Sunday I tried to connect to the internet from home, only to discover a bad connection. I reset the modem, re-booted, all that good stuff, but no luck. Knowing that this would now require a call to AT&T, the thought of which always curdles my blood and is a task equivalent of being stuck on the runway in an airplane for 8 hours, I opted to wait until Monday to call.
In the meantime, Tom discovered the cable that runs from the pole to the house laying in two pieces in the back yard. At least I could be armed with knowledge when I made the call on Monday.
That was yesterday.
I called the number for “repair services” listed on my bill. The automated voice, after asking and receiving answers of a few questions noted that I really needed to have called another number, but no worries, he’d connect me to the “AT&T Internet Services” number, which, I’ll point out is also on my bill.
I answered a few more of his questions, and then we got to the Mind-the-Chasm question: “Please say why you are calling. “ I said the wrong thing, apparently, and though I was told I was being directed to an agent, I fell into the chasm.
After listening to silence for several minutes, wondering if I were truly on hold, I hung up, called back and started the process again (from the AT&T Internet Services number). By now, this call has eaten about 20 minutes of my time and I haven’t even talked to a person yet.
Finally, a person answers. We confirm the information I told Autoguy. I explain the nature of my problem, including a description of the snapped cable. She starts to put a ticket in and then asks for my modem model. I explain that I’m at work and that information is not available to me. She explains that she can’t put the ticket in without it. I explain again that I’m at work. She says it would be better if I had the model # and I agreed that may be true, but unfortunately we were going to have to do without it at this time. We are about at the 30 minute mark and I explain to her that I will not go through this process again from home so we had 3 options:
1) Put the ticket in without the modem model number.
2) Let me talk to someone who can.
3) I cancel my service.
She opts for item 2. And then, very passive agressively I am left on hold for 10 more minutes. Pedro or Jorge or whatever his name was gets on the phone, requires me to repeat some relavent information, uses all the good customer services tricks like calling me ma’am and Miss and starting every sentence with an apology, and assures me that we’ll get this taken care of, which does not have the intended effect, because every time he started a sentence with an apology and an assurance he ate up another 15 seconds.
And then he puts me on hold. For another 10 minutes. When he returns he presents me with What Will Happen Now, a jumble of words like schedule and phone call, I’m sure made jumbly by my impatience. Whatever. I get it. Someone will call me and then I’ll have to call or someone will call me twice or something like that.
Once our business was complete, Pedro or Jorge spent another 4 minutes saying goodbye. Seriously. He was worse than my husband.
As promised, I did receive a phone call. From Autoguy who informed me pleasantly that they checked my line and no problems were found. If I took issue with that I could call a number and discuss it with a technician, but ONLY if I had a ticket number (which, fortunately, I did).
I called this number; I pressed 2 for existing problem. And then I waited. On hold. For 15 more minutes. I was in transit and hung up after arriving home. I probably would not have had the patience if I hadn’t been in the car.
I called back today. While this call took another 20 minutes or so, most of it on hold, the personal interaction was much more productive, although when the guy asked for my modem model, I nearly had a melt-down; he accepted my inability to provide this in stride, however. But. Then. Gave me an 9 hour service window. Fortunately, he let me slide on mandatory attendance. I live 3 minutes away and we negotiated a plan in which the service guy would call me on his way.
*Insert witty tie-up ending here* (I don’t have time).
8 Comments
June 9, 2009 at 8:23 pm
AT&T has one of the worst IVR systems I’ve ever dealt with. People in the cubes around me have gotten accustomed to me increasingly loud diatribes as I navigate the system. Most of my responses to the prompts include variations on “which you’ll probably get wrong, piece of crap IVR” punctuatd by more and more profanity the longer it takes to get anywhere useful.
If course, calling any call center on a Monday is just masochistic.
June 10, 2009 at 2:54 am
Charter is just as bad, unfortunately. Was the modem provided by AT&T or you? If the former (like mine is), shouldn’t they already know what you have? Besides that, what the hell difference does it make, since you have a severed line? And why the “must be at home” nonsense when their line is outside? Now these numbskulls are making me mad.
June 10, 2009 at 7:18 am
Rev: early on, I had even more problems because I do not have a land-line, and therefore I don’t have a phone #. Only recently has the IVR system (and, I might add, actual people — once you get them) been able to handle that. I once spent 2 hours getting transferred from person to person to person until I got the right person (and all I wanted to do was pay my bill — because the website couldn’t handle my lack of phone # either).
E: Yes. Yes. and more Yes. Sometimes, I just want to take my luddite self and hole up in the woods with my Kindle and a shotgun.
June 16, 2009 at 11:12 am
I have been disconnected from DSL twice this morning. I, however, have a sister in upper mgt. at ATT and it certainly does help. I am now navigating with Safari and it is soooo superior. By the way, I got an iPhone (a month before the new improved model which is beyond me) and I absolutely love it. I took a picture of a helicopter landing at work and it stopped the rotors! I am amazed, I couldn’t see them.
June 24, 2009 at 6:12 am
thanks for your sweet comment on my blog!
I used to have AT&T as well and had similar encounters with their customer service folks many times.
Now we have Charter and it’s just as bad.
I’m not even going to bother to try and switch to a different company again, because I just kind of figured they’re all horrible and it will always be a lose-lose situation.
Hope they get your problem resolved as soon as possible!
June 28, 2009 at 4:43 pm
And there was me thinking that America was the home of good customer service. Sounds like it’s just as sucky as British customer service, if only it was British and not a call centre in Delhi.
September 15, 2009 at 3:48 am
whither the blog. the victim of a thousand facebook slices.
September 15, 2009 at 8:01 am
Oh, man, I don’t even have the energy to post a comment, here! Soon, maybe.