AT&T Doesn't Want You To Use Skype or Google Voice, But It's Their Horrible Service That's Driving Customers Away!

HEY AT&T, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW???

By Kevin Ross, CEO of 3BAAS Media Group

So I pulled up to this AT&T store at 6:57pm on Sunday August 2, 2009. The front door said clear as day that this location closes at 7:00pm. Now admittedly, no one was in the store except three employees, including two ladies behind cash registers. When I walked up to the door it was locked, so I knocked on the glass and a late 20-something man gestured that they were closed.

I then asked him to walk over to the where I was. He complied.

After indicating that I was there to pay a bill, the man told me they closed at 7:00pm I said “It’s not 7:00, it’s only 6:59.” His retort was the registers were already closed out. My response was, “Why are registers closed when the store is still officially open?” The man shrugged his shoulders, and walk away. I don't have these issues with Skype, and AT&T knows it.

Initially deciding to just drop the whole thing and move on, I began walking towards a nearby take-out restaurant to get some dinner. Suddenly, I just happened to look at my ATT Blackberry, which was showing 6:58. I paused for a moment, turned around and headed back to the store. I asked the gentleman to come over again.

When he did, I showed him my AT&T phone with the time now reading 6:59. “Your company phone is even showing that you guys should not be closed yet,” I said. He then pulled out his black iPhone (the one some AT&T users have been complaining about) and showed it to me. At that point, it read 7:00pm.

“My phone says 7:00 p.m.,” the man replied. Well, it’s clear that even with his phone now reading 7:00. I should have initially been allowed to transact business. When I asked for his name he indicated he was Jarrett and he was in charge. I asked for his last name and he refused to give it to me.

When I asked for the manager’s name, he indicated his name was Adam. I advised him that I would be contacting his manager. Jarrett rudely replied, “Well, you do that – contact him.”

That's when my Blackberry camera came in handy. After snapping the picture above, I did contact Adam Garcia, the store manager. While apologizing for the situation, he went on to defend the stores actions based on several robberies that AT&T stores had been experiencing whereby criminals are waiting right up until these stores close before stealing from them at gunpoint.

As a result, AT&T, unbeknownst to the general public, has began instructing stores to close 30 minutes early then the time stated, lock the doors, and not allow additional customers to enter.

While I understand the safety precautions be implemented, it stills doesn’t excuse poor customer service being shown to customers trying to spend money with AT&T.

Mr. Garcia asked me to send him this piece before posting which I did. He said he would make sure he got back to me to discuss further. To date, Adam remains missing in action. No phone call, no email. Nothing. Nada. Zilch! Am I the only one who's experiencing this?

And yes, this is the same AT&T who’s chum (term used to measure the number of customers who leave or switch to another service) is increasing due to consumers experiencing constant dropped calls in areas where various phones show a full signal.

This is the same AT&T who is covertly trying to prevent Apple from accepting the Google Voice application because they don’t want consumers to have options. Instead, AT&T wants to subject customers to unprofessional employees. Employees that may soon need to find work in other industries, as VOIP becomes more widespread and the society finds less need for traditional phone service.

Don’t take my word on this - ask one of those 8,000 employees Verizon is laying off due to reduced demand for their product. And that’s taking place despite there aggressive marketing campaign for FIOS.

All I can say is AT&T, you need to get it together. Right now, it seems that the FCC is on you too, which means my world that has you in it does not feel close at hand. Is this thing on???

HAS THE iPHONE BEEN ALL ABOUT iHYPE?

Apple Inc. shares fell as much as 5 percent Tuesday after AT&T said it activated 146,000 iPhones during the first few days of the highly-anticipated product's launch, far less than Wall Street's initial sales estimates.

AT&T, the only cell phone operator to carry the iPhone, revealed the iPhone activation figures in its earnings report Tuesday. The telecom giant said that of the 146,000 iPhone customers signed in the first two days of the product's existence, more than 40 percent of them were new subscribers.

But Wall Street analysts had estimated that Apple and AT&T had sold as many as 700,000 iPhones during the first weekend. The iPhone hit stores at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 29. Both AT&T and Apple's quarters ended June 30.

The Cupertino maker of iPods, Macs and iPhones is scheduled to announce earnings Wednesday, including its first report on iPhone sales.

Some iPhone customers reported that they initially had trouble signing up for AT&T service. Others bought two and passed on or sold the second one to someone else, which meant that they were likely activated later in the week. And still other customers ordered the iPhone online, which meant they could not activate the cell phone until they received it.

"I think it's a disappointment relative to the hype numbers, but for product launches it's still a success," said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray. He said he expects Apple to report about 200,000 iPhones sold during the first two days. Though the number is lower than he expected, he did not change his rating on the company.

Courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle.