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I spent 53 minutes and 38 seconds on the phone and talked to five different people, but I eventually got a full one month adjustment to my bill (which is more than $150). I basically stuck to the script, with a few minor changes. First they offered $30 off, then, after getting the floor manager on the phone, $59. When I felt I wasn't getting anywhere, I told them I was going to buy a Blackberry and switch to Verizon. I then got transferred to the "oh-shit-please-don't-quit" department, where they offered me a $50 refund to keep me as a customer. I asked for that person's manager and he finally caved in and offered the full month. I had to promise to keep the service for at least 90 more days or else the "adjustment" would be added back to my bill. (I was happy to agree to that.)
They threw two curve balls at me during the process:
1) "We have no reports of service issues in Austin last week. You should have called us while you were having problems so we could have done some troubleshooting." I countered by saying that I'm sure they got some calls from other people with similar problems and by reading passages from the Wired and New York Times articles, which you can find here and here:
http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/03/sxsw-att...
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/call-f...
2) "You don't deserve a full month's credit because the service only failed for ten days." To argue this point, I gave several examples of how these ten days were when my phone service was most "mission critical" to me. I gave examples of missed meetings, SMS messages asking if I wanted to have lunch coming in at dinner time, etc. Basically the onus was upon me to prove that the pain and suffering I endured during SXSW, even though it only lasted ten (or five, for SXSWi-ers) days, was worth an entire month's service.
I think the straw that broke the camel's back was when I asked, "What's worth more to you and your company: one month's service or a lost customer?"
Thanks again for the tip -- I'll buy you a beer next time I run into you a conference. Given that we've had that happen twice already this year (BIL and SXSW), I'm sure it won't be long before we meet again. . . .
See you at another conference!
Sometimes I'll also call my own iPhone from my Skype/landline and it won't go through. I've actually called them out on this before but am going to use this post as proof that they have issues with their service.
Let's see if I can beat your one month credit!
Oh well.
I have a Bold, just did this except in opposite order. Asked for txt and data first, then voice. Took about 5min total.
I was frustrated by the network over SXSW. However, It was an improvement over last year. ATT is not to blame for this. Apple is for making such an interesting product.
As frustrating as the lack of service was, their customer service response was fantastic, and it makes me like them a little more.
$140!? You win!
Thanks Andrew, can I buy you a sandwich?
Austin, TX apparently had no issues according to the call center I spoke to after giving them the Austin, TX zip code for the ACC (78701).
Oh wait...
Upon further review after I insisted that AT&T did have a problem that was covered by news outlets from print to TV to online the following nugget came across the line:
"I see that several of our towers were offline and one is still offline but we are quickly adding more capacity to those areas".
That was neat how the dialog changed when I disagreed.
Basically, I called in and was routed to the Fayetteville, NC call center and after 5 minutes with the first rep offering prorate only (insistent too!) I was bumped to floor manager and for the next 20 minutes I was told that prorate only was an offer that AT&T did not have to make at all since it was a "radio device". Clever tactic? No. I reached an impasse and the floor manager would not budge.
Net result: I think they are crediting my account the prorate in hopes I don't follow up
In fact, I've requested escalation to a regional manager, asked my account and ticket to be flagged for investigation, and requested that my account be noted that I considered prorate unacceptable during my call in the event that AT&T credits my account for the offered amount (just in case the manager pulls the account and sees the problem as "solved"). I have the name and direct number of the floor manager and will return a call if not contacted by Monday at 5pm Eastern.
BTW, just as a data point... I never had issues at any conference or larger events when I was with Verizon and my trusty BlackBerry.
Funny that. A "radio device" that works?
Looks like everyone is getting their money back by calling.
http://tinyurl.com/att-fail-redux
My update is that I am still seeking contact from a regional manager. I've also called into the Lebanon, VA support desk. As they are doing inbound routing based on (NPA)NXX-XXXX for the call, I might have to make a VoIP call -from- the West Coast or someone closer to the centers that handle Austin. This is a known quirk of call centers. You get handed out based on region, time of day, and other metrics like call volume. The floor manager was understanding and will do what he can. We shall see but I shall follow up as well.
I also will note that AT&T customer service has offered a full month credit within the first three minutes of the call. While I appreciate this progress, my goal is two parts still and I requested this be noted in the ticket (again). A credit issued might be more of a function of the particular rep involved vs. the big board list of problems, issues, or keywords such as "this is my second call", etc. vs. AT&T fully comprehending the issue and correlating it fully.
As of today I still have not heard from a regional manager but I will be seeking them out and continue to provide updates here or on Twitter with URLs back to the outcomes as comments.
The person I spoke with also said she'd order a network-wide ticket on the issue.
Many thanks Andrew. Well done.
The kind part is key.
I hope they open a network wide ticket. Honesty is all we are asking for here.
In any case, thanks, Andrew. And nice to meet you last week. I think you were there when I was tracking down AT&T reps' cell phone #s, right?
I will be emailing in a few.
The floor manager comes on and tells me 2x that she didn't show any usage on my account in "Dallas" recently. I corrected her with "Austin" 2x. This was very laughable that in essence I needed to prove that I was in Austin which upset me because she insinuates that she has that information in front of her thus she's essentially calling me a liar. I usually blow a gasket when i'm accused of being a liar but i was able to calmly state that i contacted my buddy as soon as I got to Austin so I could meet up with him at his job and I sent many many txt msgs... thus whatever you're looking at is incorrect.
I guess she bought that statement because she immediately asked me how long I was there for.to which I responded Tuesday - Sunday the 22nd. She then insistent on only prorating my account 7+ dollars for txt/data for the '5' days I guess voice wasn't included because I don't use voice much thus I didn't experience problems... thus it must have been working properly? Also I didn't catch it at the time but Tuesday-Sunday is 6 days in my book.
.
I explained that the lack of a working was frustrating and made it extremely difficult. for me to be productive; and that i expected the same treatment others had received in terms of a full credit. After i felt that she wasn't budging I attempted to escalate the matter again to which she replied that she was the highest person available to which I replied, "so your the highest person at AT&T?" she responded "NO" and I then asked her to have someone higher call me on Monday. After prodding for at least a good minute she reluctantly gave me a 4 hour window in which I could expect a call. I'm pretty certain Monday is going to come and go w/o receiving a call.
Another note... each time I escalated the rep insists the next person "is going to tell you the same thing I'm telling you". To me this is and intimidating and juvenile tactic.
lol