AT&T Customer Service and Ball Peen Hammers

Being old and retired has some advantages. In retirement, I have plenty of time on my hands and it doesn’t take a whole lot to amuse me.  I can ease up on a situation and let it develop until it has reached its peak for exploitation.  Being old, I feel like I have a golf bag with an unlimited number of clubs.  I just have to reach in and root around until I find that perfect club.

My Internet, Phone and Cable went down on Saturday.  My father handled contacting AT&T because he likes that kind of stuff.  They blew him off for the weekend and promised him a new modem by mail on Wednesday.  It came Tuesday night. As an aside AT&T blocks out 2-4 hours to address a modem issue.  That translates to me blocking out 6 to 8 hours, with no realistic hope of having a working system.  I contacted AT&T customer service and through the magic of Internet Chat can report the conversation verbatim.  The pertinent part is in bold print.

http://T&T: Hello! Thanks for choosing AT&T Chat.

SCOTT: Hi, this is Scott. How can I assist you today?

Paul: My father reported an outage with the internet, phone and cable on Saturday

Paul: Somehow you arrived at the fact that the modem was at fault.

Paul: Instead of a technician you sent a new modem by UPS. We got it last night.

SCOTT: Alright.

Paul: Neither one of us has any experience with network or computer installation

Paul: I have a blow torch and a 24 oz ball peen hammer. Is the hammer to heavy?

Paul: I find a use for the hammer on all my fix it jobs

Paul: I really appreciate the faith you’ve shown in me, trusting me to fix your equipment failure.

Paul: Some might say you were taking your customers for granted, but not me I’m up for the challenge.

SCOTT: ok

Paul: Can you send me 4 or 5 more of these modem things just in case the learning curve is steeper that I anticipate?

SCOTT: I can understand your concern and I do understand that how inconvenience this must have been for you.

SCOTT: We sincerely apologize for all the trouble you had to experience because of this.

SCOTT: The previous advisor should have send a technician to fix the services and install the new modem.

SCOTT: However, I am going to fix this issue for you now.SCOTT: I will arrange a technician visit for you and send him to your premises so that he can install the new modem on your behalf and activate the services as soon as possible.

SCOTT: Would that be okay?

Paul: I sure do appreciate that, should I look for him today?

SCOTT: Let me quickly check the available time slots for technician visit.

SCOTT: I will try to book today’s appointment for you.

SCOTT: Please allow me a moment.

Paul: OK

SCOTT: Thank you.

SCOTT: We have 01:00 PM to 04:00 PM and 04:00 PM to 08:00 PM slot available for today for the technician visit.

SCOTT: Which one shall I book for you?

Paul: 1:00 to 4:00 would be great Paul: Thank you SCOTT: Sure thing.

SCOTT: Let me book this time slot for you.

SCOTT: I have scheduled your appointment for today, September 21, 2016. An AT&T technician will arrive as late as 04:00 PM or as early as 01:00 PM. SCOTT: Service Call may take 2-4 hours after the Technician arrives depending on the issue.

SCOTT: An adult 18 years of age or older must be on-site for the duration of your Service Call.

Paul: OK thanks SCOTT: You will receive a text message within 30 minutes with your appointment details. It will have a link to a tool that allows you to confirm your dispatch status. Please click the link as soon as it arrives. It will automatically log you into your account and show everything you need regarding your dispatch status.

SCOTT: You’re most welcome.

SCOTT: I am glad I was able to assist you today.

SCOTT: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

Paul: Thanks I think that’s it you have been very helpful SCOTT: Thank you so much for chatting with us.

SCOTT: Have a great time ahead.

SCOTT: Thank you for choosing AT&T, we appreciate your business.

SCOTT: Bye and take care. Thank you for chatting with us today. The agent has left this conversation. For further questions, please click the chat button located on the right side of the screen.

What a pleasant young man. He displayed such initiative finding a technician on short notice to help with our computer problems.  Sometimes a lack of proper understanding is a barrier to effective communication.