... For us, AT&T is one of three companies that play a vital role in making it all work.
Before I tell you about what AT&T does for us and my opinion of how well they do it, let me describe the telecom facts of our household--facts that, in all likelihood, are less than unique.
****OUR ... Read review
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Advantages: Wide range of services, well-established organization Disadvantages: Price structure is complex and sometimes mired in mirk
...own home. For us, AT&T is one of three companies that play a vital role in making it all work.
Before I tell you about what AT&T does for us and my opinion of how well they do it, let me describe the telecom facts of our household--facts that, in all likelihood, are less than unique.
****OUR TELECOM REALITY***********
We are a household of two "maturing" adults. To service that household, we ... ...as local long-distance (more about AT&T later). The third company provides all aspects of our cellular service. Not one of these three companies provides us with our end-user equipment--that is, the phones themselves. We have purchased each of our many telephones separately, and we seem to replace one or another of these devices at the rate of about one per year. All in all, our telecom charges generally range between $300 and $600 per month--virtually ... more
Once upon a time, life was simple. There was Ma Bell, and Ma Bell ruled. She provided equipment, access, and long-distance service, and once a month she sent us a bill to pay. Alas and forsooth, modern life has progressed well beyond that simple state of affairs and has become far more complex.
In a communications age that has given us the Internet and almost instantaneous contact around the globe, few processes have become more complicated (at least on this side of the Atlantic) than the process for how phone companies interact. Heck, forget the global network here! Few things are more complicated than how telecom companies interact within my own home. For us, AT&T is one of three companies that play a vital role in making it all work.
Before I tell you about what AT&T does for us and my opinion of how well they do it, let me describe the telecom facts of our household--facts that, in all likelihood, are less than unique.
****OUR TELECOM REALITY***********
We are a household of two "maturing" adults. To service that household, we have four phone lines (two for our residential use and two serving my home-based business office). Two of these lines are dedicated voice lines--one for the home and one for the home office. The other two are dedicated data lines--one for my personal computer (which does double duty for the fax machine) and, yet again, one for the home office computer, including DSL access. We also have two cell phones, one for each of us, naturally. The cell phones are required for business use, and they are the most expensive factor in our telecom equation.
To service our new telecom reality, we pay bills to three different companies. One, our local provider, ensures our access to the overall telephone network. We pay this company a flat fee each month for the use of each of our four "traditional" phone lines--what would once have been called land-based lines, though I don't think that term has meaning any longer. In return for the rather tidy sum they charge, we receive "access" to the telephone network and they make sure our lines stay in order--at least the lines beyond the walls of our house. (We are responsible for maintaining the inside lines.) We also pay for caller ID on our home voice line, voice mail on my business voice line, and DSL service on my business data line. The second company, AT&T, provides our long-distance service for all four of these lines, including a strange creation known as local long-distance (more about AT&T later). The third company provides all aspects of our cellular service. Not one of these three companies provides us with our end-user equipment--that is, the phones themselves. We have purchased each of our many telephones separately, and we seem to replace one or another of these devices at the rate of about one per year. All in all, our telecom charges generally range between $300 and $600 per month--virtually never lower, but higher more often than we'd like. (Note that business charges are a big part of this total. These are not simply residential charges.)
****THE AT&T ROLE***********
Within this framework, AT&T, our long-distance provider, is probably the least troublesome of the companies we deal with. Least troublesome, however, is not to be understood as trouble free. Each of the four lines being used in our home has its own long-distance billing plan, and AT&T is the author and arbiter of how those plans do or do not work. Creating an overall scheme of long-distance changes has required a careful examination of pluses and minuses. Moreover, it has required a good deal of time and aggravation. Consumers are warned to keep the old maxim of "buyer beware" firmly in mind--if one isn't very careful, one gets thoroughly soaked with high charges.
~~~~The Data Lines~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two easiest elements of our AT&T billing plan are the data lines. These lines almost exclusively use either local or toll-free numbers, so the long-distance use rates for each of these lines are highest and the monthly long-distance access fees are lowest--the fees on both counts being higher for the business line.
~~~~The Business Voice Line~~~~~~~~~~~
The rate structure for the business voice line is fairly simple. For a relatively modest standard monthly fee, I have a long-distance usage rate of about 7 cents per minute. Getting this simple plan, however, took months of false moves and re-negotiations. The business lines came into the home long after we were set up with our residential service, and I mistakenly assumed that because I had taken the trouble to get the best-available rates on my residential line, my preferences would automatically follow me to the new business lines. I was wrong, oh so wrong.
When my first phone bill arrived for the business lines, my relatively modest use had accumulated charges of over $600 for less than one month of service--all billed at the rate of 45 cents per minute and all billed through my local provider, not directly through AT&T. A flurry of calls to customer service and conferences between my local provider and AT&T, plus some carefully worked-out adjustments and credits, resulted in my current arrangement. (It was at this point that the billing for the two business lines was separated into two different plans.) It took over 6 months before the credits all cleared. In the meantime, I had to deal with both my local provider and AT&T on a monthly basis. Despite the protests on record regarding my bill, both companies persisted in issuing periodic threats to disconnect my business lines for non-payment of the contested charges. It was an ongoing nightmare--well, if not a nightmare, it was bothersome and annoying. Once resolved, however, my service and my billing for AT&T long-distance has been beyond reproach, and my long-distance bill for the voice line has rarely exceeded $30 per month.
Moral Of This Particular Story: Be sure to ask whether you are getting the best rate available for the type of line being used. Unless you say otherwise, AT&T will assume that you prefer to pay the very highest rates going for the pleasure of their service.
~~~~The Residential Voice Line~~~~~~~~~~~
The residential voice line has seen the most changes. As long-distance rates declined and new plans evolved, it has been modified as required. The current plan calls for a truly modest standard charge, plus two well-chosen options. For $19.95 per month, we subscribe to AT&T Unlimited. This plan allows us to make toll-free calls to anyone within the service area (roughly, the continental United States) as long as the number being called also subscribes to an AT&T plan. (Note that AT&T Unlimited is not available for business lines.) For $2.99 per month, we also subscribe to AT&T International, which allows us to make international calls at a much-reduced rate. Our calls to the UK and Ireland, for example, cost 10 cents per minute, as compared with charges in excess of $1 per minute paid before we signed up. Even if we made only two or three calls to the UK per year, the plan would pay for itself. We are billed 5 cents per minute for "domestic" long-distance calls to numbers that are not on an AT&T plan.
Moral Of This Story: The right plan for any residential user is likely to change often. It is adviable to include routine checks with your customer service representative to ensure that the plan currently in place is still the best fit for your needs.
****CONCLUSION***********
Telecom service in today's complex world is neither simple nor cheap. It is still possible, however, to devise a plan for your home and family that is, if not inexpensive, at least serves your needs in a cost-effective manner. Given the overlapping roles of a large number of telecom companies, getting good value for the money spent requires taking charge of your arrangements, asking questions about the latest plans and fees, and conducting routine reviews of your overall service package.
Within this context, AT&T's services can be a great bargain or they can be excessively overpriced. The key to achieving the former rather than the latter is your own willingness to be a proactive consumer.
Advantages: Frankly, none that I have found Disadvantages: Their service is horrible.
...I first went with AT&T internet services because I was paying way too much for Comcast, and AT&T told me I could get high speed internet access through them without having to pay for telephone service. I ordered their service which was the Elite package, fastest available at the time, through a "dry loop"- which means a live phone line, without dial tone, solely reserved for DSL service.
At first I was impressed because I didnt notice any major ... ...service, but for the first 3 months I had to contact them about errors in billing, they kept shutting off my service saying my bill wasnt paid, but it in fact was and after talking to various operators, they figured it out- but I had to do that each month for the first three.
Then I saw an ad for their "bundle" packages on the TV, and if I ordered a bundle off the internet, I would get an even better discount on my services. So I ordered telephone ...
nohits4days 06.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of AT&T
Advantages: None that I can see Disadvantages: Inaccurate call records, poor customer service, slow service
Having read several opinions on AT&T as it operates in the UK, having lived in the UK and having now experienced AT&T first hand in the USA I thought it time to add my two penneth (or as it is now one penneth) about this company.
Clearly AT&T have not got things right either here in the USA or in the UK, and probably wherever else they have expanded their empire to.
You may wish to read Pelenya's opinion on this company, and here tale of woe regarding ... ...had not made. In fact AT&T were not even our long distance phone carrier. After their earlier cock up with the operator connected call, Ellen changed service provider.
So how come we got billed for calls? It took several phone calls to poorly trained staff and an insistance on my part that the matter be resolved quickly before the answer became clear.
We had been billed for calls made on Ellen's old number. You see, earlier in the year she had ...
jonwhite 20.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of AT&T
Advantages: None Disadvantages: Expensive, you pay more than what the rep tells you when you sign, problems getting direct dialled calls through
...mistakes - in which case AT&T needs to update it's equipment, it's methods, and it's sales reps knowledge. Or, we can go the other way and think that this is a deliberate action on the part of AT&T, and that they are trying to fleece their customers. Either way, it does not bode well for AT&T - thievery or incompetence. Their choice, and neither a reputation worth having.
Oh, and when you change companies, AT&T will call and harrass you to switch ...
poet831 08.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of AT&T
Advantages: Long range local calling area, variety of services offered Disadvantages: Poor customer service, incompetence, and apparent dishonesty or loop holes in charges
...the sack early. Unfortunately, AT&T had other plans for me.
About 30 minutes after I had drifted off to sleep, my telephone rang. When my Caller ID did not register a name or number, I picked up the phone to be interrogated by an AT&T Customer Service Representative on the other end of the line - at least he called himself a customer service representative.
He claimed there was concern about my bill because there was an international call on it ... ...I was told by the AT&T that if I had dialed the call myself, it would have cost me less than half of the amount I was being charged. After going through three representatives that night, I finally landed a halfway pleasant lady who gave me a telephone number to call the following day - after all, the department that handled these types of problems had closed for the night.
I called the number given to me the next day, during the specified time range, ...
Pelenya 27.05.2001 (21.09.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of AT&T
Advantages: Farely good service on other things Disadvantages: Not aware of own business
I think AT&T mabey good i guess but they are a little um umorganized in some areas....we asked them about DSL then when we heard the prices we said we didnt think so .....then one day we got a package in the mail UPS from AT&T my mother opened it found DSL parts ....She was confused knowing that we didnt order it... then about a month later we got a 300$ bill for it when we didnt even ask for it so they sent us DSL after we said know then they tried ... ...back UPS again and a month later they sent us ANOTHER bill saying we havent paid it .......well duh we havent paid it we have talked to these ppl before bout the problem and they SAID they understood but they sent us that bill........the UPS guy says 90% of the time when they say they havent received the package its just sitting in there store room because they never check it enough!!!! ...
coco_four 21.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of AT&T
Advantages: nice clothes, lots of sale items, wide aisles in shop Disadvantages: didn't have more money to spend !!
I don't usually go clothes shopping, as I am a stay-at-home mum and don't really need to wear flashy clothes. But then my Dad, Stepmum and my baby sister came over and we went out to the Mall shopping.
Well, for me, 'shopping' means the weekly trudge round Asda or the occasional pleasurable spend at a beanie shop ! But my Stepmum is younger than me and enjoys a good clothes shop !
So we ended up in H & M as she wanted to buy my sister a swimsuit and it was the only shop in the whole of the Mall that had swimsuits for babies in December !
I had a bit of Christmas money to spend on my self and wanted to buy a nice outfit or two to wear over the festive season. I had planned to spend it at the 'George' department of Asda, but had a look round H & M instead.
I was pleasantly surprised. There was a good variety of clothes for sale ...
KarenUK 22.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of H & M (Shop)
Advantages: Lots of beauty products (and lots of pink!) Disadvantages: Sometimes my earrings don't last very long
Claires always has a wide range of jewellry and hair products for girls and women especially if you love pink. You can get anything fluffy pink or glitzy and most girls have loads of fun choosing what to buy. I love looking at all the earrings and usually get at least more than five pairs! You can even get clip earrings or magnetic earrings and packets or studs. You can get rings necklaces and loads of other jewellry and there is a wide range of hairbands and stuff.
They do difdferent things each week and I think they are worth at least looking at.
The only proble I find is that a few of my earrings don't last long and they made my pierces holes go black.
The only reason not to visit is if you are male!!! ...
Advantages: So cheap for basics Disadvantages: Never a good idea to look for anything else
My nearest Primark is 20 miles away, but I find it well worth visiting for all those essential clothes itlems that we cannot manage without. By that I mean underwear and socks.
Socks - £2 for a pack of 5 pairs of trainer socks (choose from all white, all black, various mixed colours). They wash and wear as well as M&S at more than twice the price.
Undies - I have two teenage girls, always growing. Primark's T-shirt bras (at £4) are at least £2 cheaper than anywhere else. Their multiway bras (ie, normal, strapless, halter) are only £5. These both come in white and black (plus possibly other colours such as skintone, but we don't look at anything other than white and black). Quite often there are fancy bra/pants sets on sale offer for £3 or less. The bras I wear come in a pack of 2 for £3 (cheap or what?). Knickers are also ...
deebeebee 27.09.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Primark (Shop)
![A.T.'s Delight [Remastered] - Art Taylor](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/911/A_T_s_Delight_Art_Taylor__6643911.jpg)
