TDS DSL to Uverse CONFLICT PROBLEMS!!!!!!!

[Zed_Zee]

I am hoping someone here can help resolve my issue or at least this message serves as a WARNING on what to expect trying to switch from another DSL provider to Uverse.

I’ll try to make a LONG story short. May 20, 2009 Uverse sales rep came to my door.

I had been considering Uverse for a while and he was offering $200 rebate plus an additional $50 closing credit. Great, let’s place the order. WRONG. I had TDS Metrocom DSL so there was a conflict. He called and tried to get around it to no avail. I would have to disconnect my DSL. Fine. Called TDS, took them until June 4 to turn off my DSL.

Great. Sales rep comes back. Tries to place the order. WRONG. ATT still shows a conflict. Okay. Let’s place a new order under my wifes name. WRONG. ATT still shows a conflict. Call TDS. They say everything has been done both technically and legally.

Call ATT to place order. (sales rep gave up). WRONG. Still shows conflict. Phone rep says switching to ATT analog voice line may clear up the issue and allow the order to go through. But I don’t want ATT analog, I want the Uverse package. But okay, to proceed I’ll do it. July 17, 2009 an ATT tech comes and physically switches me and my number is ported over. Great, should be good to go. WRONG. ATT still shows a conflict.

Call TDS and DEMAND they “release the facility of the dry loop”. They triple check and send a technician to verify it is physically disconnected. It is. They say if ATT still has a conflict, ATT needs to call them and tell them what they need to clear the line.

ATT can’t or won’t do that.

Now today, July 22, 2009 ATT has told me that they have received no order from TDS to “clear the circuit” and that needs to happen. So I just called TDS to see if the order to “clear the circuit” has been placed. TDS said they DO NOT place such orders and that ATT is incorrect and that NEVER needs to happen. TDS said that canceling the original DSL in effect does that and that it is an ATT issue and they can do nothing. TDS said they have run into this before and it is always an ATT issue and she believes they eventually get it resolved.

TDS again is saying it is an ATT issue and ATT is again saying it is a TDS issue.

I am so frustrated at this point. 

So it has now been over two months trying to get Uverse and no home internet.

Can anyone here provide any insight on how I can get this resolved?

[erazoner]

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=The_Lounge&thread.id=26474

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

I can appreciate your frustrations.  Switching from a 3rd party DSL provider to U-verse has been discussed many times on this forum.  I have heard that your current DSL provider has to be disconnected for 7-10 days before an order can be placed for U-verse.  After the order is placed, it could be a couple of weeks before your U-verse install actually occurs.  Take a look at the following post:

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=HSIA&thread.id=4579

[Zed_Zee]

Thanks erazoner, but as with everything with this issue, another problem.

After I see your post I called ATT and talk to a fairly rude rep, briefly explain and ask for my case number.

He says I have no case numbers.

Huh??

He says all it shows is cancelled orders.

I ask him how many?

"Six", is his reply.

"But I have no case numbers".

"No."

I will try David and see if there is any hope but I am not optimistic.

[Zed_Zee]

I read that post but I have been disconnected from my old DSL since June 4, 2009

and STILL CAN NOT EVEN PLACE AN ORDER.

And after switching my phone to ATT analog, too!!!!!! (which I did not want to do)

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

---

Zed_Zee wrote:

I read that post but I have been disconnected from my old DSL since June 4, 2009

and STILL CAN NOT EVEN PLACE AN ORDER.

And after switching my phone to ATT analog, too!!!!!! (which I did not want to do)

---

That's very odd.  Your line should be cleared by now.  Hopefully, David can help you with this.

[Zed_Zee]

It is now July 29 and I STILL can not get the TDS line conflict problem resolved. Countless hours on the phone with both TDS and AT&T. TDS keeps telling me they have done everything and it is a AT&T issue. And AT&T keeps telling me they still show TDS data on my line and can not proceed and I need to talk to TDS. I even switched to AT&T analog voice because I was told that may clear the line. It did not. Now I am being told to switch to AT&T Yahoo DSL and if that is successful I will then be able to place the Uverse order. If it shows a conflict it is still a TDS issue. This is crazy and I am at my wits end. Anyone have any suggestions?

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

---

Zed_Zee wrote:
It is now July 29 and I STILL can not get the TDS line conflict problem resolved. Countless hours on the phone with both TDS and AT&T. TDS keeps telling me they have done everything and it is a AT&T issue. And AT&T keeps telling me they still show TDS data on my line and can not proceed and I need to talk to TDS. I even switched to AT&T analog voice because I was told that may clear the line. It did not. Now I am being told to switch to AT&T Yahoo DSL and if that is successful I will then be able to place the Uverse order. If it shows a conflict it is still a TDS issue. This is crazy and I am at my wits end. Anyone have any suggestions?

---

Where you able to contact David for help with this?

[Zed_Zee]

Yes, David and another tech have both looked into it. Here is their response:

"I had David take a look at things for you as DSL is his specialty. What we both see is the TDS line information still exists on your phone line; although TDS says they have done their part, they have only deprovisioned your service but not disconnected from your line.

As a suggestion so you are without Internet service, David says you should be able to order AT&T Yahoo DSL service. This allows you to have an AT&T ID setup to allow a UVerse order to be put through once the DSL is up; if the AT&T Yahoo DSL runs into the same issues then that shows that your previous service has not fully disconnected from your line."

I will try ordering Yahoo DSL tomorrow. If successful it would seem to be a AT&T issue. If not, AT&T will tell me it is TDS who say they can do nothing. It has been a vicious circle jerk.

No joy.

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

Good luck!

[Zed_Zee]

I called ATT and ordered DSL yesterday. I explained my problems to the first rep I spoke to. He told me I would have to purchase the modem, etc. I told him that was unacceptaple. He transferred me to customer service rep and she pulled up my call log and saw all the credits I was promised, etc. She couldn't believe all I've been through. She was able to place the DSL order and said she saw no conflicts. Installer is coming Monday to switch the line. They are sending me the modem and she is issuing a rewards card to cover the cost. They are also offering a $75 rebate right now and I asked if I would be eligible for that. She stated that after all I've been through they would honor that too. She also saw that I was promised a total of an additional $300 in closing credits and discounts. And they will not charge me for the analog voice line I was told to try.

Once the DSL is up she told me to email her and she would see to it that the Uverse order was escalated

and would get installed asap. She actually provided me with her email so I have direct contact with ONE person from ATT.

It would appear at this point that it is (was) an internal system issue with the Uverse ordering process as the DSL order went through.

We will see if I am out of the woods yet though. I am pessimistically optimistic at this point. 

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

Thanks for the update.  I hope it goes well!

[RCSMG ACE - Expert]

I hope they come through with all of the things she told you.

[Zed_Zee]

Yeah, I foresee another round of battles. But the rep was the one who brought these items up and seem to be sympathetic to my plight

and said she was able to see all the notes from my MANY calls.

She did provide me with her email and said to contact her once the DSL is up. I will follow up with all I was promised. We'll see.

As I said I am pessimistically optimistic. One step at a time.

[Escapee]

You have made friends with the keeper of the Golden Goose. I hope everything works Monday and that opens the door to Uverse for you. There are many reps like the one that helped you but it is getting harder for people like them to help.

Thanks for all the updates. 

Good Luck but stay pessimistically optimistic. I think your rep will try to move mountains it is a form of payback. 

[Zed_Zee]

Yippeee!!! I am now through the next hurdle and am successfully on ATT DSL. Now to see about getting the UVerse

installed and all the credits I was promised.

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

---

Zed_Zee wrote:

Yippeee!!! I am now through the next hurdle and am successfully on ATT DSL. Now to see about getting the UVerse

installed and all the credits I was promised.

---

Great news!  Good luck.

[Escapee]

One more hurdle crossed. Hope we can downsize the  pessimistically     and expand the optimistic   May the wind be to your back from here on out. Good Luck

[Zed_Zee]

NO JOY! I emailed the rep and wanted to proceed with the Uverse order. I then received a call from another AT&T rep.

They are STILL showing TDS data on my line so can not proceed. She provided me with the Circuit ID # and a BTN number.

She said I need to contact TDS and tell them they need their MLACC department to clear the Circuit ID line.

TDS Metrocom's office is local so I went to their office and asked to speak to a manager in the tech department.

The receptionist called a manager (who is in Minnesota) and explained my situation. She then passed the phone to me and I

spoke to him directly. I gave him the Circuit ID # and BTN. He did some checking and said it appeared that everything was done.

But he would check into it further and call me back. I left their office dejected.

Less than five minutes later he called me back and said that someone made an error and the line disconnect order NEVER WAS PLACED!

He said they would place the disconnect order to ATT today and that it will take a few days to work through the sytem before ATT would show the line is clear. He estimated it would be Monday.

I asked him why after DOZENS of calls to their tech department explaining the ongoing issue that no one was able to see that the line disconnect order was NEVER placed even after being specifically told what the problem was. He said he was able to quickly discover the error but had no answer as to why others were unable to see the error. I am thinking of filing a formal complaint with the BBB and FCC.

But I will wait to see what Monday brings.

So I wait.........pessimistically. 

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

Thanks for the update!  Sounds like things are progressing.

[Escapee]

Be optimistic you found the mistake and unless the disconnect order gets tripped up you should be good to go. It was nice to see it was not AT&T that dropped the ball. AT&T has to deal with these orders like walking on thin ice.If they had just disconnected the service on your request and the TDS had protested AT&T would have been subject to a fine.The fines do not seem to flow in the other direction. I would file a complaint with the FCC. This has become a bigger problem then most people realize. Most of the time it involves business circuit transfers so the general public does not hear about it. 

Make sure you get a 8 am install appointment. An AM appointment will keep your install from being delayed if the installer your order is assigned to gets hung up on an imposable to work order. Almost all orders flow through with no problem but as you found out if it hits a snag the problems snowball.

I would like to commend you on your patience and the class you showed in your posts. 

[jmeredith79]

As someone who has experience in the telecom field dealing with numerous providers of data circuits, it does not surprise me at all that you would run into this issue with TDS. Many companies (especially smaller companies) still rely on paperwork and faxing to get things connected/disconnected, etc. While it sucks for the end-user, alot of times when you call into companies (be that AT&T or any other company) you are dealing with someone who has worked their for so many years and only does what their job is to do, which really does not benefit the customer. This is not a rag on AT&T or TDS or anyone else, but after spending 9 months having a nationwide CLEC network installed, I can understand the frustration.

[Zed_Zee]

The latest update. TDS told me it would probably take until Monday for the line to clear. I emailed the ATT rep and updated her after I spoke to TDS.

Later that same day another ATT rep called me on the other rep's behalf because she was unable to call me. She was calling to confirm my order specs. She said for the heck of it while I'm on the line let's see if the line has cleared.

Lo and behold, THE LINE WAS CLEARED. She saw no conflicts. I can FINALLY proceed. We were both amazed. She said she would go ahead and set an install date and call me back tomorrow. (which is now today)

She called me back this afternoon and I have an install date for 8 am this Saturday!! I asked again about all the credits and rewards I was promised. She said it was all documented. I will receive a $250 rewards and an additional $50 rewards. I will receive a $50 reward to cover the cost of the DSL modem I needed to buy. They are not going to charge me for the time on the voice line AND she said I will also receive a $100 cash back because I ordered the voice line. She had already processed that and a check should be arriving in about two weeks.

The rest I will have to wait until I am up and running and receive a rewards letter with details on how to redeem. YAHOO!!!!!

She also provided me with her email in case there were any problems with anything. Nice.

Shortly after that I received an email from the first rep asking me if the other rep had contacted me about placing the order.

I updated her on things and told her I would update her again when (if) everything is up and running.

So now my pessimism has turned to optimism. I hope I am not disappointed on Saturday.

Stay tuned........

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

Great news!  Thanks for the update.  This is a good example of how something can started out as a nightmare buy still end in happy story if you are persistent.

Welcome to the U-verse family!

Message Edited by texasguy37 on 08-05-2009 11:26 PM

[Escapee]

Great news hope you get the best installer in the area and never have another problem. 

I would suggest you ask the great Rep if they would like for you to let the company know what a great job they did for you if you are so inclined.

The reason I put it that way is some of the techs would rather keep a low profile and just keep flying under management's radar. 

Many techs like your rep feel like they are just doing their job and being recognized by management is embarrassing.

Let us know how Saturday goes. 

You are more then welcome to stay active on the site after your install.

[Zed_Zee]

Haha! Thanks guys! (girls?) But I am not there yet. We'll see how Saturday goes.

I will update after the install. Then I am sure I will have questions or complaints.

I'll ask the reps after the install if they would like some kudos. She actually emailed me again today to say let her or the other rep

know if I have any problems with anything.  

I have been lurking here since before this odyssey started and already have questions but

figured I'd wait until I actually had it to ask. (faxing, DVRing, Caller ID, setting up & forwardng emails, etc.)

Stay tuned............

p.s I love your tag line, Escapee. The problem is they are so numerous!

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

---

Zed_Zee wrote:

Haha! Thanks guys! (girls?) But I am not there yet. We'll see how Saturday goes.

I will update after the install. Then I am sure I will have questions or complaints.

I'll ask the reps after the install if they would like some kudos. She actually emailed me again today to say let her or the other rep

know if I have any problems with anything.  

I have been lurking here since before this odyssey started and already have questions but

figured I'd wait until I actually had it to ask. (faxing, DVRing, Caller ID, setting up & forwardng emails, etc.)

Stay tuned............

p.s I love your tag line, Escapee. The problem is they are so numerous!

---

Good deal.  Let us know if you have any questions.  Also, you can search this forum and find a lot of information on the subjects that you mentioned above.

Good luck!

[Escapee]

If you have not tried Uverseusers the wiki might answer some questions. Also some of the techs will not post over here.

http://www.uverseusers.com/index.php?option=com_openwiki&Itemid=36

You also have a big bundle of get help free cards here. 

If your installer is good or not ask them all of those questions. They are pushed for time but setting up and showing you how everything works is part of the install. Make sure they get your e-mail working just the way you want it. 

[Zed_Zee]

And now for the rest of the story. I awoke to a dark, gloomy day with heavy rain coming down. I turned on my TV

but could get nothing on the Dish Network due to the heavy rain.

A sign? Perhaps.

8:30 am the installer, Ray, called me and said he has the order and would be there in about twenty minutes. 

He showed up and took an overview of the install. He then left to go to the box to switch the lines.

30 minutes later he was back and began checking my existing lines. He ran into one that he said couldn't be used to to splitters

being used in the line and I had drywalled the line in a few years ago. We ended up snaking a new line through a duct and had to drill a hole

in my bedroom closet to get it to the bedroom. No biggie really.

About 2.5 hours later I FINALLY HAVE UVERSE!!!!!!! 

My inital impresson was the picture was noticeably less noisy than I ever had with Dish.

And I wish there were more than one Favorites profiles.

I spent today connecting and programing the remote for various devices.

Tonight I will explore features. So far I am impressed and happy.

[texasguy37 ACE - Expert]

That's good news!  Welcome to U-verse. 

If you have any questions or run into problems, let us know.