Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
I went to U-verse as soon as it was offered in my area.
I signed up online, the install was quickly scheduled, (at this point, I hadn't even spoken to a human with AT&T). It had all been done over the internet or email.
Five days later, the installer gave me a courtesy call to let me know he was en route to my house, he showed up on time, got the job done and left, and received a $300 bonus for signing up. There was no contract to sign, and no obligation to keep the service for more than 30 days.
Every time the installer walked out of my house, and then walked back in, he put on a clean pair of shoe covers. He set up everything, and made sure that both computers were connecting to the internet, and that my new email was working, before he left.
I coordinated a Comcast install the next month for a small non-profit (phone and internet). I doubt that any departments within Comcast ever communicate with each other. Getting an appointment for an installation was a nightmare. Comcast had to extend wiring to the building... that had to be scheduled. Then, the construction folks forgot to tell the install department that they were done extending the wiring, so that led to a delay. Once that was straightened out, they installed the service, but didn't leave me any info on making anything work, or did they assist in configuring email. Then, when the first bill arrived, the services were all overcharged...apparently the billing department had no idea of the contract that had been signed, and what it specified.
And cable companies like Comcast seem to be shocked that the public does not like dealing with them.
I was stunned how much better AT&T handled the process from start to finish.
Your experience was 180 degrees from mine. Let me say first that after ATT finally got everything right, the service has been virtually flawless (even though they have been doing the transfer of channels to higher tiers).
Here's my experience:
1) Took nearly a month to them to green light my address - even though houses on either side of me were approved, I was not. Funny thing is we're all fed from the same pole/box. Turned out to be an error in their database.
2) Install technician called and cancelled the install 3 hours into the 4 hour install window. What really annoyed me was she didn't know when they would re-schedule (turned out it was the following day).
3) Technician aborted the installation at 7 pm, while problem in the line (bridge tap) was repaired. Result - no TV, phone, or internet for 3 days.
4) During that 3 day period I spent over 2 hours (cell minutes), mostly on hold, trying to get ATT customer support to get someone out to fix the problem. IMHO, ATT phone support is 5x worse than Comcast. During many of those calls I questioned my sanity for putting up with such dismal customer service.
5) Technician finally got TV & internet working after discovering a "mangled" component in the VRAD. However, no phone because it wasn't properly provisioned.
6) On the seventh day, phone service was finally enabled. I was temporarily relieved...
7) Started getting TV & phone disruptions. A different tech came out and couldn't find anything wrong, but replaced the RG (residential gateway). It didn't fix the problems.
8) ATT scheduled to send a "senior" technician and a supervisor out to fix the problems. They cancelled approximately 20 minutes before the appointment.
9) The following day a senior tech arrived (sans a supervisor) and replaced a component in my outdoor access box. Apparently that was the culprit. After 3 weeks of no/poor operation, finally everything was good (as it has been for 12 months now).
Why did I put up with such an ordeal? Because I had developed such a strong distaste for Comcast that I'd do practically anything to abandon them. The moral of the story is that none of these companies are anywhere near perfect....
