more at&t hoo-hah

I started the morning all set to write an angry post directed at AT&T.

Before going on, I should know that my anger was partially fueled by my horrendous experience with AT&T last summer and fall. I wrote about that experience here.* While that episode is resolved I still have a sour taste in my mouth.

Anyway, I spoke to customer service in December about a different issue. He sold me on a new plan. As he described it, I would have more and better service, with some extras (e.g., HBO Max**), at no extra cost. In truth, I don't remember if he said it would be the same cost or cheaper. But he did assure me that it wouldn't be more expensive. More for less? Sign me up! But yesterday I got my first bill on the new plan, and it does cost more.

Blair and I both twote about this yesterday, and customer service reached out. There was no progress as of this morning. But this afternoon, customer service reached out. I told her what I was angry about, and that I wanted my old plan back. Turns out the old plan is discontinued. She said she'd look into what she can do for me and call back. We left it at that. I have to admit that I was impressed by this customer service rep's poise. I was angry -- very angry. And I wasn't shy about letting her know. I didn't insult her or curse, but I did raise my voice and my tone wasn't always pleasant. She probably wanted to tell me to shove it, but she handled it all very well.

Anyway, once I was off the phone I looked back at my bill, comparing it to an old bill. And I realized that the price differential isn't nearly what I had thought it is. And now that we like HBO Max, well, if we were to revert to the old plan we'd want to pay for a subscription. That further reduces the price differential. Blair and I discussed it. The improved service makes the new service worth the price differential.

So I called back and said we'd stick with the new service. Honestly, I'm still annoyed that the rep -- the one I spoke to last month -- told me falsely that I wouldn't be paying more. I'm tempted to say he lied, but I suspect that it was more of a mistake than a lie. But all's well that ends well. I guess.

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*The TLDR version? We ordered a phone from AT&T. We never got the phone, but AT&T kept charging us for it. It took endless hours on multiple phone calls and trips to the evil AT&T store (the one in Floral Park) over three and a half months before I finally got my money back.

**I never wanted HBO Max, but now that I have it through AT&T, I love it. They have a lot of good old movies, and I've started streaming Game of Thrones.