AT&T DSL Is Back Up!

In case you've missed the story, it starts here with an update here.

My AT&T DSL is now up! It only took a little over two weeks, but my AT&T DSL is now up and working. Here is the rest of what I have had to do.

Approximately 3PM today: I called AT&T to discuss my bill. I received a bill more than double what I should have had to pay due to the DSL modem being sent out even though I did not request it. During this phone call I found out that my DSL connection had been order and got the order number. The "turn on" date is 1/17/2008. I was then transferred to the appropriate office for getting credit on my DSL modem which UPS confirmed had been delivered. That credit is supposed to take effect Thursday. Unless there are issues, I won't follow up with a post on it, but I will be checking back with AT&T to confirm that the credit does go through. After getting off the phone, I give a call to a contact that I've recently made at AT&T who said that s/he would be able to help me once the order got placed. I left a message for him/her with the order number. (I am purposefully leaving details out in case this person was not supposed to offer to be so helpful. You know who you are and if you happen to find this blog post, I'd like to say that I'm extremely grateful for your help.)

Approximately 4:45PM today: I look outside my front window and see an AT&T van. There is someone working on the phone box at the side of house. I go out to see if the DSL is, in fact, hooked up. He confirms that it is now hooked up. I was not able to test it right away.

6:45PM today: DSL light is blinking green and red. I call tech support. They have me try a different phone jack which works. I had changed which line the original phone jack was hooked up to and forgot to secure the screws that held the wires.

7:00PM today: I've got DSL, but I can't connect to the internet. My username and password are not working. I get connected with the right person. He tells me that my account is not scheduled to go live until 1/17/2008, but after I explained to him the situation, he agreed to do what he could do. After trying a few things, we reactivate my old account and get me up and running. Process took awhile, but here I am. (At least on one computer... now I have to get it back up with wireless, etc.)

I would also like to thank the person who recognized that the final disconnect as well as the entire process were taking entirely too long. S/he was able to get my case escalated. I am extremely greatful to you as well.

In the end, AT&T has waived the activation fee, credited me two months of internet service, and given me a 6 MB / 768k line for the price of a 3 MB / 512k line for one year. Their lousy service has been, for the most part, inexcusable; however, there have been a few shining stars that have worked hard to make things as right as they could. AT&T, you have some good staff who could turn your company's image around if you would just give them the tools they need to quickly fix company mistakes.