Posted to PCTECH and CPF0000.
I have used AT&T mobile phones since the early 90's (At one time I had a
bag-phone that had an external battery pack...)
For years, ever since I moved to a rural area of northwest Travis County, I
have had terrible mobile phone reception at my home. I have complained on
several occasions to AT&T about this, but they always kept saying that
according to their coverage map that it shows that I should be getting good
coverage.
Unfortunately, AT&T does not understand the topography of Travis County. I
live in the hills west of of Austin, half-way between downtown and Lake
Travis, and in a /valley/ to boot. The hills which completely surround my
house are 200 to 300 feet in height.
When sitting in my La-Z-boy recliner in my living room, I have 1 bar of
signal strength, if any. I usually have to go outside to ensure that my
calls don't drop, so I usually end up on the patio sitting at my outdoor
table. (Not fun when it is 30 degrees outside...)
So, I got really excited when I found out last week about the AT&T
Microcell. I figured that this device would solve my reception problems at
home:
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/why/3gmicrocell/
But, in my opinion, I didn't think that /I/ should have to pay $ 150.00 for
this device. After all, it is AT&T's problem in the first place that I have
poor reception.
So I first called AT&T customer service. Bad Idea.
Spoke to a customer service rep in Bangalore (first time that ever I got an
offshore rep...AT&T is apparently now offshoring their customer service) for
half an hour who kept saying 'sir I cannot authorize a free microcell" over
and over.
When I asked to speak to her supervisor, she put me on hold and I got
disconnected. I was very surprised when her supervisor actually called me
back and the supervisor told me over and over for the next half hour why
/she/ couldn't authorize a free microcell for me - however she did suggest
that I call a 'core' store (an AT&T company store) and ask the manager if
/they/ could authorize it on my behalf.
So, to make a short story long, I called one of the Austin AT&T stores. The
manager was NOT in the office, and so I had to spend another 30 minutes with
the sales rep who took my call, retelling my store for a /third/ time. He
promised to leave a message for the manager to call me back.
After several hours of and /not/ getting the callback that I was expecting
from the store manager, at around 4:00 pm I called back to the AT&T store,
getting ready to start ranting on the manager. I'm glad I didn't, because
when he came on the line, he said "I was just about to call you - I just got
the authorization for your FREE AT&T Microcell".
BTW, throughout this ordeal, I was on my best behavior. I never raised my
voice or used strong language.
I did, however, mention that since 1999 that I had spent well over $
10,000.00 on AT&T services. (I have 5 phones on a Family Talk plan, the
service costs almost 200.00 / mo)
I'm picking up my free Microcell on Friday!
- Steve
midrange.com
