We have been having problems getting our mail to @home. They are blocking port 25 access from our
mail server. We do not know why. Here is @home's commentcomment on the matter.
Hah!
We followed this procedure and at least one of our
subscribers did with very positive effect.
First, telephone the standard support number at 888-824-8166. Be prepared with your name,
address, subscriber id (this is your @home email address) and your personal security code. Also
be prepared to wait a while because they are often pretty busy. Your wait can be up to one hour
and will probably be more than 30 minutes. When a technician answers, tell them this:
"I am a subscriber to @home and I am unable to receive email that is being sent to from [vendorname].
I want to receive my email. The vendor advises me that they have notified @home about this,
but that @home is asking their subscribers to get individual trouble tickets for this
problem."
If you want to get the email that is waiting for you, do not give up until they give you a
trouble ticket number (this is your official confirmation that they know about the problem. If
you don't get a trouble ticket number, your problem has not been logged. If you have enough
trouble tickets, you can ask @home for a refund on your service for the month.)
If you can do
an IP trace on your mail (like if you are a sysadmin) and prove that the mail is being bounced,
so much the better. If you are a regular user, you will need to have at least one of your bounce
messages and a copy of the message header. Make sure you speak with their level 2 support and
send them everything they ask for. If you don't know how to retrieve a message heaader, they can
tell you. Don't give up until you are positive they have your documentation and you have the
ticket number.
You can also use the @home chat room.
Select the option for customer support. Note that they are very unwilling to give out trouble
ticket numbers during chat and probably won't do anything. But you can save the chat session and
it may be useful in subsequent correspondence.
And some of it is amusing also. It is left as an exercise for the reader to find out why...
If this fails and you don't start getting your email, the @home escalation department is
at 888-824-8296. Don't call them until you have a ticket number. Be emphatic and explain the
problem. Spend as much time as you like with them. Occasionally the people at this level are
effective.
If THIS fails and you STILL don't get your email, The AT&T Executive Appeals group is
at (800-800-2824). You will need your ticket number to talk with these folks also and you will
need to be patient to wade through their system. This is a useful exercise because they do
formally log these and report them.
If you STILL don't get your mail, you can complain to executive management for @home.
Daniel Somers, (720-875-5500) is the head of the AT&T broadband services division. He is
in Colorado, the Mountain time zone. His phone is answered by a human and his executive
assistant is named Jennifer. Ask for her. She seems to be one of the few effective and
accessible individuals in the entire organization.
And finally, there is David Dorman, 908-221-3901 , the president of AT&T and Michael
Armstrong, 212-387-5400, CEO of AT&T. Note that this is in New York City, so they are in
the Eastern time zone. Their secretary / phone answering people are very polite. Some of them
are also helpful. Mr. Dorman's executive assistant is Marie Miller. She is a pretty effective
individual. When you call, explain that you are a customer who is having a service problem,
that you need help. Be courteous, but explicit. And don't give up.
Once this problem has been resolved, write Michael Armstrong, David Dorman and Daniel Somers,
personally and individually (by FEDEX - personal and confidential, to insure that the letters
are received and that it is possible to tell who signed for them.) Praise those who have help
and letting the chips fall where they may for those employees of theirs' who have hindered the
solution. Provide detail, be literate and polite.
It may also be useful to contact George
Bell, Chairman and CEO of Excite@Home (the @home service provider to AT&T, Comcast, and all
other XXX@home subscribers) and make sure Mr. Bell is aware of all the roadblocks thrown at you
in resolving this problem, the Excite@Home employees who would not help you, and (if
appropriate) the ineptness of their first level of technical support, as well as your praise for
those employees who have helped solve the problem.
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We have been having problems getting our mail to @home. They are blocking port 25 access from our mail server. We do not know why. Here is @home's commentcomment on the matter.
Hah!
We followed this procedure and at least one of our subscribers did with very positive effect.
First, telephone the standard support number at 888-824-8166. Be prepared with your name, address, subscriber id (this is your @home email address) and your personal security code. Also be prepared to wait a while because they are often pretty busy. Your wait can be up to one hour and will probably be more than 30 minutes. When a technician answers, tell them this:
If you want to get the email that is waiting for you, do not give up until they give you a trouble ticket number (this is your official confirmation that they know about the problem. If you don't get a trouble ticket number, your problem has not been logged. If you have enough trouble tickets, you can ask @home for a refund on your service for the month.)If you can do an IP trace on your mail (like if you are a sysadmin) and prove that the mail is being bounced, so much the better. If you are a regular user, you will need to have at least one of your bounce messages and a copy of the message header. Make sure you speak with their level 2 support and send them everything they ask for. If you don't know how to retrieve a message heaader, they can tell you. Don't give up until you are positive they have your documentation and you have the ticket number.
You can also use the @home chat room. Select the option for customer support. Note that they are very unwilling to give out trouble ticket numbers during chat and probably won't do anything. But you can save the chat session and it may be useful in subsequent correspondence.
And some of it is amusing also. It is left as an exercise for the reader to find out why...
If this fails and you don't start getting your email, the @home escalation department is at 888-824-8296. Don't call them until you have a ticket number. Be emphatic and explain the problem. Spend as much time as you like with them. Occasionally the people at this level are effective.
If THIS fails and you STILL don't get your email, The AT&T Executive Appeals group is at (800-800-2824). You will need your ticket number to talk with these folks also and you will need to be patient to wade through their system. This is a useful exercise because they do formally log these and report them.
If you STILL don't get your mail, you can complain to executive management for @home. Daniel Somers, (720-875-5500) is the head of the AT&T broadband services division. He is in Colorado, the Mountain time zone. His phone is answered by a human and his executive assistant is named Jennifer. Ask for her. She seems to be one of the few effective and accessible individuals in the entire organization.
And finally, there is David Dorman, 908-221-3901 , the president of AT&T and Michael Armstrong, 212-387-5400, CEO of AT&T. Note that this is in New York City, so they are in the Eastern time zone. Their secretary / phone answering people are very polite. Some of them are also helpful. Mr. Dorman's executive assistant is Marie Miller. She is a pretty effective individual. When you call, explain that you are a customer who is having a service problem, that you need help. Be courteous, but explicit. And don't give up.
Once this problem has been resolved, write Michael Armstrong, David Dorman and Daniel Somers, personally and individually (by FEDEX - personal and confidential, to insure that the letters are received and that it is possible to tell who signed for them.) Praise those who have help and letting the chips fall where they may for those employees of theirs' who have hindered the solution. Provide detail, be literate and polite.
It may also be useful to contact George Bell, Chairman and CEO of Excite@Home (the @home service provider to AT&T, Comcast, and all other XXX@home subscribers) and make sure Mr. Bell is aware of all the roadblocks thrown at you in resolving this problem, the Excite@Home employees who would not help you, and (if appropriate) the ineptness of their first level of technical support, as well as your praise for those employees who have helped solve the problem.
Good luck, be patient, stay calm and have fun!