The whole point of the recently released Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is that it is supposed to be waterproof. Yet some users have been complaining that the device doesn’t live up to its hype or its supposed water-resistance rating, and a new report claims that AT&T and Samsung will be giving people who purchased the S4 Active the opportunity for a one-time-only exchange. [More]
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Starbucks Dumps AT&T And Picks Google To Be Its New Wi-Fi Partner
By 7.31.13
Because business relationships are totally exactly like high school releationships, we’re pretty sure Starbucks had the following conversation when dumping AT&T: “It’s not about you. It’s about me. Well and also, actually, it’s about you because see, Google says it’ll give me faster Wi-Fi speeds, so… I need that T-shirt of mine back and the Journey CD I loaned you.” [More]
Cowboys Stadium Is Now AT&T Stadium
By 7.25.13
As a Philadelphia Eagles fan, it would be very easy for me to say that football’s Emperor Palpatine finally has his Death Star, but I would never stoop so low as to make a joke like that. Rather, I’ll just straight out tell you that after four seasons, Cowboys Stadium now has a corporate name with today’s announcement that Tony Romo will soon be throwing clutch interceptions at the newly renamed AT&T Stadium. [More]
Here’s Why Wireless Companies Are Going Gaga About Early Upgrade Programs
By 7.17.13
In the last year, AT&T did away with early upgrades for customers, then announced AT&T Next, an early upgrade program. Verizon was the first to get rid of early upgrades, but its soon-to-be-announced Edge program is expected to encourage early upgrades. Meanwhile, T-Mobile recently showed off its JUMP early upgrade plan to allow subscribers to get new devices up to twice a year. Why all the sudden, and seemingly contradictory, focus on early upgrades? [More]
E-Mail To Top Execs Makes AT&T Realize, Oh Yeah, My Phone Is Defective
By 7.17.13
Reader L. needed help from AT&T. Local stores refused him a warranty repair on his Samsung Galaxy S4, saying that he had obviously dropped it and cracked the screen. He insists that he did not, and escalated, drafting a letter to a few top AT&T executives. Within a day, he had a response, a new phone, and an apology. [More]
AT&T Follows T-Mobile Into The Early Upgrade Arena With “Next” Installment Program
By 7.16.13
Not one to be left behind when competitors start announcing new features, AT&T is touting its new “Next” installment program, which will allow customers to get a new phone once a year — for a fee, of course. This, days after T-Mobile debuted its JUMP system that charges users $10 per month and allows for two upgrades every year. [More]
Tell AT&T You Don’t Want It Selling Info About Your Wireless And U-Verse Usage
By 7.3.13
Last year, Verizon Wireless ticked off a lot of people when it announced its Precision Market Insights program, which sells supposedly anonymous data about customers’ wireless behavior to marketers. Now AT&T has decided it wants to make money selling this sort of info to third parties, but for both wireless and U-Verse customers. [More]
AT&T Took Away My Unlimited Data, Says ‘Tough’
By 7.2.13
Brad stuck with AT&T Wireless through thick and thin, through the terrible dark days when iPhones could barely connect to the network in some metropolitan areas. He stayed partly because he signed up as a customer back when unlimited data plans were still a thing. Then he got an iPhone upgrade and AT&T took away his unlimited data even though he didn’t ask them to. He is sad. [More]
AT&T Customers Will Have To Wait Out Full Term Of Two-Year Contract To Upgrade Phones
By 6.10.13
AT&T, where customer loyalty means nothing, has decided that wireless subscribers no longer deserve the 20-month upgrade period they’ve been expecting, and instead will have to wait out the full two years of their contracts before they can get a newer device at a discount. [More]
Best Buy Employee Helps Me Out — By Telling Me To Go To AT&T Store
By 6.6.13
Like the goodhearted Macy’s Santa in Miracle On 34th St who tells customers they can get better deals at Gimbels, there is a Best Buy employee out there who felt compelled to aid one Consumerist reader by letting her know that she’d be better off heading to the AT&T store for her particular needs. [More]
Surprise! AT&T Adds New $0.61 Monthly Administrative Fee To Wireless Customers’ Bills
By 5.24.13
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]
AT&T Customers Will Probably Have To Wait Before Using Google Hangouts Over Cellular
By 5.20.13
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 5.20.13
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 5.13.13
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 5.10.13
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 4.17.13 — Updated: 4.18.13
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]
