The Short Version

Having problems with my DSL line (again), I began contacting AT&T yesterday six phone calls, and e-chat, and three hours later, my DSL line was reconnected (just like I told them needed doing YESTERDAY) and I have a new FREE modem being shipped to me.

Extended Play Version...

Now there are few things that I'd like to share from my last "customer support person" (yeah, right). First off, she was from India. Probably was IN India. I have no problem with Indians from India, but that they all read off a script and have no idea how to vary from it. So when she started having me check all the thing that previous people had asked and I ran down the list before she asked and told her all was well, she continued to have me check all the bullshit stuff totally ignoring the fact that I had just run down the same exact list thirty minutes previous with a different "support person". (OMG! NO! The line ISN'T plugged into the back of my modem OR into the phone jack at ALL! You're a frigging GENIUS!!! All is well in the world again! All praise allah! If I only had a brain...!)

So she has me check my speed. I've already told her my line is so slow that I'm having difficulty even maintaining a connection. I've already told her I've used my own bandwidth meter to check it (she didn't know what a bandwidth meter was...). So we run it on their online tool. 187.7 kmps on a DSL line?! And she says, "Oh my, that IS slow."

Okay, the first time she says that it's ALMOST commical (almost because in the amount of time it took to check the speed, the line could have been reset...BTDT many, many times already). The third time, when it read 173, it was all I could do to resist the urge to reply, "No shit?! Really?! My effing line is...S L O W...? wow..."

So she finally has my line reset (like I told her needed doing 30 minutes earlier). Now she tells me that the modem they sent me is out of date, needs replacing and they would send me one because it's their equipment.

Cool.

Then she wants a verbal agreement to stay with them for at least a year.

Nope. Not gonna happen.

She tries to convince me that the verbal agreement is no big deal. I tell her I'm a paralegal. It would be legally binding and if I want to cancel in six months because your service sucks and you people are stupid I find myself in an unforeseeable financial situation, I could be billed all sorts of stuff and be reported on my credit report.

She then tells me that there will be a continued problem without a new modem. I tell her that I also know that if they have changed their system and the new system is no longer compatable with the modem THEY sent me, it is THEIR responsibility to replace the equipment THEIR changes outdated. Not mine. Besides, I didn't have a contract when I signed up. There's no contract required for new service. So why should they expect one from me now when the problem is due to their system in the first place?

She tells me there will be a $75 charge without a contract. I say, "Not if I cancel right now and go with a different service."

My new FREE modem will be here sometime tomorrow.

I.
Win.