AT&T

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that Apple has finally allowed Verizon to carry the iPhone. I have been among the loudest and angriest anti-AT&T customers, furious that there's pretty much no signal in our house, and pretty much no signal in Andy's office (where I also spend one day a week). Before going iPhone, we had junky Verizon phones and had no problems. With Verizon, I never lost a call. Not once. Furthermore, we had Verizon service up in the mountains where we* ski. Then along came the iPhone, which I had to have, and that came with AT&T. Which just plain sucks where we live, work, and vacation. (I'm aware that people in other locations have no problems whatsoever, but this has been our experience.) It only speaks to my near-rabid love of the iPhone that I have stuck with it despite the fact that I so rarely have a reliable signal.

Fast-forward to February, when a Verizon iPhone will become available. I will not buy it.

WHAT?

Let me explain. First, I plan to wait to see how Verizon handles the additional data stress on its network. I think it will do fine, but I don't need to be the first one to find out through personal experience. Second, Apple generally releases a new iPhone in the summer, and I'd rather wait and get that one. Third, we have a family plan, and are all at different points in our contract cycles, so waiting until summer (at least) makes sense financially. Most likely our penalty for dropping our contracts will be minimal by then.

I want to point out that, despite the horrendous signal, I have been happy with everything else about AT&T. (I know, I know, this is in the same category as "Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?") I've called them every now and then for various issues, and I've always gotten great service. To wit: In October Pete left his brand-new cell phone on the bus. (In my recent glowing tribute to Pete, I neglected to mention that he is, in fact, the Biggest Loser, if by that you mean that he loses everything he touches. Raincoats. Hats. Sneakers. Sweatshirts. Flip-flops. Water bottles. Cell phones. Let's just say that he's very lucky he has those gorgeous eyes and charming dimples.) Every day he asked the bus driver if he'd seen the phone, and every day the bus driver said he hadn't seen it. I suspected that the bus driver hadn't actually looked for it, but I guess he wasn't lying to say that he hadn't seen it. Finally a week later the bus driver produced it. Yay! Then, a month later, Pete lost it once again—he thought on the bus but wasn't sure. I planned to follow the same tactic as previously, right up until we got an email from AT&T, maybe three days after the loss, saying that we'd just gone over our data limit for the month. Oh no, some evil dudes had the phone and were wreaking havoc with it!

We called AT&T, and the customer service rep was as helpful as can be. He suggested we first upgrade to unlimited data, so as to pay only $10 instead of all the fees that were being racked up, then suspend the service. About a month later, Pete gave me one of his amazing grins, and the next thing I knew I was buying him a new phone (actually it was one of those Go-Phones, albeit a nice one—an LG Neon). Sigh.

During this time, Andy heard about the AT&T MicroCell, a signal-booster unit. He went to the AT&T store, and they gave him one for free. Without his even asking. We set it up here in the house, and instantly we all had full bars. A few days later Andy went back to the AT&T store for another one for the office, and they gave him that one for free too! Imagine! Now we have full bars there too. (I recognize that AT&T is now scrambling to keep their customers, and they're doing a good job of it.)

As for New Hampshire, as of sometime this summer, we suddenly had intermittent signals up there. It's not worth writing home about—and, moreoever, the forthcoming Verizon iPhone's ability to function as a wifi hot-spot has me all hot and bothered (in the good way). I could bring my Verizon iPhone up north and be able to use my MacBookPro in the living room, instead of in that dark corner of the basement where I have to plug an Ethernet cable into the modem. Oh, what a dream...!

*That's the royal "we." I skied once and lived through it, so now I never have to do it again.

Comments

[scott]

I believe with all my heart that if Apple had initially partnered with Verizon (as they tried to do), we'd have all spent the last few years pining for an AT&T iPhone to rescue us. Still, that doesn't mean big red is going to repeat the death star's mistakes. They've had a few years to get their act together and have had some experience with usable smartphones running Android. My guess is there may be problems but they will be less severe. The other day the Verizon web site was nonresponsive due to people trying to order iPhones, which made me giggle a little.

[Elena]

I love my iPhone and have better service than I ever had with Verizon. I am not going back! We also have AT&T U-verse (fantastic!) and Internet (fantastic!). As you said, the customer service has always been great, although I've barely had the occasion to use it.

[Katy]

Seriously, you just saved me like, 20 minutes of reading all the boring press releases to help me decide what to do about my iPhone lust issue. I'm also going to wait until summer. I'm going to be the coolest kid on the block after you Karen! PS - have you been reading all the fantastic postings from the December Ted.com conference? You and all your bleaders should read the one about mammography, at the very least. http://www.ted.com/talks/deborah_rhodes.html