I Phone question

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OKLAHOMAN

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May 17, 2006
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Costa Rica
I have been with AT&T for years and about 3 months ago I went into the AT&T store to purchase a new phone I Phone for me and transfer my I Phone 4s to Dee. I paid cash for the new phone and my old phone was also paid for. In the transfer they somehow screwed up and dropped my AARP discount, no biggie I went back to the store and after waiting for a little over an hour a nice young lady said she will reinstate it. After about 3 days I received an email stating I needed to call AT&T about my discount. I called and was told that I need to go back to the store and have them reinstate my discount because they used the wrong code. I asked why do I need to go back to the store could they not fix this over the phone, I was told that they can not and I would have to go to the store I went back to the store and had another 45 minute wait and a young man this time apologized and we spent another 1/2 hour while he fixed it. Yes 3 days latter the same thing happen. I went through the process again, was assured it was fixed......you guessed it today another email, I called the number and was told that I needed to go back again.
The straw has broken the camels back and I will be looking for a new provider. I never signed a contract so no penalties. My question is what providers if any can I use my I phones that I own.
 
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Edgar

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What an ordeal. I've been wit AT&T over 10 years, but I might jump ship too if I ever have to go through that much of a hassle.

I believe that Verizon, T-Mobile & Sprint all have plans for an owned phone.

Smaller carriers like Cricket & such generally have cheaper plans but require that you buy the phone from them. I'm no expert on their offerings though.
 

Skeleton2014

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Jan 24, 2013
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Lynnwood, WA. USA
Wow, sounds like a similar situation I had with our cable/internet and trying to get Comcast/Xfinity... to hook up a line... what a mess.
We have had AT&T for past 3 or 4 years and have pretty much gone through all the providers listed here at one time or another. Can't stand any of them! Only stay with AT&T because of the coverage they have for our area. It raises my blood pressure through the roof every time I have to go in or call and talk with them.
This is what I do and would suggest you give it one more attempt. Go back into the store (or call) but, the first thing you do is to ask for a supervisor. I've found there is too much turn over at the lower level with these companies. The people are pleasant enough and want to help. But, they don't seem to have the information or skills to correct what really should be an easy fix. So, I start with a supervisor and go up the line until I find someone that can finally fix the problem.
Good luck, Jeff
 

mecompco

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Apr 24, 2015
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Fairfield, Maine
Whatever you do, run, not walk away from any thoughts of switching to T Mobile. I could write a three page rant about my one year switch to TMobile from US Cellular. I am following through on my promise to the TMobile supervisor to whom I last spoke to tell every single person who will listen how bad their service is for the rest of my life. Sorry to rant in your thread. Don't know if you have US Cellular in your neck of the woods, but they are really good (not cheap, but no BS). The only reason I switched to TMobile is because of lack of signal at home.

Regards,
Michael
 

ladycop322

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Dec 21, 2013
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South Florida
If it is an unlocked phone with an unlock code, you can use with any carrier. You can take your AT&T phone to T-Mobile/Verizon/etc. give your unlock code (you get this from AT&T) and they will program it to use their services.
 

nativewooder

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Feb 26, 2009
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Fort Pierce, Fl 34982
That was how ATT used to train their callcenter personnel so that anytime a credit should be issued, you were referred back to the "Store" to correct the problem, and on and on and on and on!!! It turned out that ATT would fine or fire the callcenter person for every time they issued said credit. I quit using anything tied to ATT in any way shape or manner! I realize that there are people who think ATT came from heaven, but they probably work for them!:eek:
 

Ed McDonnell

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Oct 20, 2008
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Melbourne, FL
Hi Roy - I dropped AT&T a couple of years ago and switched to Consumer Cellular. No contracts and it is easy to adjust your plan up and down if some months will have more/less usage than others. AARP discounts. 30 day free trial. $20 bill credit per line if you sign up before end of year. They will send you new sim cards for free so you can use your existing phones (my AT&T phones worked just fine. A T-Mobile or an unlocked GSM would also work).

They resell the AT&T network. I've had good coverage everywhere I have travelled, but I haven't been to Oklahoma. If you are trying to run your business on the phone and you are a very heavy mobile data user they probably would not be a good choice. Customer service was fantastic when I first signed up (couple of years ago). I was able to talk to someone withing a minute of calling. Not quite as good when I called about something earlier this year. I had to wait 5 or 10 minutes to speak to someone.

Ed
 

alphageek

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Green Bay, WI, USA.
As others have said, you should be able to use those on just about any carrier. Just a couple of notes:
1) Make sure you get your devices unlocked BEFORE you start the switch process ---https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/?#/ Its MUCH more of a pain once you aren't an AT&T customer anymore.
2) Look into the different types of contracts closely.
3) Good luck... Yes AT&T may be troublesome, but most of the others aren't any better when it comes to discount programs, etc - for whatever reason they overcomplicate their systems.
 

monophoto

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Saratoga Springs, NY
They are all pretty bad, and switching carriers while keeping the same phones is a problem.

I suggest getting on the phone with AT&T, asking for customer service, and when you eventually get to a real person, ask to speak to the service supervisor. When you get that person on the phone, explain what they have done to you, and ask what they are going to do to keep you as a customer. The bare minimum should be fix whatever problem they are having on your account without requiring that you travel back to their store. But you may be able to leverage their terrible service into something else - a free month of service, for example.

You could try to have that conversation at the store, but in most cases the staff don't have the authority to do much.
 
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vakmere

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Philly
Create a new AARP account and/or have the ATT counter person call the tech support while you stand there and let them hash it out.
 

Dave Turner

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Jul 23, 2010
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Sylvania, Ohio
I signed my wife's phone up with Cricket and couldn't be happier. For $35 a month she gets unlimited talk and messages and something like 2.5 GB of data. She never uses 1/10th of that. They use the AT&T network, which works great by us. Customer service when we signed up was excellent. We've never had any problems requiring service since.

I use Tracfone for my provider (on the Verizon network). Of course I rarely use my phone, so $80 a year gives me more than ample minutes, texts, and data.
 

OKLAHOMAN

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May 17, 2006
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Costa Rica
Thanks guys, I now think we have solved the problem. This morning I made an appointment with the store at 10:30. Got there at 10:25, finally had someone at !0:45 come over to help, said he was the Manager. Asked what was the problem, I told him I was upset and this was the 4th time I had to come into the store, he apologized and said that this happens sometimes and I need to have patience , one more way to make my blood boil. I did raise my voice a few octaves when I said my patience wore out two visits ago and all I needed from him was to fix the damn problem and I walked out. I went directly to Verizon and was waiting to be served when my phone rang...it was the district Manager for AT&T. She apologized and said that the discount has been fixed and she will make sure all personnel at the Shawnee store are retrained on AARP codes. My reply was why did I have to go into the store four times if she was able to fix it without me there. Her reply was she was authorized too and it is company policy in the call center to send to the store.
I don't want to jump from the frying pan into the fire so for now I'll stay, but one problem and I'll be gone.
 

SteveG

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Dec 21, 2009
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Eugene, Oregon 97404
You last move here is prudent since the underlying problem is fixed for you, even though AT&T clearly has an ongoing deficiency. They already shot you in the foot...no sense in shooting yourself in the other foot just to prove a point. :biggrin:
 
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