[NA]ATT DSL free customer tech help[NA]

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
21,872
Location
west Texas
Display Name
Dave Taylor
Home Airfield
KMRF
Every time my DSL goes down, I call AT&T; the tech person "Richard in San Franscisco"(ri-iight) makes me go through the 'read the lights on the modem to me, reboot the modem, reboot the computer, try this and that'. Then we escalate to the Advance Tech Center and we do much of the same over the phone. Then they say it's a line problem and they will work on it a their end and a day or two later they fix it.

That's fine but each month I log 2 hours on the phone of time I don't have, while they sort out their tech problems - I really would like to avoid wasting my time being their tech assistant. (Is there something in our contract that says I have to work for them, for free?)

I would like to ease out of this relationship. Do you think I can call them, simply inform of the outage and then decline to provide the service of being a tech assistant? "I'm sorry but I do not have the time to do all those things you ask, but please repair your problem so I can have my service back?"
 
I thought Richard works for Verizon :rofl: . Or TomTom who tells me every time to spend 2 hrs of my time to reinstall the firmware on their POS GPS that has a hardware fault:incazzato:(which is a design flaw as every replacement unit they send me has the same problem).

Sorry, that is the deal. ****ty products come with ****ty customer service.

I assume that it is a private account. I have noticed that I get different level of tech support with my cable companies for the business accounts. If I start out the conversation with 'I have re-set the thing with a power cycle and a hard re-set already but it doesn't log on beyond blinkenllight #3' they usually skip the song and dance and go directly into their system to check on the boxes status, signal strength etc. Also the two times I needed a tech to come out they would show up the same day and replace the faulty hardware, no questions asked.
 
Do the simple diags first before you call. When you get them on the phone, tell them you've already gone through the process several times just now. You're not inclined to waste any more time when the problem doesn't appear to be on your side since this is a frequent occurance and has ALWAYS proved out as being their issue.
Your next move is to replace their DSL with something that works.
 
This week, I called HP tech support to find out if the PC that just died was still covered under warranty. I had to hold for the next available representative. When someone finally answered, I had to give my name, phone number (in case we get cut off), email address, city, state, and zipcode, and finally the system serial number. That's when he said he would transfer me to someone who could help me with my problem. (frustration level is building). He transferred me to someone with a thick Indian/Pakistani accent who asked for my name, phone number (in case we got cut off) and system serial number. It appears he already had my email address.

He confirmed that the system was still under warranty, and that I must perform troubleshooting first. I explained that the system had been taken out of service and replaced with a spare so the user could continue working. The machine was boxed up and ready to ship and all I required was an RMA number and shipping address. He insisted that I perform the troubleshooting first. This went back and forth for a little while and I finally said "Please hold the line while I walk to the shipping department, retrieve the box, unpack it, plug it in, and follow your troubleshooting instructions to determine that the machine id DEAD!!!. Please confirm that you will not hang up during this ten minutes. Please reconfirm that you will not hang up.

I went and got a cup of coffee, came back in ten minutes, and powered on the machine that was still sitting on my workbench (I lied - must have gotten that from BOFH).

The long and short of it is that after following his troubleshooting procedure, it turns out that removing the memory and battery and holding the power button for thirty seconds completely drained the stupidity out of the machine and allowed it to work.

It took an hour of my life to learn a new trick. This time it was worth it.
 
hope to try that later, I will drop the case# so they can confirm I'm not just a ranter - thanks.
 
Spike's rec is a good one. Being able to do basic troubleshooting first is also helpful.

Your DSL modem should have diagnostics web pages you can reach, even though your internet access is down. For example, mine was at 192.168.1.254, so if I fired up my browser and typed in http://192.168.1.254 it would take me to the DSL modem status and diagnostic web pages. From there you could see stuff like does the modem have DSL sync, have you been assigned an IP yet, etc? Very useful.
 
SCCutler said:
Post it here: https://secure.dslreports.com/forum/sbcdirect

AT&T established official presence at this forum so that they could address issues before they became discussion fodder, and I have found that they are very responsive when you post an issue there.
Click to expand...

The problem with web based trouble shooting tools is that, well ,they are web based. So, if your connection is down because the #@##$%%##!!! DSL modem doesn't work.....
 
rpadula said:
Your DSL modem should have diagnostics web pages you can reach, even though your internet access is down. For example, mine was at 192.168.1.254, so if I fired up my browser and typed in http://192.168.1.254 it would take me to the DSL modem status and diagnostic web pages. From there you could see stuff like does the modem have DSL sync, have you been assigned an IP yet, etc? Very useful.
Click to expand...

Typically, I have found those pages at whatever comes up as default gateway at a 'ipconfig' command with the computer directly plugged into the modem. Dont know whether that is universal (also helps if you want to know your neighbors unlisted phone# :rofl: ).
 
weilke said:
The problem with web based trouble shooting tools is that, well ,they are web based. So, if your connection is down because the #@##$%%##!!! DSL modem doesn't work.....
Click to expand...

That's a web connection to the other end of the wire (or wireless) coming out of your PC. If that doesn't work, well there's your problem.
 
mikea said:
That's a web connection to the other end of the wire (or wireless) coming out of your PC. If that doesn't work, well there's your problem.
Click to expand...
Meaning basically that you are connected directly to your cable/dsl modem. If, after power cycling the device, you do not get the web page, then the issue is between your PC and the device. The web interface may have been what you used when you installed the connection (or the technician did).
ipconfig will also tell you that.
If, however, you have a router in the middle, you can not get to the modem until you disconnect the router and plug the PC directly into the modem.
Not difficult but also not something you want to be doing cold. You should have experienced it a few times before the failure.
Many devices connected via IP answer up this way and all of them have unique ways to deal with them. A browser based interface is the most common. Typically, the default ip address for a modem or router is 192.168.1.1 or 0.1 depending manufacturer. You can get it from the product literature.
Tivo, NAS devices, and HP printers all support a browser interface. Using your router LAN STATUS page, you can find these device addresses. Most routers just add one to the number (the .1 becomes .2 for the next device, then .3). If you use ddwrt, it assigns numbers by adding 12 to the base number.
All this reminds me, I have a brand new modem/router to install.
 
mikea said:
That's a web connection to the other end of the wire (or wireless) coming out of your PC. If that doesn't work, well there's your problem.
Click to expand...

'web based trouble shooting tool' as in going on an internet forum where the manufacturers worker-bees try to address your issue. Sure, if you have one of those newfangled i-phones, i-pads or somesuch you can sit there waiting for their reply while staring at the lights that dont light up.

To look at the status and config data for the modem, yes that is what the 'ipconfig' and then http://*defaultgateway* routine is for.
 
When the auto-attendant said "You can also find help on connecting to the internet, online at www........", my response was "You cannot be serious!".
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Every time my DSL goes down, I call AT&T; the tech person "Richard in San Franscisco"(ri-iight) makes me go through the 'read the lights on the modem to me, reboot the modem, reboot the computer, try this and that'. Then we escalate to the Advance Tech Center and we do much of the same over the phone. Then they say it's a line problem and they will work on it a their end and a day or two later they fix it.

That's fine but each month I log 2 hours on the phone of time I don't have, while they sort out their tech problems - I really would like to avoid wasting my time being their tech assistant. (Is there something in our contract that says I have to work for them, for free?)

I would like to ease out of this relationship. Do you think I can call them, simply inform of the outage and then decline to provide the service of being a tech assistant? "I'm sorry but I do not have the time to do all those things you ask, but please repair your problem so I can have my service back?"
Click to expand...

I dunno. Have had AT&T DSL for over ten years in two states and three cities and it has only been down once or twice. Both times they found something wrong with eq in the CO.

EDIT: Oh, my most recent outage, the computer wouldn't connect. We went thru the troubleshooting and oops! it was my brand new Linksys router, was having trouble connecting. Tech said that was not uncommon and directed me to a web page with suggestions. Very helpful.

We also have an AT&T business account with DSL and I can't recall it every being down.
 
Last edited:
Let'sgoflying! said:
When the auto-attendant said "You can also find help on connecting to the internet, online at www........", my response was "You cannot be serious!".
Click to expand...

My employer's IT department sent out an email company-wide to notify everyone that email was down and they were doing the best they could to restore it, and suggesting that blackberries be used in the meantime..... Only troubles were, 1) the email system was not feeding the blackberry server, it was also down and 2) about 2/3 of the company does not have blackberries.

This occured a couple of weeks ago.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Every time my DSL goes down, I call AT&T; the tech person "Richard in San Franscisco"(ri-iight) makes me go through the 'read the lights on the modem to me, reboot the modem, reboot the computer, try this and that'. Then we escalate to the Advance Tech Center and we do much of the same over the phone. Then they say it's a line problem and they will work on it a their end and a day or two later they fix it.

That's fine but each month I log 2 hours on the phone of time I don't have, while they sort out their tech problems - I really would like to avoid wasting my time being their tech assistant. (Is there something in our contract that says I have to work for them, for free?)

I would like to ease out of this relationship. Do you think I can call them, simply inform of the outage and then decline to provide the service of being a tech assistant? "I'm sorry but I do not have the time to do all those things you ask, but please repair your problem so I can have my service back?"
Click to expand...

I had crappy sbcglobal then at&t dsl service ever since we moved in to our house 4 years ago. I always thought it was mainly due to maving farther away from the central office. A month or so ago, I switched to sonic.net for no other reason than the tech support was in the next town over. Well, after trouble shooting a while, they sent a tech over who quickly diagnosed that our alarm system was very crappily wired into the phone line. Internet now 5x faster. No charge. And on top of that, its a REAL local phone company!
 
Time to drop DSL. I have Cable at home. ATT 3G wireless on the iPad when away from home, and VirginMobile Broadband for my netbook when away from home.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Every time my DSL goes down, I call AT&T; the tech person "Richard in San Franscisco"(ri-iight) ...
Click to expand...

Don't know how to tell you to get through the gauntlet of proceduralized customer service from someone who can't spell "Dee Ess Elll"...

But that sure seems like an excellent opportunity to say...

"Alright! Nice to meet you DICK! ... Let's see if we can get my service working again after the sixth outage this month."

You're just shortening his name to the common nickname, of course. ;)

I would soooo change my name if I were named Richard and had to take front line customer service calls...
 
denverpilot said:
Don't know how to tell you to get through the gauntlet of proceduralized customer service from someone who can't spell "Dee Ess Elll"...

But that sure seems like an excellent opportunity to say...

"Alright! Nice to meet you DICK! ... Let's see if we can get my service working again after the sixth outage this month."

You're just shortening his name to the common nickname, of course. ;)

I would soooo change my name if I were named Richard and had to take front line customer service calls...
Click to expand...

Reminds me of this old joke:

Mujibar was trying to get a job in Tech Support.

The Personnel Manager said, "Mujibar, you have Passed all the tests, except one. Unless you pass It, you cannot qualify for this job."

Mujibar said, "I am ready"

The manager said, "Make a sentence using the Words Yellow, Pink and Green."

Mujibar thought for a few minutes and said, "Mister manager, I am ready"

The manager said, "Go ahead."

Mujibar said, "The telephone goes green, green, And I pink it up, and say, 'Yellow, this is Mujibar.'"

Mujibar now works as a technician at a call Center for computer problems.

No doubt you have spoken to him. I have.
 
Ouch. Funny but ouch.

Many foreign techs really are good at stuff, they're often seriously overqualified for those front-line callcenter jobs. The accents just make things difficult.

The whole typical tech support system is screwy. Companies try really hard never to let all but only their largest customers reach people with a real clue and skills.

It's all about the Benjamins. Every tech support organization I've ever worked for is "tiered", which is really just a tried and true method of ticking off your smallest customers. :(

Capable tech support isn't free. Too many companies treat it as if it scales up for little or no cost. They get bit.

Only the huge customers get to call the senior people directly then. That's wrong, but oh so common.

I'm at a company that's slowly sucking those tech support and call center jobs back from overseas by using tech that let's the staff work from home. It's growing.

Feels good to be a part of that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top