leaving ATT for 350 better than paying for microcell!

[hillieo]

I am writing because I lost another hour of my life on the phone trying to convince ATT that my phone doesn't work in my house.  NIce employee at storefront tried to get me customer service over the phone.  THEY hung up on their own customer service person when they tried to sell me the microcell immediately.  Customer service agent wanted to know if I have called in the problem from the cell number.  Um, no...The phone doesn't work in my home.  Customer service agent looked up my number and looked up my location....'not a lot of reports of dropped calls in the area'.  Maybe because we can't even connect calls and then have all been put in the unending loop of trying to prove our phones don't work.  (which is hard to phone in about when...wait for it....your phone DOESN'T WORK).  Have received 'free' new hardware (same phone), new SIM card, and countless comments 'sorry for your experience'.  Solution: sell me a microcell for $200 or charge me $350 to end service.  Guess what ATT I am out $200 no matter how YOU package it.  I am taking my 3 accounts elsewhere.  What a disappointment.  I have been ripped off and feel like they create a spiral that makes problems impossible to be truthfully or genuinely addressed.  Would not be surprised if this organization is goes down as they do not seem capable of fixing what is broken in their own backyard. 

[jamileh]

I am very sorry that you've had such a poor experience. If you haven't yet made the switch, I'd like another opportunity to see what other options we have for you. 

Would you please send me a private message with your name, account number, phone number and the best time to contact you? I get the irony of asking for your phone number to talk about problems with your phone, but we do need to speak with you so if you have an alternate that would be great. 




To send a private message, you can either click on the link in this message or click on the little blue envelope in the upper right hand corner, click "compose new message" and type my username in the "Send To" field.

[jlucio83]

I just lost about 3 hours of mine! After over a year of calling in complaints and/or investigations request, concerning bad cell phone signal, that happened out of nowhere, I finally get word of "microcell?" They never mentioned this before, just happened to come accross it online. I went to my local store, after 1 hour on the phone with customer service and the service rep there,  told me this was a problem that att was trying to fix, by offering at the very least, a discounted "free of charge" microcell to certain customers such as myself from the affected area. He told me it was a very easy process and that all I would have to do was contact customer service, they would send me an email, and that I could pick up the Microcell at their store or have it sent by mail. He even assured me that he would put in a note on my account to make things much "smoother."Following that I went home and called customer care, another HOUR and all the sales dept could do was tell me it was $199.99, despite what the long list of complaints and investigations I have called about for over a YEAR now!  I've been with att over 10 years now, am a paying customer of Uverse, Home,cell, and internet services right now, but Im pretty sure thats all about to change. I am completely irrate, especially after the fact that I thought for once this problem was going to be resolved. I spend over $3600 in a year for all services, and they want to charge me $200 dollars more, just to make the service that is already suppose to be 100%, according to their coverage maps, work? I live in a well populated area and know many neighbors and families with the same problem, definetly going to be spreading the word on this incident.  

[jamileh]

I'm sorry you weren't able to get the microcell as promised by the store representative. I would like to get this taken care of for you. 

Would you please send me a private message with your name, wireless account number, phone number and the best time to contact you?




To send a private message, you can either click on the link in this message or click on the little blue envelope in the upper right hand corner, click "compose new message" and type my username in the "Send To" field.

[userzero]

Out of curiosity, do your phones work outside of your house?

I ask because I have a family member has similar problem (phones don't work inside the house)...  if you walk around the outside permitier of their house though, you get 100% signal strength, regardless of the carrier.

If you enter the house, signal strength drops to 1~0 bars... 0 more often then 1. (Regardless of the carrier).

Their house was built in the 20's.... the outer walls are a combination of stone and brick. Inside walls are skinned  with plaster (backed by that metal mesh stuff). Maybe I'm crazy, but I think the mesh creates a Faraday Cage effect, essentually insulating the house from electrical signals.

At any rate, for them to get good signal inside their house... they have no choice but to get a microcell.

Just wanted to throw that out there.

[DawnIsPissed]

I just want to say that I am VERY happy with the customer service I experianced with ATT today. It took 3 days of calling and complaing but my receiption problem is now a thing of the past. Jamileh & Troy took care of everything! I suggest if you're having reception problems to keep calling and complaining until you find someone that will take ownership of the situation.

Thank you!

[slke]

I'm also considering leaving AT&T. I've had numerous issues and spent way too many hours on the phone, or in the store trying to resolve issues with my cell phone. I'm on my fifth phone in the past 14 months due to problems with them. My daughter has had hers replaced three times in the same time period. Don't even get me started on the customer service, or severe lack of. AT&T does not care about it's customers until a bill isn't paid.

The latest issue is the upgrade to Gingerbread OS, which has made my phone worse, performance wise. I lose signal a lot more than I used to, and it was already bad because of where I live. The reception is extremely garbled, and half the time the person on the other end hears about every third word I say. Extremely frustrating. And now I'm told I have to take the phone in a service center. More time wasted, and I suspect another phone issued.

 I started looking into the 3G Microcel for the poor reception I had prior to the Gingerbread OS install, and based on this forum I'm not going to waste my time. Another $200 gouge?? No thanks.

Verizon here I come...

[ChasCam580]

After going through much of the same treatment yesterday and not having cell phone service in my home due to the Microcell issues, I will switch carriers also. After spending more than an hour getting passed from on costumer service department to another and then another just to be told they don't know why they transfered my call to them and the problem has not been resolved really sucks. My M-Cell won't connect to the internet and hasn't event after going through the trouble shooting steps on my own and with two out of three costumer service reps. I understand that updates to this equiptment happen over night and could be the cause of my M-Cell not working, but AT&T should step up and make things good with there long time costumers. Since it seems that my service isn't important enough to resolve. Since other carriers products seem to work well in my house, then I guess it is time for me to switch. If there is a solution to this M-Cell problem it would be nice to pass on the fix to all concern or at lease tell us this unit is toast due to that last update.

[jamileh]

---

DawnIsPissed wrote:

I just want to say that I am VERY happy with the customer service I experianced with ATT today. It took 3 days of calling and complaing but my receiption problem is now a thing of the past. Jamileh & Troy took care of everything! I suggest if you're having reception problems to keep calling and complaining until you find someone that will take ownership of the situation.

Thank you!

---

I'm so glad we were able to get this taken care of Dawn. Does this mean we can change your username now?

[jamileh]

---

slke wrote:

I'm also considering leaving AT&T. I've had numerous issues and spent way too many hours on the phone, or in the store trying to resolve issues with my cell phone. I'm on my fifth phone in the past 14 months due to problems with them. My daughter has had hers replaced three times in the same time period. Don't even get me started on the customer service, or severe lack of. AT&T does not care about it's customers until a bill isn't paid.

The latest issue is the upgrade to Gingerbread OS, which has made my phone worse, performance wise. I lose signal a lot more than I used to, and it was already bad because of where I live. The reception is extremely garbled, and half the time the person on the other end hears about every third word I say. Extremely frustrating. And now I'm told I have to take the phone in a service center. More time wasted, and I suspect another phone issued.

 I started looking into the 3G Microcel for the poor reception I had prior to the Gingerbread OS install, and based on this forum I'm not going to waste my time. Another $200 gouge?? No thanks.

Verizon here I come...

---

Sounds like you've got mutliple issues going on. 

What is causing the multiple replacements on your phone and your daughter's phone?

Is this purely a reception issue or have there been issues with the phones themselves. You mentioned poor performance after you updated your phone; did your phone have poor reception before the update?

Do you only have issues in your home or is this something you experience no matter where you are?

[jamileh]

---

ChasCam580 wrote:

After going through much of the same treatment yesterday and not having cell phone service in my home due to the Microcell issues, I will switch carriers also. After spending more than an hour getting passed from on costumer service department to another and then another just to be told they don't know why they transfered my call to them and the problem has not been resolved really sucks. My M-Cell won't connect to the internet and hasn't event after going through the trouble shooting steps on my own and with two out of three costumer service reps. I understand that updates to this equiptment happen over night and could be the cause of my M-Cell not working, but AT&T should step up and make things good with there long time costumers. Since it seems that my service isn't important enough to resolve. Since other carriers products seem to work well in my house, then I guess it is time for me to switch. If there is a solution to this M-Cell problem it would be nice to pass on the fix to all concern or at lease tell us this unit is toast due to that last update.

---

I'm sorry you're having issues with your Microcell. From your post, it's clear that you've gone through all kinds of troubleshooting already. 

Will you please send me a private message with the following information:

your name

account number

phone number

the best time to contact you




To send a private message, you can either click on the link in this message or click on the little blue envelope in the upper right hand corner, click "compose new message" and type my username in the "Send To" field.

[tinalooks808]

I'm having problems also! I'm leaving on the 21st and moving back to T-Mobile if I can't get this fixed! . The representative had me change my sim and acknowledged that there are a ton of complaints in my area. My main issue is... if you know there is a problem why can't they loan me a microcell till they fix the problem? I have spent hours on the phone with customer service and at the end after weeks of "trouble shooting "the only thing they could say is we have a 200.00 microcell that you can buy???? As a shareholder I'm appalled and not only am I thinking about cancelling my service but I am.seriously considering pulling my investment in this company.

[cc999]

I am having the same trouble! I have 2 accounts one for my business and one personal, I pay ATT around 3500 dollars a year. All of a sudden in the last 2-3 weeks I have full reception (Like before) to NO reception. This cycles continuously and its on all 3 of the phones on the account. Yesterday I spent 2 hrs on the phone with no resolution. Got to the 3g technical support. Now supposedly I will be elevated to the 4G support.

   I suggested a microcell and they refused. I am at the end of my contract so if its not resolved I will switch carriers. This is rediculous, I had perfect service 3 weeks ago now I drop calls and my phone dosen't even ring when people call me.

   This situation is on ALL 3 phones on 2 accounts and was perfect reception 3 weeks ago!

CC

[jamileh]

---

tinalooks808 wrote:
I'm having problems also! I'm leaving on the 21st and moving back to T-Mobile if I can't get this fixed! . The representative had me change my sim and acknowledged that there are a ton of complaints in my area. My main issue is... if you know there is a problem why can't they loan me a microcell till they fix the problem? I have spent hours on the phone with customer service and at the end after weeks of "trouble shooting "the only thing they could say is we have a 200.00 microcell that you can buy???? As a shareholder I'm appalled and not only am I thinking about cancelling my service but I am.seriously considering pulling my investment in this company.

---

I'm sorry you're having such difficulty with your service. Is this something that's happened all of a sudden? Have you viewed the coverage map to determine what your coverage should be?

[jamileh]

---

cc999 wrote:

I am having the same trouble! I have 2 accounts one for my business and one personal, I pay ATT around 3500 dollars a year. All of a sudden in the last 2-3 weeks I have full reception (Like before) to NO reception. This cycles continuously and its on all 3 of the phones on the account. Yesterday I spent 2 hrs on the phone with no resolution. Got to the 3g technical support. Now supposedly I will be elevated to the 4G support.

   I suggested a microcell and they refused. I am at the end of my contract so if its not resolved I will switch carriers. This is rediculous, I had perfect service 3 weeks ago now I drop calls and my phone dosen't even ring when people call me.

   This situation is on ALL 3 phones on 2 accounts and was perfect reception 3 weeks ago!

CC

---

Sorry you're having a coverage issue - is this impacting both your business and personal lines? 

Are you currently waiting for a callback after your attempts to resolve this yesterday? 

[cc999]

Yes both lines, I am in sales and need to get ALL calls, just this am 2 customers called and my phone never rang!

Totally unacceptable. They should provide a microcell for free.

Yes another call back, I had to document how many time I had 0 bars on my phone.From 9:14 pm to 9:35 PM (Thats 21 minutes) I had no reception 6 times! I stopped counting after that. This is my business line. This am I missed 2 calls (did not ring) around 10:15 am.

   Can you help me, I am not putting any hope in these calls to the techs, they do nothing.

Charlie

[jamileh]

I understand that you don't have great expectations from the techs you're working with however starting a new process while they're currently working with you would only serve to slow things down. 

My suggestion is to continue to work with them, providing the information they request. 

If you find that you're not getting callbacks when they've been promised or when they present a resolution; you are not happy with it, we can definitely pick things up and try a different tactic. You're welcome to send me a private message with your contact information, account information (both personal & business) and if you would; a brief summary of both your concerns and the work you've done to help resolve this issue. 




To send a private message, you can either click on the link in this message or click on the little blue envelope in the upper right hand corner, click "compose new message" and type my username in the "Send To" field.

[cc999]

message sent

[jamileh]

Got it, thanks!

[jamileh]

I wanted to make sure this thread was updated. We were able to help cc999 get up and running. 

From his other post:

"Within 3 days from my first email my problem was resolved. Anthony elevated my ticket to a network technician who promptly called and and assured he would get to the bottom of the problem. That night at 8:15 the tech called to verify new towers goign on line and he expedited the implimintation. Low and behold I had 5 bars HSP+ and my wife had 5 bars 4G. Before we has edge and 1 to none bars of 3g which caused all the problems. They fixed my problem in 3 days where I was calling for weeks on the 611 line to try to get a resolution."

[Odin1701h]

I understand the frustration that people have when technology doesn't work as well as we all hope it will but can't we all take a deep breath?  I manage my company's "fleet" of cell phones and we have 175+ lines scattered around the country.  We use Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and prepaid phones ... based mostly on what contracts we are locked into and what service has the best coverage from our own experience.  I deal with customer service and tech support at all of these companies regularly and I can tell you two things for sure: 1) they are human beings who do actually want to help you with your problem, they just might not be able to give away things for free without jumping through their own hoops first; 2) every company has their good days and their bad days and no matter how many different ways you slice it up, Verizon or Sprint or T-Mobile or anyone else will let you down too one day.

Everyone in the country doesn't get to have 5 bars of service everywhere they go at all times (no matter who you are with) and so AT&T and other companies have come up with a cool way to help people get better service.  Sometimes it works really well and other times there are weird issues that go unresolved.  Everything from userzero's Faraday cage (sounds plausible to me!) to the number of flourescent lights you have in your house to the granite ledge running under my house which kills all signals (4 bars at the top of the driveway, 0 bars at the bottom ... 20 feet away!) can have a significant impact on your service.  Add to the mix an internet provider and there's more things that can go out of whack.  We all understand that issues need to be addressed in a meaningful way when they are brought up ... but we should all understand that no company is perfect either.  Let's keep these forums about the questions we need help answering and not rants about how much something sucks or how much you don't want to pay for things.

No, I don't work for AT&T (or any other telecommunications provider).  I hope everyone has a wonderful day and slows down for a minute or two if they can