BEWARE OF AT&T!

[Whistleblower]

BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T!

AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its worst.
DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT!

I had an ISP service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL, a
personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they dropped
the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that were forced to
find another source. Another example of their screw-the-customer attitude is
the fact that reaching a tech support person by phone typically requires at
least a 20 minute wait on hold. AT&T once had a good tech support service on
Usenet, but dropped that too and became very hard to reach. I should have
seen the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back then!

This March 2nd I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and
website hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE
IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual customers!

They arranged a deal with Covad to take over the DSL service, and a new
email/web service that allows you to keep your existing email address and
ID. You could elect to use AT&T for dialup only, or go to another ISP
entirely. In effect, if you wanted to keep your present email address, IDs,
settings, and DSL, you are FORCED to accept Covad and still be tied to AT&T
as your ISP. Before, if your DSL service went down you had free dialup
backup, but no longer. Dialup now costs extra. And since converting to Covad
DSL about a week ago, I have already had a service failure!

For a business, the website customer-screwing by AT&T is the worst of all. I
had my site for years and it had a high ranking with the search engines -
top10. Now I have been FORCED to move it to another host with a new URL
unknown to the search engines. My initial outlay for 3 years of webhosting
and a domain was over $150. Fortunately I was able to upload my site to the
new host without the typical professional fee of $250 to do so, but it took
alot of my time. In addition, I'll have to toss and replace about $50 worth
of business cards with my old URL web address on them, replace other printed
materials with the old URL, change many documents, and inform many contacts.
I will inevitably lose business because the old URL, now in many website
links and hard-copy publications, has become useless.

The forced "migration" process from AT&T was complex and time-consuming, not
helped by the unavailability for several days of the means to do so at their
website where AT&T stated it would be. Instructions were vague and
non-specific, and good luck reaching them by phone! As the service cutoff
date approached, nothing could be done due to this and to AT&Ts
inaccessibility. Then, one day after completing part of the migration
process, CUTOFF! I had NO SERVICE - no web, no email, no DSL, no dialup,
nothing! Finally after hours of effort,I was able to establish my DSL
service. My Outlook Express was unable to download email until I corrected
that too - with no help from these corporate cretins that couldn't care
less!

Now, for the same monthly price as before (under a 1 year contract with a
BIG termination fee if you want out), I have DSL, web, and email. But no
dialup backup, Usenet, or website as before. The website costs extra now.
And will AT&T tech support improve? I wouldn't hold my breath!

The substantial expenses and inconveniences inflicted by this AT&T
customer-screwing is something for which a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT would be
appropriate, but no doubt the agreement you are forced into when buying
their service protects them from responsibility. Clearly AT&T, with typical
mega-corpseration greed and arrogance, cares little for their home and small
business customers. This sort of thing will continue as long as they can
perpetrate such actions without being held accountable, and consumers and
businesses will remain at their mercy.

When you vote, keep in mind it is the Republican-Conservatives that protect
these mega-corpserate bullies and allow them to run amok, unregulated, and
perpetrate such consumer-screwing actions as this.

BOYCOTT AT&T!

 

[Greg Russell]

In news:hor7il$iaq$1@news.eternal-september.org,
Whistleblower <Justice@USA.con> typed:

> I should have seen the writing on the wall and dropped
> AT&T back then!

.... yet you still pay them and have to whine incessantly about it?

 

[Philo P. Shagnasty]

Give it a rest. You don't like AT&T. Cancel and go somewhere else.



"Whistleblower" <Justice@USA.con> wrote in message
news:hor7il$iaq$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T!
>
> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its worst.
> DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT!
>
> I had an ISP service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL,
> a personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they
> dropped the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that were
> forced to find another source. Another example of their screw-the-customer
> attitude is the fact that reaching a tech support person by phone
> typically requires at least a 20 minute wait on hold. AT&T once had a good
> tech support service on Usenet, but dropped that too and became very hard
> to reach. I should have seen the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back
> then!
>
> This March 2nd I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and
> website hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE
> IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual customers!
>
> They arranged a deal with Covad to take over the DSL service, and a new
> email/web service that allows you to keep your existing email address and
> ID. You could elect to use AT&T for dialup only, or go to another ISP
> entirely. In effect, if you wanted to keep your present email address,
> IDs, settings, and DSL, you are FORCED to accept Covad and still be tied
> to AT&T as your ISP. Before, if your DSL service went down you had free
> dialup backup, but no longer. Dialup now costs extra. And since converting
> to Covad DSL about a week ago, I have already had a service failure!
>
> For a business, the website customer-screwing by AT&T is the worst of all.
> I had my site for years and it had a high ranking with the search
> engines - top10. Now I have been FORCED to move it to another host with a
> new URL unknown to the search engines. My initial outlay for 3 years of
> webhosting and a domain was over $150. Fortunately I was able to upload my
> site to the new host without the typical professional fee of $250 to do
> so, but it took alot of my time. In addition, I'll have to toss and
> replace about $50 worth of business cards with my old URL web address on
> them, replace other printed materials with the old URL, change many
> documents, and inform many contacts. I will inevitably lose business
> because the old URL, now in many website links and hard-copy publications,
> has become useless.
>
> The forced "migration" process from AT&T was complex and time-consuming,
> not helped by the unavailability for several days of the means to do so at
> their website where AT&T stated it would be. Instructions were vague and
> non-specific, and good luck reaching them by phone! As the service cutoff
> date approached, nothing could be done due to this and to AT&Ts
> inaccessibility. Then, one day after completing part of the migration
> process, CUTOFF! I had NO SERVICE - no web, no email, no DSL, no dialup,
> nothing! Finally after hours of effort,I was able to establish my DSL
> service. My Outlook Express was unable to download email until I corrected
> that too - with no help from these corporate cretins that couldn't care
> less!
>
> Now, for the same monthly price as before (under a 1 year contract with a
> BIG termination fee if you want out), I have DSL, web, and email. But no
> dialup backup, Usenet, or website as before. The website costs extra now.
> And will AT&T tech support improve? I wouldn't hold my breath!
>
> The substantial expenses and inconveniences inflicted by this AT&T
> customer-screwing is something for which a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT would be
> appropriate, but no doubt the agreement you are forced into when buying
> their service protects them from responsibility. Clearly AT&T, with
> typical mega-corpseration greed and arrogance, cares little for their home
> and small business customers. This sort of thing will continue as long as
> they can perpetrate such actions without being held accountable, and
> consumers and businesses will remain at their mercy.
>
> When you vote, keep in mind it is the Republican-Conservatives that
> protect these mega-corpserate bullies and allow them to run amok,
> unregulated, and perpetrate such consumer-screwing actions as this.
>
> BOYCOTT AT&T!
>
>

 

[Mark A. Sam]

You should just register a domain name, then set up your site and email
through a stable web hosting company like Web.com (formerly Interland) or
DiscountASP or many others. They you aren't tied to a phone or cable
company.



"Whistleblower" <Justice@USA.con> wrote in message
news:hor7il$iaq$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T!
>
> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its worst.
> DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT!
>
> I had an ISP service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL,
> a personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they
> dropped the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that were
> forced to find another source. Another example of their screw-the-customer
> attitude is the fact that reaching a tech support person by phone
> typically requires at least a 20 minute wait on hold. AT&T once had a good
> tech support service on Usenet, but dropped that too and became very hard
> to reach. I should have seen the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back
> then!
>
> This March 2nd I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and
> website hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE
> IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual customers!
>
> They arranged a deal with Covad to take over the DSL service, and a new
> email/web service that allows you to keep your existing email address and
> ID. You could elect to use AT&T for dialup only, or go to another ISP
> entirely. In effect, if you wanted to keep your present email address,
> IDs, settings, and DSL, you are FORCED to accept Covad and still be tied
> to AT&T as your ISP. Before, if your DSL service went down you had free
> dialup backup, but no longer. Dialup now costs extra. And since converting
> to Covad DSL about a week ago, I have already had a service failure!
>
> For a business, the website customer-screwing by AT&T is the worst of all.
> I had my site for years and it had a high ranking with the search
> engines - top10. Now I have been FORCED to move it to another host with a
> new URL unknown to the search engines. My initial outlay for 3 years of
> webhosting and a domain was over $150. Fortunately I was able to upload my
> site to the new host without the typical professional fee of $250 to do
> so, but it took alot of my time. In addition, I'll have to toss and
> replace about $50 worth of business cards with my old URL web address on
> them, replace other printed materials with the old URL, change many
> documents, and inform many contacts. I will inevitably lose business
> because the old URL, now in many website links and hard-copy publications,
> has become useless.
>
> The forced "migration" process from AT&T was complex and time-consuming,
> not helped by the unavailability for several days of the means to do so at
> their website where AT&T stated it would be. Instructions were vague and
> non-specific, and good luck reaching them by phone! As the service cutoff
> date approached, nothing could be done due to this and to AT&Ts
> inaccessibility. Then, one day after completing part of the migration
> process, CUTOFF! I had NO SERVICE - no web, no email, no DSL, no dialup,
> nothing! Finally after hours of effort,I was able to establish my DSL
> service. My Outlook Express was unable to download email until I corrected
> that too - with no help from these corporate cretins that couldn't care
> less!
>
> Now, for the same monthly price as before (under a 1 year contract with a
> BIG termination fee if you want out), I have DSL, web, and email. But no
> dialup backup, Usenet, or website as before. The website costs extra now.
> And will AT&T tech support improve? I wouldn't hold my breath!
>
> The substantial expenses and inconveniences inflicted by this AT&T
> customer-screwing is something for which a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT would be
> appropriate, but no doubt the agreement you are forced into when buying
> their service protects them from responsibility. Clearly AT&T, with
> typical mega-corpseration greed and arrogance, cares little for their home
> and small business customers. This sort of thing will continue as long as
> they can perpetrate such actions without being held accountable, and
> consumers and businesses will remain at their mercy.
>
> When you vote, keep in mind it is the Republican-Conservatives that
> protect these mega-corpserate bullies and allow them to run amok,
> unregulated, and perpetrate such consumer-screwing actions as this.
>
> BOYCOTT AT&T!
>
>

 

[sgopus]

Sorry for your tragedy, this is not the proper place to post these kinds of
complaints.

"Whistleblower" wrote:

> BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T!
>
> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its worst.
> DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT!
>
> I had an ISP service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL, a
> personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they dropped
> the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that were forced to
> find another source. Another example of their screw-the-customer attitude is
> the fact that reaching a tech support person by phone typically requires at
> least a 20 minute wait on hold. AT&T once had a good tech support service on
> Usenet, but dropped that too and became very hard to reach. I should have
> seen the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back then!
>
> This March 2nd I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and
> website hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE
> IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual customers!
>
> They arranged a deal with Covad to take over the DSL service, and a new
> email/web service that allows you to keep your existing email address and
> ID. You could elect to use AT&T for dialup only, or go to another ISP
> entirely. In effect, if you wanted to keep your present email address, IDs,
> settings, and DSL, you are FORCED to accept Covad and still be tied to AT&T
> as your ISP. Before, if your DSL service went down you had free dialup
> backup, but no longer. Dialup now costs extra. And since converting to Covad
> DSL about a week ago, I have already had a service failure!
>
> For a business, the website customer-screwing by AT&T is the worst of all. I
> had my site for years and it had a high ranking with the search engines -
> top10. Now I have been FORCED to move it to another host with a new URL
> unknown to the search engines. My initial outlay for 3 years of webhosting
> and a domain was over $150. Fortunately I was able to upload my site to the
> new host without the typical professional fee of $250 to do so, but it took
> alot of my time. In addition, I'll have to toss and replace about $50 worth
> of business cards with my old URL web address on them, replace other printed
> materials with the old URL, change many documents, and inform many contacts.
> I will inevitably lose business because the old URL, now in many website
> links and hard-copy publications, has become useless.
>
> The forced "migration" process from AT&T was complex and time-consuming, not
> helped by the unavailability for several days of the means to do so at their
> website where AT&T stated it would be. Instructions were vague and
> non-specific, and good luck reaching them by phone! As the service cutoff
> date approached, nothing could be done due to this and to AT&Ts
> inaccessibility. Then, one day after completing part of the migration
> process, CUTOFF! I had NO SERVICE - no web, no email, no DSL, no dialup,
> nothing! Finally after hours of effort,I was able to establish my DSL
> service. My Outlook Express was unable to download email until I corrected
> that too - with no help from these corporate cretins that couldn't care
> less!
>
> Now, for the same monthly price as before (under a 1 year contract with a
> BIG termination fee if you want out), I have DSL, web, and email. But no
> dialup backup, Usenet, or website as before. The website costs extra now.
> And will AT&T tech support improve? I wouldn't hold my breath!
>
> The substantial expenses and inconveniences inflicted by this AT&T
> customer-screwing is something for which a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT would be
> appropriate, but no doubt the agreement you are forced into when buying
> their service protects them from responsibility. Clearly AT&T, with typical
> mega-corpseration greed and arrogance, cares little for their home and small
> business customers. This sort of thing will continue as long as they can
> perpetrate such actions without being held accountable, and consumers and
> businesses will remain at their mercy.
>
> When you vote, keep in mind it is the Republican-Conservatives that protect
> these mega-corpserate bullies and allow them to run amok, unregulated, and
> perpetrate such consumer-screwing actions as this.
>
> BOYCOTT AT&T!
>
>
> .
>

 

[lil abner]

Whistleblower wrote:
> BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T!
>
> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its worst.
> DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT!
>
> I had an ISP service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL, a
> personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they dropped
> the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that were forced to
> find another source. Another example of their screw-the-customer attitude is
> the fact that reaching a tech support person by phone typically requires at
> least a 20 minute wait on hold. AT&T once had a good tech support service on
> Usenet, but dropped that too and became very hard to reach. I should have
> seen the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back then!
>
> This March 2nd I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and
> website hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE
> IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual customers!
>
> They arranged a deal with Covad to take over the DSL service, and a new
> email/web service that allows you to keep your existing email address and
> ID. You could elect to use AT&T for dialup only, or go to another ISP
> entirely. In effect, if you wanted to keep your present email address, IDs,
> settings, and DSL, you are FORCED to accept Covad and still be tied to AT&T
> as your ISP. Before, if your DSL service went down you had free dialup
> backup, but no longer. Dialup now costs extra. And since converting to Covad
> DSL about a week ago, I have already had a service failure!
>
> For a business, the website customer-screwing by AT&T is the worst of all. I
> had my site for years and it had a high ranking with the search engines -
> top10. Now I have been FORCED to move it to another host with a new URL
> unknown to the search engines. My initial outlay for 3 years of webhosting
> and a domain was over $150. Fortunately I was able to upload my site to the
> new host without the typical professional fee of $250 to do so, but it took
> alot of my time. In addition, I'll have to toss and replace about $50 worth
> of business cards with my old URL web address on them, replace other printed
> materials with the old URL, change many documents, and inform many contacts.
> I will inevitably lose business because the old URL, now in many website
> links and hard-copy publications, has become useless.
>
> The forced "migration" process from AT&T was complex and time-consuming, not
> helped by the unavailability for several days of the means to do so at their
> website where AT&T stated it would be. Instructions were vague and
> non-specific, and good luck reaching them by phone! As the service cutoff
> date approached, nothing could be done due to this and to AT&Ts
> inaccessibility. Then, one day after completing part of the migration
> process, CUTOFF! I had NO SERVICE - no web, no email, no DSL, no dialup,
> nothing! Finally after hours of effort,I was able to establish my DSL
> service. My Outlook Express was unable to download email until I corrected
> that too - with no help from these corporate cretins that couldn't care
> less!
>
> Now, for the same monthly price as before (under a 1 year contract with a
> BIG termination fee if you want out), I have DSL, web, and email. But no
> dialup backup, Usenet, or website as before. The website costs extra now.
> And will AT&T tech support improve? I wouldn't hold my breath!
>
> The substantial expenses and inconveniences inflicted by this AT&T
> customer-screwing is something for which a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT would be
> appropriate, but no doubt the agreement you are forced into when buying
> their service protects them from responsibility. Clearly AT&T, with typical
> mega-corpseration greed and arrogance, cares little for their home and small
> business customers. This sort of thing will continue as long as they can
> perpetrate such actions without being held accountable, and consumers and
> businesses will remain at their mercy.
>
> When you vote, keep in mind it is the Republican-Conservatives that protect
> these mega-corpserate bullies and allow them to run amok, unregulated, and
> perpetrate such consumer-screwing actions as this.
>
> BOYCOTT AT&T!
>
>
There is no AT&T. Wall Street has taken over and is stripping out equity
and selling it off. Eventually AT&T will dissapear into the pockets, of
a few high rollers and their Lawyers.
The famous phone company of Americans for generations will not and does
not exist. You will have to obtain third world level service from third
world controlled outfits.

 

[Ace Fekay [MVP-DS, MCT]]

"Whistleblower" <Justice@USA.con> wrote in message news:hor7il$iaq$1@news.eternal-september.org...

A post like this clearly indicates lack of planning for corporate, or even personal email and other services. What did you expect if you change ISP providers and setting up web and email services under them? You expected to use an @att.com email address,or any other ISP's email address service forever?

I agree with Mark A. Sam's post, that if you had simply registered your own domain name and created a web and email address under it, you can move it to any ISP or registrar of your choice without fear of this sort of thing happening. You could also use one of the free mail providers such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc, which wouldn't matter what ISP you have.

In the future, I would suggest curbing such unwarranted personal attacks against corporations or any other entity, real or fictitious, that is not their fault for a business decision, and something that you have no control over.

Just the same as who would have ever thought GM would go bankrupt? I haven't seen anyone bashing GM for that business decision.

Remember, the only constant in the universe is CHANGE.

Ace



> BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T!
>
> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its worst.
> DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT!
>
> I had an ISP service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL, a
> personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they dropped
> the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that were forced to
> find another source. Another example of their screw-the-customer attitude is
> the fact that reaching a tech support person by phone typically requires at
> least a 20 minute wait on hold. AT&T once had a good tech support service on
> Usenet, but dropped that too and became very hard to reach. I should have
> seen the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back then!
>
> This March 2nd I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and
> website hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE
> IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual customers!
>
> They arranged a deal with Covad to take over the DSL service, and a new
> email/web service that allows you to keep your existing email address and
> ID. You could elect to use AT&T for dialup only, or go to another ISP
> entirely. In effect, if you wanted to keep your present email address, IDs,
> settings, and DSL, you are FORCED to accept Covad and still be tied to AT&T
> as your ISP. Before, if your DSL service went down you had free dialup
> backup, but no longer. Dialup now costs extra. And since converting to Covad
> DSL about a week ago, I have already had a service failure!
>
> For a business, the website customer-screwing by AT&T is the worst of all. I
> had my site for years and it had a high ranking with the search engines -
> top10. Now I have been FORCED to move it to another host with a new URL
> unknown to the search engines. My initial outlay for 3 years of webhosting
> and a domain was over $150. Fortunately I was able to upload my site to the
> new host without the typical professional fee of $250 to do so, but it took
> alot of my time. In addition, I'll have to toss and replace about $50 worth
> of business cards with my old URL web address on them, replace other printed
> materials with the old URL, change many documents, and inform many contacts.
> I will inevitably lose business because the old URL, now in many website
> links and hard-copy publications, has become useless.
>
> The forced "migration" process from AT&T was complex and time-consuming, not
> helped by the unavailability for several days of the means to do so at their
> website where AT&T stated it would be. Instructions were vague and
> non-specific, and good luck reaching them by phone! As the service cutoff
> date approached, nothing could be done due to this and to AT&Ts
> inaccessibility. Then, one day after completing part of the migration
> process, CUTOFF! I had NO SERVICE - no web, no email, no DSL, no dialup,
> nothing! Finally after hours of effort,I was able to establish my DSL
> service. My Outlook Express was unable to download email until I corrected
> that too - with no help from these corporate cretins that couldn't care
> less!
>
> Now, for the same monthly price as before (under a 1 year contract with a
> BIG termination fee if you want out), I have DSL, web, and email. But no
> dialup backup, Usenet, or website as before. The website costs extra now.
> And will AT&T tech support improve? I wouldn't hold my breath!
>
> The substantial expenses and inconveniences inflicted by this AT&T
> customer-screwing is something for which a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT would be
> appropriate, but no doubt the agreement you are forced into when buying
> their service protects them from responsibility. Clearly AT&T, with typical
> mega-corpseration greed and arrogance, cares little for their home and small
> business customers. This sort of thing will continue as long as they can
> perpetrate such actions without being held accountable, and consumers and
> businesses will remain at their mercy.
>
> When you vote, keep in mind it is the Republican-Conservatives that protect
> these mega-corpserate bullies and allow them to run amok, unregulated, and
> perpetrate such consumer-screwing actions as this.
>
> BOYCOTT AT&T!
>
>

 

[Chuck]

In my area, Southern Bell Wireless became Cingular and then AT&T. I started
with analog cell phones on S. Bell in the 90's.
As time went on under the Cingular name, I was coerced into changing to GAIT
phones. (Lower price, interoperability, more features, etc)
Within a year, Cingular started killing the interoperability, and disabled
roaming. Additional costs were imposed for roaming, and analog
service was eventually "locked out" More time passed. I had grandfathered
tethering, since my original analog phones had a similar feature.
In addition, the GAIT phones had internet capability and web browsing.
Again, what is now AT&T decided to screwup the capabilities of my phones.
Every update defaulted the phones to no tethering, no internet, no text
(Incorrect network phone profile information, etc.) So, I ended up paying
for services that I was not getting, and demanding a perodic refund, which I
mostly got.
Finally, in desperation, I had no choice but to change to T Mobile. (No
contract, "unlimited usage" free long distance (US), unlimited text,
unlimited internet, unlimited data.)
I own the phones, which were not purchased from T Mobile or AT&T, although T
Mobile and AT&T both support the model.

So, I do not really care for AT&T either!

"Greg Russell" <grussell@invalid.con> wrote in message
news:81cm7pFj0fU1@mid.individual.net...
> In news:hor7il$iaq$1@news.eternal-september.org,
> Whistleblower <Justice@USA.con> typed:
>
>> I should have seen the writing on the wall and dropped
>> AT&T back then!
>
> ... yet you still pay them and have to whine incessantly about it?
>
>

 

[NA]

On 3/30/2010 9:07 AM EDT, Chuck wrote:
> In my area, Southern Bell Wireless became Cingular and then AT&T. I started
> with analog cell phones on S. Bell in the 90's.
> As time went on under the Cingular name, I was coerced into changing to GAIT
> phones. (Lower price, interoperability, more features, etc)
> Within a year, Cingular started killing the interoperability, and disabled
> roaming. Additional costs were imposed for roaming, and analog
> service was eventually "locked out" More time passed. I had grandfathered
> tethering, since my original analog phones had a similar feature.
> In addition, the GAIT phones had internet capability and web browsing.
> Again, what is now AT&T decided to screwup the capabilities of my phones.
> Every update defaulted the phones to no tethering, no internet, no text
> (Incorrect network phone profile information, etc.) So, I ended up paying
> for services that I was not getting, and demanding a perodic refund, which I
> mostly got.
> Finally, in desperation, I had no choice but to change to T Mobile. (No
> contract, "unlimited usage" free long distance (US), unlimited text,
> unlimited internet, unlimited data.)
> I own the phones, which were not purchased from T Mobile or AT&T, although T
> Mobile and AT&T both support the model.
>
> So, I do not really care for AT&T either!
>

Exactly the same happened to me, except it was AT&T up in the Northeast
-> Cingular -> AT&T through their merger/acquisition shell games. Now,
I too am with T-Mobile, and *NEVER* going back to AT&T.

 

[Unknown]

Suggest you read Standard and Poors sheet on ATT -------T is the stock
exchange code.
Then, speak facts not your fiction.
"lil abner" <@daisey.mae> wrote in message
news:unasn.303294$OX4.116238@newsfe25.iad...
> Whistleblower wrote:
>> BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T!
>>
>> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its worst.
>> DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT!
>>
>> I had an ISP service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL,
>> a personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they
>> dropped the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that were
>> forced to find another source. Another example of their
>> screw-the-customer attitude is the fact that reaching a tech support
>> person by phone typically requires at least a 20 minute wait on hold.
>> AT&T once had a good tech support service on Usenet, but dropped that too
>> and became very hard to reach. I should have seen the writing on the wall
>> and dropped AT&T back then!
>>
>> This March 2nd I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service,
>> and website hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A
>> KNIFE IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual customers!
>>
>> They arranged a deal with Covad to take over the DSL service, and a new
>> email/web service that allows you to keep your existing email address and
>> ID. You could elect to use AT&T for dialup only, or go to another ISP
>> entirely. In effect, if you wanted to keep your present email address,
>> IDs, settings, and DSL, you are FORCED to accept Covad and still be tied
>> to AT&T as your ISP. Before, if your DSL service went down you had free
>> dialup backup, but no longer. Dialup now costs extra. And since
>> converting to Covad DSL about a week ago, I have already had a service
>> failure!
>>
>> For a business, the website customer-screwing by AT&T is the worst of
>> all. I had my site for years and it had a high ranking with the search
>> engines - top10. Now I have been FORCED to move it to another host with a
>> new URL unknown to the search engines. My initial outlay for 3 years of
>> webhosting and a domain was over $150. Fortunately I was able to upload
>> my site to the new host without the typical professional fee of $250 to
>> do so, but it took alot of my time. In addition, I'll have to toss and
>> replace about $50 worth of business cards with my old URL web address on
>> them, replace other printed materials with the old URL, change many
>> documents, and inform many contacts. I will inevitably lose business
>> because the old URL, now in many website links and hard-copy
>> publications, has become useless.
>>
>> The forced "migration" process from AT&T was complex and time-consuming,
>> not helped by the unavailability for several days of the means to do so
>> at their website where AT&T stated it would be. Instructions were vague
>> and non-specific, and good luck reaching them by phone! As the service
>> cutoff date approached, nothing could be done due to this and to AT&Ts
>> inaccessibility. Then, one day after completing part of the migration
>> process, CUTOFF! I had NO SERVICE - no web, no email, no DSL, no dialup,
>> nothing! Finally after hours of effort,I was able to establish my DSL
>> service. My Outlook Express was unable to download email until I
>> corrected that too - with no help from these corporate cretins that
>> couldn't care less!
>>
>> Now, for the same monthly price as before (under a 1 year contract with a
>> BIG termination fee if you want out), I have DSL, web, and email. But no
>> dialup backup, Usenet, or website as before. The website costs extra now.
>> And will AT&T tech support improve? I wouldn't hold my breath!
>>
>> The substantial expenses and inconveniences inflicted by this AT&T
>> customer-screwing is something for which a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT would be
>> appropriate, but no doubt the agreement you are forced into when buying
>> their service protects them from responsibility. Clearly AT&T, with
>> typical mega-corpseration greed and arrogance, cares little for their
>> home and small business customers. This sort of thing will continue as
>> long as they can perpetrate such actions without being held accountable,
>> and consumers and businesses will remain at their mercy.
>>
>> When you vote, keep in mind it is the Republican-Conservatives that
>> protect these mega-corpserate bullies and allow them to run amok,
>> unregulated, and perpetrate such consumer-screwing actions as this.
>>
>> BOYCOTT AT&T!
>>
>>
> There is no AT&T. Wall Street has taken over and is stripping out equity
> and selling it off. Eventually AT&T will dissapear into the pockets, of a
> few high rollers and their Lawyers.
> The famous phone company of Americans for generations will not and does
> not exist. You will have to obtain third world level service from third
> world controlled outfits.

 

[Kevin John Panzke]

Re: SO WHAT? COMCAST DID THE SAME THING SOME TIME AGO! TRY USINGGOOGLE GROUPS 2 ACCESS THIS USENET NEWS GROUP! IT'S VERY USER FRIENDLY! JUSTFYI!

Whistleblower wrote: > BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T! >
> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its
worst. > DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT! > > I had an ISP
service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL, a >
personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they
dropped > the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that
were forced to > find another source. Another example of their screw-
the-customer attitude is > the fact that reaching a tech support
person by phone typically requires at > least a 20 minute wait on
hold. AT&T once had a good tech support service on > Usenet, but
dropped that too and became very hard to reach. I should have > seen
the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back then! > > This March 2nd
I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and > website
hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE >
IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual cust

 

[smlunatick]

So what!! Most ISP did this also

Most ISPs are or have dropped USENET servers. They stated it was too
expensive to maintain.

On Mar 30, 3:44 pm, Kevin John Panzke <kevin.pan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Whistleblower wrote: > BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T! >
> > AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its
>
> worst. > DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT! > > I had an ISP
> service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL, a >
> personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they
> dropped > the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that
> were forced to > find another source. Another example of their screw-
> the-customer attitude is > the fact that reaching a tech support
> person by phone typically requires at > least a 20 minute wait on
> hold. AT&T once had a good tech support service on > Usenet, but
> dropped that too and became very hard to reach. I should have > seen
> the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back then! > > This March 2nd
> I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and > website
> hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE >
> IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual cust

 

[lil abner]

Re: So what!! Most ISP did this also

smlunatick wrote:
> Most ISPs are or have dropped USENET servers. They stated it was too
> expensive to maintain.
>
> On Mar 30, 3:44 pm, Kevin John Panzke <kevin.pan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Whistleblower wrote: > BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T! >
>>> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its
>> worst. > DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT! > > I had an ISP
>> service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL, a >
>> personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they
>> dropped > the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that
>> were forced to > find another source. Another example of their screw-
>> the-customer attitude is > the fact that reaching a tech support
>> person by phone typically requires at > least a 20 minute wait on
>> hold. AT&T once had a good tech support service on > Usenet, but
>> dropped that too and became very hard to reach. I should have > seen
>> the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back then! > > This March 2nd
>> I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and > website
>> hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE >
>> IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual cust
>
They are not telling us the truth. Usnet and DSLs etc attracted
customers and profits.
The profits they are going to miss are going somewhere else. They sold
or traded the profit makers to someone else. The Companys are so
intertwined it difficult for us to know what games they a re paying.
At any rate they think they can make us pay for fewer and poorer quality
service.

 

[Unknown]

Re: So what!! Most ISP did this also

Ridiculous comment. Put yourself in the position of CEO of any ISP. Would
you keep usenet servers?
If so, you wouldn't be CEO very long.
"lil abner" <@daisey.mae> wrote in message
news:4Lpsn.35297$ao7.29321@newsfe21.iad...
> smlunatick wrote:
>> Most ISPs are or have dropped USENET servers. They stated it was too
>> expensive to maintain.
>>
>> On Mar 30, 3:44 pm, Kevin John Panzke <kevin.pan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Whistleblower wrote: > BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T! >
>>>> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its
>>> worst. > DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT! > > I had an ISP
>>> service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL, a >
>>> personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they
>>> dropped > the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that
>>> were forced to > find another source. Another example of their screw-
>>> the-customer attitude is > the fact that reaching a tech support
>>> person by phone typically requires at > least a 20 minute wait on
>>> hold. AT&T once had a good tech support service on > Usenet, but
>>> dropped that too and became very hard to reach. I should have > seen
>>> the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back then! > > This March 2nd
>>> I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and > website
>>> hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE >
>>> IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual cust
>>
> They are not telling us the truth. Usnet and DSLs etc attracted customers
> and profits.
> The profits they are going to miss are going somewhere else. They sold or
> traded the profit makers to someone else. The Companys are so intertwined
> it difficult for us to know what games they a re paying.
> At any rate they think they can make us pay for fewer and poorer quality
> service.

 

[Matthew]

Re: So what!! Most ISP did this also

I have noticed it getting harder to find usenet servers. Now how am I
gonna find Doom.

 

[Jack [MVP-Networking]]

Hi
There is only one way to avoid this issue.
Given the price of domains and basic hosting there is No reason to use other
email services.
Domain goes for $10-$15 a year. Good countable Hosting for few email
accounts, ftp, and web space, can be found for $2 - $3 a month.
You are your own boss, you look good with your own email (rather than
nothing1928@someone_else_brandname.com) for less than $5 a month.
Keep a secondary email with Hotmail, or Gmail, for temp stuff that you do
not care much about.
Otherwise when using ISP or other questionable email providers use the POP3
option. Install Outlook on your computer and read the mail with Outlook,
reading the mail with Outlook downloads it and store it on you computer too.
So if the ISP email goes "Gaga" you still have a copy of the emails on your
own computer.
Many Internet providers do not have their own lines and physical systems,
they lease it from others. If the lease deal goes bad, so goes the provider.
As an example in New York City area it does not matter who provides the
Internet and phones service, the lines belong to Verizon. Similar situation
exists in many other parts of the country
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking).


"Whistleblower" <Justice@USA.con> wrote in message
news:hor7il$iaq$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T!
>
> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its worst.
> DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT!
>
> I had an ISP service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL,
> a personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they
> dropped the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that were
> forced to find another source. Another example of their screw-the-customer
> attitude is the fact that reaching a tech support person by phone
> typically requires at least a 20 minute wait on hold. AT&T once had a good
> tech support service on Usenet, but dropped that too and became very hard
> to reach. I should have seen the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back
> then!
>
> This March 2nd I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and
> website hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE
> IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual customers!
>
> They arranged a deal with Covad to take over the DSL service, and a new
> email/web service that allows you to keep your existing email address and
> ID. You could elect to use AT&T for dialup only, or go to another ISP
> entirely. In effect, if you wanted to keep your present email address,
> IDs, settings, and DSL, you are FORCED to accept Covad and still be tied
> to AT&T as your ISP. Before, if your DSL service went down you had free
> dialup backup, but no longer. Dialup now costs extra. And since converting
> to Covad DSL about a week ago, I have already had a service failure!
>
> For a business, the website customer-screwing by AT&T is the worst of all.
> I had my site for years and it had a high ranking with the search
> engines - top10. Now I have been FORCED to move it to another host with a
> new URL unknown to the search engines. My initial outlay for 3 years of
> webhosting and a domain was over $150. Fortunately I was able to upload my
> site to the new host without the typical professional fee of $250 to do
> so, but it took alot of my time. In addition, I'll have to toss and
> replace about $50 worth of business cards with my old URL web address on
> them, replace other printed materials with the old URL, change many
> documents, and inform many contacts. I will inevitably lose business
> because the old URL, now in many website links and hard-copy publications,
> has become useless.
>
> The forced "migration" process from AT&T was complex and time-consuming,
> not helped by the unavailability for several days of the means to do so at
> their website where AT&T stated it would be. Instructions were vague and
> non-specific, and good luck reaching them by phone! As the service cutoff
> date approached, nothing could be done due to this and to AT&Ts
> inaccessibility. Then, one day after completing part of the migration
> process, CUTOFF! I had NO SERVICE - no web, no email, no DSL, no dialup,
> nothing! Finally after hours of effort,I was able to establish my DSL
> service. My Outlook Express was unable to download email until I corrected
> that too - with no help from these corporate cretins that couldn't care
> less!
>
> Now, for the same monthly price as before (under a 1 year contract with a
> BIG termination fee if you want out), I have DSL, web, and email. But no
> dialup backup, Usenet, or website as before. The website costs extra now.
> And will AT&T tech support improve? I wouldn't hold my breath!
>
> The substantial expenses and inconveniences inflicted by this AT&T
> customer-screwing is something for which a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT would be
> appropriate, but no doubt the agreement you are forced into when buying
> their service protects them from responsibility. Clearly AT&T, with
> typical mega-corpseration greed and arrogance, cares little for their home
> and small business customers. This sort of thing will continue as long as
> they can perpetrate such actions without being held accountable, and
> consumers and businesses will remain at their mercy.
>
> When you vote, keep in mind it is the Republican-Conservatives that
> protect these mega-corpserate bullies and allow them to run amok,
> unregulated, and perpetrate such consumer-screwing actions as this.
>
> BOYCOTT AT&T!
>
>

 

[hotfoot]

Re: So what!! Most ISP did this also

On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 125:15 -0400, lil abner wrote:

> smlunatick wrote:
>> Most ISPs are or have dropped USENET servers. They stated it was too
>> expensive to maintain.
>>
>> On Mar 30, 3:44 pm, Kevin John Panzke <kevin.pan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Whistleblower wrote: > BEWARE OF and AVOID doing business with AT&T! >
>>>> AT&T exemplifies screw-the-consumer corporate arrogance at its
>>> worst. > DO NOT PATRONIZE AT&T or YOU'LL REGRET IT! > > I had an ISP
>>> service package with AT&T Worldnet that included email, DSL, a >
>>> personal website on their server, and Usenet access. Suddenly they
>>> dropped > the Usenet service, with no compensation to customers that
>>> were forced to > find another source. Another example of their screw-
>>> the-customer attitude is > the fact that reaching a tech support
>>> person by phone typically requires at > least a 20 minute wait on
>>> hold. AT&T once had a good tech support service on > Usenet, but
>>> dropped that too and became very hard to reach. I should have > seen
>>> the writing on the wall and dropped AT&T back then! > > This March 2nd
>>> I get an email that AT&T Worldnet service, DSL service, and > website
>>> hosting will no longer be available effective March 31st - A KNIFE >
>>> IN THE BACK to all their small business and individual cust
>>
> They are not telling us the truth. Usnet and DSLs etc attracted
> customers and profits.

Only a relative handful of Internet users even know Usenet exists - and
we need to keep it that way if we don't want this place getting any
more overrun with idiots than it already is.

> The profits they are going to miss are going somewhere else. They sold
> or traded the profit makers to someone else. The Companys are so
> intertwined it difficult for us to know what games they a re paying. At
> any rate they think they can make us pay for fewer and poorer quality
> service.

You can get "premium" news service for about $10 a month that runs
circles around the stripped-down news servers most ISP's offer. If you
only do text groups, some of the free providers may be at least as good
as ISP news servers, except that you might have to pay around $5-$15 per
year if you want posting privileges.

If you're into big binaries, many ISP's try to reduce their overhead by
limiting retention to just a day or two, through limited peering, or by
deleting a few critical parts out of each big archive to discourage
downloading. Premium providers work very hard to ensure completeness and
the top ones retain even the largest binaries for 3 to 12 months and
text groups for one or two years.

Anyone who spends a lot of time on Usenet and has never experienced a
premium provider should try it.

 

[Jon]

Re: So what!! Most ISP did this also

"Matthew" <no@example.com> wrote in message
newsiYbhxC0KHA.2512@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>I have noticed it getting harder to find usenet servers. Now how am I
>gonna find Doom.


You needn't worry. If that's the sort of game you prefer, then Doom will
find you.

--
Jon

 

[Lady Veteran]

Re: So what!! Most ISP did this also

On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:10:56 -0700 (PDT), smlunatick
<yveslec@gmail.com> wrote:

>Most ISPs are or have dropped USENET servers. They stated it was too
>expensive to maintain.

Most dropped Usenet because it has become a playground for sociopaths
and psychos.

LV

"I rode a tank and held a general's rank
When the blitzkrieg raged and the bodies stank."

---Sympathy for the Devil-The Rolling Stones
--------------------------------------------
"Some people are only alive because it is
illegal to kill them."

---Anonymous
----------------------------------------------
How does your idiocy measure up?

My Blog http://ladyveteranslog.blogspot.com
---------------------------------------------
Are you being harassed on Usenet and want to fight
back instead of leaving the net? Are you willing to
stand up to Internet bullies and stalkers?
Join my group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/antiCHU
----------------------------------------------
"I am mad as hell and I will not take it anymore!"

---Network

 

[Jonathan de Boyne Pollard]

Re: OMG D00DZ!1!! 3ViL CORPORAT1ON5 KILLED USERNET &ND ATE ALL OFTHE K1TT3NZ!!!1!!1!!! !

>
>
> I have noticed it getting harder to find usenet servers.
>
It's a fair bet that you missed the word "free" from that sentence.
Usenet servers that one pays for are relatively easy to find.

I just run my own node.