Start up the chorus of grumbling and shine up your best “What in the what now?” faces: AT&T has just added a $0.61 monthly administrative fee to wireless customers’ bills. It’s totally great for AT&T of course, as reports indicate the move could bring in about $518 million in extra moolah for the company in 2014. So, yay for you, AT&T? [More]
Surprise! AT&T Adds New $0.61 Monthly Administrative Fee To Wireless Customers’ Bills
By May 24, 2013
AT&T Customers Will Probably Have To Wait Before Using Google Hangouts Over Cellular
By May 20, 2013
If you’ve got an Android phone, you might have noticed that your pre-loaded Google Talk app has recently been updated and is now “Hangouts,” the name of Google’s video chat service. But if you’re an AT&T customer, you might have to wait a while before you’re allowed to use that app over the carrier’s wireless network. [More]
Graphic: Which Internet Biggies Are Even Slightly Concerned About Your Privacy?
By May 20, 2013
When it comes to online privacy, many consumers assume that their service provider, or the websites they are browsing, have the users’ best interest in mind and that these companies won’t simply hand over your information to authorities. These people are mistaken, as are those who believe that no online companies make user privacy a priority. The truth, as usual, is a bit from column A and a bit from column B. [More]
AT&T Introduces No-Contract Wireless Plans: Should You Care?
By May 13, 2013
No-contract plans for mobile phone service have been a hit for MVNO carriers like Virgin Mobile, and T-Mobile has made all of their plans (technically) contract-free. Now AT&T has joined the cool kids club with their own contract-free offering, called Aio Wireless. Could it be the right carrier for you? [More]
How Unscripted Are Those Kids’ Responses In The AT&T Ads?
By May 10, 2013
We’ve certainly made no attempt to hide our distaste with some of AT&T’s business practices, but we are all stupidly charmed by those seemingly improvised AT&T ads in which youngsters in a classroom respond to questions like “Who thinks more is better than less?” But considering how amusing some of these ads can be, we’ve been curious about just how scripted those kids’ replies are. [More]
Today Was The Deadline For Wireless Companies To Enact Bill Shock Alerts. Did Everyone Make It?
By April 17, 2013
In October 2011, the FCC and the nation’s major wireless providers agreed to put systems in place that would alert subscribers when they neared and passed their plans’ thresholds for things like calling minutes, texts, data, and international roaming. Per the agreement, all the providers were supposed to have all their alerts in place by today. So did everyone finish on time? [More]
Worst Company In America Quarterfinals: EA Vs. AT&T
April 4, 2013
Let’s close out the WCIA quarterfinals with this match between the reigning champ and the Death Star itself. [More]
These 8 Remaining Worst Company In America Contenders Sure Are Elite
April 2, 2013
The madness of March, when 32 bad businesses began pummeling each other mercilessly in an orgy of blood and denied extended warranties, has been refined and honed into the brutal fiery fury of April, as only eight names cling tenuously to their claim to be the Worst Company In America. [More]
Worst Company In America Round 2: Apple Vs. AT&T
March 29, 2013
Let’s get ready for the weekend by pitting a wildly popular electronics company against the wireless provider that had once been its partner-in-crime. [More]
Meet Your Worst Company In America Not-So-Sweet 16!
March 27, 2013
Last week, 32 terrible titans of industry stepped on to the blood-stained mat of WCIA Death-and-Dismemberment Arena, but only 16 remain in this bestial battle royale to take home the treasured Golden Poo. [More]
Worst Company In America Round 1: AT&T Vs. Verizon
March 27, 2013
It’s the final day of Round One play in the Worst Company In America Thunderdome, so why not start it off with a showdown between the two largest — and most-hated — telecom titans around! [More]
U-Verse Installer Uses Portable Urinal To Relieve Himself In My Bedroom, Leaves It Behind
By March 22, 2013
When you gotta go, you gotta go. But when there’s a bathroom down the hall, you probably don’t need to use a portable urinal bag, and you certainly don’t need to leave it behind for the customer to find. [More]
Hacker Gets 41 Months In Prison For iPad Data Breach
By March 18, 2013
Remember back in 2010, when some hackers discovered an exploit with AT&T’s system that allowed them to access and publish account information for around 114,000 iPad users? One of the fellas behind that breach was sentenced earlier today to 41 months behind bars. [More]
Former Lovers T-Mobile And AT&T Now Blasting Each Other In Bitter Ad War
By March 7, 2013
Way back in 2011, everything was coming up roses for AT&T and the object of its affection, T-Mobile. The two companies were trying to merge, and the air was filled with sweetness and light. Love songs wafted over the radio and — you get the point. It didn’t work out, and the two parted ways. Cut to this year, when T-Mobile CEO John Legere included a dig at AT&T at the Consumer Electronics Show saying its network was crap. Oof. [More]
AT&T Sends Me “Replacement Router” For Device I Never Received In The First Place
By March 4, 2013
Last month, Consumerist reader James decided it was time to stop sharing (with their consent) his downstairs neighbors’ Internet access and get his own account through AT&T. Problem is, AT&T seemed to be doing everything it could to not make this happen. [More]
Getting Your iPhone Fixed Is Not An Invitation To Be Sexually Harassed
By February 26, 2013
Sure, an employee might flirt with customers here and there, and maybe ask one out on occasion. When someone isn’t interested, though, it’s time to drop the matter. And when they remind you more than once that they’re under age, it’s really time to drop it. Such subtleties were not obvious to a 33-year-old AT&T store worker who wouldn’t stop texting a 16-year-old who came in one day to get his iPhone fixed. [More]
AT&T Cuts My DSL Line In October 2012, Promises U-Verse That’s Still Not Here
By February 25, 2013
Brie would like U-Verse service from AT&T. Well, that’s not quite true: she had DSL until five months ago, when she reports that the company disconnected it without notifying her first and said that they would be laying fiber and connecting her house soon. By “soon,” they meant “January.” Then they needed another six weeks. Six weeks later…well, that’s when she wrote to Consumerist, so you can guess how that turned out. AT&T isn’t really in a hurry to connect her to the Internet. [More]
After Much Delay, The Anti-Piracy “Six Strikes” Program Is Nearing Launch
By February 25, 2013
A program intended to fight online piracy without resorting to prosecution was supposed to go live last year but was repeatedly delayed, most recently by Hurricane Sandy. But the folks running the Copyright Alert System (better known as Six Strikes) say it’s ready to go. [More]
