Phone Model: (Long sigh) 'Nother iPhone (keeping my Moto Q, though)
Service Provider: AT&T & Cellular South
Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:24 am
I have written here before about the issue some AT&T customers are having with the Alpha Tag situation. The symptoms involve the signal going up and down in strength every several minutes. I've never been a "name-change conspiracy theorist", but I did notice that this problem started exactly when our phones started showing the AT&T logo. From my (very, VERY informal) investigation, it didn't matter which phone or the location. I tried all 4 of my Razrs, and then the iPhone and the problem was the same with all of the phones. And since I share a family plan with my girlfriend, she was having the same problems with her service as well. Where this problem really reared its ugly head was when we were in our respectives homes (2 blocks away from each other). Since we both use our mobile phones as our primary phones, and me more so than her, it was really a problem while inside our houses.
This rocked on and on for a few weeks until I saw a post from Steva11 here explaining what this Alpha Tag problem was and how it was being remedied by AT&T. That was almost a month ago, I think. Before that, I had called a CSR, who was willing to help, but I think I told her that I thought there might be a tower issue and I didn't hear anything from that. So last night, I finally sat down and called Customer Service again and waited the over-10-minutes that I was fully warned about by the voice prompts as I worked my way through the various menus. I finally reached a CSR who was the most pleasant person. When I explained why I was calling, she immediately mentioned the Alpha Tag issues and we proceeded to go through the steps to rememdy the problems. We even discussed her broken unlocked Krzr that she has just bought and didn't know what to do with it to be repaired. I passed along my good experiences with Motorola Repair Service. Wow, a woman CSR as geeky as me! GREAT!
Now, I notice that the signal strength indicators are still showing some variations, but as of all last night and all morning long, I've been able to make calls inside the house with no problems at all. So apparently, it seems that my problems are solved. Naturally, I'll know more as I get out and about during the day and over the weekend. Unless I spend the weekend dodging another hurricane.
I just wanted to pass along the fact that I did have a positive customer service experience and my problems do seem to be solved. It can happen and frankly, I think a lot of the bad experiences people report here are due to their less-than-positive approach when dealing with a CSR. I have to handle some customer support issues in the pro audio business, so I know both sides of the customer service issue. And yes, over the years, I've had some lousy customer service experiences, even though I always approach the issue with a positive and polite attitude. Sure, it's gonna happen, but very, very seldom. I know this statement might piss off those of you here that think otherwise, but frankly, I could give a shit since I've been successfully using this approach for as long as mobile phones have been around and over 30 years in the pro sound business (that's concert and festivals, not fscking car audio, the most useless venture on the planet).
My main point in making this post is that (A) the solutions for the Alpha Tag problem do work and (B) you can have a positive CSR experience if you halfway give it a shot.
Good luck,
Geri O
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wdsnls Posts: 1
Phone Model: Nokia 6030 & Nokia 6061
Service Provider: AT&T
Sun Sep 23, 2007 10:45 am
gerio wrote:
So last night, I finally sat down and called Customer Service again and waited the over-10-minutes that I was fully warned about by the voice prompts as I worked my way through the various menus. I finally reached a CSR who was the most pleasant person. When I explained why I was calling, she immediately mentioned the Alpha Tag issues and we proceeded to go through the steps to rememdy the problems. We even discussed her broken unlocked Krzr that she has just bought and didn't know what to do with it to be repaired. I passed along my good experiences with Motorola Repair Service. Wow, a woman CSR as geeky as me! GREAT!
Now, I notice that the signal strength indicators are still showing some variations, but as of all last night and all morning long, I've been able to make calls inside the house with no problems at all. So apparently, it seems that my problems are solved. Naturally, I'll know more as I get out and about during the day and over the weekend. Unless I spend the weekend dodging another hurricane.
Would you explain what steps you went through with the CSR. I've spoken to some that had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned "Alpha Tag" change. I hope your problem was resolved.
I was supposed to get a return call last Friday, from an AT&T technician who had had opened a trouble ticket for the same problem. It was escalated to their engineers. Of course, I was never called and I still have the problem.
steva11 Posts: 1677
Phone Model: w810i/pearl
Service Provider: Rogers
Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:47 am
good to hear. i have rogers and my initial sign-up was straight out of a horror film! a few reps were horrible, one actually said "my bad" when he realized i was right. but i've had a few who were awesome, and it makes a big difference.
gerio Posts: 477
Phone Model: (Long sigh) 'Nother iPhone (keeping my Moto Q, though)
Service Provider: AT&T & Cellular South
Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:02 am
I was anticipating having to make the case to the CSR about the issue, but this particular young lady knew exactly what I was talking about from the first minute. So maybe I got lucky. I have a friend who is experiencing the problem and he said that when he called yesterday, the CSR didnt know wha the was referring to. I may get on the phone with him and a CSR tonight when he tries again. I sorely wish I had gotten this young lady's name and badge number (assuming AT&T does badges). She was absolutely great. Heck, I'd like to find out if she got her Krazr fixed!
My service is a lot better since I called. Oddly, the service seems to go away like it did, but the occurences are much, much, father apart and the duration is much, much shorter. I attribute that to my metal-roofed house and the typical RF gak we deal with every day. In the pro audio business we have a saying where the use of wireless microphones are concerned."Live by the RF, die by the RF." (RF means "radio frequency").
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