Friday, August 28, 2009

More of the same electronic woes..

So after submitting a report about the forgotten repair on the laptop, and then also pointing out a new issue on it, I now have to call in to get the approval for return shipping to have these repairs done. Why isn't email sufficient? I described the problems, and they need only to tell me that they will have it picked up and fixed..

On a similar but far more frustrating front, I had to deal with AT&T (Southwestern Bell really) again. I want to cancel my old phone contract since I have no phone which uses that number anymore, and at the same time start up a data only plan for a PDA or similar device. Simple right? All I would need to do is go into the AT&T store, tell them what I need, and they will take care of it.. or as it happens, not.

Never once has anyone in any AT&T store ever been helpful, and never even once have they actually answered my questions or handled whatever it was that I needed. In Wichita they actually would not read my sim card so I could retrieve my numbers unless I would buy at least the $200 phone. Here they could not set me up with a go phone account unless I purchased a $60 phone. (I went through Best Buy and paid $20, and received a $10 credit!). In Austin the kid who was supposed to be helping me knew less about their contracts than I do, and he asserted repeatedly that AT&T did not offer any data plans.. Strange thing to claim given that the website clearly indicates that they do offer such plans..

So now I have to call in to cancel the service, and try to convince whoever answers the phone on their end, after the obligatory 15 minute or more wait on hold, that I really do just want a data plan, without a phone, and preferably without a long contract, if any at all. I have the phone that they try to use to justify the two year contracts so all I need is the service and the sim card.. Anyone believe that AT&T will actually give me customer service? No one?

If there were any other option where I am building, I would go with it.. Ever since SWB bought AT&T, the customer service has simply stopped.

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