AT&T is just not trying when it comes to keeping customers

[hypnoz]

The sad part is it does not cost of any of these companies barely anything to give free text or talk and data is the only thing that puts stress on their network. If you pay for data you should be able to use it how you want when you want. ATT not offering facetime to all its customers with data is WRONG. even though i have the new plan its still wrong and unethical and greedy. I hope by launch day they do they right thing.

Stress on their network is by definition, a cost.

Also, how it is wrong, unethical and greedy that they do not allow facetime to all customers with data? You don't like it, you go elsewhere. They have the right to pick and choose how their service is set up, just as you have the right not to use it. There is nothing unethical/greedy/wrong about it.

How do you think other MVNO prepaid companies offer free unlimited international text and pic messaging and non of the big guys do? its all GREED

It has nothing to do with greed. They offer what people are willing to purchase, at a specific price, in a specific market, in order to make a profile. You really should educate yourself about how business works.

 

[ucfgrad93]

The OP was expecting something from at&t and complained that they were "only" giving him around 120 to keep his business. Not sure how that fits into the free market.....actually, it ends up costing us more in the long term. Companies end up passing on that cost to consumers.

If he isn't happy with AT&T or their offer, move on....AT&T didnt have to offer him a dime but they made an offer they thought was fair.

Agreed. But the OP thought it wasn't good enough and came here to whine and complain. OP, at&t doesn't owe you squat. If you don't like their service, then you are free to go to another provider.

 

[thekb]

The OP was expecting something from at&t and complained that they were "only" giving him around 120 to keep his business. Not sure how that fits into the free market.....actually, it ends up costing us more in the long term. Companies end up passing on that cost to consumers.

If he isn't happy with AT&T or their offer, move on....AT&T didnt have to offer him a dime but they made an offer they thought was fair.

If retention offers cost us more in the long term, what do all the offers for new customers cost us? Why do the companies spend all their money on new customers and take loyal customers for granted?

On point number two, I completely agree. They make an offer, then it is up to the OP to decide whether to take it or not. No reason to get mad, just take your business to the next guy. It probably wont be all that different, but you have the right to choose where to spend your money.

 

[GadgetGeek407]

Stress on their network is by definition, a cost.

Also, how it is wrong, unethical and greedy that they do not allow facetime to all customers with data? You don't like it, you go elsewhere. They have the right to pick and choose how their service is set up, just as you have the right not to use it. There is nothing unethical/greedy/wrong about it.

What you say makes no sense even though again I switched to the new plan but why is it ok to use all the other video services for free without changing your plan but for ft you have to change the plan? they use the same amount of data either way. truth be told you are simply being unreasonable


It has nothing to do with greed. They offer what people are willing to purchase, at a specific price, in a specific market, in order to make a profile. You really should educate yourself about how business works.

I dont need to educate myself about business I am a very successful business owner. I like ATT but in order to be successful and gain customers the idea is to come out with new services before the competition and be fair. The US still has the best cell phones plan worldwide compared to what else is out there. I am just simply saying it was a bad move on their part

 

[thekb]

Agreed. But the OP thought it wasn't good enough and came here to whine and complain. OP, at&t doesn't owe you squat. If you don't like their service, then you are free to go to another provider.

All true. But part of the free market is word of mouth. The"power of the people" is strength in numbers. If the OP convinces enough people that ATTs policies are wrong then they may act together to encourage them to change. Without that, companies will always do what is in their best interests, not the customers.

I don't see anything wrong with OPs post. If att is trying to get the best deal, why shouldn't he?

 

[MacManTexas56]

All true. But part of the free market is word of mouth. The"power of the people" is strength in numbers. If the OP convinces enough people that ATTs policies are wrong then they may act together to encourage them to change. Without that, companies will always do what is in their best interests, not the customers.

I don't see anything wrong with OPs post. If att is trying to get the best deal, why shouldn't he?

there is a difference between nicely asking instead of threatening AT&T that you will drop them if you don't get freebies. How ethical is that??

here's his quote " I just got off the phone with AT&T to ask what they are going to do to keep me as a customer"

why is anyone going to offer up something nice to someone who asks it that way?

 

[jj47]

To OP. I'm not going to read through all these posts but here's what you should do.

1. Stop moaning, they don't own you anything extra even if you've been with them 10 years or 100 years

2. You don't like it? Then change carrier. Done.

 

[ucfgrad93]

All true. But part of the free market is word of mouth. The"power of the people" is strength in numbers. If the OP convinces enough people that ATTs policies are wrong then they may act together to encourage them to change. Without that, companies will always do what is in their best interests, not the customers.

I don't see anything wrong with OPs post. If att is trying to get the best deal, why shouldn't he?

I have no problem with the OP trying to get the best deal. My issue is when at&t offers him a $120 value to stay he comes here with a whine about how "AT&T is just not trying when it comes to keeping customers." I guess my question to the OP, is how much does at&t have to offer before the OP sees at&t "trying" to keep customers.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Given the many drawbacks with Verizon (more expensive shared plans, etc.), at&t doesn't need to try very hard.

 

[tbayrgs]

I'm not entirely sure yet

If you but a full price, unsubsidized contract free phone on day 1

is it actually a FACTORY UNLOCKED phone that you could leave and would work on another carrier right away?

Or would it still be an AT&T iphone in need of an ATT microsim?

If you bought through AT&T it would still be locked to AT&T but could be software unlocked through AT&T after you leave.

If you buy through apple, you can get factory unlocked for $50 more.

Thanks, $50 for factory unlocked seems worth it.
Unless there are easy software unlocks to follow.

Wish this service were available on launch or soon after

Currently, AT&T will unlock any iPhone that is not under contract. If you pay the ETF, they will unlock upon request. If your contract is up, they will also unlock it. There are some backdoor methods that seem pretty sketchy that I have not looked in to however.

Just to clarify a few items mentioned in these previous posts:

At the launch of the 4s, AT&T models bought from the Apple Store at full retail price were actually already unlocked. Unlike the steps required now to unlock an iPhone that is no longer on contract, all you had to do was restore it through iTunes and you'd receive an message confirming it was unlocked. I can confirm it worked as I did it myself.

Now of course, there is no guarantee the same will hold true for the upcoming iPhone but assuming it does, you should not have to wait for the official factory unlocked version to be released. Unfortunately it's unlikely the unlocked device will work on any of the other major US carriers as if I understand correctly, even though they are all using LTE (or will be), the frequencies are all different and the 3G tech they will fall back to are all different. But you never know, maybe the new iPhone will incorporate all carrier bands and be capable of all types of 3G, though I personally doubt it.

 

[iMikeT]

Agreed. But the OP thought it wasn't good enough and came here to whine and complain. OP, at&t doesn't owe you squat. If you don't like their service, then you are free to go to another provider.

And all you're doing is complaining about my complaints.

Your'e right, I'm free to go to another provider and I intend to do just that. AT&T loses me as a customer as soon as I am able to get the next iPhone.

I have no problem with the OP trying to get the best deal. My issue is when at&t offers him a $120 value to stay he comes here with a whine about how "AT&T is just not trying when it comes to keeping customers." I guess my question to the OP, is how much does at&t have to offer before the OP sees at&t "trying" to keep customers.

That $120 of unlimited texting for six months is something that Sprint all ready offers, it's built into their most basic unlimited plan. Had AT&T offered to match Sprint in services for the duration of a new two year contract, I might have considered staying.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

I have been an AT&T customer for the past 10 years, since the Cingular days. My contract for my iPhone 4 is officially up tomorrow. I just got off the phone with AT&T to ask what they are going to do to keep me as a customer and everyone I spoke to just didn't try.

Why do you think we give a crap? Go find another carrier and quit talking about it here.

Bryan

 

[iMikeT]

Why do you think we give a crap? Go find another carrier and quit talking about it here.

Bryan

You obviously give enough of a crap to reply to this thread.

 

[iMikeT]

Bye Bye AT$T

With the news of AT&T bumping throttling up to 5GB and STILL preventing FaceTime over LTE, they have officially lost me as a customer.

5GB unthrottled of my UNLIMITED plan? Still not good enough for me to stick around. Good riddance to the money hungry machine.

 

[TonyC28]

AT&T has ticked me off with the $36 upgrade fee. I will gladly pay $200 for the iPhone 5. And because I'm a realist, I will gladly pay $250 more for it since I'm not eligible for a full upgrade. I realize that before I was able to upgrade every year (family plan of about $240 a month) but that was basically a gift and shouldn't be expected. However, if I'm going to pay them an extra $250 for the phone the least they can do is drop the BS $36 upgrade fee. Now, I know you'll say that I shouldn't expect to get the fee waived. It's just the phrasing of it that bothers me. Charge me $286 extra and drop the words "upgrade fee" and I'll pay it with a smile on my face. Just don't tell me it costs $36 to take a box off the shelf, scan it, pop a SIM card in, and hand it to me.

 

[unlimitedx]

AT&T has ticked me off with the $36 upgrade fee. I will gladly pay $200 for the iPhone 5. And because I'm a realist, I will gladly pay $250 more for it since I'm not eligible for a full upgrade. I realize that before I was able to upgrade every year (family plan of about $240 a month) but that was basically a gift and shouldn't be expected. However, if I'm going to pay them an extra $250 for the phone the least they can do is drop the BS $36 upgrade fee. Now, I know you'll say that I shouldn't expect to get the fee waived. It's just the phrasing of it that bothers me. Charge me $286 extra and drop the words "upgrade fee" and I'll pay it with a smile on my face. Just don't tell me it costs $36 to take a box off the shelf, scan it, pop a SIM card in, and hand it to me.

upgrade fees are pretty much a money grab.. however, at&t has waived the fee everytime i call to dispute it.

 

[DaGrandMastah]

ATT is garbage. I've been waiting for this day for a loooooong time. I'm finally leaving ATT and switching to Verizon when my time is up. I'm loving this new phone, not just cause of the huge upgrade from the 4 I currently have, but because I'm actually going to have working service. ATT is a disgrace of a "cell phone" service in the NYC area.

 

[TonyC28]

upgrade fees are pretty much a money grab.. however, at&t has waived the fee everytime i call to dispute it.

That's good to know. So you call after you get the bill with that fee on it?

 

[unlimitedx]

That's good to know. So you call after you get the bill with that fee on it?

yes. you just have to be very persistent though, as they will repeatedly say no at first. tell them you are a long time customer, etc. works every time!

 

[iMikeT]

upgrade fees are pretty much a money grab.. however, at&t has waived the fee everytime i call to dispute it.

yes. you just have to be very persistent though, as they will repeatedly say no at first. tell them you are a long time customer, etc. works every time!

I'll have to try this next time.

You know, I'd actually consider staying with AT&T if they gave me service comparable to what I could expect to pay if I move to Sprint, unlimited everything including text messaging and data. On top of that, they do away with the upgrade fee. The thing is, this deal has to be done before I order an iPhone 5 on Sprint.

 

[iMikeT]

I just got off the phone with AT&T and told them that I am seriously considering leaving as early as 12:01AM PST tomorrow morning in time for the iPhone 5 pre-order.

I told the first guy I spoke with about this and he told me to "use wi-fi instead" then gave me a sales pitch to move up to a higher plan that's going to cost me an extra $30 per month, uh no thanks.

I then was moved to a customer retention person and told them that I'm seriously thinking about taking my business elsewhere and she actually did a better job than guy number 1 (for a change). She listened to my concerns and what I was looking for in terms of service and actually did something about it. I told her I'd like to pay a monthly rate comparable to Sprint's and she actually made a new plan similar to the competition. It will be the basic 450 minutes (I don't talk on the phone much so no need for more), throttled "unlimited" data, and unlimited text messaging for free for the next 6 months then $10 after that. The total will be $80 plus taxes and other fees per month. On top of that, she got rid of the $36 upgrade fee.

Although I am still not happy with "unlimited" data capped/throttled at 5GB and no FaceTime over LTE, the deal for the new plan I made might just get me to stay.

This is the point that I've been trying to get across throughout this thread. In the beginning, I felt like AT&T wasn't trying to keep me as a customer. However, now that the reality of a customer like me leaving set in, they actually offered what the competition has in order to get me to stay. Either way, I still have a little over 12 hours to make up my mind.

 

[spiralynth]

I just got off the phone with AT&T and told them that I am seriously considering leaving as early as 12:01AM PST tomorrow morning in time for the iPhone 5 pre-order.

I told the first guy I spoke with about this and he told me to "use wi-fi instead" then gave me a sales pitch to move up to a higher plan that's going to cost me an extra $30 per month, uh no thanks.

I then was moved to a customer retention person and told them that I'm seriously thinking about taking my business elsewhere and she actually did a better job than guy number 1 (for a change). She listened to my concerns and what I was looking for in terms of service and actually did something about it. I told her I'd like to pay a monthly rate comparable to Sprint's and she actually made a new plan similar to the competition. It will be the basic 450 minutes (I don't talk on the phone much so no need for more), throttled "unlimited" data, and unlimited text messaging for free for the next 6 months then $10 after that. The total will be $80 plus taxes and other fees per month. On top of that, she got rid of the $36 upgrade fee.

Although I am still not happy with "unlimited" data capped/throttled at 5GB and no FaceTime over LTE, the deal for the new plan I made might just get me to stay.

This is the point that I've been trying to get across throughout this thread. In the beginning, I felt like AT&T wasn't trying to keep me as a customer. However, now that the reality of a customer like me leaving set in, they actually offered what the competition has in order to get me to stay. Either way, I still have a little over 12 hours to make up my mind.

Wow. I know someone who just had almost THE EXACT SAME EXPERIENCE as you and got THE EXACT SAME DEAL as you not even 20 minutes ago. I know for a fact this person had not seen your thread or even frequents this board for that matter. Almost same details ... long time customer from Cingular days, leaving for Sprint, 1st rep poor deal, second rep -- EXACT deal in the end!

Life trips me out at times like this. I came here to see if there was any talk of AT&T retaining customers in order to help my friend get to a better deal and this is the first thread I find in search ... and it details out almost the exact same thing as my friend experienced.

 

[brando123b]

Wow, the OP is incredibly whiny and entitled. You signed a contract, why are you suddenly outraged when the company you entered the contract with insists that you uphold your end?

If you want subsidized pricing, you need to follow the rules. Anyone can go buy an iPhone at full price if they want. Nobody complains that iPads aren't subsidized.

 

[mantan]

Challenge accepted. And I'll treat this like past relationships, once I'm gone, I'm gone for good.





I'm pretty much on board for Sprint's LTE network. They began rolling it out in major cities in the past year so I'm sure they'll have it ready in the near future. I'm confident that the next iPhone will have true LTE so being prepared isn't a bad idea.





Actually, AT&T can do a lot about it, like offer it to customers without restrictions. Everyone I know who has "unlimited" data has cried foul with the way AT&T has botched the entire issue. But no matter how much their base complains, they do nothing about it. That's why I'm done with them.

As far as throttling goes, I'm being throttled right now with over 4GB this month. I used to average over 10GB before the throttling and when I found out that they were going to do that, I really stuck it to them and went to 25GB for two or three months in a row!

I tried to explain this to the customer service people when I called and told them that this is not a realistic way to handle the situation. I continuously asked how AT&T can solve these issues in the future and was told, "switch to wifi" or "buy a tiered plan". That's it, an over simplistic plan to switch to wifi and a sales pitch? What if wifi isn't available to me and if I don't want the tiered plan? That's how they lost me.

That explains a lot. If you're using that much data, AT&T doesn't want you as a customer. You're using their network more than 99% of their customers.

They WANT you to leave. (or pay for tiered data)

 

[Interstella5555]

No, but do IKEA and Walmart give you coupons from time to time? Also local grocery stores load coupons almost automatically onto your loyalty card. The ones here even give you gas points, and .10-$1 off of gas per gallon from time to time.

Completely different products. Do your utility bills give you a break? How about insurance or cable/internet?