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ATN082268's profile

Contributor

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3 Messages

Wednesday, July 9th, 2014 5:24 AM

Problem getting new phone line...

  I wanted to bring a problem to your attention regarding residential telephone service with AT&T. About five weeks ago I put an order into AT&T for residential telephone service. Five weeks later there was no telephone service despite the fact I contacted AT&T several times during that time to indicate the telephone line did not work. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a lack of competition for telephone land lines in my area.

 
  During that time I received a bill from AT&T for $104.78 for the telephone line [Edited for privacy.] that AT&T claims to have connected but I have yet to receive any dial tone. Since I have not been provided with the telephone service in question (a working telephone line), I requested that AT&T disconnect the telephone line; I also indicated on the telephone call to AT&T from my wife's cell phone, this Email and a letter to AT&T that I will not pay the bill they sent me for that telephone line. Given the such poor service AT&T has given me so far as a potential customer, I strongly suspect they will try and collect money for services not rendered.
 
  It is wrong for AT&T not to accurately disclose how long it will actually take to receive telephone service and/or for repairs And it is even more wrong to charge someone for a service that is not rendered. I would like AT&T to give accurate scheduling for installing or repairing telephone lines and for them not to charge me for services not rendered. For current and future customers of AT&T, it might be worth looking into increasing the telephone competition in the Madisonville, TN 37354 area.

Former Employee

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4.9K Messages

10 years ago

Hello, ATN082268!

 

Thanks for posting. I'm so sorry to hear about your recent experience getting home telephone service. We would appreciate the opportunity to remedy the situation, so please click here to send us a private message.

 

In your message, please provide your name, phone number, email address, and the best time to reach you. You can expect a reply within two business days, so keep an eye on the little blue envelope icon in the top right corner of your screen.


In the meantime, feel free to message me with any other questions or concerns.

 

-Mariana

Contributor

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3 Messages

10 years ago

  I sent AT&T a private Email. Please send a response to the mailing address or Email listed. I won't monitor replies made here. Thank you.

Master

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4.1K Messages

10 years ago

If you do happen to look at replies here (it is a place you came for support after all) I would suggest that you check your phone service at your NID (the box where the phone line comes into your house). If you open the "customer access" side of the NID, you should find what looks like a phone jack in there with a cable plugged into it. Unplug the cable and plug your phone cord in there and see if you have a dial tone now. If you do, unplug your phone cable and re-connect the cable you initially unplugged.

If you have dial tone at the NID through that port, then the problem with your service is in the wiring in your house or in the customer side of the NID. If you don't have a dial tone at the NID port, then the problem is on the AT&T side of the line. If the problem is on the "customer side", then AT&T has provided the service and you will need to track down your internal wiring issue, or pay someone to do that for you. If AT&T still offers it, their Line Backer service used to cover this all the way to the jack in your house, but since I switched to U-Verse Voice a few years back, I don't have a POTS line any longer and don't know if they still offer this service.

As for how quickly service can be scheduled, there are many variables to deal with. If you are in a "crowded market" they may have many service calls and not enough technicians. They tend to add contractors in these situations, but when that happens, you may also get a lower quality technician because they don't generally have the dedication that an employee would have. If you are in a rural area, the technicians they have may have to cover a much larger geographical region and they may have more issues with the lines between places to diagnose, especially in storm season where tree limb often bring down utility lines with them when they fall. I've had times where some of my service calls were handled within a day or two, and a few that took a couple weeks to fully resolve. It all depends on the exact circumstances.
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