…and if so, what was your solution? (SEE IMPORTANT UPDATE BELOW—>)

In a nutshell:

• Husband moves to PA in late April
• Finds cell service (his only phone in the home) appalling in the house
• Calls Sprint
• Sprint reviews the situation
• Sprint calls back saying, “wow, you’re in between two cell towers. Sucky service. Here…”
• Sprint sends a AirRave
• Problem solved!
• Should he have an emergency in the home, he can call out. Perfect! Thank you, Sprint!

In comparison: here’s what happened to me between last Friday and today.

• I moved in on Friday.
• Didn’t need to use phone all weekend; only WiFi.
• Monday running errands, called my son—who is on my AT&T plan—back at the house.
• Straight to voice mail.
• Texted him.
• Nothing.
• Came home.
• He heard nothing; he received nothing.
• We had him text me.
• No text ever arrived (still hasn’t)—I’m sitting across the table from him.
• I call @ATTCustomerCare who connects me with the proper department.
• I explain the situation—and that in order to make the call that we’re sharing, I am standing by (and cannot shift away from) the ONE WINDOW where I get service.
• I explain what Sprint did.
• The Service Agent was lovely, asked, “You mean they sent the thing that uses the WiFi for calls within your home?” and understood the whole shebang. She said she was sending the info to the AT&T techs for review.

Sounds good, right?

She knew about the AirRave thingy so I’m not coming out of left field. I’m Happy Heather.

Today, I walk by the window (!) and get a ping due to a text message from AT&T.

“The investigation of your Technical issue is complete. If you have additional questions, please call 877-971-5016. Thank you for choosing AT&T!”

Additional questions?

How about you tell me when to expect the AT&T version of the Sprint device?

So I called (from my windowed location).

In another nutshell:

• “Our technicians reviewed your case.” (Good so far.)
• “You’re in between two cell towers.” (As I expected.)
• “Sorry.”
• I beg your pardon?
• “Sorry, but there’s nothing further we can do.”
• (Okay, first off, B.S. and we both know it. Second off, WTH? “There’s nothing we can do”—I PAY FOR A WORKING PHONE!!! Hello??? McFly???)
• When my husband moved in before me his cell did the same thing. Sprint sent him an AirRave after their techs checked our area. Why aren’t you doing that?
• “We aren’t Sprint.” (Clearly!)
• So I’m standing here getting one bar by the only window where I get ANY bars but you’re telling me my service is fine??
• “I’m saying there’s nothing we can do…. Though you can go to an AT&T store and purchase our version of the gadget your husband has, our MicroCell—”
• So I can pick one up at an AT&T store? (PITA, but doable.)
• “—for $199.”
• Can I speak to a supervisor?
• (pause)
• (Supervisor takes the call.)
• “There’s nothing we can do.”
• I’m sorry, I don’t get that. I pay you a lot of money for a working phone.
• (wait for it…) “There is nothing in your contract that guarantees you service. We don’t guarantee service in the home or guarantee service anywhere, for that matter.”
• And Sprint’s sending the thing to my husband doesn’t move you?
• “We aren’t Sprint. You’re talking to a supervisor at AT&T.” (I loved that one. I wish she’d added the “dope” that was in her voice.)
• So what do I need to do to switch to Sprint?
• “Pay us $250 to get out of your contract.”

So here I am.

Have you had this happen?

Have you found a solution?

Please share! (… while I go throw things and investigate All The Options for getting out of my contract. @SprintCare, if your company has any solutions, I’m happy to take your call.)

After all these years I am both speechless and furious… but I wished my lovely @ATTCustomerCare supervisor a Happy 4th of July — because if this doesn’t sum up the way America’s been going for awhile now, I don’t know what does.

Hoping your 4th is better than mine,

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

I pushed this blog post live at 2:06pm.

It’s now 6:20pm

The problem is solved, thanks to @WoolyJumper’s retweeting and two Twitter-Based customer service reps quick responses. In particular, @ATTCustomerCare ^PatriceW. I received some very interesting emails and private messages along the way—particularly about fine print in (most) cell phone contracts about how if you move and your service becomes untenable you can get out of your contract without penalty—check your contracts.

I did feel good though, owing to how long it took for ^PatriceW to make contact with me by phone… when she did call it went straight to voice mail—which I didn’t ping for over 10 min—then couldn’t LISTEN to the voice mail b/c I couldn’t connect to the tape recorder in the sky… Then I went outside and was able to call back… mostly. She was very patient.

So, lesson here: always start with Twitter Customer Support. I learned that with our cable company/@CoxHelp. I should have realized it was an across the board New World Thing.

Thank you PatriceW. And I think I should thank AT&T… for hiring you!