A Week of Trying to Sign-In to HBO Max

Greetings. It's Friday - my journey started Monday. My goal was simple - activate and enjoy HBO Max, which I am eligible for with my unlimited data plan. Here is a list of every single thing that has happened to me over the course of five days.

Monday - three agents tried to assist. At first, many of them thought it was a simple sign in issue. They had me look up various username's with my account. Sure enough, I had three other usernames that I didn't even know I had. We tried those log-ins, did not work. We then tried changing passwords, did not work. We then tried clearing cache, clearing cookies, installing new browsers, loggin in via Android device, logging via ios device, and logging in on a seperate computer - did not work. Mondays calls, between three agents, took over 4 hours. They ended the call with a promise that someone would email instructions on how to log in.

Tuesday - I wake up to check email - no instructions. I call to begin again. Just going over issue alone with tier 1 took 25 minutes. But that was child's play for the day as I would spend over four hours on the phone (most of Tuesday was spent on hold). We went through a wide variety of supposed solutions. They thought maybe I hadn't activated the "offer" that was sent to me. (I did, but just for kicks and giggles, we tried it again), did not work. The next agent thought I could sing in to HBO Now and not HBO Max, so we went down that route - did not work. The next agent thought I had to have AT&T TV in order for the "offer" to work. This would have required payment and a deal, so that wasn't going to happen - besides, on the web site, it said I was clearly eligible. The next agent thought I had to click the ACTUAL link that was sent to me via text, so - dig through my text messages, find the link, click it - did not work. Day ends.

Wednesday - I wake up and try again. The first agent (after about 33 minutes of repeating myself for the ga-gillionth time) says she thinks she has the solution. She thought I had the wrong "type" of unlimited data plan. She convinces me to switch to another unlimited plan (wasn't going to result in any increase cost) and that by doing this, it would "trigger a new HBO Max offer". Why not? It's Wednsday - we are in day three - at this point, I was ready for this to be over. We go through the ENTIRE process of getting a new unlimited data plan. It triggers all sorts of messages and alerts - phones start buzzing with "welcome to your new plan, etc." In that flurry of messages, sure enough, is a new offer. Click on it - did not work. Agent says - no worries - let's try associating a new email address with your new plan. I give her the email address, she asks for a six digit PIN, says to go to the email account and see the instructions - nothing is there. I repeat back the email address very slowly and spelling it as deliberately as possible, ya know - the whole A as in APPLE and T as in TANGO deal. Nothing. She ends the call with a promise that my issue would be sent to something called the "back office" - and that "level two" would email how to either get in touch with them or they'd call me. You know what happened - radio silence.

Thursday - this was an interesting day. It began with a support agent who was genuinely sharing my frustration. Wait - excuse me - it didn't START that way, it started with about 45 minutes of repeating myslef and convinving agents that I needed advanced support. Back to the agent who shared in my frustration. He said it was an HBO Max problem and was going to get them on the line. I told him, "do not hang up on me", he didn't. We had to wait over an hour, but he got HBO Max on the phone. After repeating my entire ordeal, he walked me through EVERY single attempt above that failed, plus some more that failed. He kept saying, "But that should have worked." I said, "Dude, I know. It's not." He then suggested that I speak to Level 2 of HBO Max. The level 2 agent of HBO Max was the absolute worst. He said, "Greetings, how can I help you?" I told him the issue and his response was "I will have to have someone email you." I said, "Wait - are you serious? That's your response? I am going to have someone email you?" He said, "Yeah, that's my response." I said, "Sure. Why not." and gave him my email address. You know what happened - radio silence.

Friday - Friday begins with a call to customer retention. After 20+ years, I am ready to cancel my account over this. Yes, over this. It's not that I am despreate to watch HBO Max - it's the RIDICULOUS level of support and the fact that SUCH A SIMPLE measure that should be SOOOOO simple just cannot get resolved. I have lost faith in the company. Customer retention agent says and does what she is trained to do - GET THIS GUY HELP or he is walking. She transfers me to the Internet Technical Department. We go through all of the problems - this took a LONG time. Finally, after going through the MANY problems, she says, "Wait - you don't have the Internet 300 plan. That's why you can't sign in." I said, "No, that shouldn't matter - I have the right unlimited data plan." She say,s "Oh - this is a mobility issue?" I said, "Ummm...I guess? I don't know whose problem it is." She says, "Hang on, let me transfer you to the MOBILITY technical department." She places me on hold for 52 minutes, occasionally checking in and saying "I don't want to lose you - just hang tight" I said, "Mam, I've been hanging tight since Monday - I can hang on for a bit more." She chuckles, to which I say, "I think we will have a vaccine for the coronavirus before this gets resolved." She chuckels some more. Eventually, she gets back on the line and says, "Sir, they are telling me that there is a wireless provisioning error and that it won't be fixed for seven days." Never once did any of the agents reference a "wireless provisioning error" that wouldn't be fixed for another week. Instead, they bounced me from one agent to the next.

I gave myself until the end of the day Friday to pull the trigger and bounce from AT&T to Verizon. It's 4:59 as I type this. My self-imposed deadline is 5:00pm. I have decided since I received a glimmer of hope that something might get resolved and that it's not necesarrily MY account and that it might be something deeper that I will sleep on it and wait until Monday. However, tomorrow I will be visiting the Verizon store to make sure my "switch" won't cost more. (The funny thing is - Verizon doesn't even have an HBO Max deal - but again, this is not about watching HBO, it's about faith in a company, which died today after a 20+ year relationship)