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Man Emails AT&T's CEO, Gets Threatened With C&D Order

Posted by timothy on from the better-than-a-d-&-c-order dept.

An anonymous reader writes "After its recent bait and switch, AT&T went ahead and threatened someone emailing the company CEO about customer service concerns, namely with a query about tethering and eligibility rates. The email author also put up a voicemail recording of the company's response and how he managed to contact the CEO in the first place — through The Consumerist." As Engadget notes (as does the complaining customer's updated page), AT&T did at least offer an apology for the threat of legal action, which the company says was unauthorized.

22 of 306 comments (clear)

  1. Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    is like trying to decide whether you'd prefer to have cancer or AIDS.

    1. Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast by Beelzebud · · Score: 5, Informative

      Or if you live in an area like me, it's Comcast cable, or nothing else. There is no choice.

      It always annoys me to no end when I have to call their dismal tech support line, and am greeted with "Thank you for choosing Comcast!"....

    2. Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast by peragrin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't know I would rather watch paint dry and grass grow rather than watch idol, or dancing with egos.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    3. Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast by swb · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Is Comcast that bad?

      I recently switched and have been happy. I got 12/2 business class with 5 static IPs for $69/month, free installation and it was all up and working within FOUR DAYS OF ORDERING.

      Performance has been great, and it beats the shit out of the 1.5 I was stuck with on DSL forever.

    4. Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast by Xyrus · · Score: 5, Informative

      Looks like the old slogan is still true: "AT&T. We don't care. We don't have to."

      --
      ~X~
    5. Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast by LordKronos · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Is Comcast that bad?

      Are they that bad? Well, lets see. The last time I had them, I had no internet service for 3 days. After repeated calls and a tech coming out I got no resolution. Finally I took it upon myself to install a packet sniffer, and what do you know...all of the IP traffic on my subnet was in an entirely different range than the IP I was being assigned. I picked a random IP in the valid range that appeared to not be in use and statically assigned it, and *mysteriously* every was suddenly working. I had to wade through first level tech support, convince them to let me talk to a network engineer (because he had no clue what I was talking about), and then tell that guy how to fix my internet service.

      Then there is the billing department. The bill is conveniently itemized so that you can see the comcast charges, and then separate entries for the franchise fees, city taxes, universal service fees, etc. Comcast raised the bill by exactly $1 with absolutely no mention in any of my previous 6 bills about a coming change. That $1 increase was in the line item for the comcast charge. Yet when I spoke to the billing department, they were insistent that they absolutely did not raise the rate on me, and that the increased charge was solely due to city taxes. Even showing them my previous bill and pointing out exactly where the increase occurred could not budge them. They blatantly lied to me, and continued to lie even when shown evidence that they were clearly lying.

      Now, compare that to WOW, where I can personally email the CTO directly about a problem, and he'll happily respond with a technical answer, and even admit fault if something went wrong on their end. Or with the install techs, who routinely show up in the first 30 minutes of the 4 hour service window, instead of the last hour (or even after the 4 hour window). And those techs are always willing to chat with me about how much better WOW treats them and makes it easier to do their job.

      yeah, comcast is that bad. I kind of feel bad for the comcast guys that come around to my door every now and then trying to get me to switch back. They probably feel like I treat them as if they're carrying the plague or something, as I won't even humor them to listen to their sales pitch. I'm very polite in declining to hear their offer (I know the guys going door to door really have nothing to do with my experiences), but they always act like they've never seen someone so dissatisfied with a company before.

  2. In related news... by Sepultura · · Score: 5, Funny

    Steve Jobs says, "You can do that?"

    1. Re:In related news... by xTantrum · · Score: 5, Informative

      You hear the one about the unemployed man about to jail time for complaining to his senator? classic.

      --
      $action = empty(PHP) ? backToC() : unset(PHP) ; "when the concrete cases are understood, the abstractions are readily
    2. Re:In related news... by Low+Ranked+Craig · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Seems more and more like the country is being run by Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader with Grand Moff Tarkin tightening his grip.

      These elitist assholes need to be slapped upside the head with the constitution, and the bozos on the grand jury that handed down the indictment need full frontal lobotomies. I guess I should be waiting for a knock on the door for the previous statement...

      --
      I still cannot find the droids I am looking for...
    3. Re:In related news... by je+ne+sais+quoi · · Score: 4, Interesting

      On the other hand, the political climate in the U.S. is becoming unstable. Just off the top of my head, in the last couple of years we've had a security guard at the holocaust museum gunned down by a white supremicist holocaust denier, a guy flew his plane into an IRS building because he didn't want to pay his taxes and a christian militia that was allegedly planning on murdering police officers. This is to say nothing about the people screaming threats at e.g., Obama, at conservative/tea party rallies. I was just in eastern TN last weekend and saw a bumper sticker on a traffic light box that read, "Secession before socialism." I'm glad that the FBI is checking up on these things, because I have no desire to see any assassinations in this country. We heard one side of this story, until we know the whole story in the court case, I will reserve judgment.

      I'm certainly not for AT&T sending C&D orders because people are e-mailing them rants, but I am tired of the minority of people in this country who think they can hold the entire country hostage to their will through threats, imaginary or real. I'm also tired of hearing of people espousing sedition.

      --
      Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
    4. Re:In related news... by tsm_sf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This country was founded on sedition.

      Aren't most of them?

      --
      Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
  3. bottom line is by Dyinobal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Bottom line is you can't do anything all you can do is if you don't like they way they run business is to cancel your service with them. America is for the corporations now after all they paid for it.

  4. How is it bait & switch by PatHMV · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I continue to fail to see how it is "bait & switch" when a company decides to stop offering one plan, after several years, and change to offering a different pricing plan that it thinks will better meet its and its consumers needs. No contract you ever signed with them guaranteed that you would ALWAYS be able to buy unlimited access at $30. They never guaranteed that unlimited access at $30 would be available forever. Me, I've been using my iPhone pretty extensively for almost 2 years now, and I've run up a grand total of 3.8 GB. That's 2GB a year for me, and AT&T's service will now be $5 per month less and give me 2GB per month. I'm coming out ahead of the game here. I'm glad AT&T has decided to change their plan to charge me less for the same amount of service that I am actually consuming now. AND they've announced this change just before release of the new iPhone version. That's the exact opposite of bait & switch. "Hey, folks, before you sign a new 2 year contract to get the new iPhone, we're telling you about this new service terms that you'll be signing up for, so you can make an informed decision." That's truth-in-advertising, not bait & switch.

    1. Re:How is it bait & switch by Totenglocke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's bait and switch because they advertised $15 / month for 250 MB and $30 / month of "unlimited" (5 GB) for the iPad - you know, that same iPad that's only been on sale (well, with 3G) for about a month. AT&T advertised that you will have no contract, can change your plan at any time (go up, down, or no data all together) at no charge, and that you can have unlimited data on your iPad to watch all the Netflix, browsing, apps, etc you could want. So yes, telling a customer X to get them to buy a product and then just a couple weeks later making changes that make it impossible for the customer to use what they bought under the terms with which they purchased it, is a bait and switch.

      --
      "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
    2. Re:How is it bait & switch by calmofthestorm · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Current customers are grandfathered in and can continue to receive what they signed up for. For now.

      I agree that changing things after a month or two is pretty crappy, but I guess on some level no-contract is a two-way street.

      --
      93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
  5. Flash... by mikeskup · · Score: 4, Insightful

    [Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]14,323 plays

    Grrrrrrrrrrrr

    --
    locked out of this slashdot account for 10+ years... Im back
  6. Unauthorized by SilverHatHacker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It worries me slightly that someone would send out a letter threatening legal action without even considering whether or not they had the authority to do that.
    Every day I try to be a little more cynical, but I can't keep up.

    --
    Funny may not give karma, but +5 Informative never made anyone snort coffee out their nose.
  7. To all the morons against network neutrality by unity100 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    this is the company to which you are going to entrust control of your internet. enjoy.

    --
    Read radical news here
  8. Re:I dont get it by Stiletto · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's right. How DARE the unwashed masses try to contact a clearly superior human being. The aristocracy should be protected from such riff-raff. Don't you people understand that certain people are just better than others and should not be even looked at--let alone have their judgment questioned--by a "commoner".

  9. Re:I dont get it by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I guess I just dont get this whole "email the CEO" thing. We keep seeing people getting replies from Steve Jobs (no doubt really from his team) and I have read of people having luck with other big companies. I think the problem would go away if they just stopped answering normal customers emails to the CEO and executives, or at least just replied with the customer service contact details.

    "Dear Mr. Tony Hayward, we, the collective fishermen from the Gulf Coast would like to apologize for taking your life away from you. We realize that you, as a CEO of British Petroleum, have had a hard time what with all these US politicians, sportsmen, fishermen, tourists, vertebrates and invertebrates being a little miffed that your company continues to vomit well in excess of 5,000 barrels a day of poisonous hydrocarbons. You, as a CEO, shouldn't have to surrender your golf game or your wife's Sunday tea just because your company and its subcontractors are poisoning the living shit out of the one of the most economically important strips of water in North America. Please except our humble apologies.

    Signed - the people, animals and single-celled life you're wiping out."

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  10. Re:Apple? by Mark19960 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Try reading.
    The guy was complaining about iPhone stuff, tethering on his iPhone, etc etc.
    Since AT&T is the 'only' provider of service for iWidgets that makes this an apple story too.

    And it's actually filed under 4 categories, not just Apple.

  11. Re:I dont get it by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 5, Informative

    I guess I just dont get this whole "email the CEO" thing. We keep seeing people getting replies from Steve Jobs (no doubt really from his team) and I have read of people having luck with other big companies.

    But there are two parts to this. First - someone is frustrated and has nowhere else to turn. Second - the CEO (or whomever) may actually nt know about the practice.

    A couple of years ago I got a lemon of a Whirlpool refrigerator. After three trips out by the service company (A&E -- don't ever buy an appliance whose warranty service is done by A&E), and five times ordering the wrong part, and several failed attempts to escalate within A&E... I got annoyed and started doing some digging.

    I learned the email of the CEO Whirlpool. I took the time to write out the saga -- including the three refrigerators full of lost food, several days spent waiting for service folks (who were either late, didn't show, or "oops" had the wrong part. Did I mention they get paid for each trip by Whirlpool regardless of whether they fix anything?)...

    The result? The CEO sent their general council head an email saying "take care of this, it shouldn't be happening." The general counsel got the right people involved -- people who didn't realize the scam A&E was running. I got a new refrigerator (two tiers up from the one I bought) and some cash. A&E at the very least got a firm speaking to, but I suspect it went a bit further than that. The CEO sent me a note thanking me for raising the issue.

    So yeah... I could have just sat at home and whined about how unfair life is and how Whirlpool really sucks. Or I could do about two hours of research to find the right email address, send a well-written email detailing how their customers were being treated (including links to several blogs and forums indicating that my experience was not unique) by their service contractor, and see results.

    I think the problem would go away if they just stopped answering normal customers emails to the CEO and executives, or at least just replied with the customer service contact details.

    I guess that depends on how you see the "problem" -- if the problem is a whiny customer customer annoying you his petty complaints, I guess that tactic might work. On the other hand if the problem is that your customers are being treated poorly by the company you're putatively in charge of-- well no, that problem won't go away if you ignore it. It will just get worse.