ATT customer service/Tech support

I have ATT for various services and when I call for any kind of service esp Tech Support I get either the Philippines, India or Mexico. I have a very hard time understanding the reps and I feel bad for them because it's not their fault. It's ATT doing bad customer service. I have to ask for someone in the US for support. Why can't I just get someone in the US to begin with? Why do I need to ask to be transferred back? People who speak Spanish in the US get their own support centers and options immediately, why do I have to ask to be transferred?

I didn't even know that was how it is til I asked for someone in the US after TWO HOURS of support with a nice tech but someone who clearly didn't understand a word I was saying and obviously picking up key words I was saying and using screen prompts for answering me. She then said ok no problem and transferred me. Why did I have to ask? Why didn't I get that to begin with. I felt bad for her and even the girl I spoke to last night seemed very flustered on the phone and had a hard time understanding me as I did her. This is internet tech support, they need to have people who know what they are doing. I know nothing about setting up internet but I know it shouldn't be this difficult. I am now waiting after an hour of support this morning for someone to call me back to help me figure out what is going on.

What has happened to customer service?? I work in customer service and it has gone to poo. They don't train people properly and in turn that affects the customer. I have been trying for THREE days to get my internet DSL to work and it's been UNSUCCESSFUL! I have spent hours, literally, on the phone with various reps. all of whom say something different each time. I am just as confused and I know it shouldn't be this hard to get internet service to connect.

It seems companies just don't care about customer service anymore. I dont care how much they say they do, it's obvious they don't. Their actions speak louder than their words.

I like ATT but their customer service is enough to drive me insane at times but I tend to just deal with it because their service once connected is fine and they have great prices compared to my other options. I am just getting frustrated with their support services and customer service.

Anyone else have ATT and have issues like this? Or is it just me and the cloud that follows me everywhere?

reply to post by mblahnikluver


I know what you mean.
I had a big issue with BELL and spent 3 hours on the phone with them.
They hung up on me about 10 times....everytime they transferred my call they hung up on me.

After 3 hours of this garbage I called them back to tell them to cancel my account because i am going elsewhere.
The person on the other end says"is there anything we can do for you"
I was like...screw you....I have been trying for 3 hours to get you idiots to do something....just cancel it.

My new provider isn't that much better but it felt good to cancel my old provider after that crap.
Customer service isn't what it used to be.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


T-Mobile = Cheaper plans, better data plans, similar coverage, American customer service.

Comcast = Similar rates for cable, internet, home phone, etc, American customer service.

Sprint = Best rate plans, best data plans, spotty coverage, American customer service.

Funny how ATT is the oldest of all these American corporations but they outsource 95% of their customer service.


I don't have any problem with speaking to foreign customer service. Occasionally there are issues with communication but I always try to speak slowly and clearly, and if I can't understand the phone rep I will let them know politely, and ask them to spell out anything I am not sure on. In all honesty if you're speaking with an Indian customer service rep, they probably have 5x the education as your average American CS rep. They are all very friendly and helpful, and if you can overcome the language barrier these guys and girls do a good job.

Anyway, vote with your wallet. If you don't like something don't support it financially. No point in complaining if there is no action behind the complaint. (no offense, but that's the way I see things.)

its nothing new.

Same here in the UK for virgin boradband internet.
Their technical support is in India and they work like robots reading the same questions from the same screen day in day out (they must be bored or morally worn down to near suicide)..

If you want to save money, go to your cable operators cancellation department and say you want to leave (even if you don't want to).

Then get them to send you a new cable modem etc and you'll be up and running a lot quicker and less expense !

reply to post by mblahnikluver


I have a way I protest this sort of scenario. I can say I do not particularly care for my method but it gets my point across never the less. Basically, I am as rude as I can be, but it is not personal and do not make personal attacks. My theory is this; if I can be as rude and as belligerent as I can muster up, maybe these people will get put out with their jobs and quit. I try to create a hostile environment. As I said I do not make personal attacks at whomever I am on the phone with but I make it is as difficult as I can for them. I will use the language barrier as my excuse and basically keep the conversation from progressing until I can be transferred back to the states or someone gets on the phone that I can understand. I have stressed I do not know how many people out like this, the funniest thing about it is that a lot of those people really do not know how to handle a pissed off American. In some cases, I have seen improvements.

It is not just you friend, my experience with ATT tech support mirrors you own.

But,

It was not just tech support it was also billing support.

I finally gave up on them and canceled my account of four years.

I was trying my darnest to work through the problem of connection, speed, drop outs on my “air card” for over six months, also demanding credit to the account for the days that the “air card” was not working properly. Which credit was given and applied on the next month’s bill, but would reappear as a charge a month or two later. You had to watch them like a hawk. Finally, I had reached the end of my rope and canceled my account. The day before termination an account manager called and I was ensured that All would be taken care of if I remained a customer, so I relented and remained and the next couple of months everything was A-OK, but the third month all of my credits appeared once again. I call immediately and canceled the account on the spot.

ATT just makes doing business with them to hard. It makes me wonder if this is not a Corporate business decision to readjust a person account several months after the fact in the hopes that most people don’t read their bill.

Originally posted by mblahnikluver

Anyone else have ATT and have issues like this? Or is it just me and the cloud that follows me everywhere?

It is not just you!

This is a result of Off-Shoring of U.S. Jobs. BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) is big business. Where these call centers used to be in the U.S. they are now moved off shore where it is much cheaper to hire and train new workers.

BPO means these companies do not have to provide a building, infrastructure or do any hiring or training of their agents. They save money, have less employees to deal with and no equipment to maintain. They retain a small escalation staff in the U.S. for calls to be routed to if a customer really insists. But most do not answer any calls directly anymore.

The Philippines are hot right now. Something like 800 call centers down there now.wiki link

As a matter of fact, every single company listed by TinkerHaus in a reply below, has a call center in the Philippines.

Hey, It is better than talking to India, isn't it? LOL

Let's face it AT&T NEVER keeps their part of a bargain. If you agree to $50 a month, your bill is $150, and then if you try to get it resolved, they keep you on the phone forever, over and over again with the issue unresolved! I am telling from experience. A bunch of dumbasses working there and maybe a heart attack and a lawsuit would get the issue resolved! I will NEVER use AT&T again.

When ever im listening to a scripted outsourced tech, being a tech myself, i just ask them a question that wont be in their script and then ask for their manager and or a 2nd/3rd line tech. It usually works. The other method is pretending to know what the issue is because "you used to work for *the company*" and you want to esculate to a higher tech imediatly.

reply to post by DrumsRfun


Yup sounds like my problem!

Everytime they transferred me I got disconnected. I also told them they are wasting my cell mins! I only have so many daytime land line mins. If they got my stuff to work I'd be calling on my phone line with them NOT my cell! I will be asking for credit on that too because I should not have to wait that long for support. Each time it was an hour or more. I spent a little over an hour with Charles on the phone this morning. He just called me back to say they would be sending a tech out....Now why not do that to begin with?!?!

I feel bad for the agents because they seem just as frustrated. I know they are just trying to make a living and it's bad on ATT's part so I try not to get mad at them..

I work for a small business and we have AT&T phone service. It is very reliable and the cheapest available, but the customer service IS AWFUL. We wasted at least 2 solid days' worth of work trying to get a simple transfer of phone lines when we moved, and AT&T broke their promises to come out and complete the transfer at least twice and forced us to go over a month without phone service. Isn't it funny when they treat you like crap but you stick with them because of the reliability of the service and the price?

I know what you mean. Then again, I would kill for some FREE tech support. My router was having issues about a week ago, and when I called netgear, I waited for half an hour for someone to tell me i would have to pay to get some help. I definetly do not want to pay for something that I had always thought to be free. The people were extremely nice though, just the company.

Originally posted by diddy1234
its nothing new.

Same here in the UK for virgin boradband internet.
Their technical support is in India and they work like robots reading the same questions from the same screen day in day out (they must be bored or morally worn down to near suicide)..

If you want to save money, go to your cable operators cancellation department and say you want to leave (even if you don't want to).

Then get them to send you a new cable modem etc and you'll be up and running a lot quicker and less expense !

edit on 21/11/2011 by diddy1234 because: (no reason given)

I have worked in the cancellation dept for Brighthouse lol. I have them now only because when I went to cancel my installation they offered me service free for a month and wellI really don't like their service. ATT has bad customer service but their actual service I don't have problems with.

I am switching to ATT because they have better internet and better prices.


I have worked in call centers and work in one now. I deal with online sales and support for a jewelry company. I have also worked in cable, internet and phone support. It bothers me to call these numbers because so many of the agents just don't give a crap and will just do the minimum to pass the time. I can usually tell which ones know what they are doing, which ones don't give a crap and which ones haven't been trained properly. I feel bad for them because I KNOW people yell at you all the time! I try not to get upset with the agents and I let them know that if I get loud or raise my voice that it's not directed at them but the company lol.

Originally posted by Skewed
reply to post by mblahnikluver

 

I have a way I protest this sort of scenario. I can say I do not particularly care for my method but it gets my point across never the less. Basically, I am as rude as I can be, but it is not personal and do not make personal attacks.

As someone who has worked phone style customer service for years that is not a very nice thing to do at all!

My theory is this; if I can be as rude and as belligerent as I can muster up, maybe these people will get put out with their jobs and quit.

WHY do you want them to quit? These people are trying to make a living and feed their families or pay their rent and you want them to be so upset they quit? You seem very heartless.

I try to create a hostile environment. As I said I do not make personal attacks at whomever I am on the phone with but I make it is as difficult as I can for them.

There is NO need for that! I get a little testy at time but I also don't make them uncomfortable!!

I will use the language barrier as my excuse and basically keep the conversation from progressing until I can be transferred back to the states or someone gets on the phone that I can understand.

That is not very nice. All you have to do is ask to be transferred to the States or Canada as I ask for as well if I can't get the States. It is not the agents fault the company they work for didn't train them properly. They are just trying to make a living. Have you ever worked in a call center? If you have then you wouldn't be saying the things you do. It can be a very stressful job without people like you trying to make it even more difficult.

Try learning 8 different computer programs, policies for 5 different companies, their merchandise, how to use all the systems, process sales, credit card issues and all the main bank policies, suggest other items for purchase, deal with lost purchases, cancellations, damaged items and so on. Try learning how to do all that in a two week class in the middle of season and then you are on the floor to take calls. Many agents quit because they can't handle it and it's mostly because people like you call in with attitudes! It's not that easy and it takes time to get use to it but for me I like it. I always liked all aspects of retail even the online one. Call centers also pay well and are great companies to work for if you are a student, they work around school schedules and many times during the holidays you can pick up overtime which is a great way to save and have money for the holidays. They aren't bad jobs it's how people treat you that make it seem like a bad job.

I have stressed I do not know how many people out like this,

I wouldn't be too proud of this....

the funniest thing about it is that a lot of those people really do not know how to handle a pissed off American. In some cases, I have seen improvements.

edit on 21-11-2011 by Skewed because: (no reason given)

HOW is that funny?!?!

I'm sorry but your methods of dealing with outsourced calls is ridiculous. I say this again as someone who works as a customer service/sales agent for various online stores. I never understood why people had to be so nasty to an agent. I get annoyed easily with the language thing but I also know it's not their fault! I even apologize and tell them it's not personal but I'd prefer to speak to someone who speaks English as a first language. I know it is hard on them as well. They don't train them very well in English to do these jobs. Many bigger companies will train them and make sure they speak and pass a language proficiency test but many of the smaller ones let you slide with basic knowledge. It's the same here with our language reps. If you speak basic or some conversational French or Spanish you can get those positions. I have seen it happen.

Why perpetuate the stereo type of "spoiled American" by acting this way to someone? What are you trying to prove? If anything you are proving the stereo type right.....

Now don't take what I say personal it's not. It's just I don't get people like you who call in and have to be so nasty.

You can get your point across without making them feel uncomfortable.

Originally posted by brokedown
It is not just you friend, my experience with ATT tech support mirrors you own.

But,

It was not just tech support it was also billing support.

I finally gave up on them and canceled my account of four years.

Yea I had some issues with billing! The whole reason why I never liked contracts. There always seems to be something that gets messed up or some fee the agent forgot to tell you about. Yea I didn't like it and they fixed it but my bill is still way off and at this point I just basically give up. I am just going to pay what I normally pay per month and nothing more. They have in my records all my calls!

I was trying my darnest to work through the problem of connection, speed, drop outs on my “air card” for over six months, also demanding credit to the account for the days that the “air card” was not working properly. Which credit was given and applied on the next month’s bill, but would reappear as a charge a month or two later. You had to watch them like a hawk. Finally, I had reached the end of my rope and canceled my account. The day before termination an account manager called and I was ensured that All would be taken care of if I remained a customer, so I relented and remained and the next couple of months everything was A-OK, but the third month all of my credits appeared once again. I call immediately and canceled the account on the spot.

WOW that is crazy! I haven't had that kind of trouble with ATT. They usually get it done pretty quick, this internet thing though is taking forever it seems and I know it shouldn't. I have ATT for wireless as well and they are ok with that but I usually just go into a local store for help if need be, they seem to know more about the phones and tech issues than the actual techs. LOL I have had ATT techs for my iPhone tell me some crazy stuff even I knew I couldn't do on my phone.

ATT just makes doing business with them to hard. It makes me wonder if this is not a Corporate business decision to readjust a person account several months after the fact in the hopes that most people don’t read their bill.

I had ATT prepaid go phone for about 5 yrs and I finally got suckered into a contract back in June. I got a new iPhone, well I upgraded from my 3g to a 3gs and I have not been happy with it. It's the billing issues. They have changed all their plan options now so my bill is ridiculous where before on prepaid I paid 60 bucks for the SAME service yet with no contract. I pay about 40 more for a contract! I want out of my contract and I want to go back to prepaid. I don't use my cell that much since I have a home phone and I like being able to control the amount i put on it. If I don't use it I save money and right now I am wasting money.

Originally posted by Biigs
When ever im listening to a scripted outsourced tech, being a tech myself, i just ask them a question that wont be in their script and then ask for their manager and or a 2nd/3rd line tech. It usually works. The other method is pretending to know what the issue is because "you used to work for *the company*" and you want to esculate to a higher tech imediatly.

LOL I have done the same!

I can always tell when they read the screen because when I ask a question they can't answer they repeat the last thing they said or immediately just apologize.

I love when they refuse to tell me where they are. I know by law they have to tell us. It's a US law. They have to tell you what country but they don't have to tell you the city.

Originally posted by jburg6
I work for a small business and we have AT&T phone service. It is very reliable and the cheapest available, but the customer service IS AWFUL. We wasted at least 2 solid days' worth of work trying to get a simple transfer of phone lines when we moved, and AT&T broke their promises to come out and complete the transfer at least twice and forced us to go over a month without phone service. Isn't it funny when they treat you like crap but you stick with them because of the reliability of the service and the price?

Exactly!!

I like their service but their customer service is crap so I put up with it.

Originally posted by insanedr4gon
I know what you mean. Then again, I would kill for some FREE tech support. My router was having issues about a week ago, and when I called netgear, I waited for half an hour for someone to tell me i would have to pay to get some help. I definetly do not want to pay for something that I had always thought to be free. The people were extremely nice though, just the company.

Yea I had the same issue with my Cisco router. They are in the Philippines and I called after a year to set up my new Mac and they told me I had to PAY for support! I told them they were insane and I shouldn't have to pay to fix an issue with their router. I always had issues with that router and I always dreaded calling for support. It was always a nightmare!

Hi Mblah

I work in a IT helpdesk has an analyst coordinator calling center
we dispatch tech onsite when the issue is not resolvable

but sorry i do not take any North American calls
only Europeen call ...France & UK are the calls i receive the most
lovely people compare to impatient American-Canadian that i used to receive

you will have to move to europe to have the best customer service ever lol from me ahah
i dont know why .. maybe money related since in india they dont have a big pay
now most ISP take contract with indian compagny

at my last job they have transfered my entire dept to india to save money :@
and then fire us

the bad economy is the reason why everything is all messed up
and they stop spending money on training to form the new agents

reply to post by Ben81


I would be more than happy to move to Europe, esp France but I think you know that! LOL!

I worked for a center that had over 500 employees and the entire place was closed after 10+yrs and sent overseas. It's nuts...


At least you deal with people who speak your language. Calling Manila and getting someone who has English as a second language is very hard!