My iPhone Review

It’s hard to write something about the iPhone that takes a new angle. For the next few days you’ll be seeing hands-on reviews of the iPhone by folks like Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal and David Pogue of the New York Times. Come Friday night, you’ll also see the first customer reactions. Thus, every possible angle is covered.

Lucky for me, AT&T dropped a gift in my lap last night.

I recently installed a landline for Truemors and today, out of the blue, I got a notice that AT&T is turning on DSL for the line. In fact, it was turned on five days ago. There’s only one problem: I never ordered DSL, and I don’t want a Dumb Slow Line. How hard could it be to cancel a service that you never ordered? The back of the order said you can get help via an online chat system 24 x 7. Tally ho!

This is the actual transcript of my support session:

Please wait while we find an agent to assist you…
You are currently at position number 11 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 11 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 11 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 10 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 10 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 10 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 9 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 9 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 9 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 8 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 8 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 7 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 7 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 6 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 6 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 5 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 5 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 3 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 3 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 2 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 2 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 2 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 2 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 2 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 2 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 2 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 2 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 1 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 1 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 1 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 1 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 1 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
You are currently at position number 1 in the queue.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.
You are currently at position number 1 in the queue.
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You are currently at position number 1 in the queue.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.

So far, so good. It’s no big deal that I had to wait because I just had the chat window open and did other things while waiting.

Thank you for contacting AT&T Internet Services, my name is [AT&T Person]. One moment while I review your information.

[AT&T Person]: I see you want to cancel your DSL service, is that correct?

Guy Kawasaki: yes, I never ordered it

[AT&T Person]: I am sorry you are experiencing this issue and will be happy to assist you.

[AT&T Person]: Guy Kawasaki, is 650-329-2020 your DSL phone number?

Guy Kawasaki: yes, I want to keep the number. It’s my business number. I don’t want DSL on it at all.

[AT&T Person]: Do you have a dial up account with us?

Guy Kawasaki: Dial up as in data/dsl? No. 329-2020 is strictly voice for my business.

[AT&T Person]: I see. Please call us up at 1-877-722-3755 under normal business hours and over the prompt, say Orders.

[AT&T Person]: Do you have any questions regarding the information that I just sent to you?

Guy Kawasaki: Why? I’m not adding/ordering anything. I am canceling something I never ordered.

[AT&T Person]: Guy Kawasaki, I am sorry for this inconvenience but please understand that I am a technician.

Guy Kawasaki: Why am I calling this number? So you didn’t take care of canceling DSL. I just wasted 30 minutes?

Guy Kawasaki: Why didn’t you just tell me you can’t cancel a service?

[AT&T Person]: I am sorry. I do understand your frustration. Do you have any questions regarding the information that I just sent to you?

[AT&T Person]: Is there anything else that I may assist you with today?

[AT&T Person]: Before you go, I would like to inform you that you may receive a survey in your email, requesting that you rate the service you received from me. Please take a few minutes to fill this out and let my manager know how I am doing and how satisfied you are with the support you received from AT&T Internet Services.

Holy cow: a survey!

Thank you for using AT&T Yahoo! Chat Support. You will now be disconnected from this session. The chat window will remain open until you close it. For quick answers, make the new AT&T Yahoo! Help site your first stop. Visit http://help.sbcglobal.net where you’ll find pages of product information to assist you. Again, thank you for choosing AT&T Yahoo! Chat Support.

What’s Yahoo! got to do with this? Maybe this is why Terry Semel bit the dust. I guess when the notice said that people can get help 24 x 7 it was only for installation and troubleshooting, not an adminstrative task like canceling an order.

Thank you for using AT&T High Speed Internet. You may now close this window.

Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

Okay, so I call AT&T the next day. I start the process at 11:33 am. At 11:45 am I speak to a human, she does some research, and tells me I need to speak to the DSL folks at 11:52. At 12:00 I’m off hold and speak to the next human. She tells me I need to speak to another department and transfers me. This person does more research and tells me that the order was a mistake (no kidding!) and that it’s already been canceled. At 12:07 I ask him what I should do if I see charges on the next bill. He assures me that it this won’t happen, but if it does, I should call back and tell the person—I’m not making this up—“Stanley canceled this on 6/27/07 at 12:00 pm.” I guess there’s only one “Stanley” who works at AT&T.

At 12:08, thirty-five minutes into it, I think I’ve canceled DSL that I never ordered. Give or take a few minutes, it’s taken a total of sixty eight minutes of my life to do this.

I love Steve. I love Apple. I’m even open to spending more on a phone than a computer, but AT&T? The slowness of its data network is only exceeded by its lack of customer service. Can I just buy an iPhone to use as a PDA to impress my friends, listen to music, watch video, and access the Internet via Wifi while not having anything to do with AT&T? Can you hear me now?

Photo credit: Pia Torelli/Reflex News/WpN

Comments

[MB]

Take a look at the survey. It asks for commments and says in bold "we will not respond to any comments or questions."
Nice. Invest more time and get nothing back, not even improved service.
If Verizon would get equally priced, consistantly working service in Europe, I would have never gone to ATT three months ago.
Oh, one other thing, "The fewest dropped calls." It's a lie. And the connection is aweful.
Ad Agencies should be forced to use the brand they work for. It'd be great to get the message and the reality a little closer aligned.

[Teri Ross]

I have a perfect credit score - with one exception. I bailed on At&T in the middle of a contract two years ago. I had a similar support experience with them while simply trying to get cell service in Phoenix, AZ. That was simply the final straw after 18 months of very poor quality cell phone service.

I would have stood in line and purchased the iPhone last night if it weren't for the AT&T requirement. I agree, as long as AT&T is the sole service provider, I will not own an IPhone. Apple, can you hear us now?

[webmotion]

I can't believe it! Thousands of miles away - in Hungary - we have the very same symptoms, only that it's not AT&T eating the nerves but T-com and T-online and T-mobile and T-whatever...

[Thomas Schmitz]

5 years from now battered scruffy iPhones (version 1) will be sitting in cardboard boxes next to scruffy old Macs in RePC and other used computer parts stores while lousy telco support will still be readily available.

[you said it]

Yeah, I had a bunch of those experiences with AT&T Customer Dis-service too. Except when I ordered DSL (AT&T is the local monopoly) they managed to turn off my regular voice service for 3 weeks! No phone for 3 weeks and they never got the DSL to work.

AT&T is the biggest POS company in the world.

I'd rather have all my teeth drilled out while having an IRS audit with no anesthesia. Don't do business with AT&T if you can help it.

[Matthew]

I completely understand why people wouldnt want to switch servers AND have to pay a ridiculous price for the device. That said, if I was working for Apple right about now I'd be more than happy to make the switch...

http://www.thenewsroom.com/details/453262?c_id=wom-bc-mam

--matthew from the tech desk at thenewsroom.com

[st_labrat]

Ha, I didn't know iPhone got a feature that block the silly media people (like the spam filter). Smart indeed. I would tell some of the media (including some of them that bad mouth about Jobs, because they couldn't get it for free), that minimum IQ might be required... they might not meet the scale to have it... hehehe.

[Steve Roesler]

And that, Guy, is the single reason why it is 5:30 p.m. on June 29th and I am at home instead of in line at the Apple Store 15 minutes away.

[Webconomist]

The large enterprise, such as AT&T is a Management System. It is a result of the rise of management theory, post WW2. Management inherently reduces risk where possible to focus on delivering profit through shareholder value, not economic value. This means the customer just isn't important.

True customer service means letting people actually make decisions. That is a risk, therefore it is bad management. AT&T senior management will avoid at all costs, even as Telus or Aliant in Canada do, letting people make decisions. Heaven forbid a nice letter arrives at their desk...

[Deirdré Straughan]

So there's an upside to the iPhone not being available in Europe right away: Apple will have time to see just how badly they get burned on a bad partner, and maybe choose more carefully outside the US. God forbid they should end up in bed with Telecom Italia! - if you think you've seen bad customer service: http://www.beginningwithi.com/italy/living/telecom.html

[Dr.Mani]

===
Can I just buy an iPhone to use as a PDA to impress my friends, listen to music, watch video, and access the Internet via Wifi while not having anything to do with AT&T?
===

You mean I CAN'T???

I was going to order one EXACTLY to do that - because it launches in India only a year later.

But then, who needs a phone when you have an iPhone, right?

I'm SERIOUS ;)

Dr.Mani

[Just Some Crank]

I expected nothing from this review, but still I find myself disappointed.

Phone companies suck because they can.

Verizon? Sucks. They were assholes when they were New York Telephone/New England Bell/etc back in 1985 and they are still assholes today.

AT&T? Sucks, sucked in 1952 and sucks 10x more today. Hell, the current company is more like the 3rd cousin of the original AT&T, but that doesn't matter -- they all suck.

Sprint? Please.

T-Mobile? Sucks -- and the phone stops working when you get off the highway. They suck in Germany too.

The only person who I've ever personally known who has gotten immediate satifaction from a telephone company is the Governor of a US state -- and he only got help when he personally called the CEO of that company.

The iPhone is a $600 phone. I'm sure its pretty nifty. But nit-picking over telcos is a collossal waste of time and energy.

[Mordy Golding]

Awesome post Guy.

As much as I love the iPhone (and Apple), I can't justify moving over to the AT&T Network. I'll have to wait until the next generation iPhones come to other carries. For now, I will have to live with my Treo, which while not nearly as sexy as the iPhone, does work quite well.

I can't remember where I found out about this, but there's a cool site called "Get Human" which has numbers and information to a human on the phone. The website address is http://gethuman.com/us/ and I've had good success with it.

[digitalzone]

Guy,

mater of fact.

"There is only one “Stanley” at AT&T that is associated with the number 650-329-2020. Call centers keep track of everything."

[Nathaniel Smith]

Interesting to read this post just a few minutes after reading OpenMoko announcing ship dates for their fully-open cell phones. Certainly won't be as fancy as the iPhone at first (though the photos so far are very pretty), but in the long run I'll take an open platform over the locked-in-locked-up iPhone. That I might be forced to spend years dealing with AT&T tech support because of a deal that Apple Inc.'s executives made -- for their benefit, not mine -- is just crazy.

[Rimantas]

"The only difference is Porsche is powered by a Porsche engine. The result is a glorious ride. iPhone is powered by a Hugo engine...er I mean AT&T."

Marc, iPhone is powered by a Porsche engine, I mean OS X. It's the roads you will be driving that you get from AT&T.

[Axure]

Perhaps you should use your position as an influential person in tech world (and convince other influential friends) to spread a strongly stated point of view that the marriage of iPhone and AT&T is the most stupid thing that could have been done and that people will suffer.

And the motivation behind that shouldn't be to hurt Apple (OK, it should be to some extent, they deserve it), but mainly to save some people's pain and to save Apple from their own stupidity and help them break with this idea.

(Not that Apple has an extremely good customer service either... I've suffered it even here, in Poland.)

[Finite]

Apple.com says "Minimum new 2-year wireless service plan and activation fee required to activate iPhone features, including iPod; plans are subject to AT&T credit approval."

This also conveniently precludes using 1.0 as a spare ipod after upgrading to 2.0. When I am king, CEOs like Steve will go to jail for planned obsolesence tricks like these. BOYCOTT APPLE!

(Hi, Guy. I used to be on your Apple evange-list in the 90s, and am now a linuxppc refugee. No hard feelings:)

[Cynthia Pinsonnault]

I feel your pain. Some time back I had an encounter with tech support at what is now AT&T: http://cyntheta.blogspot.com/2006/02/ing-tech-support.html

So many companies, big and small, care only about making the sale and really don't care too much about what comes after. One the responses here mentioned the culture created by management. We live in a disposable society and many corporate cultures have decided that customers are disposable too.

[Moses]

This is one of the funniest thing I've ever read. So sorry you went through all of that, I'm sure alot of us can relate.

What happened to the good old way of having only one person deal with a problem that a customer have. Nowadays, we get to talk to 5 different people from from different departments. I love it.

[Ansi]

There is only one “Stanley” at AT&T that is associated with the number 650-329-2020. Call centers keep track of everything.
I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you went through. I've have had similar problems with not just AT&T but many others as well. What I've found is if I do a little research and narrow down what to do and which number to call or email. Most of the time I get away with email, and I've never had an email not replied so far or with instructions on where to call and so forth.

I guess most of the time, people call with stupid questions and because of that people who call in for serious matters get bounced all around.

[Mike]

I worked for SBC for 8 years, and I specifically worked "around" these centers and issues for some time. The issue, ultimately, is the culture fostered in management: Career management rather than properly managing the biz.

Whenever I was exposed to executives, I was often surprised at how good of managers they were. The issue is the 4th to 2nd line middle managers. What is rewarded is what gets done. Action on the issue you bring up will only take place based on the reports the executives receive. Generally speaking, the 2nd to 4th lines are not even measuring the right things in the first place. The majority of the data are "scrubbed" and all news ends up being good news. Now that the mid-mgrs have been producing sub-par reports for this length of time, you can imagine the shock that may occur if more accurate data were reported. There would be significant reprocussions as well. And since you don't know whom your next boss will be, or who will have influence over your career in the next 18-24 months, the "bell-head" mgr keeps on keeping on. And you have your transcript.

Big shocker, huh? Yeah right. I suppose inevitably this occurs at any organization that has scaled to what at&t is today. The front-line managers are focused on career, annual bonuses, and probably just survival. Showing real data in the 2nd to 4th line realm will either be ignored, scrubbed, or you have officially commited career suicide because you are no longer a team player.

Service has also been commodotized. The next CEO's background is finance, not marketing. Has that been and will that be significant? We'll see. at&t has so much cash and market share right now, they have a lot of room to make errors or stay numb to the tiny pricks blog posts like this make.

[Jack]

Gee, thanks, I think. Your AT&T tech issue is more hassled than my Verizon issue. So, I guess I stay put. Devil you know ...

[James Higginbotham]

I, too, have been hurt by the AT&T issues. I used to use SBC, which I think is a branch office of Satan, Inc. I moved to AT&T local service happily, until they bought SBC. Now, I'm stuck with them in my area and no other choices (hint hint telecom - come to Austin). In the meantime, if I want to change my current phone plan, I have to pay a $20 activation fee for a phone service I already have! Figure that one out.

On the same token, Cingular was horrible, their store sales people are not helpful, and the network is slow. Before I switched, I had the "Blue Plan", which was basically the AT&T pre-Cingular-pre-AT&T plan. When I went to pick out a new phone, I had to move to the "Orange Plan", which was pre-AT&T-again. So, What it would it be now - move to the Blue Plan, which is what I have, but pre-Orange Plan? Give me a break!

I couldn't imagine buying an iPhone and having to go back there. I was treated better when my car was stolen!

[Joshua Gregory]

Guy,

I have to admit, the article threw me for a loop. As I was reading it, I kept asking, what does DSL have to do with his new iPhone?

Regardless, that is a great perspective on the PDA angle.

I think that in 2 years, not only will there be devices better than the iPhone, there will be a better iPhone! Have you looked back at first-gen iPod photos? That thing looks clunky compared to the new hotness apple is producing currently.