Address Validation

[jwlawhorn]

Not going to become unglued, because frankly, me getting upset doesn't make the issue fix itself. Yelling at customer service reps doesn't achieve anything.  Remind me I made these statements in a week once I take this up again and throw a fit.

So I'm in the process of getting my DSL service moved to a new address. The address doesn't appear in the databases (never had a phone line! Believe it or not.), but my surrounding neighbors' addresses do.  So now I've spoken or chatted with five different representatives at five different locations throughout the ATT universe over the last week.

The 2020 number is where I'm at now, the rep filled out the address validation order with me on the phone and explained the process. I'm thinking everybody should start with that number, regardless of what documentation you've been given.

Not happy about having to wait 7-10 days for someone to look at a map, but after reading through some of the posts in the community, I'm keeping calm and carrying on.  I will point out that everyone I spoke to seemed to be in the US, even in the same region, so that seems to be an improvement over past practice.  Lack of follow-up has been my biggest complaint so far, everyone I've spoken to has seemed willing to help, I've gotten none of the bad attitude that some of you have pointed out. 

Good luck to everybody else going through this process. Stay positive. I may be back for help once I hear back or don't hear back. 

[jwlawhorn]

Had five messages on my voice mail at work after the weekend  from various folks.

Three were from the customer service rep from the -2020 line, very conscientious. He went ahead and started my order for installation for the following week, even called me Monday morning before I called him back. Shawn helped a lot.

One was from the DSL technical dept (Perhaps?) stating I needed to connect my modem. (Uhh, what modem?....Only when I talked to Shawn, did I understand that I was going to use my exisiting equipment.) Fine.

And then the last one was from the original (chat) rep that I started this quest with two weeks ago. She told me that unforunately, internet was not available at my address. ::sigh:: 

Guess I'll take the fact that 4/5 calls were positive as a good sign. 

[jwlawhorn]

The comedy continues. I'm glad I have a sense of irony about all of this.

Installation was scheduled to be completed by 8pm last night (Tuesday). 

Got an automatic voice mail from AT&T last night stating it will be delayed until Tuesday between 8-5pm. No date on that Tuesday, assuming that means NEXT Tuesday? Also gave me my 11 digit order# which matched with what I had been given by the previous representative.

So I hopped onto ATT.COM to see if I could find further information. Order status said "Delayed-Please Call"  & "Please call or chat". Fine, okay, so I started with chat, specifically on the bottom of the order status screen that stated "question about order status? Chat." The rep confirmed the order #, what the order was for, and confirmed that the order was delayed.

Then she proceeded to tell me that I had reached DSL Technical Support and needed to call the -2020 order line. 

Umm..... so why would I be connected to technical support from an order status page? I was then asked to fill out a survey as to if the chat answered my order status inquiry. Bravo!

So I called the 2020 and talked to magic voice for a while. Checked the order status based on the 11 digit order number that I've been using for the last week. Nope, no listing. So I checked based on my  DSL-only phone#, and yep, there was one order for high speed internet, a 7 digit order number that was scheduled to be completed yesterday and records indicated that it was completed.

So I yelled at magic voice to get me an agent.

Spoke to the agent, asked her my questions. She told me the tech was dispatched this morning and it was just a scheduling issue.

In fact, the tech called me this morning personally, twice! (Big thanks to Tom from the New Buffalo, MI office)

To summarize this update, the people seem to be willing and helpful, but there are systematic flaws within the customer serivce organization that really need to be addressed.

The information across systems just doesn't seem to match/isn't accurate. Multiple order numbers for the same order. Points of contact that aren't synchronized or able to seemlessly pass the end user to the correct information even within the same service type. 

I see the end in sight. 

[jwlawhorn]

Final update.

Plugged in my modem, internet fired right up. Took a month.