AT&T Incompetence - Galaxy S III General (US Carriers)

DISCLAIMER: This is a rant about AT&T's incompetence. Read at your own risk.
Fed up with T-Mobile's ongoing data issue in my neighborhood, I decided to jump ship to AT&T. Last Friday, I signed up for a 2-line family plan, ordered two GSIIIs (a blue for myself, and a white for my wife), and let the waiting game begin. On Monday night, I got a shipping confirmation, with a scheduled delivery on Thursday (today). On my way home from work, I tracked the package and saw that a delivery attempt was made, but my apartment number was missing. Having received countless packages via UPS (Amazon Prime member), I called UPS immediately upon walking through my front door. UPS informed me that no apartment number was indicated on the package and that I have to contact the shipper to have it added. I immediately asked if I could pick up the package at my local UPS depot, and the service rep informed me that the sender placed a restriction on the package and it can only be delivered (I can't pick up the package in person with a government-issued photo ID? Sounds like BS to me, but whatever). The rep then stated that UPS will require permission from the sender in order for me to pick it up in person.
I call AT&T and explain the situation to their service rep. The rep admits that the apartment number was omitted from my package's shipping address (really? I mean, really???) and that she'll be happy to contact UPS and have them change the address. I asked the rep to inform UPS that I am permitted to pick up the package in person. She stated that she will make the arrangements with UPS and placed me on hold. After a few minutes, the rep came back online and was "happy to inform me that she was able to get my apartment number added to the shipping address." Unfortunately, UPS will not allow me to pick up the package in person and will only deliver it, because of a restriction placed on it (BS - just a few minutes before, a UPS rep told me that the package can be released to me with sender's permission).
Here's the kicker. My billing period with T-Mobile is ending on Saturday, and I don't want to incur an additional month's charge (T-Mobile doesn't prorate final bills) in the event that my numbers aren't ported out in a timely manner. AT&T sure knows how to impress a new customer. If their employees are unable (or just incompetent) to correctly fill out a shipping label (seriously, how freakin' difficult is it to enter the apartment number into the correct field?), what does that say about the company? They were certainly competent enough to quickly charge my debit card for the phones!
I haven't made up my mind yet, but I'm considering refusing the package, getting my money back, and staying with T-Mobile. I haven't even used AT&T's service yet, but they've already managed to make a negative impression on me. T-Mobile's data really sucks in my neighborhood, but do I really want to commit to doing two years' worth of business with a company that not only can't seem to get their logistics right, but doesn't even know the policies of their shipping partner?
Again, this is just a rant. I probably should have gone to the store and saved myself the aggravation.

KGBKNY .. I can relate to issues also with AT&T, however .. until you get a real issue, what you experienced could have happened with ANY company.
AT&T is good .. although there systems only show that I have been with them since December 2005 (when they bought it back from Cingular), I have in fact been with AT&T since 1994 (and I even still have my first cell phone .. and it still works). I started with CellularOne in '94 in which was bought out by AT&T .. AT&T ran into financial issues and split its mobility department away from corporate AT&T and called it Cingular .. then of course, come 2005, AT&T regained control.
Now, in 18 years .. there has been ups and downs, and in all instances, they have come through for me with no problems. I have a family plan, 5 lines .. but believe me, they have perks for there long time customers that cannot be beaten. An example of one perk .. I now have a Samsung Galaxy S III .. most people on here (or around the world) are paying anything from $150 to $800 for this masterpiece .. I myself received the Marble White when the second batch was released last week .. paid absolutely nothing for it .. sorry, let me correct that, $ 4.95 for overnight shipping !!! But, here is the other perk .. no contract extension.
So, give them a chance, a shipping mishap is a little issue .. when you receive a $ 1M phone bill from them, then complain .. :laugh:
Cheers .. and welcome to AT&T :highfive:

everyone makes mistakes and there are shipping errors all the time no matter the company or the parcel company itself. Don't judge AT&T until you get on their network. Plus like you said you could of gone to the store.
Goodluck

Just get the phone and you'll be satisfied. Sheesh. everyone makes mistakes. It shouldn't influence you to think badly of a company unless it happens on a consistent basis. I understand that it's beyond stupid how someone didn't enter the apartment number but it's one mistake... I would just advise you to give it time.
I been with at&t for 6 years and I have no complains. Excellent service and great customer service.
sent from my GALAXY SIII

LordGeek said:
KGBKNY .. I can relate to issues also with AT&T, however .. until you get a real issue, what you experienced could have happened with ANY company.
AT&T is good .. although there systems only show that I have been with them since December 2005 (when they bought it back from Cingular), I have in fact been with AT&T since 1994 (and I even still have my first cell phone .. and it still works). I started with CellularOne in '94 in which was bought out by AT&T .. AT&T ran into financial issues and split its mobility department away from corporate AT&T and called it Cingular .. then of course, come 2005, AT&T regained control.
Now, in 18 years .. there has been ups and downs, and in all instances, they have come through for me with no problems. I have a family plan, 5 lines .. but believe me, they have perks for there long time customers that cannot be beaten. An example of one perk .. I now have a Samsung Galaxy S III .. most people on here (or around the world) are paying anything from $150 to $800 for this masterpiece .. I myself received the Marble White when the second batch was released last week .. paid absolutely nothing for it .. sorry, let me correct that, $ 4.95 for overnight shipping !!! But, here is the other perk .. no contract extension.
So, give them a chance, a shipping mishap is a little issue .. when you receive a $ 1M phone bill from them, then complain .. :laugh:
Cheers .. and welcome to AT&T :highfive:
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Click to collapse
I agree...and concur what is said..They have had their ups & downs..but considering all of the BS I have gone through with Sprint..Verizon..T-mobile...AT&T mobile is the best hands down.Now..I will say this..check out the different stores in your area...not all are the same with regards to how well you will taken care of..or the knowledge of the staff...Luckily we have plenty of stores to choose from where I live..and can tell you there are night and day differences in both the staff and the store managers in each. Don't go in blowing steam...that will get you zero respect and help..but talk to them as you would expect to be talked to..and remember to get all of the techs information if you have to complain to the manager..They will be more than willing to help and keep you happy...even when dealing with issues of their other services...I got mine with a early no charge upgrade..and no extra fees because of issues I had with their stupid u-verse..and getting my Atrix 4g earlier this year...The longer your with them..the more perks you can get..you just have to know how to talk to them..
Mac

Thanks for the replies, everyone. However, my story gets even better. UPS is now showing "Returning to Sender" when I enter the tracking number. Now, I definitely have to wait for AT&T to receive the package in order to get the account canceled and my money credited back. Moreover, I also have to endure another month of T-Mobile. I swear, it almost seems like the universe is telling me not to sign up with AT&T. J/K
This has not been a positive experience at all....smh.

I switched over from Sprint and had some issues too with ATT.
First I started a new family plan with 2 lines that I was putting over from Sprint. The next day I decided to port over another one of my numbers from Sprint and grab the GS3. I was told to choose a individual plan for my GS3 until I receive the other 2 phones and then I just Derrick my plan from an individual plan to s family plan.
Well everything appeared to go fine, until they went to port my numbers over..they got all the numbers mixed up and I had to go to the ATT store to get a new sim card. So after that everything was all good.
Also the FedEx guy delivered my GS3 to the wrong house. Luckily the house was only 3 houses away from mine and I was able to catch the delivery guy before he got of work.
Blazed from my ATT Galaxy S III

A short update to my situation. Turns out that when a shipper requests restricted delivery from UPS, the address cannot be amended, even it's something as minor as an inclusion of an apartment number. If a package cannot be delivered to the address listed, UPS will automatically return it to sender. To make a long story short, I spoke with a customer service rep who spent a good 30 minutes helping me resolve this issue. Although I will have to wait until the returned package hits the warehouse for the money to be credited to me, I was given the option of buying the phones at my local store, located a block away from my place of work, and having my numbers ported to the new phones.
As they say, cooler heads prevail. During my lunch break, I went over to the store (the manager and the individual who processed my purchase were extremely knowledgeable and helpful) and bought the phones. It took about 5 minutes for the numbers to be ported over, and I was on my way back to the office. A short while later, I received a call from an AT&T rep with whom I spoke earlier in the week regarding the status of my order. She reviewed the notes on my account, apologized profusely for the inconvenience cause by the shipping mishap, and stated that she will waive my 1st month's bill to compensate me for it.
On a side note, seeing the speed test numbers (20 Mbps down, 13 Mbps up on the Upper East Side in Manhattan) made me question my sanity for dealing with T-Mobile's 0.5 Mbps for the past year.

Related

Sprint corporate stores lying to existing customers - no evos for you

So I starting calling the corporate sprint stores in my area and I noticed they were all asking if I was an existing (EC) or new customer (NC) before telling me if evo's were available. Turns out they are lying about their evo stock to EC. They will sell you one only if you're a NC
So I called a store, and told them I was a tmobile customer.
"We have 5 in stock so if you come in the next 30 minutes you can get one" .
Then, I told them I wanted to buy the phone outright, full retail, no line activation
sprint rep told me they don't have phones in stock for me.
Immediately I called sprint customer service; they called the store. (10 min after original call). Store now says none are available, and there is a waitlist.
I'm not the only one.
http://androidandme.com/2010/06/car...unning-low-but-could-be-higher-than-we-think/
Try it yourself:
Around Sunnyvale, Ca
5 of 6 stores I called asked if i was an existing customer before answering if they had it in stock. 6 store said none.
2 of 2 stores, told me they had stock, then changed tune when they found out i was an existing customer.
I should have just gone to the store, waited for them to present the phone. then reveal I'm an existing customer. If they try to pull it back, then call sprint customer service.
Sprint may be trying to lure new customers to their network. More money on a new customer than an existing one. Shady but it may be true.
Lol this is so true. My wife and I were on vacation in Florida this week. We decide to go to a sprint store to see if any were available. They ask is this for an existing account or new account. I say new account. Mind you at least 5 people were in front of us asking for evos. Bottom line, when we said we were new customers the manager pulls out 2 evos for us and set up our account. Needless to say we got very strange looks at us and probably some middle fingers behind our backs as well. Feeling sorry for the existing customers.
Remember a corporate store does not get paid on the new or upgrade like a third party agent would. So I do not see the incentive outside of perhaps signing new customers. But then again I would hope they want to keep the old ones as well
Sorry to hear that you are having these issues.
A letter to Mr. Hesse would be good to report this [email protected] - don't expect a nice reply from him though It's automated. Email [email protected]
he will like it - no really he would.
No surprise really since they work off commission..
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Sent via my EVO using XDA Tapatalk
This happened to me.
I'm an existing Sprint customer. I entered into a 2 year contract in December and got an HTC Hero.
I visited a Sprint corporate store in Culver City, California on launch day at 10:00am. I took my lunch break early (hour lunch). I signed in with the person at the front kiosk and it took 45 minutes before a sales person seen me. I told him I had a Hero, am not eligible for an upgrade, and would like to purchase an Evo outright a full price, and have my account moved over to it. He said he couldn't do this and he could only sell the Evo to customers who were eligible for an upgrade or if I wanted to add a new line. I was pissed and was going to be late coming back from lunch, so I left.
On the way back t work I called Sprint customer service from my phone. I explained what happened and the customer service rep said the store should have been able to sale me the phone at full price as long as I had the phone activate in the store, which I was going to, because I was going to have my account moved over. The customer service rep said she'd call the store to find out what happened on my behalf. I asked her if she could have the store hold a phone for me because they'd probably be sold out by the time I got off of work. She said she couldn't do this because the phone was in high demand.
Later at work I got a voice mail from the customer service rep I talked to earlier. She called the Sprint corporate store that wouldn't sell me the phone and talked to the manager. The manager agreed to hold a phone for me until I got off work for the inconvience.
After work I visited the Sprint store. The manager directed me to the person earlier who wouldn't sell me the phone earlier. The first thing the sales rep told me when I sat down was that they were instructed not to sale the phones to existing customers unless they were eligible for an upgrade or adding a new line. I think it's the store managers instructing their employees to do this to make their numbers look better or something.
Glad I didn't buy off sprint. I got a hero back in December too but got my evo from ebay. $520 and came with an extra 2gig sd. And since it's a google IO evo it has a month for free with full data. Now I have two sweet android phones! :3
Somewhat related: Add the $292 (total) speeding/changing lanes without indicators/not keeping distance tickets I got trying to get to the post office before it closed. Good thing the radar got me doing 90 and not the 155 before I hit the breaks!
pirokosan said:
Glad I didn't buy off sprint. I got a hero back in December too but got my evo from ebay. $520 and came with an extra 2gig sd. And since it's a google IO evo it has a month for free with full data. Now I have two sweet android phones! :3
Somewhat related: Add the $292 (total) speeding/changing lanes without indicators/not keeping distance tickets I got trying to get to the post office before it closed. Good thing the radar got me doing 90 and not the 155 before I hit the breaks!
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I'd say, all in all, you paid way too much for your phone (including your tickets) But at least you have two phones now. (sarcasm if you didn't get that)
And 155mph to get to the post office? Get real. If true, you're damn lucky you didn't kill someone. Idiot.
They aren't lying. Their telling you the truth, you just failed to ask more question. They only have stock for new lines... if someone wants it without adding a new line, they'll order it and have it sent to the store overnight. I had my company rep order it for me and I got it Monday, $502 shipped.
Jye75 said:
And 155mph to get to the post office? Get real. If true, you're damn lucky you didn't kill someone. Idiot.
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I HIGHLY concur with this statement... fool.
This is not new. T-Mobile was doing the exact same thing when the HTC HD2 ca me out...mainly due to the low supply.
T mobile was doing the same with the HD2
Reps in stores get more commission off building a brand new accounts and new activations. It's like this on all carriers.
They aren't lying. Their telling you the truth, you just failed to ask more question. They only have stock for new lines... if someone wants it without adding a new line, they'll order it and have it sent to the store overnight. I had my company rep order it for me and I got it Monday, $502 shipped.
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Click to collapse
nope. they are lying. if you read the thread its not sprints policy to separate stocks for existing and new customers. they rater get more commission buy refusing to sell to me rather than another customer. they refuse by telling me they have none when they do. Of course, sprint structures their commission in away as to encourage this behavor.
guess i got lucky
I was depositing a check at an ATM and saw a Sprint store a couple shops down so I decided to go in and see if they had any. After telling the girl behind the counter that I was an existing customer and wanted to buy it outright she told me they had a waiting list going but that they had received a shipment Wednesday that they had not checked yet. She took my number and said she'd call me after they sorted through it. I went across the shopping center to have lunch and when I was finished eating my phone rang. The Sprint rep had pulled one for me. I ended up getting my phone for nothing out of pocket. She suggested to add a 3rd line to get the phone at the new activation cost, waived the activation fee and billed the cost of the phone to my account which wont post until NEXT month. Sorry to hear about the troubles you guys are having...
I got one from the online store...ordered yesterday at around 10am and it's "out for delivery" from UPS right now. Just in case you haven't checked that out.
katastrofik said:
I was depositing a check at an ATM and saw a Sprint store a couple shops down so I decided to go in and see if they had any. After telling the girl behind the counter that I was an existing customer and wanted to buy it outright she told me they had a waiting list going but that they had received a shipment Wednesday that they had not checked yet. She took my number and said she'd call me after they sorted through it. I went across the shopping center to have lunch and when I was finished eating my phone rang. The Sprint rep had pulled one for me. I ended up getting my phone for nothing out of pocket. She suggested to add a 3rd line to get the phone at the new activation cost, waived the activation fee and billed the cost of the phone to my account which wont post until NEXT month. Sorry to hear about the troubles you guys are having...
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Click to collapse
And you also got an extra phone bill every month for 2 years for a 3rd line.
EDIT:
While telling people only new/upgrade accounts can get the phone is shady and unethical, I have to admit I wouldn't mind being able to restrict it to that at my store. It sucks selling something and making 0 money off it when the next guy would put some $ in your pocket. But alas, I just sell them to whomever. (assuming I have any in stock lol)
ShortBusCandid8 said:
I got one from the online store...ordered yesterday at around 10am and it's "out for delivery" from UPS right now. Just in case you haven't checked that out.
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they shipped mine using USPS and it says Guaranteed Delivery Day/Time: June 11, 2010 12:00PM
guess what, it's past 12pm and there's no USPS guy, no delivery
i wished they had shipped using UPS
radio shack
I have been going to radio shack here in NYC for sprint stuff. No lines, just walk in and grab an EVO. Everyone goes to the sprint stores, but honestly the radio shack guys on 12th and broadway are super nice. They held a pre for me last year and now hooked me up with the EVO on launch. I saw there were lines at the sprint stores, but no prob at the rat shack.
torchTheMall said:
I have been going to radio shack here in NYC for sprint stuff. No lines, just walk in and grab an EVO. Everyone goes to the sprint stores, but honestly the radio shack guys on 12th and broadway are super nice. They held a pre for me last year and now hooked me up with the EVO on launch. I saw there were lines at the sprint stores, but no prob at the rat shack.
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I was investigating where to get mine from on release day. I am a current customer not eligible for an upgrade. I was going to be buying outright. bestbuy wanted 599 for outright, radio shack wanted 499 outright and sprint wanted 450... I talked to someone at a commission based sprint store and he explained that they were not selling outright because the store made no money off of it. I was a little annoyed, but understood why... plus that store only ordered 15 evos. I then went to radio shack. they told me that they had a very large order and that they would be able to sell me one outright... The day of the release, I woke up at 6 in the morning and headed over to the radio shack that said they would sell it outright. When I got there, the sales rep that I had talked to before appologized to me and told me the regional owner of all my areas radio shacks had sent out an e-mail telling them not to sell outright.... I felt defeated.... I decided to just wait till later and get it when I could. I was driving around my home town around 3 p.m. and drove by the corporate sprint store and decided, why not. I went in, walked right up to a rep, no lines at all, and asked if they by chance had any evos left and that I wanted to buy it outright. he sat me down, walked into the back and walked out with an evo. he told me that after this one they only had 3 left. He explained to me that corporate stores don't make more or less on upgrades or outrights. To finish up this long story, I ended up getting it for 450 from the corporate store in my area. Not all of the stores were turning away outrights. Next time there is a new phone release, I am going back to that store. If any of you are in St. George, Utah, It is the only corporate store there...
jblazea50 said:
they shipped mine using USPS and it says Guaranteed Delivery Day/Time: June 11, 2010 12:00PM
guess what, it's past 12pm and there's no USPS guy, no delivery
i wished they had shipped using UPS
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Didn't know USPS does guaranteed delivery? They are the slowest shipping out there.. Yeah, they should've used UPS or FedEx for better tracking..

Need advice regarding 30 days buyer's remorse

I purchased 2 HTC Evo 4G's on June 4th. I still have until July 4th do return/cancel the lines. I'm having those light leaking problems and my GF's phone is lifting at the bottom part of the screen. I ported both numbers from AT&T to Sprint and want to know what the best route would be to get replacements.
My local RS which happened to be the Point of Sale doesn't have any Evo's in stock nor did they know when they will receive any. I was told by a manager that when they receive more stock they will call me to let me know when I can swap out the devices. I don't believe him being that he stated that even if he gets them after the 30 day period it'll be an easy swap. I think I'm setting myself up for failure and they just want me to ride out the 30 day period so they can collect commission.
I called Sprint today and was told that I have the option to return the equipment and get 2 replacement phones (different models) and that I would have to wait for my upgrade to get the Evo's again. Why would I wait a year and a half to upgrade my phones!?
Is there an escalation path so I can have Sprint send me 2 replacements in the mail and I'll send these 2 back? I don't want to go through insurance since I just got the phones and I refuse to pay $200 to get 2 devices shipped to me when I just got the phones.
I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place and need some advice. I asked the rep if I could return the Evo's and use 2 Sprint phones I already own without a contract and she stated that I would still be on a contract. How does this make sense? I thought that if you own the phones there wouldn't be a contract. I hate calling because I get different answers every time and I don't want to be stuck with the bad batches for almost 2 years.
I m in same boat as you
But Sprint is sending me a new one overnite
Just explained that rs and my local corp Sprint store would do nothing
Sent from my Evo on on the Now network from Sprint
oh and duck Apple
Dude how did you get them to send you one if you bought it at Radioshack?
kwajr said:
I m in same boat as you
But Sprint is sending me a new one overnite
Just explained that rs and my local corp Sprint store would do nothing
Sent from my Evo on on the Now network from Sprint
oh and duck Apple
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You bought it at RadioShack and Sprint helped you? I tried this and got turned down.
You do not need to use insurance on a phone for warranty issues. If you are paying for TEP (total equipment protection) you can walk into a sprint repair center (it's important that it's a repair center) and they can go through to see if it's repairable, supposedly they've been taught how to tighten the screen or if they can order a new one for you. It's hit or miss that it could be a refurb but I would raise a stink that you're within 30 days and don't want a refurb but a new phone.
I told them that I went to 3 rs stores and not one would order one for me
Sent from my Evo on on the Now network from Sprint
oh and duck Apple
You should be able to have your account noted at RS that you want a replacement but there are no phones in stock.. RS is mailing me a replacement within the next 5 days,... They can extend the 30 day return period to 90 days if they do not have the item in inventory. Give it a shot.
i woudl escalate within sprints phone customer service. say you need replacemetns or you will cancel and get iphone 4. once you want to cancel tehy will transfer you to retentions whom have all the power to retain you as a customer.
do not trust the radioshack manager. be very weary of being able to do anything outside of 30 days.
I want to return mine too.
How bad does the issue have to be for them to consider replacing it?\There is also a bright spot on the phone that is very obvious on a white/light background, it kind of bothers me. I bought from Sprint.
gqstatus0685 said:
I purchased 2 HTC Evo 4G's on June 4th. I still have until July 4th do return/cancel the lines. I'm having those light leaking problems and my GF's phone is lifting at the bottom part of the screen. I ported both numbers from AT&T to Sprint and want to know what the best route would be to get replacements.
My local RS which happened to be the Point of Sale doesn't have any Evo's in stock nor did they know when they will receive any. I was told by a manager that when they receive more stock they will call me to let me know when I can swap out the devices. I don't believe him being that he stated that even if he gets them after the 30 day period it'll be an easy swap. I think I'm setting myself up for failure and they just want me to ride out the 30 day period so they can collect commission.
I called Sprint today and was told that I have the option to return the equipment and get 2 replacement phones (different models) and that I would have to wait for my upgrade to get the Evo's again. Why would I wait a year and a half to upgrade my phones!?
Is there an escalation path so I can have Sprint send me 2 replacements in the mail and I'll send these 2 back? I don't want to go through insurance since I just got the phones and I refuse to pay $200 to get 2 devices shipped to me when I just got the phones.
I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place and need some advice. I asked the rep if I could return the Evo's and use 2 Sprint phones I already own without a contract and she stated that I would still be on a contract. How does this make sense? I thought that if you own the phones there wouldn't be a contract. I hate calling because I get different answers every time and I don't want to be stuck with the bad batches for almost 2 years.
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Click to collapse
RS can order replacements for you right now. No need to wait. Go in and ask, and if they claim they cant, call the district office number that's posted in their store. Easy-Peasy.
bob13bob said:
i woudl escalate within sprints phone customer service. say you need replacemetns or you will cancel and get iphone 4. once you want to cancel tehy will transfer you to retentions whom have all the power to retain you as a customer.
do not trust the radioshack manager. be very weary of being able to do anything outside of 30 days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's no different for us swapping the bad ones after 30 days, especially with the known inventory shortage. And if the guy says he'll do it, there's no reason not to trust him. The negative attitudes towards store workers is effing annoying.
Bp3dots said:
It's no different for us swapping the bad ones after 30 days, especially with the known inventory shortage. And if the guy says he'll do it, there's no reason not to trust him. The negative attitudes towards store workers is effing annoying.
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Click to collapse
actually, expand that to all front line workers. i don't know if it's because they're not knowledgeable, lazy, or downright malicious, but they are always making promises that never materialize.
what i would do is email sprint customer care... they will write you back and then you will have something in writing... safest way to go about doing this. as a backup plan, sign up for TEP... worse comes to worst you'll at least be able to commit insurance fraud, drop $100 and get a new device.

Tmobile Customer Service

Although the phone is fantastic this is more about their service. I purchased 2 lines yesterday at costco and due to a glitch in their system on the reps end that was helping me they were see me as a standard account, and from tmobiles end they were seeing me as a flex account. Well, Tmobile went ahead and created the account as flex pay, which is not something you want to be a part of if you are going to attempt to get a corporate discount. Also I had ported my lines over from sprint so I could not just port my numbers back over to sprint and receive a new phone discount again if Tmobile did not fix this. I would have been stuck on their flex pay for 6 months missing out on 20% discount on the bill.
I called the store to let them know what was going on and they said that was not what their end was showing them and for me to come down and they would resolve the issue. I was at the store 1 hour past closing time. The last I heard was from the tmobile rep on the phone stating that my account would be migrated from flex to post pay by 6am this morning. At that point I felt it was safe to return my evo's and finish canceling the sprint account. I called back this morning at 6:30 am to verify the issue had been resolved. Well to my surprise it hadn't and I spent the next 2.5 hours talking to people telling me it was impossible due to a past due account I had back in 2003, which I don't remember ever having tmobile. After arguing back and forth with supervisors, managers and CSR's about how this was not my account which they eventually figured out but still said I would have to cancel my account and reopen it losing my numbers I have had for 10 years I finally got one that brought the tmobile rep from the store on the line. I was put on hold while they talked and 45 minutes later my account is being fixed and my corp discount is being applied. Even though some of the reps were unwilling or unable to help me or tell me that its impossible for them to do anything I finally found one who took charge of the issue and got it resolved for me. Incredible service, even though it may have taken 4 hours to handle the issue, it was at least handled 100% to my satisfaction.
I have to agree that T-Mobile Customer service is amazing. They have some of the best CS I have seen.
Just like any other company you have to work a little to get the more difficult issues handled but my experience has always been stellar with them overall!
yeah - like i did on that bing cashback rebate program
they are normally tops, but sometimes they can be frustrating (but at least you've got a human on the phone frustrating you, not the electronic menus at sprint)
but as a last resort, what worked for me on the bing thing, someone else had mentioned in another thread, i called into 611 and after indicating "english", just said "cancel", maybe two times - got to a "customer loyalty account specialist" that when he asked why i wanted to cancel i gave him a small glimpse of the "who's on first, what's on second" exchanges i'd been having over the bing thing
he actually took the time, went to bing, signed up for an acct, saw what i was talking about, AND found a supervisor to approve the damn rebate
just remember that "cancel" thing - it may prove useful
I agree, T-Mobile has very good customer service. It's one of the main reasons I'm still their customer since I almost went over to AT&T when I was lusting for an Iphone. At the time I was thinking of switching the MT3G came out and I was somewhat happy with it, but now that I have the Vibrant, I am fully satisfied. T-Mobile let me upgrade from my MT3G to the Vibrant (fully subsidized [$249.99 -$50 rebate]) even though I had only had the MT3G for a year.
Due to bad customer service experiences i strictly do business with T-mobile corp locations or via 611. I recently went to t-mobile authorized dealer to get a new sim card for my g1 and after the rep screwed around for a while on the computer to activate it, i waited about 2 hour w/ no service and called T-Mobile's 800 number and the rep was very courteous and told me that the store never activated the sim. the phone rep took about 1/4 the time the authorized rep did to activate the card and it worked instantly. This was not my first bad encounter with non-tmo direct but will be my last i made the decision to never use a non-tmo store unless i absolutly have to.
I have been with T-Mobile since 2004 and can say that T-Mobile has the better service of all the carriers, but it has degraded recently, in the past year.
In particular I experienced what you did, there's many T-Mobile CSRs who are incompetent and they are thus unable and unwilling to help solve your problems. It takes a few calls to get to the right person who knows what they are doing and who is willing to fix things.
Example, one time they overcharged me $120. I called and the CSR was rude and said I simply did not know how to read the bill. I had to ask for a supervisor who initially sided with the employee. After 15 minutes the supervisor too finally saw that I was in fact overcharged. She said I would get a credit.
Three months later, no credit. Called and the CSR said "Let me fix that, I have entered the credit."
Another three billing periods, no credit.
I call a third time, the person said this was all wrong. I heard a few key taps and the credit showed up on my online account instantly.
So six months and a lot of calls/labor to get a credit.
From my experience (and yours) you cannot assume anything. The key is to ALWAYS wait a month after making changes and then call to see that things were done (like I just called to make sure the insurance on my HD2 was transferred my new Vibrant).
Also keep records of everything (albeit unless you record phone calls, illegal in many states, it's still always going to be your word against T-Mobile's). That's why I like to do as much as I can online so I can get screen captures.
Bonus Tip: When push comes to shove and T-Mobile says "That cannot be done" or whatever, then tell them to cancel the account. They are then required to put your through to the retentions dept.
Retentions can do absolutely ANYTHING to save the account. They even give people free phones to prevent them from walking (assuming you are in the right, of course).
So if a CSR or supervisor gives you a hard time, tell them to cancel the account and then calmly explain the problem with retentions. (And say it's a matter of principle, that's why you are canceling the account.) Eventually they say "So if we can fix this problem will you stay with T-Mobile?"
I have been in CSR hell with Tmobile for the past few days. Their store screwed up my account, so I was not able to jump on the $99 Vibrant deal at Costco, AFTER I had returned my Vibrant, so I could take advantage of the Costco price. (this was also AFTER contacting Tmobile to see if they would match the Costco price). So, I am back to my G1, I lost all my time setting up my Vibrant... and the best I have gotten, is they will research my issue and call back within 72 business hours... so, up to 9 days waiting?
I am almost certain to go to the Vzn Fascinate with this whole fiasco going on. I like the price of Tmo... but I hate being jacked around. Every time I have had a problem in the past year... it has been a major FIGHT to get it fixed. I am tired ofi t.

AT&T - worst carrier on the planet!

I need to share my story in the hopes of preventing anyone else from going through the same ordeal.
AT&T is the absolutely worst carrier on the planet. Absolute worst! In the process of switching and evaluating carriers I signed up with ATT. I had them for 4 days and I had more dropped calls in 4 days with ATT than I had in 5 years with Sprint and 2 years with T-Mobile. I barely had the service for 2 days before they sent me a bill (they are quick to do that for sure), which they already screwed up charging me for services I did not order.
Upon calling them, they told me I had to go back to the AT&T store to resolve my issue. I did just that, they admitted their mistake and said the corrections should be on my account in 24 hours. 2 days later my account was the same and I was once again redirected to the store. I had enough! Within 5 days I returned the phone, and cancelled my service. That should've been the end of it, but no, a month later I get a whopping $492 bill from AT&T. They were charging me an early termination fee even though I had 30 days to cancel and I canceled within 4 days!! I spend hours, hours on the phone getting the run-around, getting transferred from one person to the next, having to explain my problem over again to each agent and each "manager", before I got my charges dropped (supposedly, I still expect to receive a bill from them because they are THAT incompetent).
Avoid AT&T like the plague! They are the absolute WORST!
If you are still having problems getting the ETF waived, contact the consumerist. (consumerist.com).
Read their help site on how to create and E.E.C.B. first (Executive Email Carpet Bomb for those non-consumerist readers).
Dude, that sucks that you had to go through all that ****. I'm having a pleasant experience with them so far since I signed with them back in April 2011. You should definitely fight them about that ETF bull****. You're within that 30 day window. No F'ing way you should pay that ETF. And on top of that, they should charge for things that you used like data and minutes if anything. Not the potiential amount i.e. 900 min plan but only used 100 minutes.
Haxel said:
If you are still having problems getting the ETF waived, contact the consumerist. (consumerist.com).
Read their help site on how to create and E.E.C.B. first (Executive Email Carpet Bomb for those non-consumerist readers).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's nothing, with Verizon in the Omnia II days I walked in, grabbed a phone, signed up, and while still in the store I opened the box. The screen was split in 2. I walked it back to the rep I had just spoken with and he told me that I'd have to pay the full asking price of the phone because the break was not there when he'd activated it.
With sprint, I had a ppc6800 that I loved. They released an update that caused the phone to be unstable and when I went back gave me some touchscreen Samsung dumbphone. They refused to give me dubphone data back but said they couldn't upgrade me to another smartphone and the ppc6800 had cycled out. One of the reps flat out called me stupid for preferring my ppc6800 because the Samsung had new capacitive touchscreen technology.
..
Better than it was...
I switched to Big Mamma eight years ago to get the RAZR phone. Service sucked and pricing was ridiculous, so I canceled and went back to T-Mobile. Last year I decided that it wasn't doing me any good to stay with TMo since their phone upgrade options were weak and contract pricing wasn't any better. Also, my partner and our best friends have a family plan w/ATT, so switching onto that and getting a new shiny ear-toaster would still be a savings over what I was giving TMo. So, I got my Infuse and got on the plan. I'm happy with it. Service is good, I haven't had to deal with customer service, and the price is right.
How's this one for you:
Signed up with AT&T in September, bringing my own device (an Infuse) so I could upgrade at any time. Added a work discount, so a contract is involved.
October 2nd, I get my girl an iphone 4s (contract free) and we convert to a family plan. Due to the nature of our numbers, we have to convert our individual accounts to a corporate account, then convert that to a family plan. Keep this in mind...
October 10th, work discount still not applied, now they're telling me that when they reapplied my discount, they lost my upgrade, so they're going to reset everything. Also was triple billed, so they gave me about $300 in credits to bring me down to normal levels.
November 6th, work discount STILL not applied, they lost both of our upgrades now. 4 hours of calling gets things fixed (so I thought).
December 5th, work discount STILL not applied, so I call up. Upgrade for my girlfriend's line restored, but mine is "lost forever". Retentions "manager" tells me I can either lose my upgrade or he'll send me any device that isn't apple to me for free, and overnight it to me. I choose the white Skyrocket, but the point of having my upgrade was to eventually get the Nexus. I'm not happy. Overnighted phone takes 5 days to get to me, during which I have no phone.
December 13th, call to complain. Work discount FINALLY applied, tons of credits given to me to make up for the inconvenience. Retentions manager gives me a permanent $10 credit to give me a free third line, so I have another permanent upgrade. I'm relatively satisfied at this point. Due to the amount of credits on my account, my balance is NEGATIVE $9.
December 20th, I get a call from COLLECTIONS saying that I owe $600 to AT&T due to 4 months of unpaid bills. Seems like when they converted us from consumer to corporate to consumer again, they NEVER CANCELLED THE INDIVIDUAL LINES. I have to call in to AT&T and spend 3 more hours clearing this up.
January 4th, my 30 days with the Skyrocket is almost up and I get MAYBE 4 hours of battery life, along with a horribly splotchy screen. I call to have it replaced under the 30 day return period. Retentions tells me I have to pay a $35 restocking fee. I explain that this is a mistake, and that I'm a former employee and specifically state the return policy to them. I'm told to hold while she asks her supervisor to waive my fee. 10 minutes later, it gets interesting...
I get transferred to the FRAUD department, and a supervisor, "Mr. Lopez" tells me that my account is frozen due to fraud. I'm told I can't return my phone, I can't upgrade, can't cancel, can't due anything. If I need to replace my device I need to pay FULL RETAIL and then I'll get my money back once they receive my device. Being a former employee, this also includes at least a month wait after they get the device back in stock. I ask him to tell me WHY I'm in for fraud, and he refuses, calling me a liar, a thief, and starts getting quite loud. I hang up, and he calls back. His callback number is to the call center 30 minutes from my house, and I explain to him that if he doesn't explain why I'm in for fraud, I'll drive to his call center and speak to his supervisors. He hangs up on me. My account is now locked, and I can't do ANYTHING.
I call back and speak to another call center's fraud center dept, and they patiently listen to my story and confirm that I had no reason to be flagged for fraud. They tell me to go to the store and return my device, and credit me $35 just in case they charge me a restocking fee. As of right now I've filed a report against "Mr Lopez" which turns out isn't his real name. They had to go through the notes and found his codes, so hopefully he gets let go for this. The behavior used was absolutely inexcusable.
So yeah, I'm now stuck with a phone I don't want, but hopefully everything is fixed. My girl doesn't want to leave AT&T, and her mother is using the third line, so it would be a huge inconvenience to take off for Verizon or T-Mobile. I'm hoping this gets resolved once & for all.
TLDR version - AT&T bent me over and broke out the sandpaper condom.
Dude I would have filed a report with the better business beru that is bull. I hope everything turns out for the best
Sent from my xploding E3d
I had att and the dreaded iPhone for nine months. People would stand next to me and call me just to make fun of how my phone would never ring. I'd miss over 50% of my calls here in DC due to my phone never ringing. Couldn't do anything about it with that nice contractual obligation tho. Good times.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
entropism said:
How's this one for you:
Signed up with AT&T in September, bringing my own device (an Infuse) so I could upgrade at any time. Added a work discount, so a contract is involved.
October 2nd, I get my girl an iphone 4s (contract free) and we convert to a family plan. Due to the nature of our numbers, we have to convert our individual accounts to a corporate account, then convert that to a family plan. Keep this in mind...
October 10th, work discount still not applied, now they're telling me that when they reapplied my discount, they lost my upgrade, so they're going to reset everything. Also was triple billed, so they gave me about $300 in credits to bring me down to normal levels.
November 6th, work discount STILL not applied, they lost both of our upgrades now. 4 hours of calling gets things fixed (so I thought).
December 5th, work discount STILL not applied, so I call up. Upgrade for my girlfriend's line restored, but mine is "lost forever". Retentions "manager" tells me I can either lose my upgrade or he'll send me any device that isn't apple to me for free, and overnight it to me. I choose the white Skyrocket, but the point of having my upgrade was to eventually get the Nexus. I'm not happy. Overnighted phone takes 5 days to get to me, during which I have no phone.
December 13th, call to complain. Work discount FINALLY applied, tons of credits given to me to make up for the inconvenience. Retentions manager gives me a permanent $10 credit to give me a free third line, so I have another permanent upgrade. I'm relatively satisfied at this point. Due to the amount of credits on my account, my balance is NEGATIVE $9.
December 20th, I get a call from COLLECTIONS saying that I owe $600 to AT&T due to 4 months of unpaid bills. Seems like when they converted us from consumer to corporate to consumer again, they NEVER CANCELLED THE INDIVIDUAL LINES. I have to call in to AT&T and spend 3 more hours clearing this up.
January 4th, my 30 days with the Skyrocket is almost up and I get MAYBE 4 hours of battery life, along with a horribly splotchy screen. I call to have it replaced under the 30 day return period. Retentions tells me I have to pay a $35 restocking fee. I explain that this is a mistake, and that I'm a former employee and specifically state the return policy to them. I'm told to hold while she asks her supervisor to waive my fee. 10 minutes later, it gets interesting...
I get transferred to the FRAUD department, and a supervisor, "Mr. Lopez" tells me that my account is frozen due to fraud. I'm told I can't return my phone, I can't upgrade, can't cancel, can't due anything. If I need to replace my device I need to pay FULL RETAIL and then I'll get my money back once they receive my device. Being a former employee, this also includes at least a month wait after they get the device back in stock. I ask him to tell me WHY I'm in for fraud, and he refuses, calling me a liar, a thief, and starts getting quite loud. I hang up, and he calls back. His callback number is to the call center 30 minutes from my house, and I explain to him that if he doesn't explain why I'm in for fraud, I'll drive to his call center and speak to his supervisors. He hangs up on me. My account is now locked, and I can't do ANYTHING.
I call back and speak to another call center's fraud center dept, and they patiently listen to my story and confirm that I had no reason to be flagged for fraud. They tell me to go to the store and return my device, and credit me $35 just in case they charge me a restocking fee. As of right now I've filed a report against "Mr Lopez" which turns out isn't his real name. They had to go through the notes and found his codes, so hopefully he gets let go for this. The behavior used was absolutely inexcusable.
So yeah, I'm now stuck with a phone I don't want, but hopefully everything is fixed. My girl doesn't want to leave AT&T, and her mother is using the third line, so it would be a huge inconvenience to take off for Verizon or T-Mobile. I'm hoping this gets resolved once & for all.
TLDR version - AT&T bent me over and broke out the sandpaper condom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
File with the FCC. That WILL get their attention.
Sent from my HTC Sensation with Beats Audio using xda premium
entropism said:
How's this one for you:
Signed up with AT&T in September, bringing my own device (an Infuse) so I could upgrade at any time. Added a work discount, so a contract is involved.
October 2nd, I get my girl an iphone 4s (contract free) and we convert to a family plan. Due to the nature of our numbers, we have to convert our individual accounts to a corporate account, then convert that to a family plan. Keep this in mind...
October 10th, work discount still not applied, now they're telling me that when they reapplied my discount, they lost my upgrade, so they're going to reset everything. Also was triple billed, so they gave me about $300 in credits to bring me down to normal levels.
November 6th, work discount STILL not applied, they lost both of our upgrades now. 4 hours of calling gets things fixed (so I thought).
December 5th, work discount STILL not applied, so I call up. Upgrade for my girlfriend's line restored, but mine is "lost forever". Retentions "manager" tells me I can either lose my upgrade or he'll send me any device that isn't apple to me for free, and overnight it to me. I choose the white Skyrocket, but the point of having my upgrade was to eventually get the Nexus. I'm not happy. Overnighted phone takes 5 days to get to me, during which I have no phone.
December 13th, call to complain. Work discount FINALLY applied, tons of credits given to me to make up for the inconvenience. Retentions manager gives me a permanent $10 credit to give me a free third line, so I have another permanent upgrade. I'm relatively satisfied at this point. Due to the amount of credits on my account, my balance is NEGATIVE $9.
December 20th, I get a call from COLLECTIONS saying that I owe $600 to AT&T due to 4 months of unpaid bills. Seems like when they converted us from consumer to corporate to consumer again, they NEVER CANCELLED THE INDIVIDUAL LINES. I have to call in to AT&T and spend 3 more hours clearing this up.
January 4th, my 30 days with the Skyrocket is almost up and I get MAYBE 4 hours of battery life, along with a horribly splotchy screen. I call to have it replaced under the 30 day return period. Retentions tells me I have to pay a $35 restocking fee. I explain that this is a mistake, and that I'm a former employee and specifically state the return policy to them. I'm told to hold while she asks her supervisor to waive my fee. 10 minutes later, it gets interesting...
I get transferred to the FRAUD department, and a supervisor, "Mr. Lopez" tells me that my account is frozen due to fraud. I'm told I can't return my phone, I can't upgrade, can't cancel, can't due anything. If I need to replace my device I need to pay FULL RETAIL and then I'll get my money back once they receive my device. Being a former employee, this also includes at least a month wait after they get the device back in stock. I ask him to tell me WHY I'm in for fraud, and he refuses, calling me a liar, a thief, and starts getting quite loud. I hang up, and he calls back. His callback number is to the call center 30 minutes from my house, and I explain to him that if he doesn't explain why I'm in for fraud, I'll drive to his call center and speak to his supervisors. He hangs up on me. My account is now locked, and I can't do ANYTHING.
I call back and speak to another call center's fraud center dept, and they patiently listen to my story and confirm that I had no reason to be flagged for fraud. They tell me to go to the store and return my device, and credit me $35 just in case they charge me a restocking fee. As of right now I've filed a report against "Mr Lopez" which turns out isn't his real name. They had to go through the notes and found his codes, so hopefully he gets let go for this. The behavior used was absolutely inexcusable.
So yeah, I'm now stuck with a phone I don't want, but hopefully everything is fixed. My girl doesn't want to leave AT&T, and her mother is using the third line, so it would be a huge inconvenience to take off for Verizon or T-Mobile. I'm hoping this gets resolved once & for all.
TLDR version - AT&T bent me over and broke out the sandpaper condom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably the absolute worst carrier horror story I have ever heard....
That's granted I use to work customer service for at&t.
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk
I think vodaphone Australia is worse. Reception sucks and sometimes messages sent are few days late.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
entropism said:
How's this one for you:
Signed up with AT&T in September, bringing my own device (an Infuse) so I could upgrade at any time. Added a work discount, so a contract is involved.
October 2nd, I get my girl an iphone 4s (contract free) and we convert to a family plan. Due to the nature of our numbers, we have to convert our individual accounts to a corporate account, then convert that to a family plan. Keep this in mind...
October 10th, work discount still not applied, now they're telling me that when they reapplied my discount, they lost my upgrade, so they're going to reset everything. Also was triple billed, so they gave me about $300 in credits to bring me down to normal levels.
November 6th, work discount STILL not applied, they lost both of our upgrades now. 4 hours of calling gets things fixed (so I thought).
December 5th, work discount STILL not applied, so I call up. Upgrade for my girlfriend's line restored, but mine is "lost forever". Retentions "manager" tells me I can either lose my upgrade or he'll send me any device that isn't apple to me for free, and overnight it to me. I choose the white Skyrocket, but the point of having my upgrade was to eventually get the Nexus. I'm not happy. Overnighted phone takes 5 days to get to me, during which I have no phone.
December 13th, call to complain. Work discount FINALLY applied, tons of credits given to me to make up for the inconvenience. Retentions manager gives me a permanent $10 credit to give me a free third line, so I have another permanent upgrade. I'm relatively satisfied at this point. Due to the amount of credits on my account, my balance is NEGATIVE $9.
December 20th, I get a call from COLLECTIONS saying that I owe $600 to AT&T due to 4 months of unpaid bills. Seems like when they converted us from consumer to corporate to consumer again, they NEVER CANCELLED THE INDIVIDUAL LINES. I have to call in to AT&T and spend 3 more hours clearing this up.
January 4th, my 30 days with the Skyrocket is almost up and I get MAYBE 4 hours of battery life, along with a horribly splotchy screen. I call to have it replaced under the 30 day return period. Retentions tells me I have to pay a $35 restocking fee. I explain that this is a mistake, and that I'm a former employee and specifically state the return policy to them. I'm told to hold while she asks her supervisor to waive my fee. 10 minutes later, it gets interesting...
I get transferred to the FRAUD department, and a supervisor, "Mr. Lopez" tells me that my account is frozen due to fraud. I'm told I can't return my phone, I can't upgrade, can't cancel, can't due anything. If I need to replace my device I need to pay FULL RETAIL and then I'll get my money back once they receive my device. Being a former employee, this also includes at least a month wait after they get the device back in stock. I ask him to tell me WHY I'm in for fraud, and he refuses, calling me a liar, a thief, and starts getting quite loud. I hang up, and he calls back. His callback number is to the call center 30 minutes from my house, and I explain to him that if he doesn't explain why I'm in for fraud, I'll drive to his call center and speak to his supervisors. He hangs up on me. My account is now locked, and I can't do ANYTHING.
I call back and speak to another call center's fraud center dept, and they patiently listen to my story and confirm that I had no reason to be flagged for fraud. They tell me to go to the store and return my device, and credit me $35 just in case they charge me a restocking fee. As of right now I've filed a report against "Mr Lopez" which turns out isn't his real name. They had to go through the notes and found his codes, so hopefully he gets let go for this. The behavior used was absolutely inexcusable.
So yeah, I'm now stuck with a phone I don't want, but hopefully everything is fixed. My girl doesn't want to leave AT&T, and her mother is using the third line, so it would be a huge inconvenience to take off for Verizon or T-Mobile. I'm hoping this gets resolved once & for all.
TLDR version - AT&T bent me over and broke out the sandpaper condom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you're a former employee.. i'm surprised you didn't know it takes ~2 billing cycles for the discount to be applied.
I'm not talking about the discount monetarily but the actual account having the classification attached, which should take a few weeks tops.
Every carrier in North America sucks.
AT&T mangles the hell out of their Android phones to keep Apple happy
Verizon has a long history of mangling phones even worse than AT&T's, they're the first carrier to get a Google developer phone (Galaxy Nexus) and piss off Google so badly that the device's developer phone status was revoked.
T-Mobile is useless - Their coverage is awful, and things are so bad that putting a T-Mobile SIM into any device within 15 miles of where I work/live causes that device's IMEI to be blacklisted for 10-20 minutes, even after putting an AT&T SIM back in. While their "bring your own device" plans (discounts on the plan for not having a contract subsidy on the phone) are good on paper, they're kind of pointless considering that with the exception of the GSM Galaxy Nexus, only phones sold by T-Mobile support the 1700 MHz AWS band.
Sprint has slightly better coverage than T-Mo, but has oddball radio technology leading to the most wildly inconsistent phones possible. The SPH-D710 (Galaxy S II) is undoubtedly the worst Samsung Exynos-based handset on the planet thanks to Samsung having to stuff the phone full of oddball radio hardware not used anywhere else on this planet.
I had several problems with atnt, mostly over billing, we worked an agreement that the billing would be on the fifth of the months but some how it was set to be on the 23, I get a late fee and when I explain and show them the paper work, I was told that they do not honor those request so, I end up buying out of a contract and jail-braking and unlocking my iPhone to use the t-mobile network. I have had no problems ever with t-mobile. Just got a android phone loving it much better than my iPhone.
lol i find it so odd how its almost embedded in the American culture to have this deep personal relationship with our service providers.
Best coverage is debatable, since we all live in unique locations and travel a unique path and only need coverage to an extent. We can argue the ranks and who's service provider is superior but its all moot. Every company has millions of customers and that equates to billions of different experiences and i am sure every company, even the one you keep dearly close to your heart, has their fair share of horror stories.
Ive also never heard of the ability to blacklist an imei in my experiences in the industry.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
ngocdao said:
lol i find it so odd how its almost embedded in the American culture to have this deep personal relationship with our service providers.
Best coverage is debatable, since we all live in unique locations and travel a unique path and only need coverage to an extent. We can argue the ranks and who's service provider is superior but its all moot. Every company has millions of customers and that equates to billions of different experiences and i am sure every company, even the one you keep dearly close to your heart, has their fair share of horror stories.
Ive also never heard of the ability to blacklist an imei in my experiences in the industry.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whatever you have never heard of - I can tell you, back in 2008 it happened without fail. If you put a T-Mobile SIM into an AT&T phone anywhere near where I lived, it would report "no service". If you cleanly shut down the phone, put the AT&T SIM back in, and powered it back on - still "no service" for at least 15 minutes. Prior to inserting the T-Mobile SIM, the phone would always have solid high signal strength coverage.
If you look at the coverage maps of T-Mobile and Sprint - they clearly have MUCH smaller networks than AT&T and Verizon.
I've never had any problems with ma bell, since switching to them
from sprint 3 years ago. Hopefully you get that resolved soon.
I can honestly say I have NEVER had a problem with AT&T Service or Customer Relations. Then again... I never really have talked to one of their customer reps outside of store. SO MUCH AUTOMATION

Why/how AT&T waved my ETF!!

Just thought I would share my experience for whatever it's worth.
I should start off with saying that I live in the country and never had the best service with AT&T. I used their Microcell to subsidize my reception and it worked okay. I imagine if I lived in a big city or an area with excellent AT&T reception my story would be different.
Problems I had with AT&T that were well documented on my account: poor reception, duplicate text message issue that came and went (only real way to stop it was battery pull and/or sim transfer to the Captivate), last two months data usage was waaaay off as in AT&T thought I was using substantial more data than I was (3G Watchdog / common sense) and no amount of hours spent on the phone with customer service resolved my issue.
So after being a slave customer of AT&T's for almost two years, and two different phones with them my ETF was $110. I decided I would gladly pay the $110 and go get a SGN from Verizon, who I know through my roommate and former roommate to have excellent service both at my home and work. I realize that this differs thoughout the country but make no mistake about it, in Northern Alabama VZW is the ONLY carrier to have excellent reception everywhere I go.
So I went to the Verizon store and bought a Galaxy Nexus. I provided my AT&T customer number and of course my phone number to the VZW salesman, no call to AT&T was needed to cancel my service. Side note: I brought them a 6 year old PoS phone my sister was kind enough to provide me and they gave me $50 off. I also asked the rep before letting him know I was buying the phone, "if I do decide to buy this from you today and pay my AT&T ETF can you wave the activation fee to help me out?" he did.
So I get my last bill from AT&T and even with my service cancelled they were trying to charge me an extra $20 data fee, either for the next month or an additional fee I don't know but I know it wasnt a legitimate charge (surprise, surprise). I called AT&T customer service and explained to the guy that my service had been cancelled for a week and the $20 data charge should not be on my bill, he agreed. I then mentioned in passing that "AT&T was not able to provide me with reception and I felt it was unfair of them to charge me an ETF when I had been a good customer and was not recieving what I was paying for". That phrase was not even fully out of my mouth when he said "I agree with you, let me go talk to my manager." he was gone for 2 minutes or less and came back to the phone saying, "I spoke with my manager and we are able to wave your $110 early termination fee." I couldn't believe it! That wasn't even why I called, I was only mentioning that in passing because that is how I felt. I was absolutely going to pay the ETF and be done with AT&T forever! But this man, prob the one and only customer service rep at AT&T that would have been willing to do that for me, didn't even let me get the whole sentance out of my mouth before jumping into action and going above and beyond to help me out! I honestly feel like I could have called AT&T a hundred more times and not get the same experience. I was so happy that I payed my remaining balance instantly through ACH.
So that is my story, whether it's helpful or even an interesting read to anyone else I am not sure. I know it will get down voted, and especially by ClearFire because I pissed him off and now he down votes all my posts no matter how helpful lol. But I am not holding grudges, not towards any member of this forum that I might have had disagreements with and not towards AT&T who I formerly hated, err, well maybe I still do hate AT&T lol. I will never go back to AT&T as long as I live, I am extremely happy with VZW! At home when I was getting <5 down and maybe 1 up on a good day and one bar of service with AT&T, I now get >15 down and >4 up and full bars from Verizon. Again this is my experience and I realize that reception differs greatly in dif geographical areas. I guess this is my "goodbye Atrix community" thread. Mostly it was a good time here with you, I will be sending some of you friend requests and I will check back in at the Atrix forums. Have a great day all of you and I hope something I said was helpful.
Good stuff. I'm in a very good area for att. Wifi at home and work. Nothing to complain about. Does Verizon have unlimited mobile to mobile as well?
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Deggy said:
Good stuff. I'm in a very good area for att. Wifi at home and work. Nothing to complain about. Does Verizon have unlimited mobile to mobile as well?
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No sadly Verizon does not have unlimited mobile to mobile. I am on the 900 minute plan and that includes 5 "friends and family" numbers for unlimited calling, the numbers can be mobile or landline.. I am actually thinking of downgrading to the 450 minute plan to save $20/mo and using GrooVe IP + my Google Voice number during peak hours. At home and at work I have WiFi so I'm thinking this will be a good idea I just have to get in the habit of doing it. I included my data speeds in the OP more of a reference of what I dealt with as soon as I left the house.
Congrats! I had an experience with att a while back... I think it was because I moved out of their coverage area, let's just say it wasn't as painless as your story. Good for you.
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per policy if your less than 12 months in your contact and ltv 1 your etf gets waived. that is prolly why they did it. ltv = life time value, or tech has to note the account about the service issues, those are the only two ways to get it done.
twayneo said:
per policy if your less than 12 months in your contact and ltv 1 your etf gets waived. that is prolly why they did it. ltv = life time value, or tech has to note the account about the service issues, those are the only two ways to get it done.
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another way is to be military that just got deployed. this happened to a family member with 3 months left on the contract. it's a shame that you have to know the information yourself because a lot of customer service reps don't. ended up renewing a 2 year contract and finding out that we could have terminated the account without any fees, of course by then we were already 3 months into the new contract and it took me about 1 month of fighting to get it terminated.
the service that is provided often depends on the rep that picks up. that's why a lot of times i just hang up on a rep that's not being helpful and try again.
autumn_leaf said:
the service that is provided often depends on the rep that picks up. that's why a lot of times i just hang up on a rep that's not being helpful and try again.
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THIS!! Is the best end all advice ever. And I know through personal experience. Not just AT&T but all companies and all services.
autumn_leaf said:
the service that is provided often depends on the rep that picks up. that's why a lot of times i just hang up on a rep that's not being helpful and try again.
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+1
10char
autumn_leaf said:
the service that is provided often depends on the rep that picks up. that's why a lot of times i just hang up on a rep that's not being helpful and try again.
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I should really do that more often.
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You wouldn't believe the amount of waivers/credits AT&T give out daily.
The best way to get what you want is to ask for a manager.. Most managers are so lazy that they'd rather just give you a credit than talk to you.
If you get no luck through customer care - dial 611, wait for option to cancel service - you'll be connected to retentions, and they are allowed to give a lot more.
They have changed things up recently, though.. If you've had a number of credits in the past then you're likely to be declined when requesting further credits..
A while back, I was checking my phone bill online and noticed that I didn't have the unlimited text plan I thought I did. So I added the service with their website. The next month I looked at my bill, and I noticed a $150.00 for text messaging, for going over my plan.
So I call AT&T and the young woman I spoke with looked up my account, and then said she would get a manager. The manager I spoke with verified that I had made the change to unlimited text plan, but it wasn't put into effect. So she immediately credited my account for the text overage.
Both people were very helpful and nice. In fact I haven't had any bad experiences with AT&T's customer service. Maybe it's my voice, and they decide to be nice to me. IDK.
dratsablive said:
A while back, I was checking my phone bill online and noticed that I didn't have the unlimited text plan I thought I did. So I added the service with their website. The next month I looked at my bill, and I noticed a $150.00 for text messaging, for going over my plan.
So I call AT&T and the young woman I spoke with looked up my account, and then said she would get a manager. The manager I spoke with verified that I had made the change to unlimited text plan, but it wasn't put into effect. So she immediately credited my account for the text overage.
Both people were very helpful and nice. In fact I haven't had any bad experiences with AT&T's customer service. Maybe it's my voice, and they decide to be nice to me. IDK.
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I worked there for about 8 months - it's really luck of the draw. There are so many grey areas in their policies, and not everybody is made aware of some of the less common issues/procedures to deal with them.
You just have to hope that you get a hold of somebody who knows what they're talking about (or has a manager who does), & that they're in a good mood Honestly, there are very few things that they can not do (without a transfer)
My experience with AT&T has been positive. I have had accidental international data overages and have been credited.

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