AT&T DSL and Customer Service

Recently I decided to switch from Comcast broadband internet to AT&T DSL internet because Comcast kept raising my rates.  All I wanted was the basic internet and the cheapest they will give it for is like $43 per month.  AT&T was offering a promotional rate of $14.95 per month for a year, so I thought I would try it out.

I had a very hard time signing up for it.  First, they did not have my address in the system.  They even have the name of my town misspelled in the system, and it is not even a small town or anything.  So I manage to sign up after having to call them up and cancel the 1st order which went through under a different address.

I set it up with my own DSL modem.  Set up was ok, but not without problems.  It took about an hour to get it working. Signing up online is not easy at all.  I still can't even access my bill online.  In fact I just got an order summary saying that my price is the regular price without the promotion.  I call up AT&T, go through all the annoying automated messages and wait on hold listening to even more annoying background noise.  When I get through the guy says that they bill the regular price and then give you credit a few months later.  What?  Why not just bill how much it is?

Oh yeah, and I have to have them send out a confirmation mail through regular mail just to sign up online to view my bill.  So far I am very disappointing with their customer service. 

As for the speed of the DSL, it is actually pretty good.  The download speed is faster than I was getting with Comcast.  The upload and ping time is a little slower, but not by much.  Overall there is not much difference and I have been able to use the internet and even stream videos without any problem.  A couple times it stopped working, but a restart and reboot fixed it.

Also, about the bill, online they said there is no commitment at the promo price, but over the phone they guy says that you need to keep it for a year if you want that price.  The AT&T reps don't seem to know what is going on.  Which reminds me of how at first, they couldn't find my address in the system and ultimately told me they did not service my location.  The only way I got it is when I called them up to cancel the order and they managed to look it up when I told them the reason.

Anyway, the internet works and as long as we get this billing situation figured out I will be satisfied.