In a nutshell I ran across a support supervisor who was not only clueless and could not get my problem fixed but flat out lied to me. He then flat refused to tell me the name of his supervisor.
So who can I call to find out who the DSL support folks answer to. Any disgruntled support people who can help?
Go to DSLReports.com. Click on Forums (on the left) then click on All Forums (kinda drops down from the forums part). Scroll down and in the right column click on Ameritech. LOTS of disgruntled people there. LOTS. Also there are a couple of REALLY good HELPFUL ameritech techs in there that will be able to help you fix your propblem. BTW what’s the problem?
This site is probably the most helpful site you can find for Ameritech (and every other type of broadband and lots of other computer questions in general). You should probably always post your question here before calling SBC.
Try the Public Service Commission for your state.
I was ready to go to the pit with this but in a nutshell…
I call tech support, I explain my scenario (Win98, brand new efficent networks 4060 speedstream USB modem to replace one that failed, failure to browse, drivers installed, modem is synched but IE by all manner of twisting refuses to acknowledge my DSL modem. It shows in the control panel but nowhere else. After 3 weeks of being down and about 10 hours worth of tech support calls I ask for a manager, get a “supervisor” who tells me I have to pay $60 for someone to come out and fix it. I ask for his boss and get told he “cant release that information” I tell him I’m not asking for his personal phone #, just a first name, office phone #, and best time to call. He starts repeating the “if you agree to the $60 charge…” I ask if there is something wrong with him that he keeps repeating an unacceptable answer like a broken record.
I tell him where he can stick his $60 and call back, get a different supervisor explain myself to her, she also refuses to give higher management contact info but asks me to give her one shot to find a tech who knows my modem (its an old arrangement and apparently their support info is lacking in how to diagnose it. She transfers me to a guy who asks me to describe my problem in detail, I do, he asks about 3 questions, has me check the driver details, and tells me…wrong driver. When they originally gave me the modem, the drivers on that disk were a modified version that they had custom done to work with some aspect of thier systems that the regular driver could not. Since I bought my replacement from an outside vendor, the proper drivers were not included, they are mailing me a CD. The support guy even gave me his direct callback line/extension and told me the CD should be pretty self explanatory but if I had any problems to leave me a message and he would call back as soon as he finished whever call he was on.
I am still pissed because the first supervisor I spoke to said “I am the highest ranking person in the building” There are apparently several people who hold his rank and I asked for his boss initally hoping he would be able to locate a person with the specialized info I needed, he would rather get me charged $60 and apologize than actually fix my problem.
So if anyone knows Jeff the tech support supervisor at SBC DSL support, please tell him hes an idiot and when I DO find out who his boss is there will be letters written.
FYI if you go to that website I mentioned, not only will they probably be able to fix your problem right away (someone may even be able to direct you to a site with the correct drivers) but also, someone there may actually know Jeff the support guy.
Our first foray into DSL was with SBC. We were promised a free modem, and then they later charged us 50 bucks for one. The charges kept mounting with each new bill, and THEN we found out the DSL was incompatible with our alarm system, a question the sales person was supposed to ask right off the bat, and didn’t.
Ultimate solution: tell SBC to shove it where the sun don’t shine, and get Earthlink DSL.
~VOW
I’ve battled with SBC for two years, especially after running the UnaBoard. They not only have a first-line that is completely clueless (bordering on criminally incompetant), but they also show an open contempt towards their own customers.
That having been said…99% of all my problems vanished completely once I went to static IPs, which points directly to the possible source of many problems. SBC’s DHCP servers are known to be horrific, and they really, really oversold the dynamic IP addresses early on - at one time, out of one office here in KC< they had nearly 8 times the people signed up than they had IP addresses to give them. So then they tried the PPPoE bullshit. So much for “always on…”.
Also, one other thing I’ve found is that with the static IPs, I do get treated differently, and kicked to the “2nd level” techs much faster. I even got a refund on two months where I had trouble.
Another resource:
http://www.patheticbell.com/
I don’t think Earthlink is much better. A friend has that and said he was totally out of Internet use for over a week, and now he’s battling to get a refund or pro rated bill for no use of his service. Good luck!
:eek: This is what they are supposedly putting me on as part of the stuff they are sending me? What kind of mess are they throwing me into.
If they give you less static for going static 
I just might do that. I have been considering doing a site for some game issues and such so IP would be needed. Also I figured that they would have better support for multi-puter networks from the static IP side.
I work for SBC - Advanced Solutions Inc, the DSL company in question. PM me and I’ll give you my office number to contact me. I’ll try and fix this as best I can.
skippman You have mail. Glad to see we have a connection among the dopers. Any assistance you can provide in the matter will be greatly appreciated.
Informal complaint filed naming Jeff I don’t blame the techs for sucking they are just reading a checklist. I do have a problem with management who blame me for not being able to do their job.
As proof that I don’t just like to be a complainer I am writing an attaboy letter for the support guy who is helping me and ID’d my problem in a few minutes. If the disk works and or he can set me up in a resonable amount of time, it gets mailed.
I’d probably get into trouble for posting this anywhere else but I’m almost positive I’m the only SBC employee on the board. And even if I am not, I’m sure that those who are on here hail to logic and reason as much as I do and will realize I say the following to aid others in understanding.
Our company is huge. It’s easily one of the largest in the nation. We are the number two telecommunications company in the world, after NT&T to my understanding. The problem is not one of the higher ranking officers will listen to the suggestions of employees. They would rather write 10 page M&P’s for issues that have documented workaround than fix the problem in the first place. But I suppose that is how it is at any major company.
Working in the department I do, I see the absolute worst customer service our company is capable of giving the customer. Unfortunatly, the majority of the customer service problems originate in one place. SBC - DSL - CSI (Customer Self Install). This is the first tier tech support you were talking about. The people in that “department” are acutally outsourced Convergsys employees. They are the same people who were selling you cell phones last week over the phone. They are not the dedicated, highly trained employees that are the SBC core. Given the size of our subscriber base and the cost of IT personel I can understand why we chose this path, but I do not have to like it.
Being a 7 year IT verteran, I find some of the advice given by these people to be deplorable. But there is nothing I can do. I, personally, am busy on a continual basis helping clients solve
DSL router and networking issues. I can only hope that as time passes these people at the CSI helpdesk will gain experience and learn what to, and not to do. If any member of the SDMB has a **DSL related problem **in the SBC Communications area, please let me know and I will do my best to help resolve the issue. If I can’t, I can at least get the information to the appropriate people.