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ImissBellSouth's profile

Tutor

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8 Messages

Monday, March 30th, 2015 9:50 PM

Does AT&T really want me to go to Time Warner Cable?

My wife and I have been AT&T customers for a long time (so long our e-mail addresses are still @Anonymous.net).  We switched to Uverse a number of years ago and as happens every year our promotional rates have lapsed and AT&T wants our first born for continued service.  (I've actually talked to our first born and he feels like he shouldn't be part of the contractual terms for telecomunications services.)

 

As also happens around this time of year, I received the typical special offer from Time Warner Cable - Triple Play for 109.99 before tax & equipment (50 Mbps internet, Whole-House HD DVR, Home Phone, Free Install and TV Equipment.)  Yes, I can read the fine print - I'll need to buy my own modem or pay for it monthly and I'll have to pay for the extra TV receivers.  Regardless, the price after equipment and taxes will still be better than my current "new" Uverse price for a higher class of service.  So, I call AT&T to see how they would like to handle it.  Short summary - "You are already receiving the best rate we can offer an existing customer for your service." I asked to speak with a manager or supervisor to see if they could do any better. "I'm sorry all of our supervisors are already supporting other customers." I said "So basically what I'm hearing is that AT&T would rather I cancel my service and go to Time Warner?" "No sir, that's not what I'm saying, I'm saying that you aren't eligble for any other offers at this time."  <--No, that response actually means: "you aren't valuable enough to AT&T to retain."  Right? He wasn't exactly the most impressive acount representative in the first place, but I tried to get him an out to "go get some help" to no avail.

Anybody know of a way to contact someone in AT&T Customer Support with a more customer sensitive approach or should I finish my negotiations with Time Warner Cable? (I'm working on an official quotation for my actual needs right now.)  If I get to the call to cancel service stage I'm done - forget counter offers - because at that point I'll have gone through the stupid quantity of services tied to my bellsouth e-mail address updating to a non ISP related e-mail address.  (The annoyance of changing all the addresses is the only reason I haven't canceled in the years before now.)

Seriously, does it require a cancelation before AT&T gets serious?

Oh and did I mention that the telephone line to my house has been laying in the street getting run over for 3 weeks now?  ("It will be reburied within 2-weeks my ....." - Funny, the lawn service guy for my next door neighbor said his "within 2-weeks" took five.)

I left Time Warner Cable for TV service when Uverse became available to me because I was disappointed with their customer service - if the competitor's service is no better, then the why would I treat the service as anything more than "choose the lowest price commodity?"

Expert

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14.5K Messages

9 years ago


@ImissBellSouth wrote:

 


I left Time Warner Cable for TV service when Uverse became available to me because I was disappointed with their customer service - if the competitor's service is no better, then the why would I treat the service as anything more than "choose the lowest price commodity?"


When you left Time Warner to switch to U-verse, did you ask them to match the price you would receive from U-verse before you switched?  

 

Also, what do you think has changed about Time Warner customer service since you had their service before, or is this all about price?

Tutor

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8 Messages

9 years ago

At the time I left TWC I did not ask them to match the price because they had been really sticking it to me on TV services for quite a while (little to no competition means no concern for clients) and I had realtive good will towards AT&T because they had been reliable and reasonably priced for my phone and internet services.


So what has changed - well the price of AT&T is non-competitive because they assume I won't go through the hassel of changing vendors and the service has gotten worse.  I've put up with it for several years because in previous years when I called about my rate increases, I've been able to get service from a customer representative that wanted to retain me as a customer.

So no, I don't expect anything to have improved about TWC - in fact I expect them to still be annoying.  However, if both of my options are bad why show any loyalty to either of them?  The reality though is that if I switch, I'll stay with whomever I switch to until they won't negotiate on price any more. 

I had some small hope that AT&T monitored these forums and made contact suggestions on how to get to retention specialists that are motivated to keep clients.  Apparently that hope was misplaced.

New Member

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25.7K Messages

9 years ago

@ImissBellSouth If you do switch you can keep your current main account email address and any sub accounts you created.  It's in the U-verse Terms and Conditions.

 

Also as one last effort you may try sending a Private Message to the AT&TCustomerCare customer service team. They will reply back with a PM (blue envelope in the top right of the page). Their normal business hours are from 7am to 10pm Central Time.  These are not the normal CSR's but rather a group to help with issues on these forums.

 

Good luck!!

ACE - Expert

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14.1K Messages

9 years ago


@ImissBellSouth wrote:

My wife and I have been AT&T customers for a long time (so long our e-mail addresses are still @Anonymous.net).  We switched to Uverse a number of years ago and as happens every year our promotional rates have lapsed and AT&T wants our first born for continued service.  (I've actually talked to our first born and he feels like he shouldn't be part of the contractual terms for telecomunications services.)

 

As also happens around this time of year, I received the typical special offer from Time Warner Cable - Triple Play for 109.99 before tax & equipment (50 Mbps internet, Whole-House HD DVR, Home Phone, Free Install and TV Equipment.)  Yes, I can read the fine print - I'll need to buy my own modem or pay for it monthly and I'll have to pay for the extra TV receivers.  Regardless, the price after equipment and taxes will still be better than my current "new" Uverse price for a higher class of service.  So, I call AT&T to see how they would like to handle it.  Short summary - "You are already receiving the best rate we can offer an existing customer for your service." I asked to speak with a manager or supervisor to see if they could do any better. "I'm sorry all of our supervisors are already supporting other customers." I said "So basically what I'm hearing is that AT&T would rather I cancel my service and go to Time Warner?" "No sir, that's not what I'm saying, I'm saying that you aren't eligble for any other offers at this time."  <--No, that response actually means: "you aren't valuable enough to AT&T to retain."  Right? He wasn't exactly the most impressive acount representative in the first place, but I tried to get him an out to "go get some help" to no avail.

Anybody know of a way to contact someone in AT&T Customer Support with a more customer sensitive approach or should I finish my negotiations with Time Warner Cable? (I'm working on an official quotation for my actual needs right now.)  If I get to the call to cancel service stage I'm done - forget counter offers - because at that point I'll have gone through the stupid quantity of services tied to my bellsouth e-mail address updating to a non ISP related e-mail address.  (The annoyance of changing all the addresses is the only reason I haven't canceled in the years before now.)

Seriously, does it require a cancelation before AT&T gets serious?

Oh and did I mention that the telephone line to my house has been laying in the street getting run over for 3 weeks now?  ("It will be reburied within 2-weeks my ....." - Funny, the lawn service guy for my next door neighbor said his "within 2-weeks" took five.)

I left Time Warner Cable for TV service when Uverse became available to me because I was disappointed with their customer service - if the competitor's service is no better, then the why would I treat the service as anything more than "choose the lowest price commodity?"


What issues are you having with the service? 

 

Your post only mentions that you're not happy with AT&T's pricing and promotions. 

Tutor

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8 Messages

9 years ago

Let's see -

  • Internet issues traced to a network update that didn't push to the inside switch/wifi units correctly. 
  • Hardware failure within the outside unit that required the tech to go track down a part from another tech because it was either repair the existing unit or have them run wires up the side of my house after they replaced the old unit.
  • Existing phone line apparently failed in the ground within a neighbor's yard (that was over 3 weeks ago and my line still isn't reburied / is starting to look pretty beat up from being run over. 
  • The DVR is starting to act flakey - probably from age on the HD too, but as long as it takes for the average tech to figure out the system I have (bonded pair, legacy hardware, etc.) I'm afraid to even ask about the DVR until its completely failed.

 

All of the above are 'explainable' - but I've had to wait around for hours per pop - and fought over being billed for one of them because I have an extra inside unit - I had to show the tech the original documentation from the hardware vendor that the system was indeed designed for up to four inside units and I still got billed because the problem was with "my hardware" when in fact it was actually the inside unit from AT&T that didn't update. (My second hand unit actually updated correctly and the replacement unit updated no problem even with my second unit active on the network....)

Pretty much every timeI have an inside person come to my house I have to educate them on my system and/or prove to them the problems are in the outside unit or beyond the house - What would the average AT&T user who isn't tech savy do?  (My money is on they would be even more disatisfied then I and would no longer be a customer.)

So back to the point - not much difference in TWC or AT&T for me any more, so yes it comes down to price.  We'll see if the nice person that e-mailed me from Customer Care can help.  I'll keep you posted.

Tutor

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8 Messages

9 years ago

FYI - Per some private messages back and forth with Customer Care, I received a very pleasant call from an AT&T Representative (Dianna) who assisted me.  The interaction was professional, efficient, and productive.  THANK YOU! 

 

BeeBeeSa your suggestion was very fruitful - thank you.  To the responders on this thread - thank you as well.

Guru

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921 Messages

9 years ago

@ImissBellSouth If your TWC ever goes out, don't even worry about getting it fixed. They will come the next Tuesday after the first time you called. They may say they will come the next day, but they won't. That's the reason we got U-verse. (Sorry for the rant)

Contributor

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1 Message

9 years ago

I dont know how old you are.the reason i say this is because when we get older,like me,we are set in our ways and we dont want to hassle with changes.But it's a proven fact that everyone of those companies reel you in and after a year or so ,you are paying much more than you started with...now here is the part about hating change and getting used to new equipment.the way to go is to change providers every 2 years ( pain in the butt) and you will avoid heartaches..just a thought.

Contributor

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1 Message

8 years ago

Me too! The best they could do was drop half of my service - which I was ok with, because I don't really use the tv - and this was after months of trying to get help. Today, for the first time ever, on my first day of just internet, I can't get a connection. 

 

Going to TWC. This is just a nightmare. I'll be warning everyone I know on social, etc. that AT&T is okay for the first year, and absolutely not worth it after that.

 

 

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