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Dec 10th

My Letter to AT&T’s Facebook Page Admin

at&t-facebook-pageI wrote this as a letter on AT&T’s Facebook page today, in response to today’s trending article on Mashable, and have given them the opportunity to respond.  You can see it here.  Who knows?  Maybe they’ll even comment on my blog.  At any rate, the ball is in your court, AT&T…

Dear AT&T Facebook Page Admin,

I applaud that you are using Facebook to try and communicate with your customers.  I’ve been lurking for a few days, and you seem to have a war zone on your hands.  I also think that your company’s approach to building a team of CSR’s who use Twitter, and organizing them with Twitter Lists.  Yet, I’ve been complaining about my dropped calls on Twitter for weeks now, using your brand name each time, and yet no one has paid a lick of attention to me.  That’s a FAIL and you should be monitoring more closely.

Second, this article attached as a link is trending and has hit the top of Mashable.  That means hundreds of thousands of people are reading it, sharing it, commenting on it, whatever.  It’s popular.  Likewise, I’d be willing to bet that a good portion of those folks are your smartphone customers.  We geeks tend to read the same stuff.

It’s pretty apparent that your company is in the midst of a crisis and that could be bad for your organization.  Yet, when people (who you’ve invited to participate in a conversation might I add) write negative comments, your reoccurring response on this page is this:

“We encourage you to listen to what Ralph de la Vega actually said on the topic. Check the audio out here: http://cuthut.com/w4r”

When I click on that link, you dump me into a registration form where you ask me to fill out a fair amount of information.  Here’s a clue: I’m not going to fill out your form.  You already have all my contact info. And at this point, I’m not doing anything you ask me to do.

Why, you ask?  Because I’m pissed at AT&T.  I’ve been dropping at least 3-5 calls on average per day, and all the social media in the world isn’t going to fix that.  Yesterday I even dropped a call while I was on the phone with one of your CRS ‘s.  To her credit, she was friendly and helpful and called me right back, instead of making me start all over and go through your prompt system.

The long and short of it is that I’m paying for a service that’s not working, and I feel cheated.  I feel like I’m being held captive because I love my iPhone and I don’t want to switch to a Droid, but I may have to soon.

Now a trending article is telling me that you’re CEO is saying that the dropped calls are my fault because I use my smartphone too much?   Seriously?  Shame on him and your company.

Let me remind you that I didn’t sign the contract with Apple to get rights to the iPhone – that was you guys.  And guess what?  My usage will probably increase over the next few years because of the nature of my business.  I’m paying you guys so you’ll just have to deal with that.

What say you to this?

Your customer,

Nate
@nateriggs
And just so you know, I’ve also posted this letter on my blog at http://nateriggs.com

P.S. Another link to a damn registration form that will let me hear what good old Ralph really said is not going to cut it…ever.

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  • Comment from AT&T on their Facebook Page
    Hey Nate, glad to hear you were able to get help over the phone.

    As far as your question about the investments we’ve made and are making, we’ve already seen the hard work pay off. Take dropped calls: our national performance is within two-tenths of 1 percent of the highest score among major providers, with only 1.32 percent of calls dropped nationally. (This performance data is measured by extensive independent third-party drive tests).

    We appreciate all feedback, especially from our fans right here on Facebook. And we're not stopping here. There's more work to be done and we are urgently working to deliver for our customers! ... See More

    P.S. Thanks to you and Jules for your suggestion re: UBS transcript. We’ve posted text from the transcript on this wall, in response to many fans’ questions, so fans can understand exactly what was stated.
  • Comment from Jules Verne Hodge on AT&T Facebook Page
    I agree, the content from UBS should be on a ATT website that requires no login.
  • Response from Nate Riggs on AT&T Facebook Page

    Thanks for your response - Jules and AT&T. Other than the dropped calls (which are still happening in my area in Columbus Ohio), I was able to take care of everything via the phone call with the CSR so I'm ok.

    What's the ballpark time line until the investments you guys are making in your network start to take effect? I can understand that this is probably a BIG project and will take some time, but just curious. Months? Years?

    At any rate I appreciate your response. A humble suggestion - take the content from UBS and try to find a way to post it here. I think your customers would appreciate that effort for additional transparency.... See More

    Thank you.
  • Response from Jules Verne Hodge on AT&T Facebook page
    Also Ralph never said anything about dropped calls being caused by data usage, iPhone or otherwise. That was context created falsely by bloggers reporting the "news" of what he actually said. That's why they keep pointing people to what was actually said, because the speculation of what he "meant" has been ridiculous.

    Also that login page is not... See More from at&t, its from UBS. AT&T was trying to link people to the horse's mouth article, but UBS is requiring additional information to see the article. You can probably get a transcript of everything that was said, and a audio recording somewhere else.
  • Response from AT&T
    AT&T
    Nate, a couple of things we’d like to clarify…

    #1- We regularly monitor our Twitter channel at @shareatt , and the Customer Care team regularly monitors their @attcustomercare channel. Have you been tweeting to these two channels?

    #2- Yes, we have included a link to Ralph de la Vega’s speech, but we have also included text of his transcript, so that our fans can easily understand that much of what has been written up about Ralph de la Vega's comments is wildly inaccurate. Basically, all of this arose out of a question and answer session at the UBS conference yesterday. This was not some kind of announcement...it is something that people in the industry discuss all the time. When there is actually something factual to announce, you’ll hear about it here first.... See More

    We are investing $17 to $18 billion in our wireless networks so that customers like you can reap the benefits. We are nearly doubling the wireless spectrum serving 3G customers in hundreds of markets across the country, using high-quality 850 MHz spectrum. We are adding about 2,000 new cell sites, expanding service to new cities, and improving coverage in other areas.

    In fact, performance data collected by independent, third-party, statistically valid drive tests shows that AT&T continues to deliver the nation’s fastest 3G network, and that the AT&T wireless network is performing well. In one of the most common measures of reliability – dropped calls – AT&T’s national performance is within two-tenths of 1 percent of the highest score among major providers, with only 1.32 percent of calls dropped nationally. That translates to a difference of less than 2 calls out of 1,000.

    Having said all that, we are committed to helping you here on this page. I understand you’ve already spoken with a CSR, but if you email us (at help@attnews.us ) with more information about the specific issues you are encountering, we will get in touch.
  • Nate, good job putting your voice out there. I hope for your sake, and the sake of all AT&T customers, that they not only respond to your letter but also fix their service!

    When big brands enter social media, it is always going to be hard at first. They are opening the door to negativity and they should be recognized for at least being brave. Initially, that is. After that, they are going to be judged mainly by how they manage that negativity.

    I am always shocked when small companies are afraid to enter into the social space because of potential negative feedback, when HUGE corporations like AT&T or Walmart have already bravely stepped out (albeit poorly).

    AT&T could respond to all of the negative feedback in just one tweet and one Facebook post. All they have to do to alleviate suffering and anger is to honestly say "We are wrong and we are sorry" and give everyone a free months service or something. They would lose a little tiny bit of money (comparatively) and would gain a huge amount of respect.

    Good luck AT&T, you are pretty much screwing yourself over!
  • Thanks for the comment Analisa. What drives me nuts about this example, is that AT&T has done a really good job with purposing the tools. Where they are lacking (service aside) is how they are handling crisis communication. Basic rules apply here. Treat your customers like human beings and just respond. Even if you can fix the issues, at least e genuine in your response. And in this type of a situation, focusing on capturing data via a web form is probably not the best move...
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