I Feel Like There Has Been a LOT of AT&T Bashing Lately, But I Still Really Like Them

I've been saying this for a while now. Where I live now (Nashville, TN) and used to live (Orlando, FL) my AT&T service has been AWESOME! I rarely have dropped calls, I always get between 3Mbps and 4Mbps download speeds with 4-5 bars of service at all times, and have generally had pleasent experiences with customer service! Buttttt I know thats not the case everywhere, so to each their own!

I agree, I'm sticking with AT&T, been with them since 2006.

Also you have to remember that not every carrier works everywhere, and where these people are complaining from, they really shouldn't have been with at&t in the first place. That's why these things are scewd that way, if some one opens a verizon account and their service sucks, they retune the phone and close the account and look at another service provider that works, and you never hear them complain. However with AT&T, it's been they open the account, find out that service sucks, but then instead of closing they just stay, and continually complain about the service.

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Fernandez21 said:

I agree, I'm sticking with AT&T, been with them since 2006.

Also you have to remember that not every carrier works everywhere, and where these people are complaining from, they really shouldn't have been with at&t in the first place. That's why these things are scewd that way, if some one opens a verizon account and their service sucks, they retune the phone and close the account and look at another service provider that works, and you never hear them complain. However with AT&T, it's been they open the account, find out that service sucks, but then instead of closing they just stay, and continually complain about the service.

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That's true, but I was with Cingular (THE BEST SERVICE EVER) until they got bought out by AT&T (THE WORST SERVICE EVER) and now I'm contemplating moving over to Verizon in a week.

Went from Sprint from 1999-2000 to Verizon for 7 years, hated them both, now with AT&T for the last few years and won't leave, they have been very good to me and treat me better than Verizon ever did.

The whole family is now AT&T with all iPhone's 1 3GS and 4 iP4's

Service is as good if not better then VZ, 3G is way faster, their customer support is great and only a dropped call here and there, not worth crying over as I have tons of Roll Over minutes anyway.

I had 1400 per month on VZ when I only used 250, the rest were just put back in VZ's pocket if I didn't use them, so staying with AT&T they have been good to me.

I have been with cingular for almost 8 years. It has been great until iPhone 4. I drop calls like crazy. I have to hold my phone a certain way to get signal and without it dropping calls. It just sucks having such a good phone but can't carry on a good conversation with someone. Its useless without good talking service.

I am most likely going to switch hoping for better service.

You have some good valid points, but i need my phone reception.

For what it's worth, I am actually switching back to AT&T from a Verizon Droid X. I was going to go with the Verizon iPhone, but with AT&T recent announcement to give you 4GB with the tethering plan, that was enough to push my over the edge. AT&T is actually good in my area, and I think the iPhone 4S/5 that comes out this summer may be AT&T-only. Even if it's on both, it will most likely have HSPA+ for AT&T while it will still be CDMA on Verizon. Then in 2012, I will consider which carrier to go with.

I agree with you completely.

Especially this:

Also you have to remember that not every carrier works everywhere, and where these people are complaining from, they really shouldn't have been with at&t in the first place.

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As a mobile user since 1990 (trunking) and my first Cellular phone in 1992, I take a lot of the complaints with a grain of salt, regardless of carrier or technology. There are too many variables involved with coverage.

That being said, I am happy that there is another choice of carrier for the iPhone.

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Ever since the iPhone came out in 07, AT&T has been ill-prepared for the onslaught of iPhone owners. Between the very weak AT&T service (in my area) and the antenna problem with the iPhone 4. My only hope is the congestion is alleviated once people start migrating over to big red.

I love 'em now that they installed a tower about 10 miles away from me. Reception is now much better than before. Hopefully, once all the people jump ship to VZ, everything will be even better.

jeffs177 said:

That's true, but I was with Cingular (THE BEST SERVICE EVER) until they got bought out by AT&T (THE WORST SERVICE EVER) and now I'm contemplating moving over to Verizon in a week.

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Actually, here's what happened:

AT&T spun off its mobile division as AT&T Wireless. Cingular (joint venture between BellSouth and SBC) bought AT&T Wireless (if anyone remembers the Cingular Blue and Cingular Orange networks), which was a bit of a headache, but once was all said and done, things worked fine. In about 2006, SBC bought what was left of AT&T (the entire company), and found that AT&T had better brand recognition than SBC, so they took over the name, moved the headquarters to Texas, etc. Finally, AT&T (really SBC) bought BellSouth, which by everything under the "new" AT&T umbrella, made no sense to keep the Cingular brand, since all parties involved were owned by AT&T (really SBC). Confusing? A little.

Bottom line - The companies behind Cingular are the same, but just one entity now. Therefore, the argument of the new company bringing in bad customer service is simply not true. I think in some ways, AT&T lapsed a bit more or less because they could, with the "if you really want the iPhone, you have to come to us," attitude.

Also, fun fact, Vodafone (owns a chunk of Verizon Wireless) almost bought the old AT&T Wireless, rather than Cingular, which would've changed the landscape entirely.

Old AT&T that was spun off and bought out and absorbed Cingular

SBC, the company that absorbed AT&T and then took its name

Cingular - the same as it's always been

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Travisimo said:

For what it's worth, I am actually switching back to AT&T from a Verizon Droid X. I was going to go with the Verizon iPhone, but with AT&T recent announcement to give you 4GB with the tethering plan, that was enough to push my over the edge. AT&T is actually good in my area, and I think the iPhone 4S/5 that comes out this summer may be AT&T-only. Even if it's on both, it will most likely have HSPA+ for AT&T while it will still be CDMA on Verizon. Then in 2012, I will consider which carrier to go with.

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I would have stayed with Verizon myself. They're offering unlimited data on the new iPhone, but they probably won't offer it for more then a few months. That beats the 4GB on AT&Ts network.

AT&T has been the favorite whipping boy for iPhone users for a while. Now that VZW is in the mix that will change to a degree. Many people who are dissatisfied with have (or will) jump ship. The grass is always greener so when they land on VZW and find issues, the whining will start there as well.

I'm quite pleased with AT&T and have been with them for roughly 4 years.

I've had AT&T for a while. Other than T-Mo, my service has been great. No dropped calls, or problems as some have mentioned. Yet, Sprint, Nextel, and VZW have horrible service in my area. I'm sure if I traveled extensively, I may have a different opinion. But my experience has been positive.

People always generalize anyway. Especially on these boards and others. It's an ALL/NONE attitude...

jw nyc said:

- I can use my phone all over the world
- Simultaneous voice/data over 3G
- 3G speeds are awesome
- Voice quality & reliability is much better than advertised. This is not to say that I don't get the occasional dropped call during a long conversation but they've become few & far between and I can live with it.
- Great customer service - they let me upgrade to the new iPhone every year for the discounted price!
- I also anticipate AT&T getting even better as customers leave to go to Verizon. Less congestion = better service.

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++

And, $80.75 a month gets me Unlimited fast 3G data, 1500 texts, 650 anytime minutes with - by now, 5000+ rollover minutes

jw nyc said:

Anyone else think AT&T is much better than they are given credit for? Any of you completely disagree?

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Getting treated extremely poorly at their store as well as their Customer Service, in my opinion, has something to do with it...

Money talks...

Verizon = Blue Collar
ATT=White Collar

There's a lot of Verizon bashing too...

Just got to go with what works for you, and understand not everyone wants what you want. Some people really don't care about voice/data at the same time or overseas traveling. For some people AT&T is nothing but dropped calls, and for others it has never been troublesome.

Fanboyism is stupid.

What I tend to wonder is how may people that actually bash AT&T have ever been on the network?

Do people realize that all networks aren't the same everywhere? Here in Pittsburgh both AT&T and verizon have great service. I was on verizon for a long time before switching. One of the biggest reasons for me leaving was the verizon employees treating me as if I had no brains, common sense and a sense of technology. They have belittled me on numerous occasions and it became too much.

The employees at AT&T have been nothing but 100% professional and treated me as a human and customer.

Verizon here in Pittsburgh is just as great as AT&T but there are things that are deal breaker for different people and that's the great thing about choice. Just thought I'd throw out my opinion.

jw nyc said:

I disagree with this statement. Verizon DOES have a very robust network.

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I didn't say network problems, I said "issues". Verizon is more apt to nickle and dime you. They already mentioned downgrading the quality of pictures and media and then there's the whole throttling argument.

What I'm saying is that some of the AT&T bashers who jumped ship will find some facet with VZW that they're unhappy with and start complaining and whining.

As I said, its the whole, grass is greener mentality. No carrier is perfect and VZW has its own set of warts as does ATT

jw nyc said:

- Great customer service - they let me upgrade to the new iPhone every year for the discounted price!

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How do you manage that? I've been with AT&T for 11 years, you think they'll allow me to upgrade every year?

jeffs177 said:

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I would have stayed with Verizon myself. They're offering unlimited data on the new iPhone, but they probably won't offer it for more then a few months. That beats the 4GB on AT&Ts network.

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Though Unlimited sounded attractive, I checked my data usage over the last year and I've never gone over 2GB on my phone and 1GB on my iPad. I'm on WIFI most of the time, and when I'm on 3G, it's usually web browsing, e-mail, and sometimes audio streaming. Also, I'll be able to save $5/mo (no a big deal, but still) and have rollover voice minutes again. If I ever do go over the 4GB, I can add another GB for $10 and still only be $5 more than what I would be paying on Verizon. Also, my employer discount is 25% on AT&T and 20% on Verizon, so there's that too.

And finally, we pretty much know for sure AT&T will get the new iPhone in June whereas not so sure with Verizon. And it's highly doubtful that there will be an LTE iPhone this year on either carrier, so HSPA+ (assuming it gets it this summer) on the new one will be even faster than the current one on AT&T. So my feeling is that at least for the next year, AT&T iPhones will still have a lot of advantages over the Verizon one. Now in 2012, if an LTE iPhone is released on Verizon and LTE is in my area by then, I'll probably switch back. I am not loyal to any particular carrier: I think they all stink! And I don't mind buying my phones off-contract if I need to.