Location: Im located right outside of Boston, MA, USA. Somerville, MA, to be exact. We have solid 3G coverage, according to the AT&T coverage viewer on their website.
Short version: I called AT&T last night complain about inconsistent 3G speeds, as well as lack of complete lack of 3G in some spots on my commute (despite their coverage map saying otherwise.) I was told that they could not issue a credit on the data plan specifically for iPhone users.
Long version:
So the first AT&T customer support rep I spoke with, Jessica, was very nice, but all she could do was verify that 3G was in fact up in my area and there were no apparent problems. I tried to tell her that despite getting 4 or 5 bars, the time it took to load webpages was still often abysmally slow, and barely better than EDGE. She didnt know what to do, so she connected me with iPhone support at Apple. She said shed call me back in an hour to see if my issue was resolved to my satisfaction.
She connects me to Apple iPhone support. I speak to a nice fellow named Charlie, who seems very understanding of the issue and problems. He cant say anything specific, but I can tell he knows it is an issue in general for both Apple and AT&T. He says he can open up a line to Level 2 tech support at AT&T, and that hed stay on the line with me.
So now the two of us are on the line with a tech specialist at AT&T named Jeff, who is not a very nice fellow. Jeff immediately says that my phone probably has a problem and that there are no issues with the network. When I try to explain that the coverage map shows solid dark blue for 3G data in the area of my commute, even though I am on EDGE for most of it, he tells me that buildings, foliage, etc can interfere. I politely explain that I understand these things, but Im in a car and its not just a few spots, but entire 1-2 mile stretches of road. Major roads at that (Rte 16 between Cambridge and Watertown, MA). He continues to tell me that there is nothing wrong and its probably something Im doing wrong or my phone.
Then I try to explain to Jeff that sometimes my 3G speeds are very slow. Web pages sometimes take upwards of 12 or 15 seconds to load, even though I have 4-5 bars of 3G and am stationary. Jeff asks me if I use WiFi and I tell him that my WiFi works fine, but this is much much slower. He then tries to tell me that WiFi is much faster than 3G and that I cannot expect 3G speed to be nearly as fast as WiFi. I try to explain to him that the specs for 3G are not really that much slower than WiFi (which Charlie backs me up on, thankfully). Jeff is clearly annoyed at me. He asks me What do you want me to do?. I tell him I think I should get a credit for this so-called data plan that is not really providing what has been advertised. He said What advertising are you talking about?. I pointed out that I see iPhone commercials nightly advertising Twice as fast! and only from AT&T. He doesnt have anything to say to that except he thinks I should get the phone checked out and possibly a new SIM card. Charlie sets me up a Genius bar appointment for Saturday, though he concedes that he doesnt think the SIM card is the issue, and doubts it is a phone issue, but thinks it is worth ruling out. I politely thank them both and then say goodbye.
So that whole discussion took about 55 minutes. 45 minutes later Jessica calls back as promised, and asks if my situation was resolved. I tell her that it wasnt, and that I didnt feel like Jeff was taking me seriously and was borderline rude. She apologizes profusely and says she will credit me for 1 month of data. I say that will be great, thanks Jessica. She puts me on hold. About 45 seconds later she comes back and apologizes again, saying Sorry, my manager just told me that we cannot issue credits for any iPhone users. I pressed for more detail but she didnt have any more information than that. So she credits me 200 rollover minutes for the time I spent talking to support. She actually feels bad and ups it to 300 rollover minutes. I dont really care since I never even use that many minutes anyway, but it was a nice gesture so I thank her and tell her shes done a good job and its not her fault.
So thats my long winded story. I dont know if Ill actually keep my GB appointment, as I dont feel like trading in my phone at all. I really dont think theres a problem with itwhen 3G works, it works well. But its horribly inconsistent and the coverage Ive seen is nowhere near as good as what the maps on the website tell me.
Anyway, I think its interesting that AT&T is telling me no credit for iPhone users. Whats that about? She was about to grant me the credit when her manager stepped in. Strange, no? Also, neither of the AT&T reps mentioned anything about 3G issues in the New England area, as another post reported after speaking with them. Seems that even internally, AT&T is inconsistent.
Short version: I called AT&T last night complain about inconsistent 3G speeds, as well as lack of complete lack of 3G in some spots on my commute (despite their coverage map saying otherwise.) I was told that they could not issue a credit on the data plan specifically for iPhone users.
Long version:
So the first AT&T customer support rep I spoke with, Jessica, was very nice, but all she could do was verify that 3G was in fact up in my area and there were no apparent problems. I tried to tell her that despite getting 4 or 5 bars, the time it took to load webpages was still often abysmally slow, and barely better than EDGE. She didnt know what to do, so she connected me with iPhone support at Apple. She said shed call me back in an hour to see if my issue was resolved to my satisfaction.
She connects me to Apple iPhone support. I speak to a nice fellow named Charlie, who seems very understanding of the issue and problems. He cant say anything specific, but I can tell he knows it is an issue in general for both Apple and AT&T. He says he can open up a line to Level 2 tech support at AT&T, and that hed stay on the line with me.
So now the two of us are on the line with a tech specialist at AT&T named Jeff, who is not a very nice fellow. Jeff immediately says that my phone probably has a problem and that there are no issues with the network. When I try to explain that the coverage map shows solid dark blue for 3G data in the area of my commute, even though I am on EDGE for most of it, he tells me that buildings, foliage, etc can interfere. I politely explain that I understand these things, but Im in a car and its not just a few spots, but entire 1-2 mile stretches of road. Major roads at that (Rte 16 between Cambridge and Watertown, MA). He continues to tell me that there is nothing wrong and its probably something Im doing wrong or my phone.
Then I try to explain to Jeff that sometimes my 3G speeds are very slow. Web pages sometimes take upwards of 12 or 15 seconds to load, even though I have 4-5 bars of 3G and am stationary. Jeff asks me if I use WiFi and I tell him that my WiFi works fine, but this is much much slower. He then tries to tell me that WiFi is much faster than 3G and that I cannot expect 3G speed to be nearly as fast as WiFi. I try to explain to him that the specs for 3G are not really that much slower than WiFi (which Charlie backs me up on, thankfully). Jeff is clearly annoyed at me. He asks me What do you want me to do?. I tell him I think I should get a credit for this so-called data plan that is not really providing what has been advertised. He said What advertising are you talking about?. I pointed out that I see iPhone commercials nightly advertising Twice as fast! and only from AT&T. He doesnt have anything to say to that except he thinks I should get the phone checked out and possibly a new SIM card. Charlie sets me up a Genius bar appointment for Saturday, though he concedes that he doesnt think the SIM card is the issue, and doubts it is a phone issue, but thinks it is worth ruling out. I politely thank them both and then say goodbye.
So that whole discussion took about 55 minutes. 45 minutes later Jessica calls back as promised, and asks if my situation was resolved. I tell her that it wasnt, and that I didnt feel like Jeff was taking me seriously and was borderline rude. She apologizes profusely and says she will credit me for 1 month of data. I say that will be great, thanks Jessica. She puts me on hold. About 45 seconds later she comes back and apologizes again, saying Sorry, my manager just told me that we cannot issue credits for any iPhone users. I pressed for more detail but she didnt have any more information than that. So she credits me 200 rollover minutes for the time I spent talking to support. She actually feels bad and ups it to 300 rollover minutes. I dont really care since I never even use that many minutes anyway, but it was a nice gesture so I thank her and tell her shes done a good job and its not her fault.
So thats my long winded story. I dont know if Ill actually keep my GB appointment, as I dont feel like trading in my phone at all. I really dont think theres a problem with itwhen 3G works, it works well. But its horribly inconsistent and the coverage Ive seen is nowhere near as good as what the maps on the website tell me.
Anyway, I think its interesting that AT&T is telling me no credit for iPhone users. Whats that about? She was about to grant me the credit when her manager stepped in. Strange, no? Also, neither of the AT&T reps mentioned anything about 3G issues in the New England area, as another post reported after speaking with them. Seems that even internally, AT&T is inconsistent.
