AT&T: Employer of Aliens?

[Zorg]

[citation][nom]danimal_the_animal[/nom]what did you expect...these guys are from India using fictitious American names!!!![/citation]Hello, my name is johnny. How can I help you. :lol:

 

[Zorg]

[citation][nom]gravionGR[/nom]Forgive this response for being a little off topic, but I like how Zorg was able to join this site before the internet existed... in 1970.Zorg... are you from the future of the past?[/citation]The future, 2263 to be exact. :lol:

Apparently you never heard of ARPAnet... October 1969. :lol:

 

[kato128]

[citation][nom]o0 zeno 0o[/nom]I think the reason for the long answer was partially due to the question, specifically the "Hi, I am interested in moving onto a family plan with other members of my family."This leaves room for confusion, as it implies that you want to move your account onto another family members account. At the same time, you have two separate lines on your account, making her think you might only want to merge those two accounts. [/citation]

Uhhh sorry but moving her account to a family members account was what she wanted to do, so how can there be any confusion? Also the CSR could have emailed back with questions for extra information if she was confused. It strikes me as the person at AT&T didn't actually read the email properly and decided to parrot the account terms page so she didn't have to send more than one email.

 

[kittle]

geez. and I thought it was diffcult to sign up for their cable services... Seems they havent changed at all in the past 9 years.

 

[Guest]

If I were the rep I would have simply informed you that your question lacked enough specifics and detail for me to provide an answer - please resubmit with adequate information. This person can't read your mind. What do you want to move "from" when moving "onto" this family plan, and what particular familiy plan are you talking about? I think the rep went FAR beyond the call of duty.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]Sample Accurate[/nom]If I were the rep I would have simply informed you that your question lacked enough specifics and detail for me to provide an answer - please resubmit with adequate information. This person can't read your mind. What do you want to move "from" when moving "onto" this family plan, and what particular familiy plan are you talking about? I think the rep went FAR beyond the call of duty.[/citation]
I would have preferred them to ask for more specifics, as well.

 

[Guest]

The truth here is quite simple. Today's litigious society requires that they cover their butts... where sue-happy pricks will go for your throat even when you're doing them a favor. So, if you want to avoid diatribes such as the above, you need to fix the legal system first.

 

[irzyxel]

This article is ridiculous and only shows that whoever posts this does not have much intelligence.

All the information is clear and valid. Go back to school before you post an article simply because you can't understand English.

And by the way, I transferred my phone from my account to my girlfriend's on AT&T. It was simple and straight forward. We had no problems.

Have a nice day!

P.S.
Cripple Fight!!!

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]irzyxel[/nom]This article is ridiculous and only shows that whoever posts this does not have much intelligence. All the information is clear and valid. Go back to school before you post an article simply because you can't understand English.And by the way, I transferred my phone from my account to my girlfriend's on AT&T. It was simple and straight forward. We had no problems. Have a nice day! P.S.Cripple Fight!!![/citation]
Irzyxel,
I posted this because I wanted to know if I was the only one who found the response to be very strange, or if I was over-reacting. Most people who have responded have agreed with me that the post was not written in simple English, so I guess you're in the minority here. Sorry. The info presented might be valid, but it certainly is not clear. I doubt you want to get into a debate with me about my knowledge of the English language, so, suffice it to say, the response from AT&T was not structured how it should have been.

 

[irzyxel]

It is correct information. It is English. It covered all details regarding the question.

I found only one issue with what they wrote. That appears to be a mistaken paste on their part, in the middle of a sentence. Still did not slow me down reading the entire bulk of information.

After reading your reply, I went back to read the article again. I look at the title. I re-read the AT&T response. All I see is an epic fail.

Not legible due to how it was structured? Give me a break!
That is like saying I can't take my heart medication, because I don't like how they "structured" the directions. I can't get the cap off! Now I must die! Oh cruel world!

This is just whining to me. Is this someone's blog instead of Tom's? Sorry if it sounds mean, but that's all I see here.

So they are employers of aliens? Wait, wait! I think I get it now! I'm an alien too!

“When I think over what I have said, I envy dumb people.”
~Seneca

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

Thanks for taking the time to state your opinion irzyxel. That's what the comments section is for. Because of the big response to this short post, I can tell that the topic of mobile carrier customer support is an important one to my readers. I'll think of ways we can cover this topic in more depth in the future.

 

[Guest]

Okay I understand the explanation but it's more like the contract that every software vendor makes you agree to before you get to use their software you know, page four paragragh 10 sub paragragh 6 where you give up your first born in the event they don't like the way you use their product, whether you are using it properly or not. Probably the best way to handle it would have been stop after the first paragragh and then ask you if that answered your question and if not let you have the opportunity to embelish to them.

 

[irzyxel]

Maybe you should go back and read the comments again. Half of them are asking about why this exists. This is not a topic of customer support. It is a topic of, wait, let me get your quote: "I posted this because I wanted to know if I was the only one who found the response to be very strange, or if I was over-reacting." That, in itself, says it all. Good day.

 

[egowhip69]

So, to make sure I got this straight...

You, someone working for a tech site, randomly e-mail into your cell provider saying you want to change to a plan with the "family minutes" and would there be any charge?

And you think you were annoyed by the response? I've worked in the telco industry, and your question would have me annoyed as all get out.

Instead of you doing a little bit of work and finding the plan you wanted and specifying that the one you want to switch to, and whats the cost, you are making that CS rep try and tell you the pros and cons of every family plan out there.

This long and pain to read response is your fault. Try doing your homework first, picking out what your first, second and third choice it, then asking questions.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]egowhip69[/nom]So, to make sure I got this straight...You, someone working for a tech site, randomly e-mail into your cell provider saying you want to change to a plan with the "family minutes" and would there be any charge?And you think you were annoyed by the response? I've worked in the telco industry, and your question would have me annoyed as all get out. Instead of you doing a little bit of work and finding the plan you wanted and specifying that the one you want to switch to, and whats the cost, you are making that CS rep try and tell you the pros and cons of every family plan out there.This long and pain to read response is your fault. Try doing your homework first, picking out what your first, second and third choice it, then asking questions.[/citation]
Egowhip,
You've misunderstood. The information I wanted is not easily available to anyone. I didn't need any info on plans. I only needed to know the cost of switching from one plan to someone else's family plan.

It is pretty clear that I wasn't looking for the information that the tech-rep provided.

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]irzyxel[/nom]Maybe you should go back and read the comments again. Half of them are asking about why this exists. This is not a topic of customer support. It is a topic of, wait, let me get your quote: "I posted this because I wanted to know if I was the only one who found the response to be very strange, or if I was over-reacting." That, in itself, says it all. Good day.[/citation]
I've enjoyed the comments to this post. They give me lots of insight into the frustration most people feel with mobile phone carrier tech support. I wasn't looking for the readers of Tom's Guide to respond to my post with information about cell plans (and most did not). Instead, I was interested in parsing the response from AT&T to see if most people felt the same way about it as me. It has led to an interesting discussion, which I appreciate your contribution to.

Thanks!

 

[ethaniel]

Disturbing, painful, absurd, you name it... try an actual phone call next time? :S

 

[engrpiman]

It was the grammar. The response was hard to read. A simple re wright of the answer would make it read a lot better.

It took us 3 month to get everything squared away with Verizon. After talking with Phone support and getting nothing , I emailed them and got my problem solved.

its funny when something as simple as "PLEASE REMOVE ALL DATA SERVICES FROM MY PHONE PLAN" is so hard to pass over the phone but works so easily over email. Sometime I think that it all boils down to weather or not you get the one good customer service rep.

 

[egowhip69]

[citation][nom]TomsGuideRachel[/nom]Egowhip,You've misunderstood. The information I wanted is not easily available to anyone. I didn't need any info on plans. I only needed to know the cost of switching from one plan to someone else's family plan. It is pretty clear that I wasn't looking for the information that the tech-rep provided.[/citation]
actually, I understood you pretty well... In a couple clicks on At&t's page found this:

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/basics/choosing-plan/family-options.jsp

So, out of the MANY choices of family plans, with MANY different amounts of minutes, and MANY features, which did you want?

By giving them NO information about what you wanted, you pretty much forced them to explain that whole chart...

Now, had you asked a question to the tune of, " I have plan A, and am going to plan B. Are there any penalties if I switch plans?" and got back the book, then I'd be annoyed, but your question left so much up in the air...

 

[Tomsguiderachel]

[citation][nom]egowhip69[/nom]actually, I understood you pretty well... In a couple clicks on At&t's page found this:http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/ [...] ptions.jspSo, out of the MANY choices of family plans, with MANY different amounts of minutes, and MANY features, which did you want?By giving them NO information about what you wanted, you pretty much forced them to explain that whole chart...Now, had you asked a question to the tune of, " I have plan A, and am going to plan B. Are there any penalties if I switch plans?" and got back the book, then I'd be annoyed, but your question left so much up in the air...[/citation]
You've posted a link here, but the link does not provide any information that I was looking for, so why did you post it? The information I needed about the cost of switching my phone line over to an existing family plan....was not available via searching the web.