I have absolutely NO service in my house anymore, cant make a phone call without it being dropped. Are there any tricks to get a Microcell for free? I already checked and i am not eligable
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Microcell
- Thread starter tjespo22
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If you can prove that you can't get service in your home then they are obligated to let you end your contract without an early termination fee. That being said, if you bring this fact to their attention and tell them something along the lines of "my friend has X carrier and gets full bars in my house, so I may just have to switch to them" they might offer the MicroCell for free.
Exactly. Threaten them with the cessation of business and they will likely try to help you. If not, then it's not really worth giving your money away to a carrier that doesn't give a damn about you.
My advice, be prepared to walk away from AT&T.
I had terrible reception in my house and neighborhood. I was told by several CSR's that if I wasn't contacted for the "program" directly by AT&T they could not get me a free MC regardless of my problems. Told them that I know plenty of AT&T customers are getting MC's for free for similar issues. No dice I was told.
We paid ETF, sold the phones and signed up with VZ. No problems for the past several months now.
I had terrible reception in my house and neighborhood. I was told by several CSR's that if I wasn't contacted for the "program" directly by AT&T they could not get me a free MC regardless of my problems. Told them that I know plenty of AT&T customers are getting MC's for free for similar issues. No dice I was told.
We paid ETF, sold the phones and signed up with VZ. No problems for the past several months now.
MicroCell is not so great
We live where there is poor ATT service but NO Verizon service, so we have been with ATT since they came into existence. We tolerated about 20% dropped calls until 6-8 months ago(that's maybe 20yrs of poor service), when when it jumped to nearly 100% of calls dropped within five minutes. They then gave us a MicroCell. It got tolerable for several months, but over the last two months we are back to nearly dropping EVERY call if you get more than 5-10 feet from the Microcell. ATT has sent techs to our neighborhood (outside Philly) and agree that the service has gotten worse. They are all but encouraging us to leave ATT. BTW we still drop 20% of calls in our home with 5 bars MicroCell and full bars WiFi. Go figure. We still have no Verizon coverage.
In my view the ATT system is changing. It may get better next year when they start up real 4G broadcasts, but something they know about is effecting their service, probably in many areas of the country. A free MicroCell is worth trying, but buying one is risky.
We live where there is poor ATT service but NO Verizon service, so we have been with ATT since they came into existence. We tolerated about 20% dropped calls until 6-8 months ago(that's maybe 20yrs of poor service), when when it jumped to nearly 100% of calls dropped within five minutes. They then gave us a MicroCell. It got tolerable for several months, but over the last two months we are back to nearly dropping EVERY call if you get more than 5-10 feet from the Microcell. ATT has sent techs to our neighborhood (outside Philly) and agree that the service has gotten worse. They are all but encouraging us to leave ATT. BTW we still drop 20% of calls in our home with 5 bars MicroCell and full bars WiFi. Go figure. We still have no Verizon coverage.
In my view the ATT system is changing. It may get better next year when they start up real 4G broadcasts, but something they know about is effecting their service, probably in many areas of the country. A free MicroCell is worth trying, but buying one is risky.
Email Randal Stephenson about it. You can Google his email. He's the CEO of AT&T and his office has arranged free MicroCells for me and two of my neighbors. Just be nice about it, tell them you get no coverage in your area, and ask if there is any option for ways to improve reception inside your home. Make sure to tell them that you have reception issues immediately adjacent to your home as well (outside). They aren't obligated to provide a signal inside your home.
I'm in the same boat. Little to know coverage with ATT inside my house. We have a Microcell that was free and it helps but still sucks. It takes 30 seconds or so before a call will go through. It makes things bearable but still don't like it. Tried Verizon and dropped 2 out of 3 calls everyday for a week. Took the Verizon iPhones back and just living with ATT. It sucks, I hate both of them.
Had an issue with vz service in my new building being at 1 bar, but my at&t work blackberry had full bars. Told vz this and they discounted the microcell to $150, which I can easily sell it for on ebay. full bars now!
This.
Also, if you want a free one, I'm pretty sure you have to be closing in on your contract end date. They will not find any incentive to give you a free one if you would already have to pay a huge ETF just to get out of the contract.
Basically, I lobbied for one and got shut down all over the place. No service at home? Not anyone's problem at AT&T.
Ouch
That actually makes sense to me. My mom has complained for over a year to Att that we just don't get signal in our house (although if you walk outside 100 feet in either direction your fine). 1 bar of edge at most.
Now that her contract date is expiring in Oct they went ahead and sent her an offer for a free microcell (which we accepted). Never had thought about it like that though but it makes sense bigsexy.
It took me over 6 months to have them give me a free Microcell. Involved countless hours on the phone, threatening to leave, the works really. A sales rep relented, said she would try even though she didn't think it would work, and it went through.
Ironically, I called earlier last month about another reception issue in a different place. Spoke to multiple reps, and one just told me to buy one and she would reimburse me. Call dropped, never got to speak to her again.
All in all, it depends on who you get.
Ironically, I called earlier last month about another reception issue in a different place. Spoke to multiple reps, and one just told me to buy one and she would reimburse me. Call dropped, never got to speak to her again.
All in all, it depends on who you get.
As you can see from a lot of the posts above, it's not necessarily a cure all - free or otherwise. I would suggest you change carriers if Verizon or Sprint offer better coverage for you. That's what I am doing gradually as contracts expire.
You should go over to the ATT Community Forums and read the threads under 3G Microcell.
You should go over to the ATT Community Forums and read the threads under 3G Microcell.
