I'm really baffled by AT&T lately. I've had Uverse for about 15 months now. I am pretty happy with it overall. I mainly use it for the Internet and phone, but after trying to upgrade my Internet speeds from 24mbit to 45mbit I'm somewhat puzzled.
This all started back in May 2014, when I found out that 45mbit service existed on Uverse. It did not exist when I first signed up. I immediately went to my online Uverse account and tried to add the service. It let me add it, but it kept inserting a $100 internet installation charge on top of the monthly fee increase.
So I called up customer service and asked them why I had to pay $100 to upgrade, that seemed rather strange to me. The customer service rep said that was a mistake, and he was able to add the service himself without the upgrade fee.
So we set up an appointment for a technician to come out because he said my gateway had to be switched with a new one capable of handling 45mbit service.
So we set up an installation date, it was to be June 7 in the morning.
In the morning, no one showed up until about noon. I had been waiting all morning for someone to show up. I noticed that a uverse van was parked down the street where our neighborhood box is. So I guessed he was there because of me. I waited around some more and finally he showed up at the door.
He said he would upgrade my wiring to handle two lines because 45mbit requires two lines, but that a second guy would come in later to actually turn it on.
Oh by the way, since I woke up that morning, all my internet, tv, and PHONE were offline. I waited another few hours, but by 4pm I had to leave because I had to take my kids to a birthday party. I left my wife and one kid home with the two techs.
When I got home later at 6pm, the uverse guys were gone.
My wife said they didn't say anything and just disappeared. I told them that I was leaving and that my wife would be home.
There was a note on the door, saying that they finished and all 3 services should be up.
I checked and everything was still dead. No phone, no tv, and no Internet.
I called up Uverse, and they said all they can do is have someone come the next day in the afternoon and fix it.
So sunday afternoon comes around, and a tech shows up. He didn't seem very happy or friendly. He asks me what internet speed I'm supposed to get and I told him I'm upgrading to 45mbit. he told me his paperwork only shows one line and you need two lines for 45mbmit. So there's nothing he can do. He spends the next hour or two to restore my internet and phone and tv.
he leaves and said I should contact tech support the next day.
So I called customer service and ask them why this whole weekend was a failure...and they apologized and said they could schedule another install.
At this point, I had mentioned this debacle on twitter, and a twitter support person called me and I ended up scheduling an install for June 28. The reason it was so late, is I'm only available on weekends, and I had a business trip in the middle of the month.
So June 28 comes and goes, and no one showed up to the installation.
I chatted with support on Sunday, and they said that there was a facility issue and that's why no one showed up. They also couldn't look up information on cost etc, cause its been so many weeks I wanted to refresh my memory on what this upgrade was going to cost. Since they didn't have that information available because of some maintenance going on, I decided to give up for the day and call customer service in the morning.
So Monday I called them, and I ended up spending 36 minutes on the damn phone with them while they tried to figure it out. First they said I was already upgraded...then they said I need new equipment...I told them I already got the new gateway, all I need is the second line. But that prompted more waiting and more waiting..finally they said due to some issue with ordering the service I had to order an equipment upgrade first and wait for that to complete before I could order the service and have a tech come out.
So they said they'd call me the next day when that was done and schedule a tech visit. Tuesday came and went, no phone call.
So I went online and found that they had scheduled a tech visit in the middle of next week when I'm at work. thankfully I checked myself, or a tech would come to my house and not be able to get in.
So now I rescheduled that visit for July 12.
I have a few questions for AT&T, but no answers.
First, what the hell happened June 7 and 8. Why couldn't 3 techs upgrade my service? Did someone screw up?
Second, what the heck is a facility issue and why did no one show up on June 28 and why didn't they at least call to let me know I don't have to wait around all day for someone to show up?
Third, now that I have to spend another saturday on July 12 waiting for a tech to show up, what are we doing differently this time around so I can feel a little bit of confidence that it will actually work this time?
I don't really like just trying the same thing again and hoping it works. I like to know what went wrong the first time so I don't make the same mistake again.
Four, how many of these stupid failures does it take before I can be let out of my contract so I can try my luck with the cable company instead? Cause honestly I'm so annoyed with AT&T, I would just go with cable at this point if I could. But I can't because of the contract.
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