Why is ATT customer support so unconscionably atrocious?

I guess if I had to deal with that, I might feel the same way. Thankfully, I rarely have a need to talk with an agent. Most everything I need can be done online.

I had an ongoing problem with call drops -- which, after shifting to working at home full-time because of Covid, became untenable for me. In my neighborhood, I have low signal, which is the (Edited per community guidelines) cause of the drops. ATT no longer supports cell boosters, however, and after many many attempts to get the attention of ATT customer support and their unhelpful suggestions (reset your phone, turn on Wifi calling -- duh), I gave up.

It doesn't sound like AT&T customer service was the problem. If you didn't get service where you need it *you* should have left for a company that did provide what you need rather than frustrate yourself by repeatedly calling over something where nothing could change. 

Happy to set you straight. I was told the problem was solvable. (I also didn't want to deal with the hassle of switching myself and family members and their phones to another service if I didn't have to.) I was referred a half dozen times to the "advanced" technical support team. Those conversations all ended the same way: We will diagnose this further and get back to you. As as last resort, I sent a DM on Twitter to get someone's attention. They were sympathetic, but also referred me again to the advanced team, which was a dead end. Ultimately I did what you suggested: I have new service for 4 lines with Xfinity Mobile. No call drops, far faster and more helpful customer support, and my overall bill is about 60% lower than it was with ATT.

Okay - would you like your fellow customers to blow more smoke up your skirt or would you like the truth?  

I would have hoped by now you would have figured out that AT&T cannot miraculously make service reach you if you have been Out Of Reach of service all this time. If Wi-Fi calling is not sufficient to solve the problem but you have been putting up with a long. Of time then you should have left AT&T ages ago.

(apparently you did, you switched to verizon/xfinity) 

No carrier can miraculously make service reach everywhere.   I live in an area where there's quite a few Hills, mountains and Rocky outcroppings and there are houses in  dead zones.  Neither At&t or Verizon work in these geographic dead zones, and t-mo doesn't work here.   Customers who live in those houses, in those dead zones, I have to make other arrangements because they can not get cell phone service.

Thanks for that nice note, Liz.  I do not live in a remote area (LOL). My issue is a solvable one. Other carriers offer solutions to the problem. I was simply surprised and disappointed that a 15+ year ATT customer couldn't get anyone in customer support to help me with the issue. Get it? That isn't just me being a whiny b*itch, it's a pretty big business problem for ATT if you know anything about customer acquisition costs today. And nothing excuses awful customer experience -- that's different than whatever the quality of service may be. You have a great day!

I don't live in a remote area either. I am 20 minutes from an International Airport and 30 minutes to my state capital and under 30 to a major city in the neighboring state.   Geography and topography effect signal. 

You were looking for a technical solution for a problem that AT&T had no control over. The correct thing to do, was not complain to AT&T in the first place over something they could not fix, and do what you already have done, which is switch to a different provider who covers you.

    And if I sound a little (Edited per community guidelines)y, it's because I see these posts all the time.

    People seem to think that cellular service is Magic, and that somehow if somebody on the carrier side just pushes a button and resets something, service will magically reach them.  Or worse oh, they'll get a customer service person who is more sales-oriented and will try to sell them on the idea that a newer more expensive phone will resolve all the issues (lies). I think you have enough common sense to know that's not the case.  Or at least you do now.

As for customer acquisition, AT&T is in the catbird seat. The last quarter of 2020 AT&T increased connections by 800,000. And about 200,000 Connections in the two quarters before that. That's an increase of nearly a million Connections in 2020.   They don't even miss a few who left.

LOL. If I ever am unsure about the right or wrong thing to do, I’ll be sure to ask Liz, the omniscient authority on the ATT customer forum! If you’re not on payroll, you should be. (Although I would argue that you’re doing a disservice by insulting customers like me.) Bye! 

If they paid me then I would have to toe the party line.   

Thanks for making me even more relieved to be done forever with ATT. Keep toeing that line!