Okay, so why do I say that? Well, for one thing, my company mostly uses AT&T phones… used to be Cingular, but after the merger, it’s AT&T. They have service in FAR fewer places than my Verizon phones do, but really, that is not enough for me to blog about it… Oh nooooo, this is about their customer support people. I have been trying to add this iPhone to my account for at least a week–our phone person talked to them, I talked to our rep w/ AT&T. Cool! Nice guy. He told me I could take it to any AT&T store and they could activate it as I was (and still AM) having trouble doing it w/ iTunes. So anyway, I beebop into one of the local stores the other night after work… after dicking w/ the phone for a while, the second girl there (no one else in the store mind you) says “Oh, we don’t sell iPhone here, so we can’t activate it. You need to go to the “corporate store” in Chambersburg Mall.” Now, I have been there before–when I had a warranty replacement on my VU (no, I did NOT order this phone, it’s a bit shallow for me)… anyway, while there, I asked this kid helping me to transfer my contacts over… something simple. First he argues w/ me, then manages to lose ALL OF THEM >:-O I hate punk kids. So, last evening, I get off work, drive to the mall and go into the “corporate store” whereupon I am “captured” by some semi-rude worker or “associate” or whatever dumb name they have for their sales staff. This guy, when I tell him I need to activate my older iPhone (a 2g) proceeds to give me some lame story about how he can only do this if I buy a NEW phone. This is BULLSHIT as it uses the same cable and they connect to the ‘Net there–he just doesn’t wish to deal w/ someone not buying something NEW. I left more pissed at AT&T than ever before. Oh yes, they’ve now switched my sim cards and account stuff, but the iPhone doesn’t work. So, hence, my WORK PHONE does not work. Does this fat idiot really believe that by telling me this, that I will then go and buy a NEW Apple 4g phone from him, one that has such bad reviews that its recall is rumored very day?! DUMBASS! AT&T needs to fire him, but hey, what do I know?
Am I Being Fair?
Is it fair of me to blog this? Yeah, actually it is. My personal phone, which I already said is on Verizon, has AWESOME customer support. AWESOME! They give the impression that they care and if I ask something, they try and move mountains to do it. In the 5 years I have had a Verizon phone, I have had one a-hole customer support guy and when I called back, they apologized and I NEVER had that again. Wonderful. Awesome. Nice! I cannot recommend Verizon enough. Now, contrast this w/ my experiences w/ AT&T… our company rep, he’s great! Nice guy and I am sure he can (and will) help me. Store people… either young punks w/out a clue or older assholes who can’t be bothered to help someone not buying a NEW product. I think that AT&T needs to get their shit together. Hire good people in your stores. Make things easier. Don’t accuse your customers of trying to cheat you (like when the VU’s screen crapped out). I’ve had Verizon phones crap out and they PROMPTLY and happily give me a new one. Guess which one I will continue to recommend?!
RiB