Play time -vs- AT&T

So, AT&T was supposed to come out yesterday and advise on internet service, connecting phone lines to house, etc...   The rep on the phone stated I didnt have to have a phone service-I told her that you have to have a LINE to hook the modem to so it would work. After beating it into her head she finally got it.  I guess she was one that was trained to read from the computer screens menu of question to ask and replies to give and doesnt have a clue you still have to have a GOOD line connected to the house for their service. So back to the story, she scheduled a rep to come out at NO OBLIGATION to the service to see about connection to house and modem install (This was a week ago during the Multi-week iPhone order fiasco that was a disaster and finally resolved after HOURS and DAYS on the phone). So we get a modem in the mail with a receipt showing activation on 9 Apr (We didnt even decide if we wanted it or even order it yet!!! WTF). I spent the ENTIRE day WAITING (seeing there time to get here was as usually scheduled somewhere from 8am-8pm LMAO) for the tech to come out as scheduled and NO CALLS, NO INDICATIONS or anything else to show a change of plans. So today I called back and get sent to machine recording after machine recording, disconnected and so on and on and on  this continues. Guess I let the modem sit and NOT pay the bill and eventually SOMEONE (A PERSON) will get a hold of us at which time I will let them know they can stop by ANYTIME between 8 am and 8 pm on what ever day and IF im home, they can retrieve their Modem-LMAO. 
So here I will sit patiently having a good time working on everyones suggestions for a song we are working on

Ill keep the post updated as it happens  

meshThat's another reason I'm moving away from getting cable tv, phone service, and internet connectivity from these companies. We used to have Cox communications that employed a tactic on holding our payment (which was always paid a week early) passed the due date, disconnected our service, charged us a late fee, AND charged us a re-connect fee. If we have just a good internet connection and our cell phones, I'd think that would be enough.......

 
There is almost no business out there that does not "charge" ahead on bills. Pretty much all cable and dish companies send you a bill about a week to ten days before the "viewing period" for that month starts, so by the time you send your check in or make your payment, you are watching the month that you are paying for.
 
That is not exactly "paying ahead" and is one of the things that bugs me here where I am with folks always telling customers ... "that we charge ahead" and we DO NOT! ... it's designed to make sure that by the time your viewing month ends, you have already paid for it, not a month later ... which would be a serious issue ... I'm sure that you have heard of all those famous starts on TV and this and that not get their millions ... yeah ... blame the cable company!

that is how many businesses do it.  Especially any business that sells a service which is the same amount every month.... with a few exceptions, (electric & water service are examples of this because you pay for what you use)  

I do it in my business.  If I didn't I wouldn't get paid for the service I provide on a monthly basis and almost every single customer would stiff me for the last billing amount before they shut off the service.

I always collect 3, and sometimes  6 or 12 months in advance. If a customer cancels before the end, I refund the balance not used. I've only had one person in 20+ years in business question this, claim it was unethical, and complain about it. I told her to go and do business with someone else if she didn't like how I did business..... (in a nice way of course) and I think she made a few calls and found out that my business model wasn't so bad after all.  Anyway, she is a customer and pays her bills 3 months ahead like everyone else. 

Mesh


Moshkiae, I think you misread my point. The cable co. held on to my check and wiated until the payment was passed due before depositting it.
We always paid much earlier than the due date, but they wouldn't cash the check (until it was late). That's how they "tried" to collect more fees from us.

You need to report that ... the City that has the contract with the Cable Company will want to know that ... that is against the law and they will chase it down ... basically they have 48 hours to run/deposit the check -- from the usps receipt date (not sent date!), and if it took them 6 days and you got nicked, the state/city need to know ... that's a serious breach of their contract and an even more serious violation and cheating of the public, that any City or County will want addressed immediately!

chefmike88If your area has FIOS get it now if not sooner. you will not regret it. Customer service is awesome and my bill for phone, internet and TV is right around $100 per month.

 
I wish they would get here to the Vancouver area. There is hesitation on Comcast's routers switching between Vancouver and Portland and it is a total bummer and frustrating, and has been like that since it was AT&T and then Home, then someone else then Comcast.
 
They are not interested in fixing it, and I'm pretty sure that the issue is that these routers are overloaded and they are not giving a darn about it. It is quite visible on any traceroute across the Columbia River.
 
We've talked to the City of Vancouver about this, and it is already on the agenda and on the list of things requested/required for the new contract ... with one problem ... it is in the year 2525 when that contract comes up!
 
So until then, we have to hope that Fios comes around. There has been circulation of Clear Wire and it has been shown to be an insane rip off and they are forcing money up front and refuse to guarantee their money. Vancouver has been actively discouraging everyone from this service via bad news and articles on various local trade magazines.
 
I guess I have to move to Camas/Washougal to have a chance at Fios ... trust me, nothing would give me morepleasure than to get rid of Comcast!

Moshkiae

chefmike88
If your area has FIOS get it now if not sooner. you will not regret it. Customer service is awesome and my bill for phone, internet and TV is right around $100 per month.

 
I guess I have to move to Camas/Washougal to have a chance at Fios ... trust me, nothing would give me morepleasure than to get rid of Comcast!

Actually, out here in Camas, Comcast's service kicks butt.  NO complaints at all (except having to pay the bill every month naturally ).  I'm not even sure if FIOS is still being offered, we haven't had a single ad or call about it (had hundreds across the river - at least until Verizon sold FIOS to Frontier anyway).

Here's my current speedtest.net and this is doing it wireless!

After 4 days I finally got to a human on the phone with AT&T!!!  Yeh Me    So after finally getting him on the phone, back to the beginning of the Customer Rep software guided questioning I went! (AS my eyes ROLLED back into my head.) Knowing hes just some poor person hired to do the job, I bit my tongue and explained what was going on once more, where we were and had been NUMEROUS time with this service they would like to provide me with. 
When we finally reach the scheduling stage of this questioning I could hear it in his voice that he was getting nervous about reading off when the could make it, so he continues and state that "We can have a Tech out tomorrow" which I said great. He then continues and states "It will be somewhere between 8am and 8pm."  I HAD to ask him, "Doesnt this all sound familiar" and then asked if I was to waste another 3 days waiting on a phone call, if they were actually going to show up this time, or should they just come and get their stuff they mailed me (Which will be sitting on the front porch waiting for them (much like the USPS Rain snow sleet or shine-It will be sitting there) "  So I let him do his thing and asked one more time if they were actually going to come or make this month long ordeal worse. He said someone would be here and call before coming. So in the mean time I have ran 2 CAT5 cables form the AT&Ts box downstairs up to where the modem will sit in prep and here I sit waiting patiently.
I decided to run it myself because they wanted $200 on top of the normal $150 to come out just to loosen the red and black screws in their box to attach 2 wires, At $100 a screw, I believe I can do that myself

MORE TO FOLLOW-Off to put on some fresh coffee

[;D]  Nice Ed!!!

Glad I don't have to go through that stuff. Fire them! First of all, they immediately take the money from a check nowadays out of your account if you have a debit card and do not wait for the check to clear anymore. It is immediate and right away. They are too big and fail.

Nice Mike!! Now you've got yourself a personal AT&T rep at your beck & call!!