var json_comments = new Array("

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Dan Seitz

February 18, 2009 6:02 PM

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I had the same problem with Verizon. AT&T and its children still all think they're monopolies...

2 replies

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Cylon12

February 19, 2009 5:06 PM

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The problem is NOT with the 'dry loop'. It is with AT&T. The major companies use call centers, where someone answers your call, and reads form a 'script'. These folks have no authority to change anything, or diviate from the script. Talking to them about anything but the simplest subject just will not work.

Remember... they can not change anything. And... they may not even be in the USA. Most major call centers are in India.

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bender123

February 18, 2009 7:02 PM

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I had issues with Verizon as well. WORST SERVICE EVER!!!
I had dry loop service and was moving to another city with verizon service...after setting up the cancel date and the new install date for 2 months later (when we were closing on both the old house and new) they cut our service the next day and set it up at our new address, even though we didn't live there yet.

They refused to set my service right at my then current house, because, as the manager stated, they dont make enough off my extra two months of service to make up the cost of sending a tech to get it working again.

They then sent a bill to me for the house I did not even own yet...Another nightmare ensued, because they wouldn't disconnect it unless i was there to meet with a rep, which I couldnt do, because I didn't live there. Yadda yadda yadda...They now lost me as a customer forever because of their incompetence.

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pb5000

February 18, 2009 6:04 PM

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Most things with AT&T are more of a hassle than they are worth. I had a similar issue with a DSL cancellation, I never activated it (because it would never work at my apartment) and when I mailed it back to them I was still getting billed for almost 3 months. I finally had to call and read them the UPS tracking number over the phone, informing them that they did indeed receive my equipment back and that it was canceled before that date.

1 replies

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James Rice

February 18, 2009 6:26 PM

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@pb5000: I had the same problem with it not working in my apartment. I cancelled and returned my equipment and figured that was it. Nope. They turned my account over to collections apparently as soon as I cancelled. I ended up having to send the UPS tracking number to Executive Customer Service after fighting them for months and dealing with two different collection agencies. A completely frustrating experience from beginning to end.

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February 18, 2009 6:08 PM

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I am considering switching to naked DSL, since I don't use my landline enough to justify spending $35/month on it. I figured it would be a hassle to explain what I want to their customer service people, and now I am scared.

8 replies

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David Schripsema

February 18, 2009 9:48 PM

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Don't do it over the phone or online! Dry loop is offered in their corporate stores. Go in and set it up in-store, as they generally know what they're doing (they deal with DSL, cell, landline, & TV, rather than the specialized call centers) and have incentives to make sure you get it (commission).

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February 18, 2009 8:26 PM

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@cinnarose: In my area (Qwest area) we are allowed to get a naked DSL line and have DSL provided through another ISP. However, Qwest charges $37 per month for us to use the naked line. Getting a landline through Qwest was costing about $35 per month. We went ahead and switched because we were really tired of the service we were getting from Qwest, but we aren't saving any money on it. We do, however, have a much friendlier ISP.

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jokono

February 18, 2009 11:13 PM

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@samurailynn: I too, am in a Qwest area. I had land line and DSL service from them for about five years, but now I'm Qwest-free!

I was paying $22 for DSL and $37 for phone to Qwest, plus $17 to my ISP. There's a wireless ISP in my area, and for $50 I get 10Mb from them. And for phone, I just signed up for T-Mobile's $9.99 VOIP. I'm saving almost $20/mo and I get faster internet and unlimited long-distance.

When it came time to cancel with Qwest, I was hoping they'd beg me to stay -- just for grins. But, it was anti-climactic. They were so friendly, and actually seemed interested in my new setup. Hmm.

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February 18, 2009 8:16 PM

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@cinnarose: We have AT&T basic phone service for $14/month. It can be done.

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gparlett

February 18, 2009 9:23 PM

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@lannister80: The AT&T basic phone line I bought so I could have DSL is quoted at about $14 a month, but there are $15 in government fees and taxes each month as well.

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February 18, 2009 8:00 PM

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@cinnarose: I dunno, if I could save $35 each month, I would give it a shot. Call and ask for info, like \"Is it possible to switch my service to dry-loop DSL? How much does it cost? How much would I save each month? Will the speed the same as I get now?\" and such. Estimate your CSR's knowledge and IQ by the responses. On the ball = win, dim bulb = kthxbye.

Also, I naively assume that the nightmare stories that end up on Consumerist are (knock on wood) proportionately rare. There are dozens (or hundreds?) of unnoticed times the system more or less works properly, for each time a customer like Brent gets wrapped around the axle.

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richcreamerybutter

February 18, 2009 7:53 PM

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@cinnarose: in my neighborhood a landline now costs around $60/mo!

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February 18, 2009 6:34 PM

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i wouldn't do it, it's way too much hassle

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LegoMan322

February 18, 2009 6:10 PM

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AT&T IS a monopoly that nothing is being done about unfortunately. I have had many run in's with AT&T over the iPhone and 3G. Their service is beyond pathetic, price is exorbitant, and I usually will avoid them at all costs. They are not worth the headache. Who ever coined \"Skynet\" for AT&T was spot on.

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Wes_Sabi

February 18, 2009 6:10 PM

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I looked into an ATT dry loop DSL but price was pretty much the same as a naked line + DSL. Dry loop elite = $45/mo. DSL elite = $35/mo + naked line $10/mo. Plus, I have two kids so I figured that having real 911 service was worth keeping the landline.

4 replies

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chiieddy

February 18, 2009 6:13 PM

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@Wes_Sabi: You do know that if you plug in your phone to any inactive phone line, it'll still call 911. You don't have to pay for service for that.

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February 18, 2009 6:54 PM

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@chiieddy: That is not always true. Not all phone companies do \"soft disconnects\" on all lines, if the line isn't physically connected to the switching system they can't do the \"911-only\" thing. Mobile carriers will connect calls to 911 from inactive mobile phones, assuming it's a digital phone that can still get a signal.

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AD8BC

February 18, 2009 6:51 PM

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@chiieddy: Only in some areas. I have had inactive phone services in Michigan and Texas in the past few years and there is no dial tone and not even any voltage on the phone line.

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February 19, 2009 4:29 AM

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@AD8BC: Some areas of Texas are required to provide that service, just as an FYI. Suburban areas are more likely to have it, in my personal experience.

I always wanted to get a bright red phone and leave it plugged in, and call it the \"emergency phone\".

As another interesting fact, if you plug a phone into a jack where you have DSL (with a filter) people can apparently dial in (depending on service provider), you just cannot dial out (except for 911)... haven't tested this nugget I picked up from the nice lady who I hand my bill to every month, but if it works it would be interesting.

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February 18, 2009 7:43 PM

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@AD8BC: I'm sure that's true. But it sounds like that phone line was physically disconnected by the phone company. But your phone line has to be physically connected if you have DSL, which is the situation we're dealing with here.

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Anonymous

February 18, 2009 6:38 PM

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@chiieddy: that does not work in every state. It's up to the states to require that and if the phone company wants to do it without being required to. in Ohio ATT does NOT do that and is NOT required to. only VZ does it and they do it willingly only because they allow you to sign up on the dead line as well.

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Sunny Yeung

February 18, 2009 6:14 PM

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I tried to get dry loop DSL when I moved into my apartment. I definitely spent several hours on the phone with them trying to get my service to work. As school was about to start, I couldn't take it anymore, canceled the order, and went to the Time Warner office to establish cable service.

In about 30 minutes (there was a line), I walked out with a modem in my hand, drove home, and plugged it in. I was on the net after a 10-minute phone call.

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jaya9581

February 18, 2009 6:27 PM

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We've had dry-loop via Verizon since December. Aside from some slowdown issues (usually only happens when me and my husband are both playing World of Warcraft while downloading in the background) we've had no issues. They even knew what I wanted when I asked for dry-loop DSL.

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February 18, 2009 6:27 PM

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One thing you can try is to get a meter rate phone line which costs < $10 a month including taxes and fees. Not only will you have the advantage of a land line for emergency calls, ATT will probably loose money installing it for you too :). If you have a cell phone with them, a wired line will also qualify you for UVerse giving you free calls to all ATT phone numbers including land lines.

2 replies

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February 18, 2009 8:28 PM

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@zirkus: When I had the meter rate line from Verizon it ended up costing about $20/month with all the taxes and fees.
The actual service was $10.
Ridiculous.
I miss Speakeasy DSL though. Time Warner's cable internet SUCKS. Slow slow slow.

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February 18, 2009 8:52 PM

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@veronykah: Well, I have a ATT measured rate line with NO EXTRA FEATURES (like voicemail, caller id, etc) and it's $5 something plus taxes. Sorry you paid more than you should have.

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February 18, 2009 6:27 PM

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I had a ton of problems both getting and cancelling my dry loop DSL. From what I could tell, they have a whole separate CS department for dry loop, with no external number, so you have to get lucky enough to get a rep who is aware of dry loop and will forward you over to the correct department. Of course, I cancelled mine April '08, so I'm not too sure if anything's changed since then.

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ponycyndi

February 18, 2009 6:27 PM

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I tried to sign up for dry loop with ATT. 3 times I called and was told that they don't offer DSL AT ALL for my area, and that I would have to pay for Verizon FIOS.

I called Time Warner and got cable internet, no phone required.

4 replies

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David Levy

February 19, 2009 12:08 AM

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@ponycyndi: I can't imagine choosing cable over FiOS. Of course, I reside in a Comcast area, and practically anything (including DSL) is preferable to Comcast.

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Mikethebike

February 18, 2009 8:58 PM

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@ponycyndi: This may be because you live in an area not serviced by AT&T, but by Verizon. So AT&T isn't allowed to give you service and referred you to your correct local provider.

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Brianne Gibson

February 18, 2009 7:17 PM

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@ponycyndi: Why wouldn't you get the Fios if you had that option? It's wonderful so far.

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Rachacha

February 18, 2009 8:40 PM

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@Brianne Gibson: I was wondering the same thing. It is very rare for people who have FiOS in their area to choose DSL rather than FiOS especially when the monthly service cost is about the same price for twice the speed

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Joshua Willis

February 18, 2009 6:28 PM

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Went through nearly exactly the same thing when I tried to get AT&T to kill my dry loop circuit a couple of years ago. Took FOREVER to get them to close the account.

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heybtbm

February 18, 2009 6:30 PM

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So have we \"officially\" established that this latest version of AT&T is such a large and disjointed series of corporations that getting lost in their system is almost common place? This article and the one from last week would indicate, \"yes\".

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February 18, 2009 6:34 PM

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Someone at just read this and thought \"Mission Accomplished.\"

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Phillip Guyton Jr.

February 18, 2009 6:35 PM

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Another good tip is RECORD ALL PHONECALLS when talking to anyone about billing issues, they are doing it to you, it's good to have some evidence of what they said.

3 replies

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February 18, 2009 8:29 PM

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@Phillip Guyton Jr.: You could always WRITE down, date, time, rep etc.
Also, try to get them to send an email confirmation.

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metaled

February 18, 2009 7:48 PM

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@Phillip Guyton Jr.:
Calif. I believe both parties are required be notified in order to record calls. Calling HP Tech support for a LCD screen bought broken on a laptop, I was getting no-where, They were recording, so I notified them I was recording as well. The tech told me he was not able to help me as long as I was recording, I pointed out that they told me they were recording, that was the end of the conversation. Every time I called back, they would disconnect after telling me they would no talk to me if I was recording them. I wonder if their notice that the call is being recorded/monitored is enough for me to record legally, without my having to give notice (just make sure I record that notice from them, that they know they are being recorded?)

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February 18, 2009 7:18 PM

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@Phillip Guyton Jr.: in some jurisdictions this is not legal or there are very strict rules you have to follow if you are planning to use it legally. Be VERY careful if you try this, know your local laws and the laws of the area you are calling.

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February 18, 2009 6:40 PM

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I have DSL with ATT even though I do not have a land line. I have had no problems ordering it getting it installed or using it. Even when the modem had to be replaced last week no problem.Beware when the install tech tells you he is going to make sure everything workes before he leave, there is a 210 dollor charge for that and the install tech does not warn you that there will be a charge. After talking to several reps including the disconnect department who old me they would cancel the charge if i did not cancel my service my DSL was disconnected for not paying the bill. I had to do and EECB which resolved the billing problem within a hour of email the CEO and 2 vice presidents of ATT.

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February 18, 2009 6:50 PM

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Try getting as much info from the rep like the ticket number, their agent ID and the date and time. If you have that then you will have no problems.

ATT loves creating tickets for any reason you call so make sure you get it.

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February 18, 2009 6:54 PM

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Oh great. I have dry loop DSL w/ ATT. I've had problems convincing them that I am indeed a customer before. If you get their automated system and try to punch in your \"phone number\" (which is actually my account number and starts with 0), it acts like the number doesn't exist because it's not an actual phone number.
I'll make sure to get the Agent ID and other info when I call to cancel this fall. Ugh.

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February 18, 2009 6:56 PM

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Honestly, that's why I bought a conversation recording software for my phone. They can never lie to me again.

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AustinTXProgrammer

February 18, 2009 6:58 PM

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I moved outside of Time Warners coverage area and chose to go DSL.

DSL Elite Direct was $45/mo plus sales tax (on at least a portion). Would have been 48-49. Required 2 year contract and offered a rebate for installation

Got a Messured Line for 12.95 with tax and added DSL Elite for $35. No contract, and got a $125 rebate since I was \"switching\" from cable.

I pay less than $52/mo tax and fees included, and get full 911 access (again, Texas doesn't require dialtone on inactive lines as some states).

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Tzepish

February 18, 2009 7:00 PM

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@Joseph Blake: Actually, Cingular, AT&T Wireless, and Bellsouth were merged, then AT&T acquired all three of them. So yes, AT&T merged with Cingular (as well as Bellsouth). I worked there when all this chaos was happening.

If you're gonna' bash a blog that is based on covering corporations, you should probably get your facts about said corporations straight first.

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Brianne Gibson

February 18, 2009 7:20 PM

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We had AT&T naked DSL for less than a year. In that time we had to request a replacement modem because the first one died and they changed our account number. They managed to credit our payment to the discontinued account number and then tried to charge us a late fee on the new account number. And there's virtually no way to get through to customer service on the phone because it doesn't accept your \"account number\" because it wants your phone number.

3 replies

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dlab

February 19, 2009 3:58 PM

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@Brianne Gibson: The billing stuff is messed up, but the TN issue is not.

When you sign up for Dry Loop, you are provided with your billing telephone number in your initial billing statement and install kit - just because you can't receive calls on the line does not mean that it doesn't have a number. You need to use this number if you want to get helpdesk support, otherwise the reps won't be able to pull up your account. It's like calling the power company to get help and not giving them your account number.

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richcreamerybutter

February 18, 2009 7:51 PM

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@Brianne Gibson: they accept my cell number...also, a rep can find the phone number assigned to your dsl line.

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Brianne Gibson

February 18, 2009 9:15 PM

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@richcreamerybutter: Yes they can. After you spend an hour waiting on hold to talk to a real person.

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richcreamerybutter

February 18, 2009 7:49 PM

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Question for other dry loopers: despite lack of actual land line, can other land lines interfere with the signal? I've had amazing AT&T dsl service for a few years, but in the last several months it will simply go out for 10-30 minutes at a time during the day. It's especially bad on traditional high call volume days, like Christmas. I've tried to solve this with a tech rep, but they can never find any interference (I've also tried a filter). Just curious...

2 replies

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February 18, 2009 9:43 PM

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@richcreamerybutter:

Mine is going out from time to time too! Mostly at night. I called the DSL help and all \"Roger\"managed to do was trash the security on my wireless router, which he blamed it on.

Now my wireless is unsecured. :(

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chris_d

February 18, 2009 9:15 PM

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@richcreamerybutter:
I believe it can. It is usually called crosstalk. If I take off a phone line filter and pick up the phone, it kills the DSL. Considering your DSL is traveling on a twisted pair right next to other wires carrying conversations, I would expect it COULD cause the smae thing.

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Reid Burke

February 18, 2009 8:01 PM

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The same thing happened to me; however, I also lost the $50 I spent on the returned modem. I canceled within 30 days, an AT&T rep said I was clear, yet somehow my account was sent to collections.

I've also had issues getting through AT&T's automated phone systems when I don't have a real phone number.

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Rectilinear Propagation

February 18, 2009 8:10 PM

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My advice to your readers: Don't purchase the dry loop service.

Too late...

I don't understand why companies insist on screwing things up at the end. I had the same problem with Charter.

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Anonymous

February 18, 2009 8:27 PM

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Uh, don't know if you have ever checked, but your dry-loop phone number starts with a 0 and is followed by the remaining numbers that would fill in a complete phone number. (10 digits) I have not had any problems getting rid of the services and reactivating them elsewhere, so your post is a bit of a shock...MM

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Joseph Blake

February 18, 2009 8:31 PM

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Jst s y knw, T∓T ddn't mrg wth Cnglr. Thy mrgd wth Bllsth. f y'r gng t rn blg tht s bsd n bshng crprtns, y shld prbbly gt yr fcts bt sd crprtns strght frst.

14 replies

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dlab

February 19, 2009 3:49 PM

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@Joseph Blake: Bellsouth owned 40% of Cingular and SBC owned 60%. SBC bought Bellsouth AND AT&T, giving it full ownership of Cingular, and then they kept the AT&T name and brand for the new megacorporation. It wasn't a merger, it was a buyout.

If you want to get technical, 40% of Cingular changed ownership, while 60% was retained by the original (but re-branded and expanded) owner.

Here is the key to naked DSL - you still have a phone number, even though you can't take calls on the line. If you can't remember your number, it's really hard to pull up your account. I'd be interested in knowing if the reader was aware of his billing telephone number and provided that to the reps. I'd also be interested to know how the gentleman handles himself with CSR's - sounds like he was just getting messed with...

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February 18, 2009 9:38 PM

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If you run it through the English-to-12-Year-Old-AOLer Translator, it will take less effort on your part.

[ssshotaru.homestead.com]

...just saying.

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February 18, 2009 9:39 PM

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color *me* teh sux :(

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February 18, 2009 7:51 PM

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@Joseph Blake: Then why did my husband's Cingular cell phone service become AT&T?

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Joseph Blake

February 18, 2009 8:16 PM

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@outoftheblew: Because AT&T owned part of Cingular. Bellsouth owned the other 50%. AT&T merged with Bellsouth and changed the name of Cingular, but the ownership didn't change. Drats! I guess you guys didn't get me after all!

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February 18, 2009 9:40 PM

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[en.wikipedia.org]
So glad you're having so much fun.

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Closed captioning provided by Homerjay

February 18, 2009 7:50 PM

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@Joseph Blake: If you're going to be a complete douche, I'm sure Meg will be happy to refund your membership fee and you can go somewhere else and bitch like a little girl.

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Changed my name to \"I like potatoes\"

February 18, 2009 7:32 PM

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@Joseph Blake: Maybe you can explain to me why my Cingular wireless accounts are all AT&T now? Strange, huh?

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February 18, 2009 7:19 PM

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@Joseph Blake: another facebooker gets PWNED

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ionerox

February 18, 2009 7:04 PM

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@Joseph Blake: Just so ya know...

AT&T and Cingular did merge, or at least *they* think they did. If you are going to post on a blog being all uppity about it's content, you might want to check that you are correct in the first place.

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February 18, 2009 7:01 PM

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Oh nohs! Someone made an error on the interwebs!

Thanks for pointing out the error in such a kind and constructive manner, as your first post on this site.

Now go back to Facebook where you came.

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catastrophegirl chooses not to fly

February 18, 2009 6:56 PM

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@Joseph Blake: at SOME point in the past SOME part of AT&T merged with cingular because i had a prepaid cell phone from AT&T.

and then i started getting letters from cingular about the switch to their service when the merge happened, then a letter telling me they no longer offered the $10 a month prepaid package and i could pay $40 now, cingular's lowest prepaid amount.

and then when i declined an upgrade in service for a higher price for three times the minutes i ever used a month and requested to be 'grandfathered in' i got a very nasty letter from cingular saying i had 30 days to buy a new phone because mine was too old to service or they were cutting me off.

[been a happy virgin mobile customer ever since]

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February 18, 2009 6:56 PM

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I think they run a great blog, and one that reports facts, not bashes. I am so tired of people bashing on The Consumerist, Giz, and io9 for such small things when they are still conveying the story very well. Can we get a disemvowel on stuff like this?

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orlo

February 18, 2009 6:55 PM

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@Joseph Blake: Didn't they merge with both those companies? And since you are apparently not a stockholder/executive of AT&T, your corporophilia warrants therapy.

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February 18, 2009 6:39 PM

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@Joseph Blake: Those poor, poor corporations! I feel so bad now.

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Anonymous

February 18, 2009 8:47 PM

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Actually I was thinking of sending a letter to Consumerist - I can't cancel my old landline! Or rather I have cancelled three times over a 5 month period, kept being billed, and finally have had my service disconnected, reflecting badly on my credit score! I have left messages with 3 departments, was disconnected twice today while on hold for a supervisor, and am annoyed that I will have to resort to registered letters of complaint to the company! I moved out of the apartment where I had the service in October, and I can't believe I'm still having this issue. They assured me over the phone when I made a payment in November that it was a final payment and the account was closed. Is there a way to gain access to the recordings?

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chris_d

February 18, 2009 9:09 PM

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When you deal with at&t, you are dealing with Southwestern Bell Corp (SBC) and AT&T because SBC bought AT&T and then changed its name to \"at&t\" (which supposedly doesn't stand for anything just like sbc doesn't stand for southwestern bell corporation). What I'm trying to say here is that you are getting the worst of both worlds. I had phone service with sbc in the dallas texas area when I lived there and it was the worst company I have ever dealt with.

2 replies

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chris_d

February 18, 2009 9:12 PM

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@chris_d:
Oh yeah, and back in 2002 or 2003 my dad had a horrible experience with AT&T (pre-merger) -- had long distance service with them. Anyway, they pissed him off so bad he told them to cancel his service right then and switched long distance carriers.

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February 18, 2009 9:45 PM

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I have AT&T for regular phone and DSL but I refused to do their long distance because it was so expensive. I've had Vartec for years.

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February 18, 2009 9:21 PM

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My problems exactly! Well almost, but it has been a nightmare. I switched from AT&T U-verse to AT&T Dry Loop DSL, because where I was moving didn't have U-verse. Now U-verse is nice, but making this switch to Dry Loop DSL royally screws up AT&T. I'm guessing that not a lot of people make the same switch I made, but I would highly advise against it as U-verse and DSL are handled out of different departments, both of which do not seem to talk to each other.

I found out my previous email under the U-verse service at sbcglobal.net could not transfer to my DSL service so I had to register a new email under attworld.net instead. It took a week to figure this out with AT&T and only then could I activate my account and get on the net.

In addition, my Uverse service was still being billed to me because they couldn't close my old account. Plus, 6 months later they bill me for $150 because they said I didn't return my U-verse Gateway Router (which they told me I owned and never sent a return box) I have since resolved this.

Plus they promised me a voucher for my new DSL router as a moving promotion (to keep me as a customer) and I have yet to receive it. It's been since July 2008 and I have called them over 10 times to resolve the issue. I found out the guy should have never offered the voucher to me in the first place since the offer wasn't valid on a Dry-Loop account (but he didn't know.) I now have a Confirmation Number for a Visa Gift Card that should be coming my way in 4 to 6 weeks for the voucher, and I have been credited for a month of service (even though my company pays for my DSL service). Complete nightmare.

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Tzepish

February 18, 2009 9:25 PM

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@Joseph Blake: Fail.

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Hybriddeathdealer

February 18, 2009 10:26 PM

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There is only one way to handle Cingular /AT&T and that is to report them to all the various agencies you can. Federal Communications Commission is [esupport.fcc.gov] , and the Better Business Bureau is [www.bbg.org] . If you live in the U.S.A. then I would also file a complaint with your State's Public Utilities Commission and here is a list of those: [www.fcc.gov] . Be sure to file a complaint at each agency. If your state Public Utilities Commission does not handle your phone company for whatever reason, say because it's a wireless issue, then file complaints about your State's PUC. Really it's the same with any legitimate business complaint. The only power we really have as consumers are the complaint agencies, so use them. As the above article lists, these companies will not hesitate in reporting their clients to supposed credit agencies. There are various reasons why reporting them is a good thing. One example is that problem companies like AT&T, will have their supervisory people call after receiving these complaints. Although, AT&T may not stick to their end of the deal no matter what it is you do. Their supposed 'Office of the President' apparently is as good at lying about an agreement, as their regular customer service reps are. Their customer service representatives are trained for one company goal and that's to get as much money from each client as possible, no matter what the complaint, no matter what the hardship. All of the major phone companies have turned to use one slimy collection agency in Boston. They're subcontracted and do not hold to the same rules as do the phone companies themselves. One technique they've begun using for about the last year is to barrage phone clients with bogus calls from around the country, including your own particular local area. Really this is war with the Utility companies. Don't give them one second's worth of trust. Certainly don't fool yourself into thinking one company is necessarily better than another either. Welcome to 'Freedom from Regulation'. Enjoy!

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HawkWolf

February 18, 2009 10:29 PM

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I didn't have much fun setting up dry loop, but it _works_ pretty well, and it's a lot cheaper than comcast.

until recently, I couldn't sign up for online bill payment. their computer system wasn't set up for it. I've had the service for just about a year.

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Anonymous

February 18, 2009 11:08 PM

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I recently cancelled my AT&T dry loop DSL and the CSR gave me a cancellation code, which was the key when I received a bill at the end of the month and had to call to remind them that I didn't have the service anymore.

Because of experiences like this in the past, I now always always always ask for a cancellation or confirmation code when dealing with utility companies (and other companies sometimes too).

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pat_trick

February 18, 2009 11:35 PM

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We have a ton of dry loop runs at our business, but we have a direct representative at the local telco that we go through. It keeps things from getting messy.

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TechnoDestructo

February 19, 2009 1:00 AM

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Can you sue for libel if something is falsely sent to collections?

I mean, if you're suing a company, and one part of the company should have known that the charges (and effectively accusations) were wrong, then wouldn't that make other parts of the same company responsible for acting on that knowledge?

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February 19, 2009 1:15 AM

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AT&T promised me several times in several separate phone inquiries I could get DSL at the location of my new home purchase. Imagine my surprise that AFTER closing on my home and having dial tone tuned on being told I couldn't get DSL. I was really angry, as I told them several time the purchase of the house hinged on this due to business reasons. Well, several letters to regulatory agencies as well as AT&T executives had guys up on the poles conditioning my lines. I finally got DSL, but not after a 5 month battle. I wouldn't trust them to get naked DSL right when they can't even get it right with dial tone service! I do have to say, however, they are better than what the local Comcast cable company offers ... and that's no joke!

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Anonymous

February 19, 2009 4:51 AM

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I made a long comment backing up what Brent said earlier but the confirmation email never made it to me. :( This is my second try with a much less detailed email (the other one was probably pages long with good detail). Serves me right for not copying to textpad before sending.

I have AT&T dry loop and concur with Brent. It has been one big hassle after another. Service is almost non-existent because most customer service reps are not trained to even know dry loop exists in the AT&T portfolio. Even the AT&T systems don't know it exists.

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Anonymous

February 19, 2009 5:33 AM

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Reminds me of my miserable year with ATT DSL.

They wouldn't bill me, only withdraw right from my account. Then they just started taking whatever amounts they wanted. $100 one month then $5 the next then $65 another month then $150 for no good reason. I was supposed to pay $55 a month.

At the end of the year I calculated everything I should of paid vs what they took and it turns out they stole $50. Even after making 3 different service reps go through all the calculations with me (and all ending with me overpaying $50) they wouldn't return my money or acknowledge the mistake.

Needless to say, I will never use ATT for any service ever again for as long as I live.

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Anonymous

February 20, 2009 3:49 AM

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My advice is to get a measured landline for $7 a month. Measured service gives you unlimited incoming calls and roughly 300 minutes of outgoing calls. Any additional minutes will only put you back 0.2 cpm. The prices for dry loop dsl is $10 higher if you don't have AT&T Mobility as your wireless carrier. So, you pretty much break even by adding a phone line if don't have AT&T as your cell carrier.

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theczardictates

February 20, 2009 9:37 PM

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As an aside, I think the US needs a couple of amendments to the \"wire tap\" laws regarding recording your own conversations:

1) It's always legal to record a conversation with a company that you have a \"business relationship\" with (same definition as for telemarketing laws) if the call is about your business with them. It's always illegal for the business to refuse to talk to you if you're exercising your right to record. You don't have to explicitly notify them.

2) If a company notifies you that it is or \"may be\" recording, it de facto grants you the right to do the same. You don't have to explicitly notify them.

Frankly I think this would do a whole lot for the consumer experience...

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