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My sad AT&T story
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I dropped AT&T / Bell South home service more than a year ago because my line never worked without interference and the AT&T / Bell South customer service folks were just not helpful in any which way. It appears now that the same thing is about to happen to my AT&T / Cingular wireless service too.

In August of 2007 I bought a new Treo 680 phone from AT&T after my relatively old Treo 650 just gave me too many troubles. The 650 not working proper any more was actually easy to understand, after all it was passed "down" to me and really had served for quite some time.

In October 2007 my new Treo 680 is now barely 2 months old, and sadly I notice all kinds of little cracks around the "face plate" near the screen. Great, I have babied it and certainly have not yet dropped it. I google it and find that several folks had similar issues. Great.
I called AT&T and got an endless run around and eventually the solution "we don't handle hardware items, you have to get this handled with Palm." Calling Palm wasn't any more helpful as they just offered to get me a new "housing" for my Treo for the nominal fee of $300, which coincidently was the cost of the phone to begin with. Nothing I said changed anything, and a follow up call to AT&T was useless too.





Move forward now to April 2 (not April 1) and my Treo decided to no longer work a a phone, only as a palm pilot. But it won't sync with my computer either. Bummer. I go to the AT&T store but they can't do anything there and send me home with a warranty phone number. My only phone now working is my Skype phone and am I glad I have it.

I call warranty and after trying various tricks to revive the phone it is now clear that the phone is kaputt and has to go back to them. Before they send out the replacement phone I have to listen to the rules of warranty replacement. "If the phone shows any signs of water or physical damage, the warranty is void and you'll be charged $350."

Woah, what about all these little cracks on my phone that showed up months ago? I mention them to my customer service person and after endless back and forth explaining where exactly the cracks are, he needs to talk to a supervisor. He comes back eventually with " Sorry, if your phone has any cracks the warranty is void, but you can buy a replacement phone for $350."

Right now I am using my ancient Sony Ericcson phone and am contemplating what wireless service to switch to, because I don't want to give them more money. From the way AT&T is handling this, it appears that they don't really care if they loose a few customers.
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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I *hate* cell phone companies. All of them!! I had a huge fight with mine last fall. I was on the phone with them about 5 times over a couple of months over an issue. They kept telling me there was nothing they could do. I finally threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau. Miraculously, the next phone call I got was from a supervisor telling me that they had resolved the issue and they were sending me a new phone free of charge (that was what I was fighting for).

That's a huge bummer about your phone. I definitely agree that you should find someone else. Stop giving AT&T your business.
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Herbert, I wish I had read your post earlier.

I recently went to change my home service from MCI to AT&T. I called and told them I wanted just the basic home plan. The guy said no problem and then tried to upsell me on that and internet and movie services. I had to insist I wasn't interested several times. Then he tells me my new phone number and I remind him I wanted to keep my old one. He says okay and tells me it's all taken care of.

That night I call home to find my number has been discontected. To make a very long and frustrating story short, I was without incoming phone service for five days, despite promises there would be no interruption. AT&T had assigned me a new number and it took several calls to get my old number back. Then, I get two bills in the mail. One for the new number I never wanted, and one for my old ported number with additional charges for an added line (for the new number). When I finally get this cleared up the guy on the phone asks me if I'm sure I had asked for my old number. I say Yes. Well, he says, we have to believe you because the customer is always right so I'm not going to charge you. What the hell? He's implying I must have lied.

Needless to say, I will eventually be dropping AT&T and hope to never have to do business with them again. Of course, other phone companies aren't much better so you're screwed either way.

Suddenly that movie "Falling Down" with michael douglas doesn't seem so far fetched.
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Many moons ago (probably at least 5 yrs) I had problems with AT&T. I had my first cell phone and kept going over my minutes on my call plane (totally my fault as I took the lowest plan possible). I call up AT&T and upgrade the plan. A few months later I get a bill with an additional $180 billed onto it. I cant figure out what it is for. Turns out since I "terminated" my original contract they billed me the termination fee of $180 (despite still being on an AT&T contract). It eventually got cleared up (not until after they sent it to a collection company while I was still paying my monthly bill), but it was a huge mess and complete pain in my ass. Despite that I stayed with AT&T and since then I have had no problems with AT&T, or cingular or AT&T.

Sorry to hear about your story though. You might wanna try to get a phone on ebay (you can get new or used phones). That is were I got my last one. I dont know where you live but if it is in the a relatively big city I bet you can find a store in town that deals with used phones. I went to on here in Austin but decided against since this store wanted basically the same price for a used phone as for a new one (I guess the real benefit is that you didnt have to purchase a new 2-yr agreement).


"Lady, people aren't chocolates. Do you know what they are mostly? Bastards. Bastard-coated bastards with bastard fillings." -Dr. Cox
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Re: My sad AT&T story [malcoda] [ In reply to ]
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The problem seems to be that customer service seems to be a strange word for most phone companies. On a recent trip I listened to a huge phone service / customer service nightmare on "this American Life" and it wasn't AT&T. Also my problem is that I need a quadband/world phone and that limits the providers.

H
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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AT&T gave me problems when they were my long distance carrier for my home fone which was back then SBC....then SBC became AT & T...and what do you know.....i had billing problems with them again....dropped them...and went to VoIP phone service from earthlink...


BTW don't you have insurance on your cellphone? eversince i brok my last phone and had to shell out $$$ just to replace it...i learned to get phone insurance just in case...
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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i won't comment on the big telcos, but you do know palm has lost a huge portion of the market and the company is doing poorly? I'm surprised you can't get at&t to upgrade your phone if you've been with them for a while. anyway, regarding the sync, try to borrow someone else's cable, I've heard about issues with the cables themselves. (Vista sucks too.) You should also be able to use IR or bluetooth if you have a laptop that supports it...?
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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I say keep pestering them. DEMAND a new phone. Furthermore, don't you have a warranty for the new phone? That should cover the cracks. Since it wasnt caused by neglect or abuse, but rather pure workmanship,I believe you can get them to cover it if you pester them enough. Move up the management ladder if you have to.

I've had my share of pain from cell phone companies. So, as a final resort, I decided to purchase an iPhone from an Apple store, unlock it and use it as a Pay as you go phone-using AT&T cause I get the best coverage for the places I go-specifically up at my cabin. Since most places I'm at(home, work, school) has wifi, it works as a regular iPhone would but without the monthly charge.
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Re: My sad AT&T story [IzzyG] [ In reply to ]
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I called customer Service multiple times to no avail, and now I am merely hoping for bad Karma for AT&T. :-)

But sadly I am lusting for a soon to be released 3G iPhone or the even later released Garmin Nuviphone and those are most likely going to remain/become AT&T products.

H
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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IMO...go to Verizon and get a 700w. For world service, buy a prepaid phone in Europe. When in Europe, simply forward (*72). I've done this for years....works like a charm.

As for 700w (or any Windows Mobile phone), don't cradle it..sync with either your email server or whatever passport account you have. Phone crashes? No problem..you still can dial through your skype using your contacts and all the info that's online.

Now..it's sounds like your a "anything but Microsoft" type of guy , but once Google releases their phone, the whole industry is going to blow up and create more silos. So, I'm just saying perhaps it might be best to work with something that's a bit more integrated when hardware problems occur (which happens often).

Now..the Treo 700w isn't without problems, but you can find them on ebay for $100.
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Diesel] [ In reply to ]
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I actually did get an email and a call from AT&T on Saturday so I guess customer service is not dead. They were apologetic and are sending me a new phone.


Herbert
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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They must have a lurker in the ST-LR!

Bernie

______________
"Slowbern has always made astute observations."-Casey 03/10/2009
2013-2014 Detroit Lions---13-3 until proved otherwise.
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Re: My sad AT&T story [slowbern] [ In reply to ]
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Funny...I bet they do!
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Herbert

glad it worked out
if I had a choice - I'd get the blackjack 2
had the original - loved it - have an iphone now - not enamored by it
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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the wireless business is dirty and cut throat. i feel it is a necessary evil--from here on out i will not ever buy an expensive phone again, given they're all shit. i figure if i can get 12-24 months out of a cell phone, that is a major accomplishment.

whaddya do. they're all cons.
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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Just cause they're AT&T products when sold, don't mean they remain AT&T products afterwards. ;)
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Re: My sad AT&T story [Herbert] [ In reply to ]
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I will not coment on the AT&T portion, but a Palm Treo instead of BB? Come on....... :)
Fred.
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