To paraphrase Bill Gates on the Simpsons, you don't get rich by writing checks.

save your money and go with sprint if your gonna change. or better yet just wait till next year when verizon get the Iphone and switch then

I already switched back to t-mobile from at&t. unlocked the 3GS and using it tmobile. sure, it's slow EDGE, but at least I don't get anymore dropped calls here in Manhattan and well, I didn't really have 3G speeds on at&t's congested network, so it's a win.

Yeah, I'm paying less now for more minutes too, and less for data+messaging as well. who knew.

Why not just unlock your iPhone and then go to T-mobile? I get it, AT&T really sucks in NYC. AT&T is ok here and I've never really had a problem with my 2G. Heck if you really want to get rid of AT&T and back to verizon cancel your contract and I will buy your iPhone from you ;)

I was in New York during fashion week with my new ATT Iphone. It did not work for even simple calls or sms messages almost ALL week. Wasn't just mine either as any blackberry or iphone in the area was basically useless.

I called back the second week to complain and ask for some credit back on my bill. CSR admitted that it was a one time deal but that there was an unprecedented failure in the network during that week.

HOWEVER, since i didn't CALL in to report the problems I had they can't even confirm I didn't have the problem. After explaining that considering the problem of not being able to call or sms at all.... how do I call in to complain???

And he then tells me I should have found a pay phone to try to call their CSR number (how do i know this off the top of my head). This was ridiculous.... I was there for business not to look around the city for a pay phone to try to call CSR's to get my phone to do a basic thing like MAKE A PHONE CALL.

Iphone = wonderful phone
ATT = crappiest network i've ever used

"This is a completely joke. AT&T would rather spend 45 minutes of a billing rep's time, not to mention the customer's time, than issue a $3 credit?"

AT&T pays those reps by the hour and it's a sunk cost.

Yeah, after it was released that 30% of calls with the iPhone (using AT&T) are dropped in metro areas, and that's considered acceptable...

The iPhone loses and luster it had to me.

GSM does not seem to like NYC at all.. both Sprint and Verizon look to have the city by the balls when it comes to reception. AT&T + TMobile need to find a way to fix it!

"This is a completely joke. AT&T would rather spend 45 minutes of a billing rep's time, not to mention the customer's time, than issue a $3 credit?"

Your real statement would be ATT would rather save 3$ than have a customer be satisfied with their service.

@dreamsneverend: it's a matter of physics - lightwave (RF) propagation in a dense city of tall buildings. Sprint and Verizon's frequencies are better attenuated to penetrate NYC cityscape than those on At&t. That being said, I really have no issues w/ T-mobile in the city.

Most companies won't prorate your service for an outage or for a period of poor service quality unless you have a SLA (which you don't).

I just got a letter from Verizon which was listing a law which says they have to give you a discount whenever you are without functional service. I don't have it on me, sadly.

I've been having same problem with AT & T Pro internet service last 3 1/2 weeks. Since I complained about a 3 day of no service from my telephone pole taken out and only got .54 credit, My internet service now goes out every 20 min. I've had 2 guys out here changing things they found no problem, but it's still going out every 20 mins. I had great service for 2 years before that incident. I trade stocks all day and I can't be signing in every 20 mins and lose my concentration.

*sigh* I apologize for your horrible service from this one representative. Obviously they're stupid and too dedicated to "going by the book" - though I have no idea WHAT they would've been doing while you were on hold for 35 minutes.

Your letter is written nicely, so I assume you were most likely kind to the rep.

Seriously, call back and talk to someone else. Hopefully you'll get someone with sense that will issue the credit.

It is not uncommon for me to get my voicemails days late through AT&T. I once had one show up almost three weeks late. At best, all of my voicemails arrive several hours after they were sent. I'd switch providers but I'm on someone else's plan.

PS: I don't have an iPhone. AT&T service is just that crappy.

@Cant_stop_the_rock: Most representatives will give you a credit if you ask nicely and they can justify that you're not doing it every week.

What would have happened if he stayed on the line and spoke with tech support?

@MooseOfReason: That's what I wondered as well. The rep was very clear that they could not give a credit unless it was absolutely proven by technical support that he was having difficulties. If the OP chooses not to speak to technical support, how can he demand a credit when he did not follow the instructions?

ATT Doesn't have to care, They have you locked into a contract, with a phone you can't get anywhere else! If Apple cares, they would do something about this, as ATT is doing nothing but making their device look bad, and preventing people from switching to it because of "More Bars" mean less service.

@AshCatScram: Most likely a problem with your local voicemail server. Might I suggest youmail.com ? Its free!! I <3 it!

I wanted to tell everyone about it when I worked at AT&T but they don't let you. You can't even tell people about Goog411 :(

@Canadian Impostor: Technically in most cases, AT&T pays the company that its outsourcing to, and they pay the reps. And its crap.

@the OP: Ask your iPhone toting friends if they have service.
If not, it's Apple's problem. Go bitch bitch bitch! ;-)
But if they do, try a hard-reboot.

I had a stint of three days where I thought their network was down and my phone always said "No Service". Finally after realizing that a guy standing in front of me in the grocery store was on the internet on his iPhone I performed a hard reboot and it fixed the screwed up iPhone software issue.
Yeeeeeaaaaayy Apple. >_<

This is surprising...I called and complained about the absolute plague of dropped calls since Sept. 1 and got an $80 service credit. A few nights later I had more problems (four dropped calls in a 10 minute period) and called and they gave me another $25.

I've started keeping a log (on my iPhone notes application, where else?) of all my dropped calls so I can use quantifiable information when talking to CSRs about this issue.

The strange thing is I never had a problem until September. Now I can't go a day without a dropped call.

I think a great ad campaign by one of the other carriers (probably Verizon, who's actually reliable) would be:

"More bars in more places?? Who are you kidding?"

@GMFish: Income tax aside ask Stu Leonard. The three dollars and the time of the rep are just to cost on the surface. How much advertising will AT&T have to do to replace customers turned off by this.

@GMFish:

The obvious solution is to authorize front line reps to tell you "no" up front and right away, thus nobody's time is wasted.

@dreamsneverend: i wrote this before, I have Sprint, I live in Brooklyn, work in Lower Manhattan and I have yet to drop a call. Sprint FTW.

@Canadian Impostor:

CSRs are definitely NOT a fixed cost. At the volumes AT&T has, they're almost completely linear to call volume.

A few months ago, my iPhone, as well as my husband's, were unusable for 3 days for some odd reason that was the fault of AT&T and the process of upgrading our account. We have four lines through them, and called and asked for a credit, and were given one to the tune of $250. I was flabbergasted and thanked them wholeheartedly. That's a month and a half of service.

@miburo:

I was there for fashion week as well. I found service quality depended on the part of town. Piers and Javitz, the phone was useless. But just a few blocks further south, like below 14th street, service was OK. Not making excuses - I agree AT&T is the worst - just saying it wasn't area-wide.

iPhone users should all get Google Voice...OOPS!

Strike that........

@hypnotik_jello: T-Mobile gets very good reception in NYC. AT&T not so much.

@supernova87a: AT&T would sue them for use of their service mark or motto, or just because AT&T claims it's not true. Whether it's true or not, Verizon doesn't want to open that can of worms. Rather, they just stick to their million-man commercials.

Yet, ATT is still the number one cell company in the US. When you are number one and people want your service, you can affort to anger a few. You want iPphone, you put up with whatever ATT gives you, at least for now.

People must love iPhone so much they don't care about the service they get because the iPhone makes them look so cool even if it does not function at times.

I have to say I have AT&T on a land line & DSL only for my business. They have always made adjustments, reversed charges credited me etc. with absolutely no problems. Wireless may be a different story.

@haoshufu: Yes, I bought an iPhone simply to look cool. Right.

I never had problems with AT&T until a month ago...now I can hardly finish a phone call. I certainly don't look cool when I'm screaming at my little shiny black handset.

I had the same issue about Wednesday-Thursday of last week where texts and voice mails weren't showing up until six hours late. I called AT&T on Friday morning trying to get a little taken off my bill for the trouble, the CSR told me that I had to go through a half hour diagnostic routine first, then he'd probably have to kick me to technical support. Since I was on my way out the door, I just gave up, but I am glad at least they were up front and honest about how long their BS song and dance was going to take.

OTOH, that's probably a handy way to get people to give up on seeking a little makeup refund on the bill. Tell them they have to wait through nearly an hour of nonsense to prove AT&T's failure isn't the customer's own darn fault, and most of us will correctly decide our time is worth more than that.

@miburo: What is this "pay phone" of which you speak? Seriously, when was the last time you've seen a pay phone. They are getting very scarce today - because most people have a cell phone!

Sucks that you are stuck on ATT. T-Mobiles front-line reps are empowered to give credit and almost always will if you just ask even if the reason you are asking for it is your fault. I have had front-line reps troubleshoot a problem, establish that the issue is with my phone or SIM card, send me a new one, credit me for my troubles and the cost of what they are replacing. Between their wonderful (empowered and non-script reading) customer support and cheap prices, T-Mobile basically has me hooked for life.

@BB_User: +1 for Sprint. They really kicked it up a notch. ATT is resting on their laurels from the runaway success of the i-phone to give a rats.

30 minutes late? You should be celebrating.

A friend of mine was getting *days* late.

@GMFish: Well, not unless you're a PAM anyway...

@BB_User: even if Verizon does get to sell iPhones next year, all that means is that a) they'll go through the same kind of "huh?" moments that AT&T is currently going through (im in ur networkz lookin 4 bandwith), and b) Verizon will still be pissed off after Apple explains that no, they can't sell iPhones with half the features disabled so that you have to pay extra for this nifty little Verizon feature, so they'll be taking that out on you.

But I still would rather have a Verizon iPhone than another AT&T iPhone. I don't mind my Saga that much, but the apps that are available blow, and I can't upgrade the software because the upgrade program isn't compatible with the world's worst OS, and I miss SportsTap. (Yeah, I know, you can get there in a browser, but it's not the same.)

@pecan 3.14159265: Agreed. Although the Billing Rep should have transferred him to technical support right away instead of wasting his time if he wasn't qualified to approve the credit to begin with.

@RayonFog:

Even if it wasn't area wide what would they expect customers to do? Walk around Manhattan for a few blocks to make one phone call?

@Traveshamockery:

I also recently called to complain because I missed my cable installation since the technician's calls didn't get connected and I didn't get the voicemails until 3 hours later. I got a $25 credit, which I think was reasonable. That being said, I've had no problem with my iPhone until this September as well, and then suddenly everything has collapsed. I think it has to do with the introduction of MMS.

Verizon is the Rolls Royce of network service. I can be in any building around here, and get better service than some sucker who bought an overpriced iphone because he or she wanted to be trendy and cool.

The same argument could be made that the 3 dollars is not worth the time you spent on the phone.

The fact is, you did not complete the tests they asked, you refused to talk to technical support. Had you talk to them, they may have given you the credit, but as it stood, the were unable to make sure it wasnt your fault, and had no reason to give you money.

It's the inverse U.

You didn't ask for enough money for them to take you seriously. According to my theory anyway..