complaint

[habluetzel]

i think going back to rabbit ears for tv is going to be my option. att  uverse is taking the good channels away from the little guys that just have ufamily  this company seems to forget the little guys is what made them big . 

i looked into upgrading and if i do everything they gave me for free  to get me signed up i will have to pay for sounds like ATT is forgetting how they got where they are today . also when i did sign up i was told that upgrading  i would not be charged for product such as extra boxes  they gave me for free . THEY LIED  

I am disappointed in your company .sticking to your word and standing by what you say is not in your vocabulary .

[smcleod1106]

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habluetzel wrote:

i think going back to rabbit ears for tv is going to be my option. att  uverse is taking the good channels away from the little guys that just have ufamily  this company seems to forget the little guys is what made them big . 

i looked into upgrading and if i do everything they gave me for free  to get me signed up i will have to pay for sounds like ATT is forgetting how they got where they are today . also when i did sign up i was told that upgrading  i would not be charged for product such as extra boxes  they gave me for free . THEY LIED  

I am disappointed in your company .sticking to your word and standing by what you say is not in your vocabulary .

---

That's how they got so big.

[spd2demun ACE - Master]

Which channels?

Extra boxes beyond what a package allows have never been free.  Were you grandfathered with free STBs, and you're saying that if you upgrade from U-Family, the STBs will now have monthly charges for each?

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habluetzel wrote:

i think going back to rabbit ears for tv is going to be my option. att  uverse is taking the good channels away from the little guys that just have ufamily  this company seems to forget the little guys is what made them big . 

i looked into upgrading and if i do everything they gave me for free  to get me signed up i will have to pay for sounds like ATT is forgetting how they got where they are today . also when i did sign up i was told that upgrading  i would not be charged for product such as extra boxes  they gave me for free . THEY LIED  

I am disappointed in your company .sticking to your word and standing by what you say is not in your vocabulary .

---

[kryptonite]

---

habluetzel wrote:

i think going back to rabbit ears for tv is going to be my option. att  uverse is taking the good channels away from the little guys that just have ufamily  this company seems to forget the little guys is what made them big . 

i looked into upgrading and if i do everything they gave me for free  to get me signed up i will have to pay for sounds like ATT is forgetting how they got where they are today . also when i did sign up i was told that upgrading  i would not be charged for product such as extra boxes  they gave me for free . THEY LIED  

I am disappointed in your company .sticking to your word and standing by what you say is not in your vocabulary .

---

Apparently capital letters aren't in your vocabulary, bucko.

The funny thing?  Try to get those channels you pay for with rabbit ears.

"i looked into upgrading and if i do everything they gave me for free  to get me signed up i will have to pay for"

Well yeah.  If you upgrade, you'll have to pay more.  I think that's what you mean, but the rambling of your sentence confuses me.

[nancysp]

I have done some checking with my local cable company (I too am having problems with ATT service). I have found they have FREE HD and ALL the channels I like to watch (unlike ATTs U-verse).

I like that ATT try's to give some info about the shows and the 'first-air' dates. The cable doesn't bother.  

I did find that both cable and ATT have problems giving the correct info for the TV programming (ATT had tonight's DATELINE listed as 'first-run' 10/01/10 but it was a re-run. Last night ATT listed a show at 9p that did not air at 9p.)

The cable costs are less than $5 difference for comparable services (TV, Internet and phone) but NOT customer service. I'm pretty sure the cable company won't make a 'valued' customer wait 16 hrs over two days for a service tech to NOT show up with a new box so the TV, Internet and phone stop going dead on their own! (Yes, that's right, 16 hrs of waiting and nobody ever showed up!!! The supervisor told me I was a 'PRIORITY' call too, lmao!!) 

I agree with habluetzel about ATT being too big to care any more about their customers.

[dhascall ACE - Professor]

---

nancysp wrote:

I have done some checking with my local cable company (I too am having problems with ATT service). I have found they have FREE HD and ALL the channels I like to watch (unlike ATTs U-verse).

I like that ATT try's to give some info about the shows and the 'first-air' dates. The cable doesn't bother.  

I did find that both cable and ATT have problems giving the correct info for the TV programming (ATT had tonight's DATELINE listed as 'first-run' 10/01/10 but it was a re-run. Last night ATT listed a show at 9p that did not air at 9p.)

The cable costs are less than $5 difference for comparable services (TV, Internet and phone) but NOT customer service. I'm pretty sure the cable company won't make a 'valued' customer wait 16 hrs over two days for a service tech to NOT show up with a new box so the TV, Internet and phone stop going dead on their own! (Yes, that's right, 16 hrs of waiting and nobody ever showed up!!! The supervisor told me I was a 'PRIORITY' call too, lmao!!) 

I agree with habluetzel about ATT being too big to care any more about their customers.

---

And Comcast, Time Warner, Brighthouse, Dish, Direct, Sprint, Verizon, GM, Ford and on and on and on.

[CTEL08]

---

habluetzel wrote:

i think going back to rabbit ears for tv is going to be my option. att  uverse is taking the good channels away from the little guys that just have ufamily  this company seems to forget the little guys is what made them big . 

i looked into upgrading and if i do everything they gave me for free  to get me signed up i will have to pay for sounds like ATT is forgetting how they got where they are today . also when i did sign up i was told that upgrading  i would not be charged for product such as extra boxes  they gave me for free . THEY LIED  

I am disappointed in your company .sticking to your word and standing by what you say is not in your vocabulary .

---

unless youre a big sports fan or a cable news junkie, then over the air television is something to look in to as an option. the HD is better than what youll find on uverse, this aint your grampa's OTA anymore

in addition to the big 4, here are a few of the subchannels, which uverse does not carry:

2 24/7 kids networks

1 full time sports network

2 24/7 LOCAL weather stations

1 full time news channel

1 full time movie channel

[dhascall ACE - Professor]

---

CTEL08 wrote:

---

habluetzel wrote:

i think going back to rabbit ears for tv is going to be my option. att  uverse is taking the good channels away from the little guys that just have ufamily  this company seems to forget the little guys is what made them big . 

i looked into upgrading and if i do everything they gave me for free  to get me signed up i will have to pay for sounds like ATT is forgetting how they got where they are today . also when i did sign up i was told that upgrading  i would not be charged for product such as extra boxes  they gave me for free . THEY LIED  

I am disappointed in your company .sticking to your word and standing by what you say is not in your vocabulary .

---

unless youre a big sports fan or a cable news junkie, then over the air television is something to look in to as an option. the HD is better than what youll find on uverse, this aint your grampa's OTA anymore

in addition to the big 4, here are a few of the subchannels, which uverse does not carry:

2 24/7 kids networks

1 full time sports network

2 24/7 LOCAL weather stations

1 full time news channel

1 full time movie channel

---

Yes OTA is an option.  Recording is a bit more problematic.  I have seen a HD DVR.  It can record only two channels and runs way over $300.  Then you have may antenna issues, as I do.  Could receive local 6,8, 13, 20, 23, 29 (a rebroadcast of 4) and 59 great as analogs but not 4 or 63.  With DTV I can not receive 8, 13 or 20 reliably and the stations are broadcast from the same towers.  I can now get 4 but not it's counterpart 29, so that is a push. 

[kryptonite]

---

nancysp wrote:

I have done some checking with my local cable company (I too am having problems with ATT service). I have found they have FREE HD and ALL the channels I like to watch (unlike ATTs U-verse).

---

WRONG.   The cable industry used to advertise "free HD" but were ordered to stop their false advertisements.  Instead, they now advertise "no charge HD" meaning they do not have a seperate charge for those channels.

Cable hides those HD fees in with your regular cost.  They charge everyone equally, meaning that if you don't have HD, you're still paying for it.  If you WANT HD, there is usually no extra cost.

HOWEVER, if you want a DVR, you have to pay extra, many times PER DVR.  With AT&T,  the main DVR is often included in the base price, and you can get Total Home DVR included with your extra box fee.

If I want two DVRs with cable, I could be looking at over $40 per month.

Box 1 - $8

DVR 1 - $15

Box 2 - $8

DVR 2 - $15

...and, they're not connected to each other, and I cannot schedule programming online.

[mikedamirault]

---

CTEL08 wrote:

---

habluetzel wrote:

i think going back to rabbit ears for tv is going to be my option. att  uverse is taking the good channels away from the little guys that just have ufamily  this company seems to forget the little guys is what made them big . 

i looked into upgrading and if i do everything they gave me for free  to get me signed up i will have to pay for sounds like ATT is forgetting how they got where they are today . also when i did sign up i was told that upgrading  i would not be charged for product such as extra boxes  they gave me for free . THEY LIED  

I am disappointed in your company .sticking to your word and standing by what you say is not in your vocabulary .

---

unless youre a big sports fan or a cable news junkie, then over the air television is something to look in to as an option. the HD is better than what youll find on uverse, this aint your grampa's OTA anymore

in addition to the big 4, here are a few of the subchannels, which uverse does not carry:

2 24/7 kids networks

1 full time sports network

2 24/7 LOCAL weather stations

1 full time news channel

1 full time movie channel

---

This differs per city and state, I live in Central Ohio and don't get half what's in that subchannel list

I get the following OTA subchannels 

1 24/7 local weather station

2 secondary TV stations (RTV and MyTV)

2 PBS secondary channels (WOSU OHIO and WOSU PLUS CREATE)

There are no 24/7 kids networks, full time sports networks, full time news, or full time movie channels around here

It depends on what local affiliates decide to broadcast (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CW, and PBS), or what unaffiliated local broadcast stations plan to broadcast

[chrisw]

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kryptonite wrote:

WRONG.   The cable industry used to advertise "free HD" but were ordered to stop their false advertisements.  Instead, they now advertise "no charge HD" meaning they do not have a seperate charge for those channels.

Cable hides those HD fees in with your regular cost.  They charge everyone equally, meaning that if you don't have HD, you're still paying for it.  If you WANT HD, there is usually no extra cost.

HOWEVER, if you want a DVR, you have to pay extra, many times PER DVR.  With AT&T,  the main DVR is often included in the base price, and you can get Total Home DVR included with your extra box fee.

If I want two DVRs with cable, I could be looking at over $40 per month.

Box 1 - $8

DVR 1 - $15

Box 2 - $8

DVR 2 - $15

...and, they're not connected to each other, and I cannot schedule programming online.

---

Interesting. Over here, Comcast charges an $8 HD Technology Fee. One AnyRoom DVR (Who needs two DVRs really) is free/included in the package, and each additional receiver is $8. Which provider are you basing your prices on?

[dhascall ACE - Professor]

Indeed UV will not be the only provider offering a THDVR style setup, in the future and Comcast already has it in some areas.  They do so here.  Locally it is an $8 HD fee (was like $15 at one point) and $8 STB's.  For us, it would be a near push.  Of course the packages (while not identical to each other - hard to compare) are a bit cheaper for UV.