I upgraded my iPhone from a first gen to the 3GS last month. I *was* on the 200 SMS plan and went to unlimited SMS. Well I had already used about 185 messages by mid-month when they switched me to unlimited. They went ahead and prorated the old and new charges, as well as prorating the allowable messages and proceeded to charge me overages on the SMS messages.

Since my bill for wife and I is now $180, I just found that extra $5.00 worth of SMS usage charges pretty damn tacky. I've heard of other carriers allowing you to change your minutes or SMS plan mid-month and it apply for the entire month so if you see yourself going over, you can adjust the plan if needed. Guess not applicable to AT&T.

i dont understand why people still use AT&T for anything these days... they proved themselves in the 80's that they dont give a $hit about any of their customers. now all i read about AT&T is how bad their service is and how bad there customer service is. with all these negatives how can any informed consumer choose AT&T?

@Trey Mahaffey: There's only one reason why and it's the iphone.

Apple overload.

Also, good for you Richard, but can we emphasize that immediately contacting Executive Customer Service before ever dealing with regular Customer Service isn't really the way to go?

@Trey Mahaffey: Its not really AT&T anymore. The sompany that Bought AT&T just uses the name.

@TinkishDelight:

I agree. If people continue to use the top line CS people, they'll simply hide better. This should have started with a call to regular old normal customer service. It seems like something that is a pretty simple thing to fix, that any CSR could have accomplished while he was on the phone.

@Trey Mahaffey:

Jesusphone = ATT

@Trey Mahaffey: I don't know. I used to be with Verizon and had all sorts of horror stories with them. I made the switch to AT&T and couldn't be happier. I get much better reception, and 0 customer service problems with them. I guess it depends on your luck.

@Trey Mahaffey: I was born in the 80s, so my only frame of reference when it comes to the quality of cell phone carriers is the last 10 to 12 years, when I actually started carrying a phone. From that frame of reference, I'd take AT&T customer service over Verizon's "hold, please" mentality anyday.

@weave: I switched from AT&T's 1000 text plan to unlimited in the middle of the month and didn't receive any overcharges on sms messages. This was on a non-iphone plan, not that it should matter.

I think its great that ATT can do a 10$ 'suspension plan.' Ive never heard of such a thing before and its great for keeping the phone bill down if say... well i get deployed or something. The real question, is does this extend your sevice plan past the 2 year mark? Because if i ever need to cancel my ATT plan, ill just put it on suspend until my contract is up before i pay the huge termination fee. There has to be a catch in there somewhere that it defers your contract or something. Id look into that first.

I used to pay for the insurance plan on AT&T for my wife's phone. After paying $5 a month for about 20 months (which comes to $100 total), my wife's phone died. I contacted AT&T to get her a replacement phone and they said I had to pay $50 for the replacement and wait 3 weeks for it to arrive (they would not allow me to just go to an AT&T store, it HAD to be mailed). I asked why am I paying $5 a month for a replacement plan if I still have to pay $50?

Their answer, "That's just the way it is".

They wanted me to pay a total of $150 for a 2 year old Motorola RAZR model (which was then worth about $40). I went to Best Buy and bought a "prepaid" phone for $15, switched the SIM card with my wife's SIM and voila, I had a replacement phone for $15. Thanks AT&T.

We're now Sprint customers and I have absolutely no complaints, I should never have switched from Sprint to AT&T. AT&T milks customers and then doesn't even hold up their end of the agreements...

@KreativeHitman13: T-Mobile will let you suspend your account for free for up to six months - but it's one of those things you really have to *know* about, they don't shout about it. Also, T-Mobile will waive the early termination fee if you can show you're moving to an area without service (ie, if you're deployed, or move abroad).

AT&T's ad stating "Over half of smartphone owners choose AT&T" is misleading...

The only reason over half of smartphone owners "choose" AT&T has nothing to do with AT&T, it's only because they are the only carrier with the iPhone.

If the iPhone were on any other carrier besides AT&T, that statement wouldn't even make it to print.

@TinkishDelight: I may agree with you in principle but I am getting to the point where I just start as close to the top as I can. Afterall, they don't have a problem wasting my time so why should I worry about wasting theirs? Plus, chances are, regular customer service wouldn't have/couldn't have done anything anyway.

If I am calling because I need to change a rate plan or correct a problem that I caused, I would definitely start at the bottom. When the problem was caused by them, I am going to do whatever it takes to get the problem solved ASAP!

@Thanatos: Back when I had an AT&T plan with the phone "insurance" and needed to replace a damaged phone, they swapped out my comfortable, thoughtfully designed StarTAC (yeah, it was while ago) flip-phone for an itsy-bitsy Nokia lump. I dropped the insurance immediately, and AT&T shortly after.

@KreativeHitman13: Depending on your deployment, or how long you plan on putting it into temp suspension, at $10 a month, it may just be cheaper to cancel if your going to be gone for any significant period of time, as cancellations are now prorated. Even if you are at the beginning of your contract, on a 2 year contract at $10 a month that's $240, cancellation is $170ish, so it still works out cheaper.

I went to South Africa for 3 weeks, I did not think about doing the suspension for that time. I will tell you that the roaming rates are absolutely ridiculous, especially the data.

I unlocked and jailbroke my 3g long ago though, so I just used pre paid data while I was there.

you have to flight them always , as they do not train staff to handle any issues , witch means , they do not have access to areas in there computer that can help without you getting a manager involved .

@Trey Mahaffey: Of course it doesn't care about customers, it's a company. It cares about revenue, same as its competitors.

That doesn't mean customer service couldn't be variable from one company to another (I haven't actually had any problems with AT&T myself, and have had some good service), but it doesn't make any sense to back away from one because it doesn't love me as an individual when none of 'em do.

@Thanatos: Verizon pulled the same thing when I was on its network. The insurance was $5 a month so if your phone did die, you would pay less than you would normally (full price). Of course, with it being Verizon, there were no SIM cards so you had to buy a Verizon-approved phone.

@Trey Mahaffey:

And any of the other wireless carriers are any better? They all have their problems.

What is iPhone Man holding in the picture? A slug? Half of a frozen banana? A horn?

Over 9 years and counting with Verizon Wireless and not a single issue with my bills.

I love anecdotal evidence!

@Trey Mahaffey: I've had AT&T since they were bought by Cingular, my original carrier. I've never really had any problems with them. The last time I adjusted my plan they were helpful, did the adjustment in a few minutes, and all of the billing was okay.

Maybe there's a different department for former Cingular customers or something...

@pecan 3.14159265: although verizon's insurance differs. if the problem is caused by the user, ie phone drowned it's 50 bucks. however if problem is caused by hardware e.g. can't make phone calls west of 8th ave in NYC or outside of metropolitan areas (when I get service practically everywhere) then it's free.

@Trey Mahaffey: AT&T has the best coverage for where I work and travel here in central illinois.
I had Verizon before this about 8 years ago but too many CS issues.
Sprint only works well when close to a highway or big town.
T-mobile and US Cellular don't really have any advantage here either.
so for my only problem with them has been when changing plan features. I almost always has been messed up somehow, but rectified by billing time.

@camman68: The problem with going "straight to the top" is that that just makes the "top" the new "bottom", as all external e-mails to the executive start getting routed to first-line customer service.

is this suspension plan literally where your phone and all its features get turned off, or do you go to extremely low minutes and Kb for downloads?

@NewsMuncher: It looks like a horn. Or a very large, misshapen taro plant.

@sirwired:

One complaint have about customer service in general is that they assume they know why you are calling and want to you choose from their assumptions.

So I have to navigate the "Press 1 for current billing information, etc." until I get to talk to a person.

All of the info available in their phone system is quicker to get via the internet. I NEVER call for something that an automated response can provide, but I am forced to listen to their options anyway.

They should always provide a "Talk to a person." option up front. Some of these companies have more than 5 levels of menus before you get to talk to a person. I end up pressing '0', or '#' just to get out - but some of their systems just start over again.

I bet the executive customer service number doesn't even have a menu on it.

@JustinSane07: It is not anecdotal if what we are learning is the actual company policy. Its education. Granted, you could probably read the fine print and get the info in legaleze, but IANAL, So its good to hear customer's experiences and how the policies are enforced.

@Thanatos: There was a clause in my AT&T contract (August 2007 -- I'm out in a month!) that basically said AT&T didn't actually have to meet its contractual obligations.

My phone died last year but the folks at the store I went to were a little more helpful. It may have had something to do with my loud threats to file fraud complaints with the Illinois Attorney General for failure to provide service (the problem had to have been the network, since the replacement phone they gave me didn't work either) and collusion with manufacturers to force customers into contracts with shoddy equipment.

This makes me sound like a total ass, but I've played nice with AT&T for years. Threatening a fraud complaint is the only path to good service from them in about a decade.

@KreativeHitman13:
Sprint offers the same thing. I had a deadbeat on my plan, so instead of paying an ETF, I paid the $10 suspension fee and then cancelled his line when the expiration date rolled around.

@Thanatos:
I hate to tell you this, but if you have Sprint's insurance and have to file a claim, there's also a $50 deductible. I think the deductible is to force you to self-insure for a portion of the expense. The thought process behind it is that you'll be more careful if you know you'll have to fork over $50.

@JustinSane07:
I'm sure there are others who would disagree with you. I find that cell phone companies all have their issues. Some of us just get lucky and don't have problems.

@Trey Mahaffey: Coverage, nice employer discount, and a largely union workforce.

It was ATT or Sprint, and Sprint enjoyed wasting my time entirely too much. That, and most of the people I encountered in Sprint stores were kind of rude. The ATT people, less so.

@dianabanana: Not really.

T-mobile has that same kind of plan. I think it's even less than the $10. A few years back they offered to suspend my coverage for 6 months and the whole fee was $10 and that was just to hold the phone #. Of course, the phone was shut off and couldn't be used at all during that time. I don't know if they still do it.

@weave:

Be careful changing a plan mid month. I did with Verizon a few years back - big mistake. They prorate your minutes and bill for each section of the month, and treat each section a seperate bill. I went from a $40/m (400 minutes) plan to $50/m (500 minutes) mid month. Ok, they prorate the 400 mintutes to 200 for those two weeks, and the 500 to 250 for the 2nd two weeks. Well I used 300 minutes in the first half, and only 100 in the second half. Since I was only "allowed" 200 minutes in the first half, they charged me for the extra 200, even though my monthly total was 400 out of an allowed 450.

@Thanatos: So if you agree that it's true than what is the problem? They choose AT&T because AT&T has a competitive advantage. No one HAS to have an Iphone....

@merist: [www.gethuman.com] tells you how to, well, get to a human.

I used my US iPhone/ATT on vacation in Switzerland this year and just received my bill. I paid $59 for an international plan valid only in Switzerland so that 50MB of data would be free and calls would be billed at 99¢/min. Somehow the data used in Zurich billed through Liechtenstein, which is over 50 miles from anywhere we ever went. Fortunately we were only there for two days ($24.74). They claim I acquired a non-Swiss carrier instead of only using Orange and Swisscom as required. I didn't, but try convincing them of that.

@Trey Mahaffey: Only mature FULL-featured smartphone

@KreativeHitman13: reduced rate suspend for at&t wireless can be used for up to 6 months and it DOES extend your contract the amount of time you are on it

@Thanatos: "they would not allow me to just go to an AT&T store, it HAD to be mailed" - that's because it goes thru a third party insurance company, and they fedex the phone .. it usually arrives in 2 days

"I asked why am I paying $5 a month for a replacement plan if I still have to pay $50?" - It's not a replacement plan, it's phone insurance. It's just like most other insurance, you pay a monthly premium and pay a deductible if you file a claim. I pay my car insurance monthly and if I get in an accident and want to file a claim, I will also pay a deductible.

@conedude13: no usage at all, if the phone is turned on and used, the previous rate plan and billing will go back into effect

@Trey Mahaffey: I've had the same cell phone service for ten years. It started as Pacific Bell, became Cingular, and is now AT&T. I've had very few problem (and some are to be expected over the course of a decade). What issues I have had have been resolved fairly painlessly. My plan would cost about the same with any other carrier, and I get great signal everywhere I go.

When I had some fraudulent charges on my account last month, customer service wiped the charges off with no problems, and the CSR was friendly and competent (much more so than most companies these days).

Are you suggesting I should switch carriers now because AT&T had poor customer service 20 or 30 YEARS ago?

I don't understand.
When I was in the same position, I called AT&T - several times.

Each time, I got the same response from the CSRs: your contract mandates that you pay the $30/month data fee, whether you use the phone or not. I had CSRs apologizing to me, telling me how ridiculous this was, and how they knew it. One woman offered to turn the phone off for the three months, but clarified that I would still be paying the data plan. (In other words, I would be LITERALLY paying for nothing: paying fees on a phone that had been deactivated.) They all ensured me that I could not suspend my service, even temporarily, as a caveat of the iphone contract.

What is the policy on this?