Fiber service resold from ATT

[wenjiezhang2013]

I have been using Sonic fiber at my own place for a couple of years now, and I am pretty happy with it.

Recently, I recommended one of my friend to use Sonic, and that's when the nightmare started.

They are having a great difficulty to get the Fiber installed from ATT after sign up, they missed the appointment twice in a row, and someone from sonic technical support told me that it's a mercy from ATT if they install the service for me.

Question for Sonic, if this is the type of customer service you can provide, how serious about running your business with resold ATT products?

[bjeung]

So I'm assuming your friend can read and that this was a recent order then they should have seen this disclaimer prior to ordering which is pretty self-explanatory:

Sonic Fusion IP Broadband is a resold AT&T product, and as such, AT&T  technicians  are  responsible for your installation. AT&T has been unreliable in meeting their installation dates and times. To date, AT&T misses roughly 20% of Sonic customer installation appointments. Sonic cannot guarantee that AT&T will arrive on your scheduled date and time, but we will do everything we can to support you in coordinating your service installation.

As we continue to expand the Sonic fiber network, we must also work with AT&T to provide services to new regions. Your membership supports those efforts, as we work toward connecting all members with Sonic owned and operated fiber. Please accept our apologies in advance if you are affected by this installation scheduling issue.

[parker_day]

We had the same problem get Sonic-sold AT&T fiber installed at my mom's house in Santa Rosa. I will say, once it's installed, the service is flawless and your friend will probably not need to talk to AT&T or Sonic again for years. Frustrating, but in the end worth it.

[dane]

I have been using Sonic fiber at my own place for a couple of years now, and I am pretty happy with it.

Recently, I recommended one of my friend to use Sonic, and that's when the nightmare started.

They are having a great difficulty to get the Fiber installed from ATT after sign up, they missed the appointment twice in a row, and someone from sonic technical support told me that it's a mercy from ATT if they install the service for me.

Question for Sonic, if this is the type of customer service you can provide, how serious about running your business with resold ATT products?

I'm very sorry for the challenges. It's an issue we have been struggling with. And interestingly, AT&T claims their own retail customers are getting exactly the same no-show rate - today it's at about 10% no show, and about 10% late arrival. Our ongoing frustration with this is what led us to put in that big disclaimer about their performance, in hopes of at least setting expectations.

As for how serious we are - clearly this isn't a viable and scalable solution for us given the delivery issues. But where we have not yet built our own fiber, it is a great product when delivered. As we continue to scale our network, it is necessary to have products to fill gaps, and this is just what this product does.

Our team had a summit meeting with AT&T recently, and we have weekly calls to escalate issues and attempt to resolve them. But the primary issue here in Northern CA seems to be that they simply don't have enough installers, and they've struggled to remedy that in any meaningful way over the last 6-12 months.

[amayfield]

Would you be able to PM me your friend's Sonic account info - the username, service address or contact phone number should get me pointed in the right direction. I'll take a look into their order and try to get it moving along.

I have been using Sonic fiber at my own place for a couple of years now, and I am pretty happy with it.

Recently, I recommended one of my friend to use Sonic, and that's when the nightmare started.

They are having a great difficulty to get the Fiber installed from ATT after sign up, they missed the appointment twice in a row, and someone from sonic technical support told me that it's a mercy from ATT if they install the service for me.

Question for Sonic, if this is the type of customer service you can provide, how serious about running your business with resold ATT products?

[wenjiezhang2013]

I have scheduled the third installation for my friend today 1-3pm, I will see how it goes and update you guys at the end of today.

Thanks,
Jack

[bobrk]

Wow, I wonder if ATT has different levels of competence in different areas? I've had two different resold ATT products from Sonic, and every time, the ATT service person has shown up on time and accomplished the task efficiently and quickly with no real issues.

[wenjiezhang2013]

Good news, my friend finally got their Fiber installed from ATT on Friday, I think there were two issues for their experience.

The first issue was ATT folks were always late or not showing up.
The second issue was their wire pole is in someone else's back yard, and ATT folks required all houses (In their case, three houses are required) have audits present at the time when they come to install, and this one was a real tough call.

[wenjiezhang2013]

Based on the disclosure from Sonic, ATT is really shorthanded currently.

Wow, I wonder if ATT has different levels of competence in different areas? I've had two different resold ATT products from Sonic, and every time, the ATT service person has shown up on time and accomplished the task efficiently and quickly with no real issues.

[karthik]

Having been one of the folks that posted on this forum about missed appointments by AT&T, I'd encourage you to stay patient, the end result is worth it.

I had 2 missed appointments by AT&T, and then eventually fiber brought to outside my house and then inside over the course of 3 more (kept) appoinments, with Sonic helping coordinate these.

The net result is I've had FTTH working extremely well for the last 6 months, and I'm glad I stayed a Sonic customer through those missed appointments because the end result is worth it!