I'm not an AT&T U-verse subscriber. Here's why.

[caption id="attachment_5861" align="aligncenter" width="719"] AT&amp;T doing work to bring GigaPower to Austin, Texas.[/caption]rnrnI wanted to be part of the AT&amp;T U-verse family, but they left me with little choice: I had to go back to the local cable monopoly. Here's what happened.rnrnI'm going to break this story up into easily digestible chunks. Click "next" to begin.rnrn rn AT&amp;T takes a different approach to TV and Internet rnWhen it comes to home TV and Internet service, AT&amp;T is a sort of underdog. Only sort of, but it's there. I'll explain why. Let's start with the top video subscription services, provided by the NCTA :rn rnt Netflix (36.2 million subscribers) rnt Comcast (22.6 million) rnt DirecTV (20.3 million) rnt Dish Network (14.1 million) rnt Time Warner Cable (11.4 million) rnt Hulu (6 million) rnt AT&amp;T U-verse (5.7 million) rnt Verizon Fios (5.3 million) rnt Charter (4.4 million) rnt Cox (4.3 million) rn rnSo, this isn't exactly a small business we're talking about here. And, of course, they are part of an oligopoly in other parts of the telecommunication industry.rnrnIt's the business model that intrigued me with U-verse. The giants, most notably Comcast and Time Warner, use your standard cable protocol. They control the cable market in whichever cities they are in. Unlike phone lines, which must be shared per federal law, cable carriers are free to monopolize their market.rnrn[pullquote]Unlike phone lines, which must be shared per federal law, cable carriers are free to monopolize their market.[/pullquote]rnrnThis leaves the cable operators, in many cases, as the only realistic option for customers in many markets. This is how you have a company like Comcast that is both universally reviled and by far the cable provider with the most subscribers. Without competition, there's no incentive to get better.rnrnU-verse, however, doesn't use cable to reach your home. They use a hybrid network of fiber and copper, utilizing the fiber where possible and the less ideal copper phone lines when not. Most U-verse customers have what is called "fiber to the node," which means that the super high-speed fiber optic line leads to a node in their neighborhood, after which point copper phone wire leads to each house.rnrnAt that point, the customers are getting DSL. And while DSL was passed over as insufficient technology as cable took over the old dial-up protocol, U-verse's utilization of fiber and the best that copper can offer has led to a service that is quite sufficient for most people.rnrnAnd, wherever U-verse makes inroads, the local cable operators can be kept honest. Competition is a good thing when it comes to TV and Internet. Prices go down, services get better. I like lower prices and better services, so I decided to check out U-verse. rn Anyone but Time Warner, right? rnI just moved to Columbus, Ohio. One of the first things I began to look into after securing a home was how I would get my TV and Internet. Columbus happens to be the home to Time Warner Cable's east coast call center and after a series of acquisitions, including that of Insight Communications, they have come to be the main cable operator in Columbus.rnrnOut of the top 100 cities by population, Columbus has the 89th fastest broadband speeds, according to Broadband Now . There are three providers whose speeds average 10 Mbps and can serve over 90% of homes: Time Warner, AT&amp;T U-verse, and WOW!rnrnWOW!, formerly known as Wide Open West, is what is called a " cable overbuilder ." That means they are a company whose business model is to go into markets where there is an existing dominant cable provider and lay down their own cable lines to compete. While that is admirable, and their customer service has won various accolades , their service here in Columbus just isn't great.rnrnAccording to the Google Video Quality Report, WOW! subscribers are significantly outperformed by both Time Warner and AT&amp;T when it comes to streaming video, one of my main high-bandwidth activities. None received the Youtube HD Verified seal of approval.rnrn[pullquote]The best performer was U-verse.[/pullquote]rnrnThe best performer was U-verse. I kept all of this in mind as I looked into my various options and, particularly, their pricing.rnrnBeing a football fan and a fan of not paying a lot of money, I gravitated towards DIRECTV. They offered a great combination on the TV side of things, with a low price, a lot of channels, whole-home DVR, and free NFL Sunday Ticket - something that I would otherwise have to pay $150 for as part of SundayTicket.TV. rnrnIt turns out that the policies of my landlord mixed with the particulars of my unit made it impossible for me to mount a dish on my place. So, DIRECTV is out. I found out at this time that I wasn't really wired for WOW!, either and the landlord wasn't about to disrupt my neighbors so I could stick it to Time Warner.rnrnSo it was down to AT&amp;T U-verse and Time Warner. I really didn't want to go to Time Warner. They are even less popular with customers than Comcast. Pricing was ridiculous. Here's a rundown of some of the ways the sticker price of a Time Warner subscription is inflated by extra costs:rn rnt Cable modem is $5.99/month. rnt Each HD box, if you want HD channels on a given TV, is $12/month. rnt Each DVR-enabled box, if you want to use a DVR or use whole-home DVR, is $25/month. rn rn[pullquote]I really didn't want to go to Time Warner.[/pullquote]rnrnI also noticed that I'd have to pay a $20 installation fee even though I'd pick up the equipment myself.rnrnWith that and my budget in mind, this is what I would get if I had to have TWC:rn rnt Preferred TV, which is their best channel lineup minus the various upgrade packages and premium channels (HBO, Starz, etc.) rnt Extreme Internet, which is the 30 Mbps speed tier. The highest available in Columbus is 50 Mbps, the so-called "Ultimate." rnt Two HD boxes. I have three TVs, but I'm only willing to pay so much per month to rent these boxes and I don't use the third all that often. No DVR or anything like that on these boxes, just the interactive channel guide and on-demand access. rn rnThat would run me $145/month , which is a slight discount over retail. After 12 months, that bumps up to around $150.rnrnU-verse, on the other hand, had a great promotion going for my location, which they assured had a particular set of services available. Here's what I'd get for $136/month for 12 months:rn rnt U450, their top channel package, plus HBO/Stars/Cinemax/SHOtime. rnt 45 Mbps Internet, which has some ridiculous name that I can't recall. rnt Whole-home DVR with devices on three TVs. The DVR has three tuners. rnt No modem rental fee. rnt $200 in Visa gift cards as part of the promotion. rn rnThat is, well, a bunch better than the TWC deal. I was thrilled to hear that they had such good Internet service available at my address, as I assumed they wouldn't. The price would go up by quite a bit ($30 or so) after 12 months, but I might be moving by then, might cut some things out, and I feel pretty confident that they'd offer a good deal if I said I was going to leave them.rnrnI was excited and was willing to wait for three days after moving into my new place to get it installed.rnrnThis is where things took a turn for the worse...rnrn rn An installation goes awry, customer service goes even more awry rnSmack dab in the middle of the two hour window for which I had my U-verse installation scheduled, the technician arrived. His name was Mike and he was extremely friendly, explained how everything works, and told us he'd be poking around my wiring setup outside to see what needed to be done.rnrnThis was going to be a great day! I've got Mike, I've got a great deal on TV and Internet, and a new home to enjoy it all in.rnrnMike comes back inside and says he has bad news. My wiring actually isn't capable of the 45 Mbps that AT&amp;T's database thought it was. There is a place he can run wiring from to my premises at the end of the block, but he'd need attic access to every single one of my neighbors from there to here; my landlord, who also manages those units, wasn't to keen on that idea.rnrnThere's good news, though. My current setup is perfectly capable of doing 24 Mbps, the next step down. That's all I need, I just took the 45 Mbps upgrade because it was actually free with the promotion. The bad news is that Mike can't do the installation; company policy is that the technician can't install services other than those in the order. I need to call customer service, change my monthly plan, and have somebody come back out.rnrnThat's okay! This shouldn't be too bad. I'll get what I need soon enough. I call technical support at Mike's suggestion.rnrnI reached tech support after a very brief wait and was greeted by a friendly person. She understood my problem and said it would be no problem to change my Internet subscription to the 24 Mbps tier. A few minutes of wait and the changes would be propagated into their system.rnrn[pullquote]She comes back on the line and says that everything is fixed and my new monthly rate will be $170.[/pullquote]rnrnShe comes back on the line and says that everything is fixed and my new monthly rate will be $170.rnrnWait, what?rnrnI explain that the change she just made caused me to lose my promotional rate. She offered to downgrade some of my other services to lower the price to $160, but I wasn't going for that. After explaining again that I didn't think I should be penalized for their system being wrong, I was referred to sales, who she said had better ability to make these kinds of changes in the system.rnrnI am then referred to sales and am quickly connected with an incredibly bubbly and helpful saleswoman. While I had to go through the rigamarole of providing my information and explaining everything, she quickly caught on after informing of the current, not-as-good promotions.rnrnShe actually said, "you deserve that rate." Awesome! She doesn't have the necessary privileges to do that, though, so her supervisor will call me after he leaves his meeting in 1-2 hours and no longer.rnrnTwo hours later, nothing. I call customer service this time, and he is again very friendly and quite eager to help. I once again hear the word "deserve" in regards to my rate. I spend a lot of time on the phone with him because he has to call an "account specialist" to see what's up and he is forced to wait on hold to call someone within his own company for 10 minutes. I could hear the waiting music play in the background.rnrn[pullquote]he is forced to wait on hold to call someone within his own company for 10 minutes.[/pullquote]rnrnHe can't make the change either, though, and thinks I'd be best served by billing.rnrnThe person I spoke to in billing was again completely competent and confident in her ability to help. After once again explaining my concerns and going through identity verification, she does have the privileges to change my plan without changing my rate. She then says the next installation opening in my area is in three days. Damn! I have work to do. I decide to wait, though.rnrnDid you think things were going to work out? Just wait... rn Installation? What installation? rnAfter using my phone as a wireless hotspot for three more days, I was more than ready to get U-verse installed. Except...the two-hour installation window came and went with no technician in sight. Nobody called and there wasn't a reminder text from AT&amp;T like last time.rnrn[pullquote]the two-hour installation window came and went with no technician in sight.[/pullquote]rnrnSomething fishy was going on so I called customer service again. I am told that my appointment was cancelled because I am signed up for the 45 Mbps Internet and their database tells them that my address is not equipped for that speed.rnrnSo, two things:rn rnt The change to my subscribed plan didn't occur, apparently. rnt AT&amp;T was willing to never reach out and let me know that they cancelled my installation appointment. rn rnI told the customer service rep that I just spent several hours the other day getting that very change made. She asks me to hold a moment while pulling up my detailed account information and says, "oh dear, there have been a lot of different things done to this account." Yep. That would be the many people I dealt with three days ago.rnrnThen she tells me that she can downgrade me with a problem and that my new rate will be $170. This is deja vu.rnrnI am then sent to sales after saying that I am not going to accept that price. I led with a simple question - can AT&amp;T get the service installed that day or the next once the proper changes are made? Sales told me that was not possible. Sorry, then, I can't wait any longer.rnrnI am sent to the loyalty department and get the friendliest person I've talked to yet. I explain what happened, she is apologetic, but she says she has no problem cancelling my order. She mentions that I might benefit from subscribing to their wireless hotspot plan in the meantime, but I tell her I've already done that. After about three minutes, I'm completely unsubscribed and owe AT&amp;T no money.rnrnSo what happened here?rn rnt AT&amp;T offers an arguably superior service at a better price rnt AT&amp;T sends a very friendly and capable technician at the promised time rnt AT&amp;T's technician confirms that I can have a very decent service at my location rnt AT&amp;T never plagues me with wait times or unfriendly/incompetent reps with their phone support. rnt I don't have AT&amp;T U-verse. rn rnDespite the best efforts of every human being involved, they couldn't make it happen and I couldn't work without the Internet longer than a week. Their systems were so convoluted and broken that the best efforts of all those people still led to a bad result.rnrnI'm almost certain that if I kept the charade going that a technician would arrive and tell me I had to change my subscription and have someone come back another day.rnrnThis is from years of consolidation, acquisition, and growth of a huge company. They've been sticking square pegs into round holes so long that it is borderline unsalvageable if anything doesn't go according to plan.rnrn[pullquote]Now I am a Time Warner Cable customer, and it stinks.[/pullquote]rnrnNow I am a Time Warner Cable customer, and it stinks. I was able to get my Internet going in just the time it takes to subscribe online and pick up the modem at my local TWC location, though. Yes, the onboard router is awful and I need to buy my own separate router now. Yes, the HD boxes were non-functional for two days until a technician came. Yes, right now I am not getting any channels through either HD box for reasons unknown to me currently.rnrnBut it's better than nothing. This is what I expected from Time Warner. I hoped for better from AT&amp;T.

GeekSided

I’m not an AT&T U-verse subscriber. Here’s why.

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