Hourglass8

Recently, my AT&T phone has been practically useless. I might as well make a cardboard cutout of a phone, try to make a call, use the internet, or attempt to use GPS. At least when my fake phone experiences “performance issues” I could get the satisfaction of watching that baby burn, with the knowledge that all I’m losing is the 5 minutes it took to make it (I didn’t want a crappy fake after all) plus one match. Rather, I’m stuck with an expensive PDA with a camera that on occasion does act like a smart phone.

However, my greatest fear is that in the moment of a true emergency (the single most important factor in my owning a mobile) I will find out that I have no reception, no 3G access, and no GPS to alert anyone to where I am. Horror movies might as well just have all those nubile teenagers using AT&T; at least it would be believable when they can’t call for help. Yet, AT&T was not always as useful as shit on a stick.

Before July 2, 2009, I would have hands down recommended AT&T to anyone looking for a phone. Their service in Chicago had been very solid, 3G was pretty decent, and my new Nokia E71X was working admirably. Then, on July 2, for about an hour or more, I lost complete service. I mean everything: no data, no texts, no calls. I tried my other older phone, my trusty Cingular 8525 (yeah, I’ve been with AT&T for a while); no luck. And, all this happened the only hour I actually needed to make calls for business. So, I wrote an email to customer service, and got a fairly quick response. Here is a copy, sensitive information redacted, of my email to customer service first, and then the response:

Q1:Enter the wireless number associated with the account you’re inquiring about
A1:[redacted]

Q2:How long did your call last before it dropped?
A2:immediate disconnect

Q3:Where did the call drop?
A3:no connection established

Q4:Do you seem to drop calls in this particular area or does it happen in different areas as well?
A4:Reception seems fine, rarely ever dropped calls before this afternoon.

Q5:How long have you had your existing phone?
A5:2 months, also happens on my other AT&T line, I’ve had that phone for 2 years.

Q6:Enter your question concerning Dropped Calls below:
A6:It is ironic that this happens the one time during the day when I actually really need to make calls. The fact that it is a consistent “connection error” does not make me feel any better. I understand if circumstances are outside of the company’s control, but I pay a good sum of money and expect continuous and unabridged service.

Thank You. Sorry if I seem grumpy, the timing just was terrible for lost service.

Obviously, I was a bit cranky…. The response:

Dear Mr. Angel,

Thank you for contacting AT&T about your issue with dropped calls. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you. My name is [redacted] and I’ll be happy to help you with this.

We have reviewed the coverage area based on your home address and showed we did have a couple of tower outages that began 7/2/09. The issue is being worked currently. We plan on have the towers restored within 24hrs. [emphasis added]

Mr. Angel I hope that the information provided has been helpful and has resolved all of your questions. Should you have additional concerns or questions about this issue please reply to this email. If you need to contact us again regarding a new issue please send us another email via the contact link through your online account. Again, my name is [redacted], and I thank you for being a valued AT&T customer over the years. We will do our best to ensure that your wireless experience is a success.

I encourage you to visit our web site (www.att.com/wireless) often to view current and previous monthly statements, make payments and to shop for new product and service offerings.

Sincerely,

[redacted]
AT&T
Online Customer Care Professional

Anyhow, service was restored, and all appeared to be right in the world. Except, I began to notice periodic periods of pitiful performance by AP&P … er, AT&T. It kept happening and from my limited inquiries to friends and family with AT&T since then, I am not the only one having the AT&T “experience”.

So, I would be walking around my neighborhood, go inside a restaurant, be not 20 feet from the street, and BAM, no reception, no 3G, no GPS, no nothing. Same thing would happen occasionally at home. Now, maybe you’ll give AT&T the benefit of the doubt. “But, David,” you’ll say, “some of those are older buildings, made of brick and mortar….” Point granted, but here’s the thing: before that major tower outage, I got reception in those restaurants and at home. I got signal, could make calls, send texts, use 3G and GPS. I got game, soul, the bat signal … whatever, you get the point. AT&T didn’t always suck, and now they do.

So, on July 21 when it happened at home, I sent another email to customer service, and it went like this:

Q1:Enter the wireless number associated with the account you’re inquiring about
A1:[redacted]

Q2:How long did your call last before it dropped?
A2:1 minute

Q3:Where did the call drop?
A3: Outside

Q4:Do you seem to drop calls in this particular area or does it happen in different areas as well?
A4:don’t travel, same area

Q5:How long have you had your existing phone?
A5:3 months, about

Q6:Enter your question concerning Dropped Calls below:
A6:Reception, signal, and 3G use to be very solid in my area, [redacted], but recently it has been very poor, crappy actually. Areas I use to get full signal is now 3 bars at best, areas I use to get moderate reception now has none. Has something changed recently to cause such a degradation in the AT&T network?

A bit more polite this time around, after all I had a pretty good explanation the last time it happened. I got a response, but it was a request for an exact address. I provided it, and here was the subsequent reply:

Dear Mr. Angel,

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T regarding coverage. My name is [redacted], and I am happy to help you with your inquiry. I am sorry for the frustration not having good coverage has caused and I understand the urgency of having good service.

I have reported a network issue for the addresses of [redacted] and [redacted]. I am showing that there are several towers in the area at this time that are having issues. The service on some of the towers should not be service effecting and the others should be back up [emphasis added], but since you stated you are still having troubles in these areas I have reported the network issue so they will know you are still having troubles with the service.

If you continue to have troubles with the service in these areas please call customer care from a landline phone while in a troubled area and then they will be able to troubleshoot further.

I hope that the information provided has been helpful and has resolved all of your questions, Mr. Angel. Should you have additional concerns or questions about this issue please reply to this email. If you need to contact us again regarding a new issue please send us another email via the contact link through your online account. Again, my name is [redacted], and we realize you have many choices for a wireless service provider. I want to personally thank you for considering AT&T as your choice for wireless service!

I encourage you to visit our web site (www.att.com/wireless) often to view current and previous monthly statements, make payments and to shop for new product and service offerings.

Sincerely,

[redacted]
AT&T
Online Customer Care Professional

So, it seems that there are some towers having issues, but they should not be service affecting.

It then happened again, and again, and again, and again. I’ve simply stopped complaining about it to AT&T, as prompt as their customer service is. After all, if I report this is not a localized event, that it happens throughout a full city block, why must I report every single address? So, I am simply going to keep track of when and where I have the AT&T experience, and I’ll just send one massive email. That is, if my phone is able to get reception….

Anyhow, if you are having issues with AT&T, send customer service an email, just be sure to include exact addresses. Oh, and I did a side-by-side comparison of my phone to a piece of poop on a stick. To be honest, it is sometimes hard to tell the difference. After all, only one is supposed to stink, and the other one I’m seriously considering flushing down the toilet.