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AT&T Wireless - GSM Service

AT&T Wireless • Billing disputes • Unexpected contract expiration • Network problems • GSM service • Number portability • Sales practices • Customer service • GO Phone • Everything else --- News • Cingular-AT&T Wireless Deal is Done • Cingular Buys AT&T Wireless • Software Glitch Blamed for Losses • Cingular, AT&T Wireless In Merger Talks • AT&T Wireless Leads In Number Portability Problems

Joel of Jersey City NJ (11/15/03):
I switched from TDMA to GSM in July after coming back from the war in Iraq. I figured that it was tim eto update my phone and my service. I went ahead and bought a $200 phone and updated to the new service. Ever since I did this the service sucks. I get no reception about 50% of the time and the other 50% of the time my calls get dropped. Also, when AT&T resets its service, it also resets my phone. It turns it off automatically and then it turns on. This is done even when I am on the phone.

I have called AT&T several times and they refuse to do anything about this. When I do get through to them they tell me that their computers are down and that someone will call me back. No one ever calls me back. All I want is to switch back to TDMA and have AT&T provide me with a phone since the one I have I can no longer use and the $200 that I spent basically went down the drain.

Niles of Sales MA (7/30/03):
I have been a loyal customer with AT&T Wireless since February of 2000. I have never had any complaints with the customer/phone service until just recently. About 3 weeks ago my Nokia phone which I upgraded to about 18 months ago broke. It was displaying all sorts of weird hyroglyphics, flashing on and off and not picking up a signal a lot of the time I wanted to make a call. I brought my phone down to an AT&T Wireless store in Danvers, MA. I spoke with who appeared to be the manager on duty and explained my problem. The only explanation he could give was the phone was "old" and was no good anymore, saying I would need to purchase a new one.

I was aware that my selection in picking out a new phone with my traditional "digital" service was very limited. The store only offered 4 phones that were compatable with digital service, none of which were to my liking. The store offered a wide variety of much better, more equipped phones that were only available by signing up for a new contract with their new GSM service, which even the salesman I dealt with admitted was still under development, resulting in less coverage. Now here's the catch. I have the option of either buying a better phone with inferior service (in comparison to my old service), or I can purchase an inferior phone (in comparison to the phones that were available on this new service) that has the same excellent service and coverage that I had prior to my phone being "old" and no good.

Reluctantly, I agreed to sign up for the new GSM service to get the phone I wanted (the Motorola T720), after being assured by the salesman that if I was not satisfied in any way, I had a 30-day period to return the phone, hassle-free and go back on my old plan. The salesman said that in a year or two, their GSM service would be just as good or better then their digital coverage plan. What does that do for me? I don't care about 2 years from now, I care about now. If I had a free choice to get the product and service I wanted, this wouldn't matter, but I didn't. I had to sign up for a service I didn't want to sign up for in order to get the phone I wanted without changing carriers.

And let me talk about this new GSM service for a minute. It's HORRIBLE! I probably got half a dozen to a dozen dropped calls in the 18 months I had my last phone. In the 12 days I've had this new phone I've had more then that. I cant get a signal in my home half the time, and when I'm at work most of the time. Why would AT&T Wireless offer a service to its customers that is so inadequate compared to its other services, and even more important then its competitors' services. Needless to say I'm bringing this phone back to the exact place I bought it and severing my ties with AT&T completely, this includes my long-distance home plan. AT&T has lost a loyal customer and until now avid permoter of their products and services. I don't believe Sprint will have the same crooked business dealings.

Christopher of Scottsdale AZ (11/25/03):
I just want to let someone know about the quality of service that I have received through AT&T over almost the last two years. To start off, it has been HORRIBLE at best! The first part of my service was great until about April 2003. That is when everything went downhill from there and it is quite apparent that this organization could care less about the quality of service it provides.

In December 2002, I had switched my cellular phone service from the Nationwide digital plan to a GSM Network plan because I was given a brand new Sony Ericson phone for Christmas and that was the service that was required to use that phone. From the moment that I switched that service, I began having reception problems in areas that I had never experienced before. I was staying mainly in the central Arizona area and it was only a minor inconvenience at the time.

I travel frequently for business and in April, 2003 I was in Salt Lake City for a period of two weeks and this is where it became not just an inconvenience, but a hindrance. I was staying in downtown Salt Lake City and was using my cell phone quite freqently for business related calls which were consistently getting dropped or I had no service at all. After about a week of frustration, I went into an AT&T Wireless store to find out what the problem was. The store manager told me that this was a common occurance with the GSM network. That just fueled my frustration because had I been told that ahead of time, I would never have switched my service over and would have returned the phone.

Now I have got a $300 phone that is absolutely worthless. The manager was able to come to a resolution for me, however. She was able to sell me a used phone (the largest phone on Earth!) for $20 and switch my service back to the digital network so I could communicate. That was great until I got my bill.

As I stated previously, I was on a nationwide plan. She switched me to a regional plan and my bill was over $600! I called AT&T customer service and was on hold for almost a half-an-hour. Once I was able to talk to a Customer Service Representative (mind you I don't think your organization understands customer service is) she was short and explained to me that it was my fault this had happened because I should have realized that the manager of the store would have placed me on the same type of service plan that I was previously on. After I disagreed and tried to explain to her again what happened (I really decided to give this woman the benefit of the doubt and assume that she just didn't understand the problem) and she became combative.

I then told her that I wanted to cancel my service. She said great and began the process. She, who mind you is representing your organization, did not care that I was going to take my business elsewhere! Without having another cell phone carrier, I decided that I was going to wait until I got another carrier, as to not disrupt my service. After talking over with a few people, I was advised to call back and let a supervisor know what happened. This time was a completely different experience. I spoke with a very nice customer service represenative and she transferred me to a supervisor who cleared the whole situation up.

It took about two and a half hours to get done but I was relieved that I did not have to switch carriers and pay for an invalid bill. I wish that is where the story ended. The $20 phone that was sold to me by the manager of that store in the Gateway in Salt Lake City was awful. The phone book was inadequate and the phone was heavy and large. When I got back to Arizona, I checked with an AT&T Wireless store to see what I could do.

The selection of Digital Network phones was exactly two phones, one of which was the one that I already had. It seemed to me that AT&T is trying to force people onto an unreliable network! I pretty much decided at this point that I was going to cancel my service with this organization at the end of my contract in February, 2004. My girlfriend was able to give me her V60 phone and I went to switch my number onto it in the same store that I went to in Arizona on Shea. When the salesperson asked my why I was switching, he didn't care, which didn't surprise me. After using the V60 for about a week, I noticed that I was having service problems again. My girlfriend had warned me about this phone and I wanted to take the risk because the size was much more convenient. When I went back to the store to inquire about the phone thinking that there was a manufactural problem with it, the same saleperson told me that there was a manufactural problem with this phone and many customers return that phone.

Just as he told me this, on the other side of the counter was a customer purchasing this exact phone! I asked the salesperson if he was going to inform that customer that the V60 may have a defect with it and he said that he is not allowed to! Nice policy, AT&T! I then had to purchase my third phone with AT&T and had three phones that were of no use to me at all. All in all, I had almost $700 worth of useless equipment and your company could care less! It does not stop here. The phone that I have been most recently sold, is the same phone that I had to begin with, the base model phone that is usually free when ordering new service. Because I had already had an upgrade on my service plan recently, I had to pay $150 for the worst phone available. If I had been smarter, I would have just opted out of my contract and switched carriers. I didn't and purchased the phone.

Just in the last couple of months, I have been traveling to Orange County, CA and my service has worsened. Not a big surprise! Dropped calls and every other call doesn't even go through. I am in one of the more densly populated areas of the United States and this is the type of service that I am getting. I went into an AT&T store in the Irvine Spectrum to find out how to finally opt out of my contract. After telling this entire story to the salesperson, he appologized and told me that for the amount of usage that I have, the current phone that I have is the worst possible phone. Not a surprise here, either.

I was then told that I would have to pay $175 to get out. I was thinking about it and called AT&T Customer Service again. This time the first person that I talked to was great. She did tell me about an option that I could swtich my service plan to another person and I would not have to pay for the cancellation fee. I explained to her that I wouldn't switch this service to my worst enemy and she laughed. Even your customer service people know about the level of service that you provide. Amazing!

She then transferred me to Chris, a Resolution Specialist. I had a brief discussion with him. Apparently the Resolution Specialist only specializes in one resolution - the customer is wrong and that is it. After all that I have been through, he couldn't even waive the cancellation fee, which brings me to where I am now. I am currently in the process of switching my service and keeping my number. I can only hope that this law allowing customers to keep their cell phone numbers when switching service is going to stimulate a better customer service enviornment. This is probably precisely the reason why your Resolution Specialist has only one resolution; a last-ditch effort to squeeze every last penny out of their customers and to try and force them to stay if they do not want to pay the cancellation fee.

"V" of Six Mile Run PA (10/13/03):
I purchased a cellular phone from AT&T wireless. I had been an AT&T wireless customer for some time. The new phone was a Motorola T-720 that is run on the GSM network. The phone had to be sent in for repairs so I switched back to the digital service while the phone was being repaired. When I got the phone back I reactivated the GSM services. When I activated the phone I found it did not send or receive calls at my home or my workplace. The GSM network has not yet been implemented here. When I bought the phone I lived and worked in a different area that did have services. I called AT&T and explained my situation to them. The woman I talked to said that my options were that they could terminate my contract with no fees since it was neither sides fault that the phone did not work or I could migrate back to a digital plan.

I no longer had a digital phone and after spending $300 on the Motorola phone I could not afford another phone. I opted to cancel the contract. I assumed this was done until I received non-payment bills in the mail and notice that my contract and service was terminated. They charged me $175 early termination fees. I called today to discuss this with AT&T after I paid the entire amount due. They said there is nothing they can do and I have to be charged the early termination fees. It appears that they have no idea who would have mis-informed me that they could terminate my contract without fees.