AT&T Fiber Resell Issues in Campbell

[sharka222]

Hi,

I signed up for Sonic on 9/20 and was first told that the fiber installation on 10/03. The AT&T tech showed up and noted that external work needed to be completed first before the installation could happen. He said that the external crew was supposed to show up that same day afternoon to complete the work. Unfortunately the external crew never showed and the ticket was marked complete. I reached out to customer support to press for a confirmation from AT&T side as well as confirmation that the external work was completed multiple times despite the fact that the external crew never showed up. Each time I was assured that the external work was completed and that on 10/11 I would have internet available. Well today is 10/11 and the same AT&T tech shows up today and discovers that the external work was never completed even though the ticket was marked completed. The tech then called the manager out and I was given another estimate of 2-3 days for external work to be completed and the installation would likely happen next Wednesday. At this point I am very frustrated with both AT&T and Sonic. While I understand that Sonic is just an AT&T reseller in my area and that AT&T must do the installation, I did expect that Sonic would push harder on my behalf especially when I noted in my text messages that the external crew never showed up on 10/03 to do the external work. I almost feel like I've been misled by Sonic each time I asked for confirmation this past week that the installation would happen today. Needless to say, I am bitterly disappointed at this SNAFU and I am seriously contemplating cancelling to get Comcast instead. Sorry for the rant, but I am very disappointed by the customer service I have received at this point.

[dane]

Thanks for the feedback and details. This is an area we are really struggling with, and the team here has been talking about a lot. We've got weekly calls with AT&T, and we're engaged in a number of efforts to monitor and hopefully improve both performance and communication between the companies. But the bad news: they're missing about 20% of our installation appointments, and despite months of talking about that topic, they've been unable to made any meaningful improvements. And for their fiber products, it's worse than copper, because of issues with drops, building entry, network activation problems, etc, etc. It goes on and on - and is infuriating to us and our want-to-be members. Many give up, with a huge load of totally understandable frustration. So - big topic, big issue, and lots of attention on our side, but not clear fix yet.

On your specific case, I'll ask our team to review, escalate, and respond. Hopefully we can get the right resources from AT&T engaged and get this headache behind us!

Thank you for your patience.

-Dane

[sharka222]

Hi Dane,

Thanks for your candid response. Honestly at this point, I really just want a confirmed date when internet will be hooked up to my house since we are hosting a gathering next weekend and I would like my house and the technology to be at least in working order. I would love to stay with Sonic if I could, but I'm at a loss whether or not AT&T would be truly able to deliver by next weekend on Sonic's behalf...

[dane]

I've asked the team here to look into the situation and see where we land. I don't yet know what that result is, but you should hear from them shortly.

[sharka222]

Hi Dane,

Unfortunately it happened again - I asked Sonic support to follow up with AT&T on the external work ticket this morning based on last Friday's events - only to get a notice that my installation has been scheduled for 10/25. I called in and spoke with Beth, she told me that AT&T had apparently marked the external work as done even though no one was home and my side gates were locked, which means the crew would not have had access to my back yard/telephone pole. Beth, to her credit, said she'll follow up with AT&T for details so I won't be stuck in this endless installation reschedule cycle, but at this point, I'm very disappointed in how I've been stuck in this endless loop with no confirmation of when the actual work would be completed.

[dane]

Our team met this AM to discuss how we can mitigate some of the challenges with our vendor, and we have a few ideas but no concrete solution yet. For the customers for whom they show up and complete an install, it's been a great product - but we've had a number of cases with multiple missed appointments and an infuriating process. And because it's not our network and technicians, we can't just drive out and solve the problem like we can on our own network. Maddening.

Very sorry you're caught up in this, and I hope that we are able to get it completed for you!

[sharka222]

Figured I'd post a follow up on my trials and tribulations for fiber install a la AT&T. After approximately 5 installation appointments that didn't actually install anything, last Friday, the right tech came along and did everything himself in less than 3 hours. Here are my learnings with AT&T installs:

1. Do the leg work and make sure you have surveyed all your surrounds on how they need to hook it up. Techs will get lazy and go oh this is a multi-crew job when in reality it really isn't...

• Unfortunately there's not a whole lot that the customer service can do for you as the work order tracking is completely on the AT&T side.

• AT&T Techs rarely give you their information because you're ordering from Sonic and they're not allowed to give out business cards.

• Make sure you have Comcast as a bridge service for internet connection until fiber is installed.

Hopefully your installation is smoother than mine. Sometimes it just takes the right tech to come out and actually do the work...