Spent the day working with AT&T

[Obliviax]

on my wife's mother's Direct TV bill. She switched providers, thinking she was going to save money. Her first bill was over $600. A quick review shows that some A-hole signed her up for a year's prepaid "NFL Sunday Ticket". She is 86 and doesn't know what an "NFL" is.

AT&T was pretty cool about it....after I threatened to hit them with an Elder Abuse suit (man, that works wonders if you ever are helping an old person against a corporation).

So my question is, is AT&T the a-hole or the contact center agent who thought that could make a quick commission on an elderly person?

 

[91Joe95]

Directv was much better before AT&T bought them.

 

[Big 0]

Directv was much better before AT&T bought them.

And they weren’t very good then.

 

[interrobang]

Actually DirecTV's customer service was very good prior to the merger.

 

[First Last]

AT&T now owns CNN. Maybe they will ruin CNN the same way they ruined DirecTV.

 

[Aloha T]

AT&T now owns CNN. Maybe they will ruin CNN the same way they ruined DirecTV.

Ruin CNN??? Somebody beat them to it!!

 

[LighthouseGolfer]

AT&T now owns CNN. Maybe they will ruin CNN the same way they ruined DirecTV.

They'd have to work hard to find something not already ruined.

 

[NittPicker]

Directv was much better before AT&T bought them.

I wanted to tweak my service after the merger and called the customer service number. I got the AT&T people and they had no clue what they were doing. I was eventually transferred to someone who dealt solely with the DirecTV customers. I have no idea why they didn't transfer me immediately. The old DirecTV wasn't perfect but the AT&T people suck.

 

[PearlSUJam]

Dish Network was great until you try to cancel your service. Nightmare!

 

[massimoManca II]

Actually DirecTV's customer service was very good prior to the merger.

*put the bong down*

 

[Langmuir]

My wife signed us up for DirectTV with internet service. She did this all without consulting me. I would have told her that there is no way in hell we could get a satellite signal with all the trees we have around our house. The sales guy never mentioned the dish requirement and my wife thought magically we would get cable and internet. The dish installer came to the house, took one look and said "Nope, not gonna work."

But now our account with ATT is a Direct TV account. We have our cellular service with them and have for about 10 years. Every time we try to get something changed on our account they cannot figure out what is going on and transfer us to the Direct TV people but they can't help us since we don't have Direct TV. Nobody there can seem to fix it.

 

[LionJim]

Gee, thanks, guys. Jane and I are waiting for the Comcast technician to show up and fix our persistent connectivity problem. Good to know that he will be in and out in five minutes with every issue resolved.

 

[sluggo72]

Gee, thanks, guys. Jane and I are waiting for the Comcast technician to show up and fix our persistent connectivity problem. Good to know that he will be in and out in five minutes with every issue resolved.

I was convinced the Comcast connection coming into my house was screwed up. I was also convinced that it was not something inside my house, as they charge you for that. Anyway they sent out the head of the tech department. I dont know how that happened. He was very nice, put in, for free, this super sophisticated router, cable splitter. He showed me where one of the cables going to a tv, that the connection in the Co Ax was bad and causing problems across my network, he rewired that for me for free. I did not realize that if the co ax was bad for 1 cable it could effect the reception for all the TV's He put a meter on everything and all was good, so every once in a while good things can happen!!
But of course there is the time they send someone out to help install the router, he didnt know what he was doing, so I finished the job myself, and they still sent me a bill!

 

[marisa45]

Directv was much better before AT&T bought them.

Dead on. DirecTV was the best customer service department I've ever dealt with (ever) but the AT&T folks took over after the merger. However, the customer retention department is still former DirecTV folks. Whenever you call DirecTV customer service it defaults you to AT&T. Ask to be put through to DirecTV "customer retention department" and you'll have a much better experience.

Still, you have to consider, DirecTV was at it's height maybe 8, 10 years ago. Now the business model is mature so they're less willing to wheel and deal like they were before. Go OTT with DISH and just be done with it. If not, just threaten to go OTT with DISH and the DirecTV folks will take you very, very seriously.

 

[marisa45]

I bought my mom a digital antenna which picks up 35 broadcast channels within a 100 mile area for free (antenna was $150). OTT with DISH adds another 35 channels (skinny bundle) for $30 a month. Basically, it's all the TV she can watch for $30 a month. DirecTV is putting together a similar package. The advantage of going with DirecTV, especially if she has AT&T wireless, is that you will get HBO "to Go" for free (HBO is Time Warner, and eventually will be a part of AT&T). For a retiree, more than enough to watch and she will save a ton of money.

 

[TheGLOV]

Ruin CNN??? Somebody beat them to it!!

Great one!! LOL!!!