Years back, after the big breakup of AT&T and the appearance of independent phone companies I switched over to a dinky phone provider. When I called them with a question or concern, one person took care of it for me, and it was dealt with quickly.
Today, we’re back to the behemoth phone company. I don’t know if it is out of malice or simply because they are too big and unweildy, but their customer service is, frankly, non-existent.
Here’s what I’ve been doing for the last half hour.
I’ve been trying to sign on to AT&T’s online billing/account management system, but it stymies every attempt. As far as I can tell, there is already an account for my phone number — I assume that it is from the person who had the number before me. Looks like AT&T doesn’t delete accounts when you shut off service; I worry that the previous user of my number can sign in any time and look at my billing and call info.
After trying a dozen ways to Sunday to get contact information for customer service on this issue, I finally called the main customer service number. Which hung up on me three times before I got through to someone. This is the phone company.
After going through minutes of interrogation — my identity, did I try to get help online, can we record this call, may I call you Gene? — I was finally able to get to my problems. (I have two: the first is the account manager thing, the second is about my Dish Network installation, which was supposed to come with a year’s free HD programming which, four months later, I am still paying for.)
Anyway. It turns out that Customer Service doesn’t really provide service. They simply exist to dole out other phone numbers to call about problems. I was given one number to call about the account manager, and a second about the Dish billing issue. It’s worth noting that AT&T bundles everything together in packages, bills it all together in massive bills… but can’t answer any questions about the services on a single number. This is the phone company.
I called the number I was given for the account manager. Turns out this was the wrong number — she sent me to their internet service department, which is only for home internet connections. Trying to get the correct number out of the guy who answered was like dealing with a box turtle with a migraine. Finally, he forked it over. I asked if he could transfer me, and he said that they didn’t have that capability. Can’t transfer calls. AT&T can’t transfer calls. This is the phone company.
I’m taking a break from all this to regroup. So far I’ve gotten absolutely nowhere with AT&T, but I’ve gotten a good, long blog entry out of it. And I have barely even started.
