Complaint: At&t / SBC/ Yahoo! DSL

This was the most aggravating experience I've ever had getting any service activated. More than anything, the automated voicemail system is enough to make any normal person seriously ticked off. Add to this ridiculous hold times, employees that don't have their facts straight , severe lapses in what should be standard communication during the activation/installation process, and it becomes clear why AT&T SBC YAHOO requires a 1 yr contract with early termination fees: because their service and product is second rate, and they have serious problems with customer retention. End of story. These big corporations are all the same. They merge together to become one gigantic company (and the only game in town in a lot of places) and they rip-off consumers. I should have known better in the first place. Don't make the same mistake.

The first weekend of September 2006, I called AT&T for High-speed internet (DSL) and basic phone service in Chicago, IL. I completed the order and scheduled the technician(s) to come out on Tuesday the 12th, almost a week and a half later. I'm told that my wireless modem (that I had to buy, not rent) will be sent via UPS 2 day air (self install) and that my phone line and DSL is guaranteed to be activated by 8PM on 9/12. Yeah, sure.

So the following week goes by and I still have not received the wireless modem for the DSL. Why not? I gave very, very detailed instructions to the customer service lady (who sounded like she either stoned or half-dead when I placed the order), including the business name and suite number to ship the equipment to. So on Tuesday morning (activation day) my gear still hasn't arrived and I start making phone calls to AT&T. I'm told that my equipment wasn't sent to the correct address and that I would have to call UPS to straighten it out. So I call UPS, they tell me they were given an incomplete address. I correct AT&T's mistake by giving UPS the proper address, and they reschedule for next day delivery.

That same morning, I call AT&T again to get some idea of when the technician will be out to turn the phone line on. I get transferred around, then I call another number and I talk to this guy who seemed to know what he was talking about. I was told my technician was "3 jobs" away from mine and that it would probably be afternoon until the phone is on. This is at 10:30 in the morning. I'm then told that after this happens, the first technician will notify the company to send out a second guy from a different division to turn on the DSL.

So I go home. 7:00PM. My girlfriend is stir crazy from waiting around all day, and still no phone line. 8:15 PM still no phone. I call. I complain. They "escalate" the issue, telling me only that my original technician couldn't get to this job and put it back in the system for reassignment. Thanks for the phone call. Would of liked to known about this ahead of time, but that would be good customer service. And clearly AT&T is not interested in this. I'm told that I will get a phone call from "specialist" the following day. I ask if anyone has been rescheduled to come out and I'm told "no".

The following day by 1PM I still have not received a call. So I call AT & T instead. I'm told that a technician came back out twice within a 2 hour period but was unable to access the building. Why wasn't I told a new technician had been rescheduled to come back out? Why didn't they call us ahead of time? Time Warner calls their customers; comcast calls their's too. Why can't AT&T SBC YAHOO, 3 major companies in one, allocate resources to pick up a phone and call their customers to notify them of important things?

I asked this very question and was told the technicians on both days noted on the account attempts to call my cell phone, but I never received any calls. And I didn't have any missed calls or voicemails during this time frame. If they would have called, I could have rescheduled, or if the technician would of waited around 10 minutes, I could of had him let in by my girlfriend or landlord.

So by this point. I've had it. I've been on the phone 45 minutes and I've been screwed around for two days. I haven't even started using the service yet and already I'm having multiple issues with this company. So, I cancelled the service and drove to a UPS store to send back the DSL modem.

It should not be this difficult to become a customer of any company. Even after warnings from friends and associates about how horrible AT&T/SBC is, I still tried. And I can assure you, that will never happen again.