Man Emails AT&T's CEO, Gets Threatened With C&D Order 306
An anonymous reader writes "After its recent bait and switch, AT&T went ahead and threatened someone emailing the company CEO about customer service concerns, namely with a query about tethering and eligibility rates. The email author also put up a voicemail recording of the company's response and how he managed to contact the CEO in the first place — through The Consumerist." As Engadget notes (as does the complaining customer's updated page), AT&T did at least offer an apology for the threat of legal action, which the company says was unauthorized.
Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast (Score:5, Informative)
It always annoys me to no end when I have to call their dismal tech support line, and am greeted with "Thank you for choosing Comcast!"....
Re:Fuck it. (Score:4, Informative)
Fuck AT&T. Go Android.
You mean except for the fact that AT&T has Android phones?
Re:In related news... (Score:5, Informative)
re AT&T (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Fuck it. (Score:4, Informative)
Oh, it's worse than that. The backflip has signed boot loaders so you can't really upgrade the Android version if you wanted to.
Re:Apple? (Score:5, Informative)
Try reading.
The guy was complaining about iPhone stuff, tethering on his iPhone, etc etc.
Since AT&T is the 'only' provider of service for iWidgets that makes this an apple story too.
And it's actually filed under 4 categories, not just Apple.
Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast (Score:3, Informative)
Honestly,
Comcast is better than most in the US, IMO.
I find Comcast's internet offerings to be the best option in all the areas I've lived where Comcast operates, far faster and more reliable than Time Warner or Adelphia. I download a lot of binaries and torrents and never had a problem - and I have 22/8 to the home, and 50/10 for my office - both of which I get (and then some) consistently in real world testing...The other services I have used and seen didn't have those speeds, and weren't as reliable.
I dislike some of Comcast's politics in the past, their support of "Partnership for a Drug-Free America," etc, as well as the cost of their TV services and some of the unclear undefined policies they used to have - but they have changed those.
Re:In related news... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast (Score:5, Informative)
Looks like the old slogan is still true: "AT&T. We don't care. We don't have to."
Re:Indeed, it is like AT&T doesn't have Androi (Score:4, Informative)
If anyone thinks that preloaded software on PCs is bad, they have never seen crap that AT&T installs on their phones.
The thing that bothered me most about my last phone (a Samsung w580i) was not the shareware-like games and other apps they preinstalled on it, it was that the web browser is accessible from a easy-to-bump button on the keypad, and the phone doesn't bother asking you "are you sure you want to spend $0.01 per KB to access an auto-refreshing webpage?" when the button somehow gets bumped in your pocket.
The phone also includes several "password-lock this program" settings, but the web browser is not one of the things that can be locked.
They can disable data on your line, which solves the problem, except then you can't send or receive MMS messages (even if you have the "unlimited picture and text messaging" package which includes unlimited MMS messages).
So you're hosed either way.
At least the iPhone doesn't come with any pre-loaded AT&T software - they don't even bundle the quite handy myWireless app or the equally handy (from AT&T's perspective) "Mark the Spot" app, both of which I would not have objected to them bundling at all. I guess I'm saying Apple has done quite well at keeping AT&T from digging their claws too deep.
Re:Did you read his email? It was pretty abusive. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I dont get it (Score:5, Informative)
I guess I just dont get this whole "email the CEO" thing. We keep seeing people getting replies from Steve Jobs (no doubt really from his team) and I have read of people having luck with other big companies.
But there are two parts to this. First - someone is frustrated and has nowhere else to turn. Second - the CEO (or whomever) may actually nt know about the practice.
A couple of years ago I got a lemon of a Whirlpool refrigerator. After three trips out by the service company (A&E -- don't ever buy an appliance whose warranty service is done by A&E), and five times ordering the wrong part, and several failed attempts to escalate within A&E... I got annoyed and started doing some digging.
I learned the email of the CEO Whirlpool. I took the time to write out the saga -- including the three refrigerators full of lost food, several days spent waiting for service folks (who were either late, didn't show, or "oops" had the wrong part. Did I mention they get paid for each trip by Whirlpool regardless of whether they fix anything?)...
The result? The CEO sent their general council head an email saying "take care of this, it shouldn't be happening." The general counsel got the right people involved -- people who didn't realize the scam A&E was running. I got a new refrigerator (two tiers up from the one I bought) and some cash. A&E at the very least got a firm speaking to, but I suspect it went a bit further than that. The CEO sent me a note thanking me for raising the issue.
So yeah... I could have just sat at home and whined about how unfair life is and how Whirlpool really sucks. Or I could do about two hours of research to find the right email address, send a well-written email detailing how their customers were being treated (including links to several blogs and forums indicating that my experience was not unique) by their service contractor, and see results.
I think the problem would go away if they just stopped answering normal customers emails to the CEO and executives, or at least just replied with the customer service contact details.
I guess that depends on how you see the "problem" -- if the problem is a whiny customer customer annoying you his petty complaints, I guess that tactic might work. On the other hand if the problem is that your customers are being treated poorly by the company you're putatively in charge of-- well no, that problem won't go away if you ignore it. It will just get worse.
Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast (Score:4, Informative)
Re:In related news... (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, but somehow I think that secession because the U.S. tries to give health care to poor people is not on the same caliber of "good reasons to secede" as say, taxation without representation, the quartering of troops or the right to a speedy trial. Next you'll be telling me that since Rand Paul was within his 1st amendment rights to say that businesses should be allowed to discriminate against black people, we shouldn't criticize him for it. While far from perfect, the U.S. government does much more good than harm for U.S. citizens. You should really stop and reflect on that.
Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast (Score:3, Informative)
I have to sympathise with the poor guy, although I agree he should have let it be. I can understand the heartache the poor fellow is feeling; have you ever seen anyone die of cancer, particularly someone you love? I have, and I know the poor fellow is hurting badly. You should have let it slide, too. There was no reason for your flamebait.
Re:Having to choose between AT&T and Comcast (Score:3, Informative)
Credit where credit is due, and the correct quote (from the days when AT&T was a monopoly)
"We're the phone company. We don't have to." -- Lily Tomlin's "Ernestine the telephone operator" character