AT&T. We recently had an issue where our internet stopped working properly. My mom had to call them four times before they actually fixed our internet. The first time, she was put on hold for about 40 minutes before either the call ended itself or they hung up. The second time, she actually got through to someone but they didn’t fix our internet and instead told us that our current internet package would soon be phased out and then spent about half an hour basically forcing her to getting something called “AT&T Air”.
The third time she called, my mom told them that she didn’t want AT&T Air and that if she can’t use the package we have now, then we’ll be switching ISPs. The woman on the phone said that she’ll cancel the new package and put her on hold for about half an hour but she never did actually cancel the package or fix our internet, and she also never returned so my mom just hung up on her. The fourth time she called, the guy on the phone ran a diagnosis on our internet and finally fixed it within a few minutes. We have no idea why it took so long for them to do this but we’re glad to finally have working internet.
But even though we do now have working internet, we are still thinking about switching ISPs. Even though they did send the equipment to use AT&T Air, we are not going to use it and we are going to send it back and try to get them to actually cancel the package. We aren’t sure exactly when we are going to switch ISPs but my mom stated she wants to wait until after the holidays to do so, which probably means no sooner than January.
not sure how it works at ATT but usually for ISPs they contract multiple call centers for support.
it sounds like the first three times were to the same call center vendor and the fourth was to an actual ATT company support center. this routing happens randomly or based on time of day (Tod).
these vendors have incentives to collect the most calls, and resolve them as quickly as possible. they also have a hidden incentive to convert as many support calls to sales calls.
a “completed call” is one where the caller ends the call after a goal has been achieved. this means if you hang up before the goal is achieved it’s not counted against the vendor and shows as a “disconnect” even if you were on hold for six hours. many operators will identify what you want, deem you as a nuisance, and place you on hold long enough to get you to hang up and make you someone else’s problem. they have the incentive to convert you to sales and get paid a bonus for these sales.
it seems like your mother was handled by a veteran contract operator that upsells and dumps.
next time, tell them you want to speak to someone in cancelations and you will be transferred to someone inside the ATT customer service center. from there you can get transferred to an operator that actually works for ATT.
AT&T. We recently had an issue where our internet stopped working properly. My mom had to call them four times before they actually fixed our internet. The first time, she was put on hold for about 40 minutes before either the call ended itself or they hung up. The second time, she actually got through to someone but they didn’t fix our internet and instead told us that our current internet package would soon be phased out and then spent about half an hour basically forcing her to getting something called “AT&T Air”.
The third time she called, my mom told them that she didn’t want AT&T Air and that if she can’t use the package we have now, then we’ll be switching ISPs. The woman on the phone said that she’ll cancel the new package and put her on hold for about half an hour but she never did actually cancel the package or fix our internet, and she also never returned so my mom just hung up on her. The fourth time she called, the guy on the phone ran a diagnosis on our internet and finally fixed it within a few minutes. We have no idea why it took so long for them to do this but we’re glad to finally have working internet.
But even though we do now have working internet, we are still thinking about switching ISPs. Even though they did send the equipment to use AT&T Air, we are not going to use it and we are going to send it back and try to get them to actually cancel the package. We aren’t sure exactly when we are going to switch ISPs but my mom stated she wants to wait until after the holidays to do so, which probably means no sooner than January.
not sure how it works at ATT but usually for ISPs they contract multiple call centers for support.
it sounds like the first three times were to the same call center vendor and the fourth was to an actual ATT company support center. this routing happens randomly or based on time of day (Tod).
these vendors have incentives to collect the most calls, and resolve them as quickly as possible. they also have a hidden incentive to convert as many support calls to sales calls.
a “completed call” is one where the caller ends the call after a goal has been achieved. this means if you hang up before the goal is achieved it’s not counted against the vendor and shows as a “disconnect” even if you were on hold for six hours. many operators will identify what you want, deem you as a nuisance, and place you on hold long enough to get you to hang up and make you someone else’s problem. they have the incentive to convert you to sales and get paid a bonus for these sales.
it seems like your mother was handled by a veteran contract operator that upsells and dumps.
next time, tell them you want to speak to someone in cancelations and you will be transferred to someone inside the ATT customer service center. from there you can get transferred to an operator that actually works for ATT.