AT&T Faces Initial Setback in Verizon Ad Spat, Rolls Out Response Ad

[dave1812dave]

I live in Minneapolis and for years have been subjected to Verizon's claims about offering the best service. I frequently had dropped calls. When I changed to ATT I was surprised by how good the service was as I had heard only negative things about them. I like the ad and am pleased ATT is finally fighting back with their marketing.

You must have had a crappy phone because every time I visit Minneapolis my phone (verizon) works fine. I USED to have phones that didn't have good reception and long ago replaced them. Don't always blame the carrier... (unless it is AT&T)

Not only did I have no trouble with voice reception anywhere in/near Minneapolis, but the VZNAV worked everywhere in the surrounding area, as well. No missed calls. No dropped calls. No problemo anywhere near/in Minneapolis.

 

[JAT]

AT&T already spends several billion dollars a year upgrading their network. You can find press releases on it.

Do you really expect a company not to advertise? Jesus, want to talk about desperate whining? That's exactly what the Verizon ads are as well, because they don't have the iPhone and they're losing customers to AT&T. Advertising is advertising and business is business. Get over it.

I'm not a fan of either company but all the anti-AT&T bitching in this thread floors me. This is hilarious.

QFT. Everything else in this thread is just blathering.

 

[gcliv]

There is no contest to me, Verizon all the way.

I am an IT Manager for my employer and am responsible for all telecommunications. I have 30 lines with AT&T and 10 with Verizon.

I regret that many of you have had a poor customer service experience with Verizon, but my experience with Verizon customer service has been top-notch. Their people, in general, have been friendlier, more professional, and effective. I work with either customer service or my rep. AT&T, on the other hand, keeps changing where I get my customer service from - now I have a small business group number I call, but it sucks just as much as any of my other contact points with AT&T I've had. Their people are uneducated about their services, products, and procedures - many times, I tell them how to do what they need to do (change such and such features on the line, transfer me to whatever department, etc.). They are also generally less-friendly, less competent, and less motivated on reaching a resolution for my problems. I am FREQUENTLY told whenever there is a problem with something, I have to wait up to 10 business days for support ticket resolution - sometimes I'm lucky and call back, reach somebody with an IQ over 80, and my issue ends up resolved, sometimes not. And I'm talking simple stuff, like ordering iPhones!

On the technical side, its not even close. No company is perfect everywhere, but Verizon has consistently reliable connection and data speeds in far more areas for myself and the traveling sales staff I support. Even in Fresno, a reasonably large metro area with nearly 1 million people, I have shoddy 3G coverage - and even with 5 bars of consistent 3G, I commonly have "dial-up" speeds from their lack of bandwidth. EDGE is virtually useless as even a lower-grade data alternative. AT&T's only advantage is that they can do data and voice simultaneous in 3G areas, but it is too much of a price to pay.

AT&T's oversensitivity to this current ad war is ridiculously telling as well; they are like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar, saying the devil made them do it. Frankly, T-Mobile would be better for the iPhone at this point.

 

[COBRASVT]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...t&t+mobility+network+investment&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Is it so hard?

No...reading hype is easy.

What's hard is getting and more so keeping a 3G signal while on AT&T.

What's hard is making a phone call and staying connected on AT&T.

That's what's hard!

And I live just outside Atlanta, Ga. Not a small city by any means. And I live on one side while working on the other. I loose 3G three - five times every morning while driving on the interstate where they are supposed to be the strongest. I drop a call in 2-3 spots while driving.

Never had that problem on Verizon.

"Go back" you say. I am!

 

[goodhood]

I love how two of their responses could basically be summed up as "we've got the iPhone."

 

[dave1812dave]

AT&T already spends several billion dollars a year upgrading their network. You can find press releases on it.

Do you really expect a company not to advertise? Jesus, want to talk about desperate whining? That's exactly what the Verizon ads are as well, because they don't have the iPhone and they're losing customers to AT&T. Advertising is advertising and business is business. Get over it.

I'm not a fan of either company but all the anti-AT&T bitching in this thread floors me. This is hilarious.

If I were you, I wouldn't use churn rate as an example to bash Verizon, dude. churn of 1.35% not too shabby.

 

[mds]

What a crappy ad...AT&T is a big part of what keeps me away from the iPhone.

 

[dave1812dave]

I love how two of their responses could basically be summed up as "we've got the iPhone."

and they also have many disgruntled iphone users who'd undoubtedly leave AT&T in a HEARTBEAT to get the Jesus phone on a carrier that has better coverage, ie Verizon.

 

[Scooterman1]

The truth hurts.

They have sued Verizon, then they try the same.... in reverse.

This is as bad as the Apple/Microsoft competition Ads....

 

[iGod 2.0]

This is sad. Who will have the fastest 4G LTE network when all is said and done?

AT&T

 

[itsmeok]

misleading

sure, when i think of "best 3G experience" (whatever that means if i keep dropping calls), i always factor in the "name starting with v" in the top 5 criteria.

ahem! and doesn't mentioning 100000 apps give an impression that they are for every phone on the network, not just one? Isn't it misleading the general public? Isn't this the basis of your lawsuit?

imho, iphone has done more bad than good for darth-att. maybe it seems very beneficial now, with all the money rolling in. but this is just a short-term gain. thinking old-school, reputation is what matters in the long term. thanks to iphone, more people are now pissed off with att than in its entire history. and that is something that hits you in the long run.

 

[JAT]

You must have had a crappy phone because every time I visit Minneapolis my phone (verizon) works fine. I USED to have phones that didn't have good reception and long ago replaced them. Don't always blame the carrier... (unless it is AT&T)

I'm in Mpls, and have family members on Verizon, for over a decade. (maybe 2 decades, I can't remember who bought who and renamed what) They have had very few reception issues, a couple specific spots between towers. In the downtown hell zone, V has consistently been better than all others, although there are still holes, of course.

My T-Mobile has caught up pretty well, though. Esp when not using a crap phone.

I think ATT comes in 3rd here, but not bad. If I was to consider an iPhone, reception would not hinder me. I don't really need data at the moment, so I don't need a smartphone at all.

 

[flottenheimer]

Kids these days...

 

[Beric]

LOL. If AT&T can't stop Verizon's attack ads, then why not make their own? I love all of the comparisons as well.

This can only help the consumer. It's the success of capitalism. And boy is it fun to watch.

 

[tuhoops]

I haven't even looked at an iPhone because of AT&T. I had its cell service years ago, and when I moved to an area where its coverage was marginal at best, AT&T wouldn't let me out of my cell contract. I had to pay a cancel fee of at least $150.

If Verizon gets the iPhone, I'll take a look.

AT&T (which of course is not AT&T - it's just a company that bought the trade name) can kiss my butt.

Actually Verizon is a part of the "old" AT&T (baby bells/ before the Bell Atlantic / GTE merger)...and AT&T has its roots in its old self through the acquisition of Cingular (which they originally divested through Southwestern Bell and Bell South), so really they all used to be one company...

As far as not letting you out of a contract, try Verizon...good luck. They are DOUBLING their cancellation fees. Which leads me to say that the model of subsidizing phones in exchange for multi-year commitments needs to go. It's a scam.

 

[freediverdude]

AT&T should have made an ad FINISHING the island of misfit toys story. That would have been a huge response. Pick up right where Verizon's ad left off, with the iphone standing there looking glum in the middle of the toys, then have Santa swooping in on a sleigh with the AT&T logo on it. Santa gets out of the sleigh, points out that iphone shouldn't feel bad, because he can talk and surf the web simultaneously, that the network map is misleading, etc., and then he swoops off in Santa's sleigh to end up in someone's stocking for Christmas, with the rest of the toys- happy ending. Perfect response.

 

[tuhoops]

AT&T should have made an ad FINISHING the island of misfit toys story. That would have been a huge response. Pick up right where Verizon's ad left off, with the iphone standing there looking glum in the middle of the toys, then have Santa swooping in on a sleigh with the AT&T logo on it. Santa gets out of the sleigh, points out that iphone shouldn't feel bad, because he can talk and surf the web simultaneously, that the network map is misleading, etc., and then he swoops off in Santa's sleigh to end up in someone's stocking for Christmas, with the rest of the toys- happy ending. Perfect response.

+1

 

[Stratus Fear]

No...reading hype is easy.

What's hard is getting and more so keeping a 3G signal while on AT&T.

What's hard is making a phone call and staying connected on AT&T.

That's what's hard!

And I live just outside Atlanta, Ga. Not a small city by any means. And I live on one side while working on the other. I loose 3G three - five times every morning while driving on the interstate where they are supposed to be the strongest. I drop a call in 2-3 spots while driving.

Never had that problem on Verizon.

"Go back" you say. I am!

I've been on AT&T for a year and a half in Atlanta and never have these issues. I won't use Verizon because their customer support is terrible. But hey, to each his own. I actually prefer T-Mobile because their CS is actually helpful, and Atlanta coverage ain't that bad. But I'm on AT&T because of the iPhone.

 

[thevofl]

AT&T has never really been an innovator in any space, with the exception of the folks at Bell Labs (back in the day). They've kept putting off the capital expenditures until it's absolutely necessary. That was seen with their adoption of DSL late in the market, pushing fiber to the vicinity instead of the home, and the low bandwidth provided on it's 3G network.

Perhaps I'm the only one who sees the pattern, but it's honestly just sad. I'd rather see them push things out and compete with others but they seem content in 2nd or 3rd place.

OMG!!!!

This reminds me when I worked at AT&T. In 2000, we were pulled into the cafeteria to hear a low level executive (an executive nonetheless) talk about our direction. They announced the DSL push. One of the tech savvy employees started laughing. The exec called him on it. The employee said that Cable is the direction that everyone is moving towards. The exec actually said that DSL was better because it was DSL. !!!!!

 

[Stratus Fear]

If I were you, I wouldn't use churn rate as an example to bash Verizon, dude. churn of 1.35% not too shabby.

I'm not bashing Verizon. Both AT&T and Verizon's advertising can be used as examples of whining and desperation. People in here just don't get it. It's one huge irrational fanboy fest.

 

[reemas]

I would rather have no cellphone at all than give Verizon my money.

Don't worry, if you have AT&T in Los Angeles, it's like like having no cellphone at all!

 

[Snide]

I live in an unincorporated part of Mill Valley near Muir Woods. AT&T is the ONLY cellular provider that
covers my area, which is why I initially bought an AT&T-locked Razr. When the first iPhone came out,
that turned out to be rather convenient. I get 2 bars of signal inside my place, and EDGE is slow but
it works. Otherwise, Mill Valley consistently gets 3G @ 2.5 Mb, and San Francisco (where I work) has
gotten much better in the last few months. I held onto my 2G iPhone till the 3Gs had been out 2 months,
so even the slowest 3G is a godsend compared to EDGE (webpages render faster on 3Gs than 2G on EDGE).

 

[theheadguy]

can you imagine would people here would say about microsoft if they locked their only phone to att like apple does? doesn't even need to happen to see the hypocrisy already.

 

[Scooterman1]

Wow, this is a very high budget shot commercial.

Is this the AT&T version of the Mac Guy/PC Guy commercials?

 

[darthvedder81]

No, they are not. Since 2007 100% of their EVDO network has been upgraded to Rev. A. Verizon's map used in the commercial is not showing their 2G coverage in the CDMA world referred to as 1xRTT. That map shows their actual 3G coverage area that is equivalent speed wise to AT&T's 3G.

Nope. You're wrong. Do the research my friend. I did.