[CrashGordon]

Sorry I haven't been active here that much lately, but I've been dealing with AT&T and a issue that was causing my connection to slow drastically in the evenings (from around 5:30pm-midnight, weekends and holidays were even worse). I have 6Mb/s service but during those times for the past two months or so I was lucky to break the 2Mb/s mark (most of the time it was below 1Mb/s during those times).

Made many calls to the (no)tech support/CS, sent me a free modem (wasn't the problem like I already knew), sent two different techs out, checked every line and jack inside the house to the pole, ran a new line from the pole to the NID, yep you guessed it, same problem. Made more calls, asked to be escalated to the next tier support and was denied. So I started looking into it myself, checked both the AT&T support forums (which were about as useless as the phone calls) and dslreports.com. and found I wasn't the only one with this issue, so I called once again with my evidence, that was pointless too. So as a last ditch effort before going with Charter (my only other option and my dislike of them from prior service) I filed a complaint with the FCC, FTC, BBB and my states (GA) Public Service Commission. Two days after filing, I get a call from AT&T wanting to get the issue sorted out. They sent it to the network management dept, within a few hours after that, issue fixed and has been fine since Tuesday the 25th.

Turned out my issue was caused by something on the OC3 line I was routed through, they switched me to another OC3 line (that also put me on a router in Smyrna (the city I live in) not Powder Springs) and my speeds have been normal since then at all times of the day AND night.

It's pathetic that I had to resort to those kinds of actions in order to get something done about it.

Ok rant over, just wanted to get this info out to any members here that might be having this same problem. The FCC and the FTC will only add your complaint to a DB, but the BBB and/or your states Public Service Commission can get results now. Not sure which one lit the fire under them because I filed one with all four.

[chconline]

It seems like everyone complains about AT&T (Or at least getting very poor reputation), whether it's wireless or landline. Here in Canada half the times we complain about price, but all our major communication firms offer good to excellent service in my opinion. I've never had any problems with my cell phone or internet (Or anything for that matter), and when I did like 5 years ago, it was quickly and happily sorted out.

Glad you got it all sorted out. It is kind of sad how far you need to go to get the companies to work for you. If they got it right the first time, they would have ended up with a much happier customer and better satisfaction. It's not like you don't need to sort the problem out anyway.

[CrashGordon]

I've had DSL service since early 2003 when I dropped (what was then Smyrna Cable that is now Charter even had 1Mb service). I started with 1.5Mb then went to 3, then 6 (as soon as it was available). My only other ISP option is back to Charter and in order to make it cost effective, I need to bundle home phone and internet (mainly because of their data cap).

I first noticed the problem around the end of Nov/first part of Dec. I gave them plenty of time to correct it, but nothing until I was forced to take the actions I had to take.

You probably know me the best out of the usual people here, and know I'm a pretty easy going/roll with it kind of person, but I was forced to do what I did and it really sucks that that's what it took. On a bright side, I do have two different people to contact if I have this sort of issue again.

[chconline]

That's good news to hear

Here's some interesting tidbits I came across today though:





That's from the Netflix blog.

The top performing ISP in USA can't even touch our meh ISPs... of course Telus being the worst, haha. Shaw FTW!

[TL6MT]

AT&T is **** in wireless and everything. It does take what you did to get them working although thats not what its supposed to be. **** support, **** company, Verizon FTW.

[CrashGordon]

A few years back when it was Bellsouth I had no problems or when I did customer/tech support had no problem escalating it to the next level if needed, while AT&T pretty much flat out said no when I asked for that.

I did get a new modem/gateway for free even though my original one had been out of warranty for 7 years or so . Also got to keep the old one because they don't offer them anymore.

[chconline]

So AT&T gave you a new modem in addition to fixing the routing on their end, correct?

[CrashGordon]

Yes, got a new modem but that's one of the first things they do if the standard script they have you go though doesn't fix the problem (reboot modem, router, computer, check filters, etc.). They gave it to me probably because I told them I was 99.99% sure that it was not the modem causing the problem and if they insisted on sending me a new one that was fine but I wasn't going to pay for it.

[TL6MT]

Well at least you met some good reps who care about the company enough after youve complained. I heard some others have gone great lengths to no avail. Glad you got it fixed and a new router. You've gone above and beyond what youre supposed to do to get proper support but they've gone far to fix the issue for you.

[CrashGordon]

Actually my issue was fixed the night before I got the phone calls from AT&T. I was contacted (via PM) by a network manager after a post I made at dslreports. He looked into it, saw a problem and corrected it that evening.

Should I've had to go through all that? No, but it all worked out in the end.

[shc-boomer]

Well good to hear, AT&T, it seems to have problems in almost every market it is in.

[TL6MT]

CrashGordon, on 02 February 2011 - 01:16 PM, said:

Actually my issue was fixed the night before I got the phone calls from AT&T. I was contacted (via PM) by a network manager after a post I made at dslreports. He looked into it, saw a problem and corrected it that evening.

Should I've had to go through all that? No, but it all worked out in the end.

AT&T doesn't give a **** about their customers - I know it by experience.

[shc-boomer]

TL6MT, on 05 February 2011 - 12:07 AM, said:

AT&T doesn't give a **** about their customers - I know it by experience.

Another satisfied(shafted) AT&T customer.

[CrashGordon]

TL6MT, on 05 February 2011 - 12:07 AM, said:

AT&T doesn't give a **** about their customers - I know it by experience.

I know, believe me I was thrilled when I first heard that AT&T was taking over Bellsouth. If I had any decent alternative, I'd cancel every AT&T service I have.

[Big Bang]

CrashGordon, on 05 February 2011 - 11:37 AM, said:

I know, believe me I was thrilled when I first heard that AT&T was taking over Bellsouth. If I had any decent alternative, I'd cancel every AT&T service I have.

Yeah I ditched ATT long time ago. Cell Phone and all. Worst company ever.

[shc-boomer]

Big Bang, on 07 February 2011 - 01:06 AM, said:

Yeah I ditched ATT long time ago. Cell Phone and all. Worst company ever.

Maybe not ever... there is still AOL for Internet. Haha.

[TL6MT]

No, ATT is worse. Go on any carrier forums and there are 10000000 of these threads.

[CrashGordon]

Yeah, just while looking into getting my issue resolved. I've seen countless topics/posts about this and AT&T in general.

The story gets better too. I've gotten my issue resolved, so I'm trying to help the other people get theirs fixed without having to go through everything I did. There is no official support at AT&T's own "support" forums but I'm not allowed to mention where there is (the AT&T sections at dslreports) Official support by the ISP employees. They just keep saying it's a competing site, which I guess it is... kinda, but that's where their official support is with the people that can fix this issue (network management). I'm working with someone in the Customer Advocacy dept to have something done about that now. If they'd prefer people file complaints with the various agencies instead of sending them to another site, well... so be it.

[shc-boomer]

Interesting, I really didn't think that ATT was this bad, but I guess I am way off. Good thing I'm in Canada and don't even have them as a choice.

[CrashGordon]

Yes you are boomer. I might as just bang my head against the wall, I'd end up with the same result, a headache.

I wish I had a real option because even though my connection is now fixed, it's only a matter of time before something else happens. Looked at cable (Charter) but with the up front costs it's not really a viable option at the moment. I was planning on some sort of VoIP for home phone too (either Charter or Vonage). Only problem with those are if the power goes out, so I'd have to have a battery backup of some sort.