We decided to not have a home phone any more. Last bill I recvd said $96.00. Now that it is disconnected they have bay area credit calling me for almost $300.00 . That was the cost to reestablish the phone. I don't want it. I paid the $96.00 I say is owed. Ref #87323267. I am disputing the balance they say is left.

For one and all:
AT&T is wasting your time and vast amounts of money on useless BULL.
1) AT&T has "Bet the Farm" in terms of investment dollars, on U Verse service, which is fine in some places, like Texas, but utterly sucks, sucks, sucks here in N. Calif. due to AT&T's policy of not replacing or maintaining infrastructure to boost their bottom line. U Verse is stupid in large areas because, simply put, the wires it depends on are old and screwed up, they have labor practices and investment policies and budgets that keep it that way, and failing lines are getting more numerous every day.

2) AT&T has cut service personnel and customer service to the bone. Consolidation to Texas does nothing to serve the California market. NOTHING. Reps know nothing, can do nothing, have bad records, lie about appointments to save their asses, and give you bullshit responses on a consistent, uninformed, corporate attitude basis.

3) I know what I am talking about. I am ex-Pac Bell. I am a telecom pro in the field and working every day for 40 years.

4) In One Week alone this month, I calculate that AT&T has cost my company $1200 in lost labor cost waiting for AT&T to show with no notice, no schedule, no apologies. Knowing something about their wage structure, and after talking to one of the techs who also got torpedoed on one of the missed appointments, their cost was in excess of $1000. And that was one job out of 3 they fucked up.

5) Field personnel are not the problem. They're mostly service minded guys and gals. AT&T corporate is the problem. It's an excess profit over service mind set. They hire MBA's to do efficiency studies (trust me, I have this verified by multiple local people in N. Calif), all the field guys seriously dislike the way labor is handled and KNOW it's not efficient and really do NOT like AT&T p0licies or that increasingly management is policy driven and not enacted by anyone who has the SLIGHTEST idea about field phone service issues and manpower. We might as well be in the early 20th century when "efficiency experts" started to re-organize businesses and labor practices for the sole benefit of the GOD of $$$$$ these people bow to.

6) The one week record for my company:

a) made a 611 repair appointment for a rural address in Napa County. AT&T mis (or intentionall mis-) logged it as a "customer will call back with results of premises equipment testing". Such conversation never happend. SO, they either don't understand clear English conversation or are lazy or are lying to keep records to a minimum.

b) Repair appointment for our company cost us 6 hrs. @ 100/hr=$600 in standby time on one job, $600 on a second. Repair Tech on 2nd wasted one full day trying to get access to a terminal and figure out what was going on with screwed up work orders. He was tech #2 on a job that could have been handled by one guy in one hour. Total value to AT&T probably over $1000 for wasted time over 3 days.

c)1.5 hrs. on the phone with (Texas based) repair supervisor and agent who essentially said I was misinformed about an appointment I had a ticket number and time recorded for. More lies. Made a next appt. for this remote gated property for the following Monday. On this Thurs. a tech called and said they had him scheduled to be there this afternoon!!! So: either the person who placed the order yesterday for Monday did not understand a 30 minute repeated detail request for next Monday, or she incapable of entering information accurately, or someone else down line fucked up for the 3rd time in a row on one simple repair job.

I say this not out of vindictiveness. Having AT&T actually care about customers would be an enormous help to our business, but all evidence points over the last 15 years to the fact that they have lowered all standards regarding training, investment, labor practices, and management to a race to the bottom. I used to bitch about NYNEX in NYC...nothing compared to the BS AT&T is up to today.

When I bought my house I had a phone service through Bellsouth. I never had to think about them unless I paid my bill. Everything was great... Until they sold out to AT&T.

I have my internet and cable through COMCAST because when I bought the house DSL was not available in my neighborhood so I switched over to Cable connectivity. But I left my phone through Bellsouth. When AT&T took over Bellsouth they obviously took note that I didn't have their wonderful bundle scam and they could offer DSL so I became a target if you will. Calling myself their target sounds ludicrous as it should... who ever heard of a long standing popular company targeting people? I hadn't. Here's what transpired in the course of a year.

The phone calls began. I was kind and patient but immediately stated I wasn't interested. A few days later another call, then another... Every call after the first I told them to never consider calling me again. This went on week after week. One day I get a call from AT&T and I am flustered. I asked if they had me on a list and were intentionally tormenting me. I hung up the phone and my doorbell rang. There standign at the door was an AT&T rep asking me how much I paid for my phone, internet and cable service. I began to laugh like a lunatic. And then the next expletives fell from my lady like lips... I said "You've got to be F'n kidding me. You're truly here standing at my door after I have said no every week for the past year? You would dare come to my home to harass me further". You think he would have turned tail and walked off. That fool stood there and started his questions again. I had a newborn in my home so the phone ringing and doorbell were almost unacceptable at one point. Not to mention, they were truly harassing me.

I switched phone providers. And I am on the do not call list. Now that AT&T is not on my services menu..they are not allowed to call me.

And they had better not. I am itching to report them. I've got my guns loaded and waiting. Bring it on AT&T.