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AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

zdnet.com

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Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#41

Post by mocheeze »

bognition wrote: post #8

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

My last visit to T-Mobile wasn't the most pleasant. My Pixel 4 XL (ordered from Google) was totally broken and so I went in to buy one at T-Mobile so I wouldn't have to wait for shipping. They charged me an extra $50 for me to pay upfront instead of financing it. Been a customer for 15 years and this is the thanks I get for choosing them as my retailer.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#42

Post by bserge »

dimmke wrote: post #29
bognition wrote: post #8

Last Monday I bought 2 iphone 13 pros. One from Apple and the other from Verizon. (The Apple Store app on my phone wouldn't let me upgrade a number that wasn't attached to my iCloud account. So I stupidly bought it from verizon) We got the 13 pros in the mail on friday and neither me nor my wife liked the phone and we decided to return them. The return with Apple was easy and smooth. At the verizon store the manager…

I have used t mobile for like a decade. They’re a better carrier, but I have had terrible experiences in their stores before too. You’re at the mercy of randoms working retail. The best experience is no experience. Just buy your phone directly from Apple and perform the SIM swap yourself. Apple’s stores are worse than the ATT situation in this article. For most of COVID you literally could not walk in and get added t…

You know it's bad when T-Mobile (fucking Telekom) is better than the competition.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#43

Post by artificialLimbs »

selimthegrim wrote: post #38
artificialLimbs wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched to Ting recently at a co-workers suggestion after switching to Mint (total nightmare). It's been cheap and great, and they use Verizon towers. I have no affiliation, just a happy customer.

I thought about leaving Ting for the ATT Walmart prepaid plan but will stay put for now.

I'm curious about why you might switch? Pay as you go is $10 + usage, unlimited T&T & 5GB data is $25. That's plenty data for me since I'm always around wifi.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#45

Post by Talanes »

ethbr0 wrote: post #40
dimmke wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have used t mobile for like a decade. They’re a better carrier, but I have had terrible experiences in their stores before too. You’re at the mercy of randoms working retail. The best experience is no experience. Just buy your phone directly from Apple and perform the SIM swap yourself. Apple’s stores are worse than the ATT situation in this article. For most of COVID you literally could not walk in and get added t…

> You’re at the mercy of randoms working retail. So true, even for Apple or (insert beloved company here). Between the turnover, low salaries, and the terrible scheduling patterns, you're blessed if you get someone who doesn't assault customers. Consequently, most retail seems to focus on training employees to "not be bad" vs "being more good."

>Consequently, most retail seems to focus on training employees to "not be bad" vs "being more good."

More like they just don't give adequate training time at all. I've never had a retail job that gave as much time with the training material as the material itself said you'd spend with it.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#46

Post by bpodgursky »

shmerl wrote: post #9

> The problem is I'm iPhone If you have just one Android person on a group text, it throws everything Heh, for me it would be a reason to ditch something like that immediately. Lock-in irritates me.

This feels like another spot where a judge could lay down a pretty easy beneficial anti-monopoly ruling (like the recent app store ones): make texting work properly w/ other platforms.

It doesn't hurt the iPhone user experience in the slightest, and it doesn't cripple the brand... it just makes it easier for others to compete.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#47

Post by edoceo »

queuebert wrote: post #31
bombcar wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact you haven’t switched lines yet speaks volumes for where they have you. Right where they want you.

So many companies seem to make it their business model to manipulate laws and the market to force you to stay with them instead of trying to do a good job so that you want to stay with them. It can't cheaper or easier to do the former, so I suspect it's due to a sort of pervasive psycopathy.

It's very profitable to make it hard for folks to break-up with you. Easiest trick is the annual contract, or XX days notice to cancel.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#49

Post by mchusma »

Somewhat related: this idea of adding a "digital waiting line" on top of a normal one is horrible, the author mentions this in ATT.

Disneyland has done this with food, and it's really really irritating. Here is an example of what it is like to get Blue Milk at Star Wars Land in Disneyland:

1) order it in the app and pay for it.

2) it tells you when to go there

3) wait for your phone to turn green, with a group of other people staring at their phone. A person is there to make sure people without green screens don't get in line.

4) you are now allowed to get into a line and wait.

5) you get to the front, and you repeat the order. Someone makes it for you.

I get the desire to replace cashier's with an app. But just let people place an order, give them a number, and let them know where they are in the line.

Re: AT&T says it has big problems. A T-Mobile salesman showed me how big

#50

Post by lotsofpulp »

joecool1029 wrote: post #14

AT&T would be in danger of bankruptcy if it were not for the fact that they are surviving off government welfare through the Firstnet contract[1]. It was only buildout requirements mandated by that contract that they even have a modestly functioning network. Their business plan has been to acquire some crappy Mexican carriers[2], DirecTV, as well as the new DISH contract. There's minimal investment otherwise, poor sp…

The last good business move I think ATT made was getting exclusive access to iPhones in 2007 for five years or whatever it was.

And that is why I’ve been paying them around ~$40 per line per month since. Actually, it was also due to them being the only big network with SIM cards I could pop out and use another country’s SIM. Verizon took forever to get SIM cards.

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