a good ol' fashioned homestyle slashdotting. Make 'em weep!!
I work for AT&T Wireless, and have been right in the thick of things for about eight months. Let me tell you, it's far worse than what the press is indicating.
Apparently corporate favored hiring Deloitte consultants over their full time employees to save costs and to prepare for a possible buyout, and they simply didn't get the job done. Their efforts can be measured by the numbers I've gotten wind of. Wireless's passthrough rates for LNP are not even above 20% for port out, and they're logging about 10-15 thousand tickets per day at their help desks. That's right, per day.
Wireless also chose Siebel and Vitria to work out back end systems, and they were both pieces of hand-picked corporate garbage (and they were told way in advance by former full time employees, but were shunned as 'not being agreeable to the team') that have proven unscaleable, unreliable, and though modified incessantly, not up to the task of doing LNP. Apparently no one has any idea what we are going to do now. AT&T Wireless is stuck with a backend system that we're now locked into because of contractual agreements with the aforementioned companies.
IMO, Corporate has torn the soul and guts out of this company in order to turn a profit, and now their gonna reap what they've sown over the course of last year.
The thing is, with the horrible service ATT provides, they are faced with losing 40% of their customer base. They are dragging their heels desperatly trying to find ways to stop the upsoming mass exodus.
I myself have U.S. Cellular, and I love it. No roaming calls when you're in the area of the area plan and rarely have dropped calls.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Why is ATT having trouble? I bet one reason is the same that many companies do. Insufficient testing.
sig
I just bought a new phone today... while I was in the wireless store, a man came in asking to switch from cingular to ATT. The lady at the counter said "we need a bill from cincular". The reason she said, was that the phone number is case sensitive. In the event that the phone number is not entered into their system correctly, the request to port the fellows request for porting will fail. He elected to go ahead and take his chances.
I recently purchased and returned a new GSM phone I bought from ATT Wireless. For the first 9 days after receipt of my phone, ATT was unable to activate the phone do to "our systems being down." After the first 24 hours I was annoyed, but to boot they couldn't process my return or even tell me if I had an account with them. Needless to say (and concurant w/ my above statement) I sent the phone back and decided to stick with my old yet functional T-Mobile account. I'm not sure if it's related, but I know that ATT has continued struggling w/ their GSM account management system and this could include number portability on a whole. ATT Wireless blows. Get a real GSM provider.
The URL you are looking for is at thestreet.com.
/me buys some SAP stock. ;)
[snip]
AT&T Wireless (AWE:NYSE - commentary - research) customers cannot activate new GSM cell-phone accounts or make changes to existing GSM service because of a glitch that a Wall Street analyst is blaming on an upgrade of software from Siebel Systems (SEBL:Nasdaq - commentary - research).
[/snip]
And related.
[snip]
An executive in charge of consulting services at Siebel Systems is leaving the software company at the end of the year, a representative for the San Mateo, Calif., company confirmed Friday.
[/snip]
And Siebel stock is now marked as a Buy. Go figure.
I worked there for a few months as a temp, and let me tell you, their processing is incredibly manual. We would actually print out web orders and manually enter them into their arcane, VT100-based order entry system. Like going back in a time-warp. I was shocked at how old skool it was and how manual (and error-prone) everything was.
however, in raising rates they loose a small amount of competitive edge
This would be true if companies included fees as part of the advertised rates, but they rarely do. So the monthly rate remains $29.99 but the portability fee rises from $2.50 to $2.65 (or something like that).
ich muß mehr Kuhglocke haben
There are other people sharing horror stories about Number Portability Requests over at WirelessAdvisor too. There's some very useful information there.
Most notably former AT&T customers can expect to wait up to a week for their number to switch.
Oh my God, a week? Oh, wait... you said up to a week, which can be anywhere from 1 - 7 days, right?
I don't know that I'd be able to live with waiting for somewhere between 1/365 and 1/52 of a year to get something as important as my number changed.
We live in a microwave world. If it doesn't hppen instantly, it takes too long.
Neopets - the best free game on the Int
I interviewed for an architect position with these ass clowns back in March. I turned down their offer.
I asked each architect what worried them the most. The universal answer was 'more layoffs'.
And that from people who had been with the company for many years..
Based on the interviews, it was clear that their Siebel implementation was a disaster. Performance and monitoring, in particular, were clearly out of control. Nobody even knew who owned 'performance'.
In 16 years of professional experience in the fortune 5, e-commerce top-3 and numerous start-ups, I have never encountered such a 'Stay away! Stay away!' vibe in an interview.
And the manager's manager had the most obfuscated BS verbal communication style I have ever encountered. And I worked in the Fortune-5 for over 5 years..
So, no surprise.
.. it could take from 3 days, to 7 months. I expected laughter after that, but apperently they were serious.
And in the first week of local number portability when most industry pundits have been opining that it would take some time for the kinks to get worked out of the system?
"Captain Kirk, I love you." - Spock
Cingular is advertising portability nation wide on the local news channels in my area (Lexington, KY), yet when I call, they say they don't support it yet and will not until they "are required to do so". T-mobile is who I want to switch to, but Cingular refuses to release my number. T-mobile is more than willing to do it in my area, but Cingular apparently intends to oppose the portability (to better competition for the interest of consumers) tooth and nail. Good thing i'm not in one of those Cingular 2yr(!) contracts.
Anyone think I should make a formal complaint? I'm not in the top 100 MSAs but their advertising is mis-leading, had no fine print about MSA limitations (I believe it said nationwide, in fact), and said they can transfer "any number, including home phones".
Does anyone have a link to the actual WLNP Act that the FCC instated? I want to actually read the law word for word, but google and many tries yeilds no results.
I call it my, not gonna let you go until uncle sam forces me to, plan.
*sigh*
dumb fucker posting stealth goatse links with a +1 bonus! Fuck off and die!
I did a brief stint at one cell phone company as a temp and noted that the sales people used a slow, buggy, web-based interface to process new accounts, change features, phone numbers etc. This interface would slow to a halt several times a day and there was no real way to know if your work actually went through until the customer reported problems with his service.
Everything else (billing adjustments, credit checks, etc) were performed using an AS/400 interface that could charitably be described as "confusing" and "cryptic" at first glance and even the more experienced people that I worked with made mistakes when trying to enter information.
I was always pleasantly shocked when something would work out right...
"Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me."
Here in CA, we have had number portability between land-lines for some time. So when I wanted to switch my landline number from AT&T to another land-line provider, I assumed all would work.
Well, after numerous calls to the new provider and over a month of waiting, AT&T did not release the number. Result? I was forced to stay with AT&T.
Now, I am trying to figure out if I can save money by getting rid of my land-line phones in favor of cellphones and Sip phones (since 95% of my long distance calls are to one number and they will shortly also have a SIP phone).
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
I have Cox cable, and I know not everyone has had this experience, but for me (in Northern VA), the customer service has been excellent. For example, for several months they were charging me rental on a box I didn't have. I went to their office for something else and mentioned that to the woman. I didn't really care about the past charges; I just wanted it to be removed from future bills. She found the receipt indicating when I'd returned the box and then proceeded to figure out how much they owed me for those past months and applied a credit which I didn't even ask for.
On the other hand, I still have no idea what my home area is for my Verizon cell phone--I seem to be able to make calls from just about anywhere and have it count as a home-area call, which is strange because I have their cheapest plan and should only have the DC/Baltimore area. I've asked Verizon several times about it, but they've never been able to give me a correct (compared to what I was billed for) answer.
Verizon home service really screwed a friend of mine over. They disconnected her phone without warning, because apparently they'd given her number to a business (she'd had the phone for several months at that point). Then, they acted like she didn't exist: "Are you sure it's a Verizon bill?", they asked. It took her two weeks to get it straightened out, calling from a pay phone (she didn't have a cell phone) every so often. When she'd call them, they'd give names like "Ms. Smith", then later deny anyone worked there by that name. It scared the hell out of her family when they heard the "disconnected" message, because this wasn't too long after Chandra Levy disappeared, and my friend is a young, beautiful, single female living alone in DC. I told her to write a complaint to the public utilities commission, but she just wanted to put the incident behind her and forget it.
--RJ
And these retards have magically started charging all ATTWS customers $1.75 for fees related to number portability and e911 now they are holding back! GAH if I didn't have a $170 termination fee!
X00M
According to the FCC website, while there is an industry approved standard of 2.5 hours, there is no set FCC rule as to how long it should take. Now, if AT&T can not get their ETR down to a reasonable time, then the FCC could step in and impose a mandated timeframe along with fines for failing to comply. But I would not expect that to happen anytime soon.
From the FCC FAQ:
How long will the porting process take?
For a wireless to wireless transfer, the porting process should take approximately two and a half hours from the time the porting request is made of the old carrier. The FCC has not mandated a specific time frame for the porting process. Two and a half hours is the time frame agreed upon by the wireless industry, and the FCC supports and encourages carriers to use that time frame.
A wireline to wireless port will probably take longer to complete, and could take several days. Before porting between wireline and wireless phones, consumers should ask their new service provider how long the process will take.
WWJD?
JWRTFM!
Part of the problem with LNP is that many of the carriers are tied up in old processes for handling such things as NP. Having worked on a piece of software for LNP, I came to realize what a mess this was going to be. A great number of number "clearinghouses" still process number changes via fax (i.e. someone fills out a fax form by hand, although some are machine generated and then the faxed form gets processed by a human on the other side of the loop) There were even cames were corba request would result in a fax generation that would then be ocr'd into a system for processing. LNP as it is implemented today is a patch on top of a patch on top of a patch. Things actually looked better for wireless to wireless LNP since they had more up-to-date processes, but land line wireless looked to be a complete mess. Should be interesting to see how this all shakes out.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
Why has nobody realised that a phone company with problems with its phone service is not best reached by calling using a phone?
Disclaimer: I live in the UK. I have never talked to AT&T.
Exercise your right not to vote. thinkoutside.org
Hi, i know this is sorta offtopic offtopic but it's related to AT&T Wireless customer service and perhaps some slashdotter can help me out.
I had an AT&T Wireless account about three years ago and closed it in 2001. There were some issues with my early termination, and I didn't get any invoices until it was already really "past due" I paid it immediately and that was the end of it.
It showed up on my credit report in May of this year, nearly 2 years later. Now, I have no problem with that, but it showed up with NO date of last activity, no date account closed, nothing... so it looks like just happened. Worse yet, with no date of last activity, it will NEVER come off according to Equifax.
I mailed and faxed their Credit Investigations Team and they have ignored ALL my communications. I know they got them because I sent the stuff certified return reciept. I also called the three reporting agencies and they validated that the "Date of Last Activity" and "Date Closed" are both blank... which is obviously wrong!
AT&T has ignored my requests for validation, ignored my requests to post the correct information... i even sent them copies of the cashed checks they recieved over two years ago!
So what now... anyone at AT&T wireless (who reads slashdot) know how I can contact them? They don't respond to any snail mail or faxes...
Please email me at nick@vninteractive.com if you can help...
Thanks a bunch... and sorry for this offtopic post... It's just AT&T Customer Service really does seem to suck!
Try the Sony-Ericsson T68i or T610. They are GSM phones, so simply get one unlocked and use it on T-Mobile, Cingular, or any other GSM provider. I have both of them on T-Mo and they work great. Both have Bluetooth, an infrared, POP3 and IMAP e-mail clients, and GPRS (doesn't use airtime). If you want to do ssh, you can connect to the 'net on a computer through the Bluetooth or infrared port.
Vitria does not scale as middleware.
Nor does industry gorilla Tibco. Their sales teams sell the crap *really hard* and will make all sorts of claims with no substance and nothing in writing (no performance data).
The problem.. Once you've paid millions for these packages the managers and execs who signed off need to pretend everything is fine and that they made a good decision. Tibco knows that.
Maybe its a local thing, but Bellsouth has the worst customer service of ANY company I have ever dealt with. I have spent hours getting bounced around and put on hold, etc. EVERY product/service I have ordered from them has been screwed up in some way shape or form. Their DSL service was good, but anytime there was the tiniest issue, I would spend days getting it resolved. Horrible...
so let me see... young, beautiful, single female? What did you say her cell number was ;)
And, no, I should not have used the goddamn Preview mode first.
Sorry, nothing sinister or intentional badness.
It has been reported in the press that the source of our problems is a new deployment of a big Siebel system. This system is what the care reps use. The new deployment is too slow to keep up with demand.
Nobody is more unhappy than we are about this system.
I work only a few feet away from a whole floor full of people working 24x7 to get this system moving.
So how did we get in such a pickle? Sorry, I don't know enough to speculate on that.
All I can say is that as far as I can tell, from where I'm sitting, what's been reported in the press so far about AT&T Wireless and Siebel is 100% true.
Why aren't companies required to advertise the final price? I mean include taxes and all those other small things that seem to make a good deal not so good.
Its not like they are refusing.. its a new procedure that they weren't expecting .. there will be some growing pains in the beginning....
Be patient.. everything isn't a conspiracy..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Ehm
</voice>
I bought this house and you know I'm boss
Ain't no h'aint gonna run me off
.. a lot of people like you that are not some skinny, anti-social, acne-faced, star-trek fan living with his mom and we rely on cell phones for day to day conversation to the outside world.
i like how the money of the ultra rich is controlled by the competence of the ultra poor techie doing the work.
ohh wait what was i thinking.
I've had AT&T Wireless for about 4 years now and have had no complaints about them. When I started, I bought a nokia 5165, got some minutes, and 6 months of free text messaging. When I called after the 6 month period was up, I asked for them to drop the messaging service since I didn't use it that much. Their reply was "how about another 6 months free?" This continued each 6 months for about 2 years. All good things must come to an end though, and they finally started charging a couple bucks (since then I have learned that I cannot live without text messaging).
The reception has been the best I've encountered, experiencing it for 2 years in the SF bay area, and the previous 2 years in Nevada. My employers have bought me other providers, but none would work as well as AT&T, so I kept my personal phone with them. (If you must know, cingular's reception was horrible for me. Of course your mileage can and will vary. Sprint works okay for me, but AT&T still works better.)
As for service... I've only had to call maybe a dozen times in 4 years. All of the times I've been impressed with their service. Or should I say, while my view of the world's customer service is at an all time low, AT&T has provided some of the least crappy customer service, irregardless of industry. They've reversed late charges just because I've asked, and I don't recall ever being on hold a long time.
The last time I called was about 3 months ago. My 5165 died (4 years for a cellphone is impressive, these days a cellphone's lifespan seems to be about 6 hours), so I bought a nokia 3360 online, called customer service up, was on hold for about 3 minutes, and it took maybe another 4-5 minutes to get the new phone activated.
So I'm happy. But I'm also knocking on wood, since the last company I praised on slashdot was my SBC DSL, and as a result, my DSL line went down about an hour later. Heh. Also, as it's been mentioned before in these comments, the problems with number portability are probably not some evil scheme by AT&T Wireless. Their problems are affecting both switchovers TO them as well as FROM them. Remember, being evil means screwing the customer AFTER they become a customer of yours, not before.
Standard disclaimer: All corporations are evil. Some are just not as evil as others.
Just imagine the volume of calls that come through AT&T every day. Heck, just imagine one hour! Every one of these calls has to be linked to an account, measured in minutes, rated against your plan, etc, etc. This is some heavy duty processing going on. And the machines that are doing this are huge mainframes. This is all legacy code. Right now some cobol jockeys are trying to retrofit some archaic cobol routine to give you number portability. Give them a break! They have had a career in cobol, that's enough suffering.
mp3's are only for those with bad memories
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The day that the number portability law was passed I called AT&T to see when my contract was up since I have been very dissatisfied with AT&T from day one. When I called I wasn't surprised when they told me there computer were all down. And that they would call me back with an answer. Naturally I never got a call back. So when I called again I was yelled at by a customer service rep, who told me she couldn't transfer me because all the phone lines are down (and what were we just talking on). Anyway the CSR gave me a number to call. When I called this number you get a voice jail system that asks you to say what department you want, you say it and it says "I don't understand" in this pass-aggressive tone, then tells you it transferring and then hangs up on you. I also noticed that the link on the website to the "Contact Us" never seems to load. Hmmm is all this coincidence? I think not.
I hate that you can't delete a voicemail until it has been played back in it's entirety. It's like they want you to burn that extra 30 seconds of airtime listening to crap that you already heard because you called the person back before playing the VM.
Does this irk anyone else? What providers don't pull this shit? Whoever doesn't restrict my VM options is going to get my business.
This funny bullcrap with AT&T Wireless does not suprise me in the least. Having worked for them for over 6 years, they are contemptable and corrupt throughout all levels of management. So this delay is par for the course for their continuing mismanagment and blundering idiocy. When I started with the company it was McCaw Cellular, and it was a wonderful company in almost every way. Then AT&T bought us out and within a year the whole company went down the tubes. We went from "dot-com" liberated managements styles to draconian/dictatorial systels - with big brother on-the-job surviellance, distrust, paranoid, backstabbing and bueracratic calcigication almost overnight. To this day I am still amazed that AT&T and its sister companies are even still alive. It was then that I realized that we are not living in a free-market economy. if we did, there is no way this company could stay solvent. We used to joke that Cheech and Chong could run the company better than the Masters in charge of AT&T Wireless.
"Pink" contracts for spammers, routinely binning/ignoring/denying spam complaints, even supplying spammers with tools to bypass spam filters - The Death Star does it all if you want to spam.
No mod points, no meta-moderating/Firehose/all the other free work Slashdot wants me to do.
Yeah, fining them would either cost them or their customers money. This would be a good thing IMO since I am no longer an AT&T customer and never will be again. Maybe it would convince more of their customers to cop an attitude like me. :)
Charlotte. Their services and bundling looked great. Wireless, landline, Internet etc. but behind the scenes just separate companies that blame the other ones first chance they get. They don't seem to have integrated systems. Glad you haven't had issues.
I am an AT&T cell subscriber, and have been for quite a few years (they were the only group that had the coverage in all the areas I needed until Verizon finally kicked themselves into gear, and by then I was very attached to my cellphone number). I've been keeping an eye on the number portability for a while now. Not that I am displeased with their general service or coverage (there are small annoying things, but I'm sure all providers have those).
Anyway, I was back home for Thanksgiving, and I wandered into a local AT&T shop looking for some accessories for my (Nokia) phone - and I specifically heard the sales rep say that AT&T would not be able to provide cellphone number portability until next March!! I thought to myself, "Umm, wasn't it federally mandated that you had to have this available by November?". Unfortunately, there's no arguing with a retail store sales rep - they're all convinced they're in charge of all the facts :P
My second note is this (for the people talking about AT&T GSM). I've also been drooling over the phones and extra options available via the GSM plans at AT&T (I would *love* to have a Nokia 6800 with the Java SSH app that would allow me to SSH into the various Linux boxes I help maintain *grins*) - but note that if you go with the AT&T GSM plans (and if you're used to their One Rate "no roaming, no long distance" service), then be aware you have to start worrying about roaming ($0.80+/minute) again if you wander outside of an AT&T GSM covered area...talk about a royal pain *sighs*
Worrying works!! 99% of all the stuff I worry about never happens
I just switched from Sprint to Nextel. Changed phone numbers, as I had moved - hadn't changed the number with Sprint because that would have renewed my contract. I ran into some problems with my credit rating - I recently moved and my address didn't match up, and they were convinced I really didn't exist. My Nextel rep spend about 4 hours, no joke, on the phone with Nextel. I was lucky that he was so helpful (my employer has bought dozens of phones through him and he is friends with a guy who works here). He said that customer service has gotten much worse since the whole number portability thing started.
I have blog like everyone else
I don't understand why people put up with the phone companies in the USA.
In the UK, nearly all phone contracts are for one year. After a year, the customer only has to give one months notice to leave - none of this crap about being locked in for another year unless they take a new handset and sign a contract.
We can also change tariff mid contract, and it doesn't affect the contract end date.
We have had number portability for years now, enforced up by OFTEL the telecomms watchdog.
All phone companies have to unlock phones at the end of the contract if the customer asks, again enforced by law.
I don't understand why in the USA, phone companies get away with extending contracts by another year at the slightest excuse, locking customers into 2 year contracts, refusing to unlock phones for new SIM cards, putting extra "taxes" on the bill with no real basis, and dragging their feet over number portability. Why does the general public put up with it???
Steve.
A latent existence
I went to cingular the first day, and i still havn't had my number changed. I've spent hours on the phone to no avail, according to US Cellular they are unable to port my number because the third party that does the porting cant switch between my US Cellular pre-pay number and a Cingular monthly plan. According to Cingular this is crap and US Cellular hasn't released any of 4k+ numbers to Cingular. I'm enjoying playing with my new phone, j2me is fun and working with something called a MIDlet is hilarious to me for some reason, but i need service. The baterry on my phone from US Cellular is shot and only good for about 2 minutes of talk time anymore and theres no way in hell i'm buying a $30 battery when i could end up being switched tomorrow(not likley however). Anyone else in or outside of the Milwaukee area having problems porting from US Cellular?
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communications Inc. are being touted as net winners after one week of local number portability, though analysts have noted the process is in many cases taking much longer than the two and a half hours carriers were originally shooting for despite lower than expected porting volume.
Cingular Wireless L.L.C. and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. are being reported as net losers after one week of number freedom, with analysts noting AT&T Wireless' GSM activation problems are apparently contributing to its LNP-related customer losses. Sprint PCS and T-Mobile USA Inc. are being viewed as net neutral after a week.
a whole week, thats insane........
I've had all the carriers at one point or another, and I can safely say AT&T is the worst.
I have a Verizon phone....no problems with the service, or the people. They never screw up my bill, and the coverage area is great (here in the North-East).
I had problems with AT&T wireless five years ago, but I thought by now they would have ironed out their problems so, I recently bought a phone from AT&T wireless for my wife. The purchase and activation went well, but that was about it. The phone wouldn't work in a majority of areas that my wife commutes to...she overlapped her Verizon service just in case she didn't like AT&T. When the AT&T phone sucked, she switched to her Verizon phone and had no problems.
After two weeks of this non-sense, we returned the phone under the 30 day, no-risk, trial period, and just upgraded her Verizon phone. It cost a little more than the AT&T phone, but it works ALL the time.
About a month and a half later, we get a bill for $147.00 from AT&T wireless. I called AT&T to clear up the confusion and here's what happened:
Waited on hold for 45 minutes for a customer service representative.
Once I got the rep. he told me that he had to send me to the "GSM" department. They have two separate departments - one for GSM, one for TDMA. Why one person can't handle both is beyond me.
Finally get the GSM rep after 15 more minutes on hold - she tells me that there is usage on my phone after I turned it in....and that i'm responsible for the calls (and the termination fee if I cancel the phone since 45 days have passed)! I tell her that I have a reciept for turning in the phone, and that the phone wasn't in my possesion. I didn't make those calls, so those calls are fraudulent calls. I tell her someone in the store must have made those calls. She says that it is my responsiblity to make sure that the people in the store deactivate the phone. She says that AT&T can't control the people that sell the service, so it's my responsiblity...not theirs.
I tell her that in order to do that, i'd have to arrive at the store with the sheriff and a subpoena in hand since the phone is no longer my property....uugh.
After that little ordeal, I ask to speak with her supervisor who finally cancels the phone, credits my account, and says she will be sending me a paper copy of the whole transaction for my records. By now i've wasted two and a half hours of my time.
I will never buy a phone from AT&T wireless ever again....and my recommendation is that you shouldn't either.
-ted
Crap, I've been waiting 3 weeks to get my POTS line turned off after switching over to Vonage. It still isn't done and the web site says that it can take up to 20 business days. I'm glad that I chose to do this around the hollidays.
Hey, I just got out of AWS IT, and it's all incompetence: they're outsourcing all their work to India, morale is absymal (my friends still there tell me the annual survey had unbelievably bad results), and everyone who's really good and can jobs elsewhere (like, uh, me) has left.
They went to this consulting model where no one competent owns their product: there are solution managers, who have no technical or system experience, and there are resource managers who have 20-30 analysts or devs working on different projects... so if you want something done (like "how come LNP doesn't work") someone has to assemble a team by going through this process that's *supposed* to take two weeks. All the work that's getting done is through back-channels, knowing people who used to touch the API you need...
They're totally screwed. Their customer service problems with their CRM and LNP are the tip of the iceberg: with the best and brightest gone and the work in India, we're going to see the IT side of AWS get much, much worse.
Man, it feels good to finally be able to comment openly on this stuff now that I'm out from under my employment agreement.
I have been looking to unlock my Nokia 3360 SW 1.04(I can at least sell or give it away Unfortunately the unlock sites don't have my particular wireless listed AT&T Wireless (no GSM). I've gone back to landline because of Internet access, but I may get back in if the economy does better. Looks like GSM would be the best bet.
I pay $149, and get $130 in mail in rebates. The downside is I'm trying to port my number, and they must activate the phone before shipping, so I think I'll be out of a phone for 2 days while the free 2 day FedEx occurs, and probably won't get my sidekick until next week sometime :(
But for $19, it's worth it, now I'm just hoping they don't scam me out of the rebates somehow.
So, where can I get this ssh client for the sidekick? And, seriously, I started shaking when I read your comment about it being available... It was the only drawback I saw to the sidekick..
My Linux Command of the Day site : LCOD
I live in Los Angeles, and I can say only one thing about AT&T service out here -- IT IS HORRIBLE!!!!! I've tried several different phones as they suggested, but that did not make any difference at all. (surprise, surprise) So I've tried my friends' phones with various providers, and all of them were 100% better.
Needless to say, I could not wait until my contract was over!
Last week on Thursday, I have submitted 8 numbers to be transferred. Only 3 of them have completed the transfer just today (1+ week and counting).
Another one is on it's way and cannot receive phone calls for 2 days already, and the last four have not even started yet. I've expected much better service from the company that fathered C and UNIX! (I guess there is nothing in common left with the old AT&T any more)
My sister is trying to port her number from Sprint to T-Mobile and she went on Dec. 1 (her old contract expired Nov. 30) and I don't think she has the new phone yet. They said to expect a 5-7 day wait. The old phone at least still works though.
It's amazing how one of the largest companies in the world can have such a piece of shit like what they call a cellular service.
Anyone that actually uses AT&T's service should really consider cancelling their contracts and getting a decent provider like Sprint or T-Mobile.
Like, we sat at P4 workstations with about 256MB of RAM, that ran only one program - Citrix client. The servers were on the East coast somewhere. On those (already slow) servers we ran apps that felt like X11 over a phone modem, which were in turn a front end to some pre-RDBMS database program running on MVS/ESA servers scattered about the US. Oh, and the Citrix client stations had their video cards locked at 60Hz. We didn't have permissions to change the refresh rate...
What is the robbing of a bank, compared to the founding of a bank? -- Bertolt Brecht
FCC Consumer Factsheet on Wireless Portability right here.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
I used AT&T for two years, and I had nothing but degrading quality of service, to the point where reception is almost non-existent at my place of residence. (And I tried new $300 phones and GSM service, it was even worse.) AT&T tried to swindle me out of several hundred dollars due to "computer problems" when I attempted to upgrade my service and the upgraded service failed to work altogether. It took me hours of transferred and dropped AT&T support calls and trips to an AT&T store to get my money back, and they still owe me money for a returned cell phone due to "propagation delays" in their accounting system. Keep your receipts to everything you buy from them and return, you'll need them!
The ONLY reason I have not yet switched was the phone number portability and $175 early termination fee. I imagine AT&T is losing customers by the thousand, if my experience is any indication of other customers' service.
Just a reminder, while the two companies share the same branding somewhat, AT&T is not the same company as AT&T Wirless. The latter was spun off from AT&T a while back.
Favorite quote: "the problem may be resolved as early as Friday or as late as Monday" (article posted Nov. 7) I'm sure layoffs and outsourcing to India has also tremendously boosted morale at AT&T, too.
I couldn't replace a lost cell phone for over a week because of this software "glitch." Damn you to Hell, AT&T.
their main problem is the they will only port number in major cities, because it's more cost effective. That, and their LNP reg porting apps suck ass. I already tried to port several LNP's, only 1 of them did not get rejected. And that one is going to take a month to do. I agree- this is stupid- and I hate AT&T wireless (not jsut because they emply me- but for the practices of how the sell anything. It's all so smarmy)
Do any of these new FCC provisions involve land line number portability to the cellular network?
-- Late to the party
A week? No way. I've been waiting since 11/26 and was told it won't be until sometime mid-to-late next week. I wonder how long this will be allowed to continue.
I went into t-mobile on Monday the 24th and filled out all of the paperwork. 12 days later, 10 hours of hold time, and several nasty calls later, my phone still isn't ported.
ATT's system keeps coming back with some "Not Authorized" message when they try to port it. I'm pissed.
I wouldn't be switching, but ATT's coverage map says they have native coverage where I work, but they don't. I roam on t-mobile for 69 cents a minute. That's bullshit.
T-mobile customers don't pay anything to roam on ATT's network either. ATTWS's GSM network was slowly getting better until they signed the roaming agreement with t-mobile. Now they really have no incentive to keep building their network when they're sucking down 70 cents a minute from their customers that roam. To make it all worse, they TDMA network has gone to hell for some reason, and there are huge dead spots now where there used to be full signal. With all of the IT problems that I've heard about over there, I think they are in deep trouble.
Too bad, I've been with them for 7 years, and was happy until about a year ago. Now that I started a new job a couple of weeks ago and don't get coverage where they say I should, that's the last straw. I've complained several times and they just tell me they'll send me a new phone, even though I've tried using 3 different ones. They told my friend when he complained that he should just switch providers. ATT Wireless sucks now.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
She's moved back to Wisconsin since that story happened (I didn't want to clutter my point with irrelevant facts). :)
:)
She never had a cell phone: her justification was that all of her friends had one that they'd let her use, so she didn't need one. She told me that while she was using my cell phone to check her messages.
Sadly, I was never able to convince her of the benefits of dating me...
--RJ
They are just doing what SBC/Ameritech did with Rhythms. #$%^ with others - play obstinent and make it expensive to switch.
The answer, a $5000 bonus to customer, and another $5000 bonus to the providor if the line isn't switched (or incorrectly switched) in 24 hours. And if they contest it and loose, compenation is multiplied 1000 times.
The system has to get tough on bullshit behavior of the telco providors deception and MBA marketing crack addiction. The other day, SBC said may line was bad when we called (we knew and could hear that). They said it would be $71 to check the line. We were hearing other peoples conversations - and talking to them too!!
I told them, get it fixed and no authorization of $71 or I will go to competators cell... it was fixed an hour later.
The only thing we as consumers have is the right to switch - lets keep it. And if they don't comply - lets fine the crap out of them.
I suspect if telcos spend 1/2 as much on customer service as marketing bull#$%^ that they would have customers lined up waiting for their services.
I have been employed with AT&T Wireless as a telephone customer service representative (TDMA) for 6 months. I really like my job and I'll admit I have bad days when I have 1 irate customer after another and I'm ready to snap. I take my job very seriously and I try to provide excellent customer service at the best of my ability. There is this new program that was just launched that if an existing customer signs a 2 year contract and is on plans that are 39.99 and above they get a free phone every 12 months. How many cell companies does that. It is also the same with GSM customers. I know that there are customers that had bad experiences with customer service reps. I know alot of times I have to clean up other reps messes as well. I go the distance with my customers and I feel really good when I make an angry customer into a happy customer
I have been employed with AT&T wireless as a customer service rep for 6 months. I am glad to work for them. I take my job very seriously. I like to provide clear, concise information to existing customers. I didn't reply to advertise but just to say that I am happy to hear that you are satisfied with your service. I think AT&T Wireless is a good cell phone company and the fact that existing customer's don't have to renew their contract and stay on a month to month basis after their contract is done. There is a new program that was effective 11/24/03 that if an existing customer signs up for a 2 year contract and start a plan for 39.99 and above they would get a free phone every 12 mos. How many cell companies would do that for their customers. I think AT&T wireless recognizes customer loyalty and values customers and that is why they started this new program. So many people are switching carriers just to get free phones. I saw on TV on a Verizon commercial that you can get unlimited family calling nationwide. I saw on the commerical that the coverage map is all red. I checked out the web site and the map on the website is nothing like what it appears on TV. I saw bloches of roaming and no service areas in the USA. plans at 39.99 for 400 shared min. What about unlimited family calling. I thought you can make unlimited calls. Talk about falsified advertising.
I use the Motorola V60, which is TDMA. Excellent coverage on the US east coast. I have never dropped a call, and I often talk while driving. (Yes, I always use the hands-free ear piece.) The only issue is that the Cingular tower near my home "forgets" my phone if the phone stays on and in the same place (such as my house) for more than 2 days. After some troubleshooting, ATTWS told me I should reboot once per day, and that has cured it.
One of my clients is based in Ireland. Their management use GSM phones because they work in Ireland and here. They had no problems around Philly, even 2 years ago when GSM was not officially supported.
My business partner switched to a ATTWS GSM phone last year. It gets fuzzy often, and drops calls while he is driving in the suburbs. When driving, he pulls over when he has a good signal so calls do not get interrupted. He is our primary contact and uses more than 2000 minutes each month, so the GSM $99/month for unlimited minutes is a good deal, but the dropped calls are annoying. When we are together, we use my phone because the reception is always good.
(I thought it was impossible to have static on a digital network. Anybody know GSM technology well enough to explain?)
I have family in Charlotte, NC using ATTWS TDMA, and they have never lost a call.
Family in NJ use Sprint, and lose calls all the time. They are retired, do not care if conversations get interrupted, and stay with Sprint since it is inexpensive for travellers.
No one I know has stayed on Verizon very long. Their service is awful in the Philadelphia area.
-- ATTWS TDMA Call plans --
There are 3 plans.
"One Rate" is like Sprint's travel-anywhere no-roaming regular service, but it is very expensive.
"Local" gives you several states, which is great when it includes from Virginia to Florida, not so good when it includes from Connecticut to Maryland. It is priced like Sprint.
"Regional" is supposed to cover all the big cities, but have roaming charges when the phone says "Extended Area" or "Roaming". The problem is that the area can change while dialing, even when standing still, and there is no phone that will tell you which area you are in when the phone is ringing. No one I know who is on that plan has ever been charged for roaming, although they are stressed by worrying about it. I do not know how ATTWS came up with such a silly plan, or why they keep it.
---
My cell phone is my only phone, and as a consultant I depend on it for work. I look forward to switching to a GSM phone, but I am waiting until GSM has enough coverage for it to be as error-free as TDMA.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
Let me tell you a little story about my experiences w/ the telco industry. My first corporate job was w/ a Voicestream supporting call center. They had just bought a prepaid cellular system from another telco. By a horrible stroke of luck, that other telco accidentally had all of thier customer records corrupted and had no backups. So we offered each incoming caller a free 25 min phone card shipped to them.
We gathered thier current info and entered it into the database w/ thier cell #. We also used this intranet that was supposed to be the all inclusive answer to any internal policy question. Well they sent daily "flashes" to sales and never told customer service about policy changes.
Later I got a job working for DirecTV Broadband... we had to work with the LECs... they all took thier sweet ass time to provision lines for us. But one in particular... Qwest... well they were taking up to 2 sometimes 3 months to provision lines for us. We of course started bitching.. eventually they turned off those phone #s we called them at and stated, "Your contract does not guarantee phone support, stop calling us." (Or at least that's what our supervisors were telling us they said.) In the end DTVBB went down with some Qwest customers never getting thier lines provisioned.
By no means am I blaming DTVBB's downfall on Qwest. It was it's own mismanagement, retrofitting a VMS based satellite billing system to fit DSL customers when a pre existing DSL billing system existed and general corporate greed that sent it to the grave. (Did I mention they fired us all 12 days before Xmas 2002?)
The moral to my story is... the telco industry is all about long standing traditions of fucking everyone over.
There are two reasons that they don't advertise the final price. One reason is that taxes change all the time and are different in various localities.
The second reason (if you subscribe to conspiracy theories of gubmint) is because they want to make it appear as though you're really getting the thing for 29.99, so when you end up paying 29.99 + taxes, you don't remember the value of the taxes. If people knew and were cognizant of how much they're paying in taxes, they'd be mad as hell. This is the same reason why they take your income taxes out of your check--so you don't miss it as much.
This thread is dead though, i doubt if anybody reads this...
my friends still there tell me the annual survey had unbelievably bad results
I've heard stories that the VP in charge of the employee survey got fired for falsifying numbers.
This is now the longest phone queue I've ever been in for any reason. As of now I've been holding for AT&T's porting administration for 5 hours and 15 minutes.
http://vault.com/community/mb/getmessage.jsp?messa ge_id=1008106&tidx=0
http://vault.com/community/mb/mbtopics.jsp?forum_i d=5514&expandThread=173410#Topic173410
YUO = FAG!!