Yesterday I had my FOURTH ATT repair technician out to my home, after I tweeted yet another problem I was having with my service. I’ve only had service with this company for four months, and it still isn’t consistently working properly.
The latest tech let me know that I am what they call a “frequent caller.” That’s usually code for, “that bitch is crazy.”
Perhaps I am. Technician number three assured me that I had the best service they could offer. How could there be more problems after an assurance like that? And Chris, who responds to my tweets, advised me that the problem wasn’t with ATT at all- this is all Google’s fault.
So now because I insist that I get the service I’m paying for, I’m the crazy repeat caller. After all, I AM a woman of a certain age, and I have a cat, don’t I? So of COURSE I’m crazy!
Remember ladies, don’t make waves. Girls who make waves are referred to their doctor for a prescription for antidepressants. If you had a REAL problem, you’d have a man handle it for you. Oh, you don’t have a man? Well, THAT explains a lot, doesn’t it?
This being a woman of a certain age thing isn’t easy. I thought it was bad when I was young and no one took me seriously. It hasn’t changed as I’ve gotten older; it’s actually gotten worse. Women like me are not important. Unlike the childhood friend who married well and has her “best friend” to do all the heavy lifting, I’m stuck doing it on my own. So there’s obviously something wrong with me.
That’s why guys at home improvement stores walk by me like I don’t exist while racing to help the young woman with the big boobs. And guys in their huge pick-ups driving at a slow-poke pace hoping to look down and see a young hottie instead see me trying to pass them, and suddenly develop a lead foot. Even commercials talk down about me. If you choose the competitor over Slim Jim, it’s like choosing an old woman with cats over the young, hip crowd.
So let’s get back to ATT. My latest tech, unfortunately, couldn’t repair my service, because ATT’s service was down all over town. But he gave me his cell number. I think the idea is I’m supposed to call him instead of tweeting about my problems with my service. You know, give the poor dear somebody to talk to so she’ll shut up?
Well, ATT, I’ve decided to use another method of communication instead. Still think this bitch is crazy?
Dogpaddling Through Life 
Vote with your feet (or your wallet) that always gets them. 🙂
I would, but apparently I signed a one year contract, and will be penalized for early withdrawal. I’ve asked them to cancel it, but so far they’ve declined. Think this might change their mind?
Bummer. However, bad press is a good fall-back plan. Is their service not giving you what they promised? ( in the UK, we have Trades description, so this could be seen as unsuitable for your needs and THEY LIED). Is there an ombudsman for complaints after going through the initial procedure (again we have this in the UK) ? If you are still not getting anywhere, and they are adamant that it is not their fault, there must be someone higher in the Chain to go to. Start bombarding them with emails/written complaints. Good luck!
Our government typically sides with the business over consumer, but there are avenues to follow. But I’ve gotten more response from them by calling them out on Twitter.
aha! Social media. an instance when it can work in your favour, yes?
Just break it. None of those contracts are actually legally binding. They’ll kick and scream, and threaten you with collection, but you just tell them you’re refusing to pay. The idea that a company can charge a customer for taking their business elsewhere is preposterous.
They are getting sued for DirecTV’s contracts, so I guess I could.
Great writing!
Thanks Claire!
Oh my..what a pain in the ass..i do love being a certain age as it does have benefits..you become invisible..means you can get away with more..you can play senile…”who me…did i say that out loud..oh sorry” ..i only today muttered to myself (an old age thing) that my once younger self would have had a better response from the sad sack Petrol attendant..a smile a mention of a beautiful day and whoops..talking to a brick wall..20 years ago the idiot would have been drooling over my once pert boobies..come to think of it i prefer being invisible 🙂 hugs Fozziemum xx
I have had the luxury of being invisible my entire adult life. It’s one of the advantages of being fat.
I think most people are invisible …only certain people with certain criteria meet the visibility standards..and sadly they usually have the personality of a dishcloth..i spent my teen years overweight..and yes invisible..never been an ‘it’ gal..but did at least get the odd howdy back or eye contact…now…pfft…suits me..dogs and cats always see me..says something doesn’t it 🙂
I think the “it” girls are just as invisible as the rest of us, because we never see who they truly are, only what we’ve been led to believe they are.
I guess that is right too…we are maybe all in reality a little invisible..makes for a sad world if we can’t see each other.
I agree
I hear ya…. I’m the one who had to carry around two big buckets with paint while the walking spaghetti with no ass in the pants guided Miss Boobylicious to the checkpoint area , carrying her ginormous bonsai tree :o( and it seems I’m even invisible when I use the live chat of aol, they wrote that’s not an aol-problem, i probably have no internet connection… oh boy….
How the hell can you have no internet connection when the problem only happens there?
I’ve got no answer as I asked that question…althought I still was nice and I only thought “id*ot”… proabaly he read my mind…
Maybe you should try tweeting about it!
WOW! Right about now I wish I had a little emoti showing a pair of hands clapping! Well done you!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
At the end of the day, I only have me to take care of me, so I’m using the tools at my disposal.
Well, I’m no fan of Verizon, on a corporate level. They’re just another giant cancer, turning our economy into blackened pustules of rotting flesh – but their FIOS service is good. Don’t get their consumer deal, or you’ll just get more of the same, but you’re, technically, a business – so if you get their pro package you’ll have good service. Of course, that costs significantly more than what they give the sheep, but it’s worth it.
The commercial thing isn’t just seclusionist to your particular social group, it’s seclusionist to all social groups. Products used to sell themselves on their value. Brand-Y soap will get you cleaner, for less money than Brand-X soap. That was back when companies gave a sh*t what we think. Now, they’ve found it works better if they simply tell us what to think. Believe me, I’m no more popular with the Slim Jim set, than you are.
But there’s a lesson here – besides the ageist and sexist one. We used to be customers – an integral part of the economic contract. “The customer is always right.” Somewhere along the line, we allowed them to turn us into consumers – mindless cattle who march to their imaginary drum. When we did that, we lost all our power. Now, they tell us to eat Slim Jims, drink Coke, and line up at Mickey Dees. And since I do none of those things, I’m painted with the same crazy cat lady brush, that you are.
If we were willing to turn the customer/consumer dynamic back to where it once was, we’d have them all on the mat and spitting out teeth, in 24 hours. There’s nobody we can blame, but ourselves.
You got that right. But most major societal changes only happen after a series of catastrophic events. And since we still can’t regulate guns after the massacre innocent school kids, I don’t have much hope for the regulation of advertisement. But I can take care of me, and that’s gonna have to do for now.
That’s right. And remember, you have a whole Internet army, willing to help in any way we can. 🙂
Locally both our newspaper and our TV news program both have consumer segments where they help people with problems that don’t seem to get resolved normally. The people they help are usually older people, women, minorities — definitely not Miss Booblicious. Large companies hate bad press and don’t like to see themselves on the news. Sounds like you are doing well with Twitter. Who cares if they call you a cat lady. It’s a compliment. (Last sentence was typed by my 4 cats. Guess I’m one too.) Hang in there and type away!
I love Twitter! Finally the average person like me can have her voice heard. That’s slowly changing, thanks to advertising. I only hope the next great thing comes along soon.
That’s so frustrating! It’s also a pain when you call tech support and end up talking to someone that barely speaks English and you have to undertake those basic troubleshooting instructions which you’ve already done yourself. I hope you can get the issue resolved soon.
When I moved, it took ATT three months to get a simple phone services working properly…Somehow, they didn’t have a problem getting the billing correct.
I’ve had issues with ATT since the beginning. They promise you one thing, they deliver something else. There guaranteed rate for 2 years lasted 2 months. I call just about every month complaining about the bill. In Florida you are at the mercy of Comcast,ATT< Directv, or Dish. Nobody has anything good to say about any of them.
You tell ’em! I have the same problem with companies. What they don’t realize is that crazy people like us think for ourselves and can do a lot of damage to the sparkling reputation they want everyone to believe they have.
It’s not just you. They know us, too. ATT is really bad at promising and not delivering – and they lying about it not being their fault. Phone banks for customer service makes lying, misleading statements the best route – you aren’t able to confront them directly about it, they get you off the line (they are timed for length of interaction and penalized if they have to hand you up to the next level.) Document everything. Contact your state or local county or city agency that gave them the right to do business in your area. Be specific about the complaint and what efforts have been taken to fix it. If enough people do that, it can make an impact. Better business organization complaints. And if you can, change providers – if another is available and works any better – often you have no choice. (Be careful if you leave ATT and they have your credit card number)
Meanwhile, yes, blog and use social media.
We are all being ground under by total lack of response by elected officials, government agencies who are cozy with lobbyists, and giant corporations who expect us to pay everything we’ve got and be grateful for whatever we get.
(And sorry about your boss. Had one of those. There’s a mean form of insecurity with that one.)
AT&T has much better service than other companies. That says less about AT&T than it says about service in general. Actually, I think this is less about gender bias than it is awful customer service combined with a fundamental belief that customers are an annoyance to be barely tolerated. Because they treat men the same way. My son, my husband, my friends (who are actual engineers and know more than the “techs” on the phone) get the same brush off, the same non-service.
Well-behaved women rarely make history.
Sounds like the non-customer-service I got from Comcast after they installed 85 feet of cable wires zigzagging through my one-bedroom apartment, in and out of holes they drilled in the walls. It went on for months until I got lucky and came across the email address of the CEO. I didn’t even think of Twitter complaints. That’s actually pretty brilliant!
You have a tech’s cell phone number? Sounds like license to call him at 2 am…*eg*
Nothing seems to wake up customer service like bad press. Turn up the heat and let ’em know what real crazy is all about. 🙂