HELP..How to cancel out of ATT GSM Contract

[OCMIKE]

I have had ATT GSM for about 2 months before that TDMA service for 3 years. The coverage of ATT at my house is terrible, and I have called CS several times during that time and asked for a trouble ticket to be put through. Sometimes the CS will do it sometimes I get the "you have to call this #" after I have already been on hold for 45 mins just to speak toa CSR. I would call the # they told me, and would get the standard reply of we will look into that, you are in a frindge area, or just give us some more time and we will be bigger. I use my Cellphone alot especially for the long distance and free nights and weekends. Is there a way that I could call customer care and cancel my contract with out having to pay the early termination fee because their service is not working. I get dropped calls all the time at home, broken conversations, network searches like crazy. Any help would be appreciated.

I am thinking of going to Verizon, they just put up a cell two blocks from my house so I could imagine the service will be good, plus looking at their coverage it is much bigger then ATT.

Thanks again
Mike

[kingpin619]

why dont you switch back to TDMA?

[OCMIKE]

I migrated from ATT TDMA Service to GSM hoping it would be better. ITS NOT, its sometimes worse, darm GSM drops my calls faster then if I were on TDMA. I sometimes have to change my Siemens S46 to TDMA only mode when I get home just so it will hold the call long enough for me to tell the person to call my home #. I keep on calling ATT CS, but nothing is done about it. I am giving them till january to see what happens. There is a Verizon cell, new one, about .5 miles from my house so I figure I will have pretty darn good service with them if I switched.

[wakko]

like kingping619 asked: why don't you go back to TDMA? It couldn't have been that bad if you kept it for 3 years prior.

[asatoran]

<FONT face=Verdana size=1>OCMIKE, I feel for you. My house is in a dead-one also. I was on TDMA for almost 10yrs because AT&T had some of the best coverage in my area. It was bad but it was better than the others. Until about 3 years ago, they were the best game in town. I just switched to GSM 3wks ago. In that time, I went through 2 T68s and just exchanged it for a T720 which now gives me acceptable reception. The reps I've talked to are pretty worthless if you want to try to have them improve reception in your area My cousin suggested that I need to speak to a regional manager but trying to get a meeting or phone conversation with them is as easy as getting Israel and Palestine to stop fighting.
</FONT>
As for canceling your contract. you can try complaining loudly to CS but I would hold much hope. Unless you can talk to a manager.

If you can afford it, maybe you can talk to a Verizon rep and explain your situation. AT&T's policy is that you can try for 15 days or cancel your contrat. (I'm not sure if there are any fees during the 15 days but it's probably minimal.) See if Verizon has similar. Then try Verizon and if it works for you, drop AT&T and eat the cost. But if Verizon doesn't get better reception, you could cancel Verizon and keep AT&T and not pay the termination fees. And if you do stay with AT&T, you cantry a different phone. Like I said, I kept swapping until I got a working phone. I've read that some people swapped their phone several times. You've got 30days to try the phone. I know that doesn't help you now but you can always ask the reps if they'll still swap. Or sell the phone on eBay.

[OCMIKE]

The reason I kept ATT for 3 years was price, but you get what you paid for. My phone is a siemens S46 dual band TDMA and GSM. I sometiems have to turn the phone to TDMA mode just to make a call. I got a verizion phone today, Mot T720 and have been pretty satisfied so far. Works well at work and around the city I work in. The big test is the drive home, and working in my home. My wife works out in HB and her co worker has Vzn and has full signal at her work so that is a go.

Thanks [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
Mike

[OCMIKE]

Thank you all for your help and info.

Last Thursday I went to my local Verizon store in Torrance, Del Amo Mall, and signed up for service to try. Well after two days I signed my Wife up for a family plan. We are VERY happy about the Verizon service. We had no lower then 4 bars where ever we went.

The ATTCS Rep, BOB, was very nice and canceled my account with out charging me the ETF. According to a ATTCS Rep they are focusing on fixing the industrial reception and later the rural or residential areas. Dosen't ATT realize that some people use a cellphone as their primary phone because landlines can cost to much?

Oh well. We are very happy with Verizon and will be staying with them for quite some time.

Verizons tech support is much better then ATT you actually get to talk with a tech support person not a CS rep, and the CS rep talks only to the tech support person. Also Verizon told me of areas that had trouble tickets with out me even asking. Verizon told me more info then ATT would unless I asked and even when I did they knew nothing.

The Verizon reps in the Torrance, Del Amo Mall store, Gus and Jason were great and took their time explaing my rate plan and phone. Kudos to them, and they knew their stuff.

Thanks again all for your help.

Happy Holidays
Mike in OC

[JangoFett]

Try getting the S46 phone since it's TDMA and GSM, so it might make a difference. I have ATT GSM right now from my company and everyone there hates it. It's only been 2 weeks and we are going back to Nextel. It's a corporate plan so there's no contract and we have the option to buy the phone. I'm keeping my T68i since I've already unlocked it and ATT is only charging $99.