Comments on: In it for the Money: Time with AT&T (Part 1)

By: Alan Benard

Alan Benard — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:43:31 +0000

I point out first that I am a friend of Dave’s, but I will attempt to offer objective facts about this piece.

This is what a newspaper column is supposed to look like. This piece is a little longer than a column’s normal 600-word length. However, this is a Web site and column inches are not at a premium.

Periodicals offer their readerships an edited analysis of everyday life in their service areas. Newspaper columns report on the quotidian. The columnist offers his or her viewpoint on the ordinary in a fresh and emotionally affecting way while making a larger, universal point.

Are the observations in this piece compelling and insightful? My friend fulfilled his end of the deal by bringing humor and even pathos to his task.

We ought to be thinking about the insidious ways that supposedly labor-saving technology — and the corporations that provide it — steal small segments of our time, over and over again. Management fosters this chaos by spending as little as possible to offer services that cost consumers a fair bit of money. (That is what Dave wrote, but he was funny.)

Why bother stating this fact? AT&T does monitor the press for references of its trademark and it cares about its reputation. In case one had forgotten, the press is supposed to shine a light on problems. Those causing the problems are then encouraged to improve. The local press should be more than a dictation machine for City Hall and the source for stories on the latest traffic accidents and break-ins.

If one finds the sheer number of words, the vocabulary and the wry gestures in Dave’s writing to be a chore, I suggest one visit AnnArbor.com. It is fairly painless, despite the editing.

By: John Dory

John Dory — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 21:05:23 +0000

This is another great column by Nelson. Absolutely funny satire.

I even learned a new word -”kvetching”.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:29:30 +0000

For what it’s worth, I’ve had excellent customer service from ATT, though some line trouble. I’ve also exchanged resigned tolerance for righteous indignation over phone holds. Usually the people on the other end are trying to do their jobs.

By: kittybkahn

kittybkahn — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:57:51 +0000

We have an AT&T land line, as well as AT&T iPhone (mine) and cell phone (my husband’s)and have never had a bad experience – I’m knocking on wood as we speak. We purposely haven’t switched from comcast for our internet service because we didn’t want to put all our eggs in one basket. I have had some frustrating experiences with comcast – like them charging me for a service call which they insisted would be free – but they always removed the charge immediately when I complained over the phone. Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to bundle all your communication even if it supposedly saves you some money. I wouldn’t use comcast for my land line either. Just my two cents.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:10:11 +0000

It really sucks that some bastard holds a gun to your head and forces you to read it. Oh well, at least you have the satisfaction of being rude about it.

By: abc

abc — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:08:23 +0000

Did you notice how hard it is to get a phone number for the… phone company. They make it very easy for you to file an email for help but not to talk to a real representative (even a robotic one). I could be wrong but I am pretty sure that there is not one phone number for them on their website. If it is there it is far from accessible; I remember having to track it down from a different source.

I have concluded that AT&T’s customer service is just one big placebo; send in your email and it will make you feel better.

For what its worth, I had a local phone company up until recently but then switched to the monster due to very expensive rates.

By: m.c. zacharias

m.c. zacharias — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:50:47 +0000

I agree with JIM REES — nothing new or interesting here.
The only thing more exasperating than dealing with the AT&Ts of the world, is searching for value in this guy’s writing. Talk about mind-numbing.

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:13:16 +0000

I’m a child of AT&T, or more properly, Michigan Bell. My mom supported our family on her Bell salary, and I grew up around switchboards and PBXes and made dioramas with bundles of discarded wiring and learned how to dial my own number and stuff. It was a wonderful company (modulo a few evilly grasping actions now and then) that helped launch a lot of women into the working world. I grieve to see what’s become of it (but it isn’t really the old AT&T anyway–it’s just a Baby Bell grown monstrous).

And this is standard bigcorp bullshit. My wife spent some time yesterday in a phone menu that had no exit–it just kept looping back around, like the twisty little maze of passages, all alike, I used to get stuck in in Colossal Cave. We just have to function, somehow, in an increasingly dehumanized world.

By: Just Ken

Just Ken — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:56:22 +0000

What is this “home phone” thing you refer to?

By: Jim Rees

Jim Rees — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:11:48 +0000

Nothing new or interesting here. Anyone who has ever had AT&T service has a similar story. The surprising thing is that you actually spent that much time on the phone with them. You write a letter explaining why you won’t be paying the charge, and send it to them certified mail.