MY AT&T STORY

I have three lines of service with AT&T Mobility, and I've been a customer for as long as I can remember. Since they were Southwestern Bell, even. Probably not for much longer, however.

In the Spring, sometime around April or May, I added a third line of service to my plan. The device I got for it was a Samsung Jack, to complement my BlackBerry Curve and my Tilt 2. Things were great, and my roommate really loved the phone, except... it didn't work at home. Not inside, outside, or down the road we live on. He had to go almost to the traffic light at the end of the road to get signal. We tried everything, including opening a ticket with the "RF Engineering Department", according to the CSR we spoke to. She recommended we wait for the release of the 3G Microcell, which "shouldn't cost more than about $250." He loved that Jack so much he didn't want to cancel service, however.

He found temporary solace in upgrading to an iPhone 3G s he bought off the Internet, but it couldn't make or receive calls in certain spots in the apartment, parking lot, or down the block. I don't use my phone at home that much, but I started noticing I'd get tons of texts when I was leaving to go to work in the morning. I called AT&T again about the signal problems I was having, and the CSR insisted that we had bad SIM cards, and suggested we visit the local store to get them replaced.

After the iPhone 4 fiasco, my roommate didn't want anything more to do with Apple, so he obtained an Android-powered HTC Dream. Again in love with his phone, he discovered it, like his Jack, didn't function within about a 3-block radius of our apartment. This all came to a head when there was a near-fatal crash in our apartment complex one night, and I tried to call 911 from my Tilt 2. All I was met with were the "disconnect tones", three quick beeps. Luckily someone had a Verizon phone and was able to call 911. I called AT&T about this as soon as I got to work that day, and all the CSR said was "Well, cell phones aren't 100% reliable. Let me transfer you to sales so we can get you set up with a landline." When I told her I didn't want a landline, and if I did I would obtain one through my cable television company, the CSR replied "I guess you don't want to be able to call 911 then." I asked if I could receive a discount on a Microcell, since the announced $150 after rebate price was a bit steep for a device that would use my highspeed connection -and still bill me for data sent and received over it-, and she told me, flat-out, "No."

I was resigned to my fate, and my roommate found a UMTS amplifier that kinda gave him service at his desk, until I realized I'm paying well over $150 a month for service I can't even properly use. The 3G Microcell shouldn't even have to exist, let alone use my minutes for calls made over my highspeed. T-Mobile's Hotspot At Home didn't do that, and Verizon's device doesn't either.

So, I turn to the reader(s?) of my blog for advice. I have prepared four alternatives I want to offer to AT&T the next time I speak with them:

1: Free Microcell. This seems like the best alternative for everyone. My phones work, I don't cancel, and I keep paying them $150 a month for the next two years.

2: Recurring bill credit in the amount of $30 per line ($15 for voice and $15 for data) every month until the service is fixed. I know, pig's eye chance, but I like giving people options.

3: Cancel service and waive the ETF. I will pay any balance on my account for services that have been used. Then I can select a carrier that will work here. I was in a T-Mobile corporate store reviewing pricing plans, and I told my story to the little man in there, and he arranged for one of their RF engineers to come by and make sure we got good signal in our apartment. Unlike AT&T, they honored their promise.

4: Cancel service and pay the ETF. This is my least preferable option, but it would be worth $525 to have cell service that works at home from a company that won't insult me by not returning calls, and suggesting that "I don't need to call 911." Heck, I'd even save money by switching to a T-Mobile Get More Plus plan, since I already own three unlocked GSM devices.

I don't want to cancel, I really don't. T-Mobile fired me on my birthday several years ago, and I really didn't ever think I'd want to even speak to them again, but I doubt anyone from AT&T will ever read this, let alone care what it says. I am tweeting a link to this to @ATTCustomerCare on Twitter, but I really doubt that'll get anywhere.

We'll see if AT&T has anyone like ComcastSteve on DSL Reports, who got me fixed up when it seemed like no one else could, and really made me think "Comcast Cares".