I hate AT&T

[paulney]

I have two landlines at home: one for business, and the other one is residential with DSL service tied to it. DSL service is provided by a 3rd party company, not AT&T.

My business line works perfectly. My residential line has not been working properly for over a year now. When it is working, there is always static on the line. I have complained 3 times in the past year about the static. AT&T sent a technician out, they did something, the noise subsided, but after a few months it would come back.

Last time it was so bad, I couldn't even talk on the line any more. It took them 3 weeks to do whatever they did, repair the underground lines from the house to the switchbox, etc, etc. So, for 3 weeks my home phone (and my DSL) were essentially unusable. The bastards would have probably taken two months to fix the problem had I not been pestering them about it and trying to escalate the issue.

This morning my residential line went completely berserk. I can't make calls on it at all: it doesn't recognize hang ups or requests to open the channel, and the noise is hideous.

I made a repair request through their automated service, but I can't get to a real person, because AT&T insulated themselves so well. Any time I reach anyone, they promptly transfer me to a top menu in the repair service, where the full cycle of hell begins anew.

How can I get to them? I want to request a refund for the service they _did not_ provide (i.e. working line). I want to make sure this time the problem really gets addressed. WTF, a semi-working line for a year now! All their fixes are non-fixes. I'm so mad.

Help me, ATOT!

 

[LS21]

att sucks just give up. i gave up years ago after trying ALL of their services (home, wireless, internet, tv)

 

[rasczak]

by chance would you happen to have some sort of splitter anywhere?

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

why do you blame AT&T and not the DSL provider?

 

[paulney]

Originally posted by: rasczak
by chance would you happen to have some sort of splitter anywhere?

Of course I have a splitter on the home phone (I have a cordless phone with multiple handsets, so only one connection to a jack), and a splitter on the modem as well.

I mean, the setup has not changed for over 5 years that I've been living in this house. AT&T always threatens to charge you if the house lines are whacked, but I always do a check on the line at the outside box, and there's noise there as well. So, this means it's AT&T's lines that are screwed.

 

[paulney]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
why do you blame AT&T and not the DSL provider?

Because DSL provider uses AT&T's physical lines

 

[her209]

Verizon FIOS FTW.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: paulney

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
why do you blame AT&T and not the DSL provider?

Because DSL provider uses AT&T's physical lines

how do you know it's a physical line issue and not an issue caused by the DSL service?

 

[Deviant Grasshopper]

If it makes you feel better we pay thousands a month to AT&T for business class service and are treated the same way, or worse.

 

[nakedfrog]

Show up at the local office and raise hell?

 

[paulney]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: paulney

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
why do you blame AT&T and not the DSL provider?

Because DSL provider uses AT&T's physical lines

how do you know it's a physical line issue and not an issue caused by the DSL service?

How is it physically possible?

In the past year they've acknowledged that the physical lines were damaged by rain water, they've rebuilt connections from my house to the switchbox (or whatever they call it), but in the end they had to repair the line itself.

Now the issue has come back - right after the rains.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Use a cell phone?

 

[paulney]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
Show up at the local office and raise hell?

Actually, a pretty good idea. Thanks, I'll try that at lunch.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

oh, and the reason they are so slow to help you is that they are losing money on your line since they have to provide the line to the DSL provider at the same price as they do themselves.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: paulney

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats

Originally posted by: paulney

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
why do you blame AT&T and not the DSL provider?

Because DSL provider uses AT&T's physical lines

how do you know it's a physical line issue and not an issue caused by the DSL service?

How is it physically possible?

In the past year they've acknowledged that the physical lines were damaged by rain water, they've rebuilt connections from my house to the switchbox (or whatever they call it), but in the end they had to repair the line itself.

Now the issue has come back - right after the rains.

then it may be a physical line issue, you didn't mention any of that originally.

 

[rasczak]

Originally posted by: paulney

Originally posted by: rasczak
by chance would you happen to have some sort of splitter anywhere?

Of course I have a splitter on the home phone (I have a cordless phone with multiple handsets, so only one connection to a jack), and a splitter on the modem as well.

I mean, the setup has not changed for over 5 years that I've been living in this house. AT&T always threatens to charge you if the house lines are whacked, but I always do a check on the line at the outside box, and there's noise there as well. So, this means it's AT&T's lines that are screwed.

I recently started having issues with my own connection and traced it to the splitter failing. once i replaced both splitters, my ping (which was fluctuating between 35ms to 700ms) drastically improved. It has to be on of the most over looked aspects for troubleshooting and relatively inexpensive to replace.

i suggest going out and purchasing a couple to replace the two you have and seeing if that makes a difference. it's a only a few bucks and worth thr trouble imo.

good luck.

 

[dartworth]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Use a cell phone?

/facepalm

 

[nutxo]

I once had ATT for my cell service.

First month my phone gets shut off. I call and they say they credited the funds to my other account. I tell em I dont have another account and they correct it and turn my phone back on.


Second month my phone gets shut off. I call and they say they credited the funds to my other account. I tell em I dont have another account and they correct it and turn my phone back on.

Third month my phone gets shut off. I call and they say they credited the funds to my other account. I tell em I dont have another account and they correct it and say they will turn my phone back on. A few hours later I still dont have service so I walk into the ATT office. After much arguing they say touph sh!t. Its the third time my service has been disconnected for non payment and they wont turn it back on...

Then they sent me a bill with an early cancellation fee.

ATT sucks.

 

[txrandom]

MikeyIs4Dcats sounds like he works for AT&T.

 

[torpid]

Tell them they have a week to fix it or you will switch to cable (most offer phone service). If you really have moxie, you can call to threaten, wait for them to do nothing, then call back and actually schedule a disconnect a month out. You are more or less guaranteed that they will offer to send a tech supervisor out to help with the problem.

 

[Baked]

LOL 3rd party DSL company using AT&T's lines, now why the hell would you do that. AT&T's rates and services are great. I don't blame them for fucking w/ you choosing a different DSL.

 

[Quiksilver]

Sounds Like AT&T needs to stop burying them lines underground and place them up on telephone poles.

 

[13Gigatons]

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
Sounds Like AT&T needs to stop burying them lines underground and place them up on telephone poles.

Great then the wind and ice destroys them as well.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Originally posted by: txrandom
MikeyIs4Dcats sounds like he works for AT&T.

nope, I work in construction, but I do know a couple of people who work for AT&T

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: 13Gigatons

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
Sounds Like AT&T needs to stop burying them lines underground and place them up on telephone poles.

Great then the wind and ice destroys them as well.

Must take quite a bit, I've had storms strong enough to knock a 12' limb from one of my trees, but no problems with my telephone-pole provided DSL (would have been a different story if the limb had landed on the line, of course)