Tretakoff Musings
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
iPhone Acquired. Palm Weeps.
Yep. After suffering yet another Treo meltdown on my recent Tucson trip, I resolved that this New Year would be free of such frustrations. And thanks to AT&T, I not only did it, but came out ahead.
For those who are not familiar with my recent Treo issues, it's developed an exasperatingly unpredictable habit of forgetting how to put audio through. The built in earpiece? Nope. The speakerphone? Nah. The Bluetooth headset? Ha! No, in fact it simply removes the icon from the screen that lets you control where the audio goes to, leaving your caller in limbo: they can hear you, but you can't hear them. Ever. More disturbingly, when I hard reset the phone, it still did it. Randomly, a day later, it stops. When I called AT&T about this, they immediately offered to send me a new unit, at no charge, and had me send back the defective one; extremely great service, as it was past warranty. The new Treo came, and within weeks, the same problem started. Enough was enough: I love the multifunction of my Treo, but sound is pretty key. So, how to get the iPhone?
I started by calling AT&T again. I explained the situation, and the CSR asked me what I'd like to do. I asked if I could receive a credit; she said yes, towards an equal or lesser phone. I asked if I could get an iPhone and pay the difference; she immediately pointed out that Apple will not let them discount the iPhone. However, she offered a credit of $200 for my Treo. In fact, without prompting, she also offered to waive the $50 fee this would normally incur, AND give me an extra $50 credit for my aggravation. This is just stunning customer service: I would get $250 in credit towards a $399 phone. How to execute this deal? Simple, she said: head down to the nearest AT&T Wireless store, have the sales rep pull up the notes, and they'd take care of it.
I headed down to the local store, where the helpful sales rep looked over the notes on my account with astonishment: he had no idea how to do this, as it would mean discounting the iPhone, which is a major no no. The manager joined us, and HE looked over the notes, sure to find something wrong, and he was astonished as well. After stuttering that he couldn't do it, I asked him a simple question: as the manager, put himself in my position as the customer; what would he expect and be satisfied to hear at that moment? To his credit, he laid it out: I could buy the iPhone at full price, knowing I could return it (unopened) within 30 days for a full refund. I could then go back to my office and call AT&T to discuss how to address it. Good plan; I paid with Amex (to protect against anything going wrong), and headed back, iPhone in tow. Note I still have my Treo at this point.
Back in the office, called and spoke with another extremely helpful CSR. She looked over my notes, called a supervisor, who authorized crediting my AT&T account $249. They asked for the iPhone's IMEI and SIM numbers, and processed the credit. I was skeptical; she suggested I log into my online account to prove it. I did, and there was my $249 credit. I asked to speak to the supervisor, thanked her and complimented her on her staff, and took the iPhone home.
So, here I sit, blogging while my iPhone syncs to my new Dell, happily. My Treo, sensing it's end, decided to spontaneously reboot twice on the ride home today, the last blowing away all software registration info. Note that I still have the Treo: potentially, I could sell it on eBay for $150; more, with the accessories I have bought, and come out AHEAD, with the AT&T credits. I cannot offer enough kudos to AT&T for not putting me through a lot of hoops and addressing the issue head on. Well done, folks.
So, look for the iPhone posts soon!
Yep. After suffering yet another Treo meltdown on my recent Tucson trip, I resolved that this New Year would be free of such frustrations. And thanks to AT&T, I not only did it, but came out ahead. For those who are not familiar with my recent Treo issues, it's developed an exasperatingly unpredictable habit of forgetting how to put audio through. The built in earpiece? Nope. The speakerphone? Nah. The Bluetooth headset? Ha! No, in fact it simply removes the icon from the screen that lets you control where the audio goes to, leaving your caller in limbo: they can hear you, but you can't hear them. Ever. More disturbingly, when I hard reset the phone, it still did it. Randomly, a day later, it stops. When I called AT&T about this, they immediately offered to send me a new unit, at no charge, and had me send back the defective one; extremely great service, as it was past warranty. The new Treo came, and within weeks, the same problem started. Enough was enough: I love the multifunction of my Treo, but sound is pretty key. So, how to get the iPhone?
I started by calling AT&T again. I explained the situation, and the CSR asked me what I'd like to do. I asked if I could receive a credit; she said yes, towards an equal or lesser phone. I asked if I could get an iPhone and pay the difference; she immediately pointed out that Apple will not let them discount the iPhone. However, she offered a credit of $200 for my Treo. In fact, without prompting, she also offered to waive the $50 fee this would normally incur, AND give me an extra $50 credit for my aggravation. This is just stunning customer service: I would get $250 in credit towards a $399 phone. How to execute this deal? Simple, she said: head down to the nearest AT&T Wireless store, have the sales rep pull up the notes, and they'd take care of it.
I headed down to the local store, where the helpful sales rep looked over the notes on my account with astonishment: he had no idea how to do this, as it would mean discounting the iPhone, which is a major no no. The manager joined us, and HE looked over the notes, sure to find something wrong, and he was astonished as well. After stuttering that he couldn't do it, I asked him a simple question: as the manager, put himself in my position as the customer; what would he expect and be satisfied to hear at that moment? To his credit, he laid it out: I could buy the iPhone at full price, knowing I could return it (unopened) within 30 days for a full refund. I could then go back to my office and call AT&T to discuss how to address it. Good plan; I paid with Amex (to protect against anything going wrong), and headed back, iPhone in tow. Note I still have my Treo at this point.
Back in the office, called and spoke with another extremely helpful CSR. She looked over my notes, called a supervisor, who authorized crediting my AT&T account $249. They asked for the iPhone's IMEI and SIM numbers, and processed the credit. I was skeptical; she suggested I log into my online account to prove it. I did, and there was my $249 credit. I asked to speak to the supervisor, thanked her and complimented her on her staff, and took the iPhone home.
So, here I sit, blogging while my iPhone syncs to my new Dell, happily. My Treo, sensing it's end, decided to spontaneously reboot twice on the ride home today, the last blowing away all software registration info. Note that I still have the Treo: potentially, I could sell it on eBay for $150; more, with the accessories I have bought, and come out AHEAD, with the AT&T credits. I cannot offer enough kudos to AT&T for not putting me through a lot of hoops and addressing the issue head on. Well done, folks.
So, look for the iPhone posts soon!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Bob Geldof Was Right.
I don't like Mondays.
Well, Monday came and went with no Treo update. Sigh. However, in signing up for Palm's MyPalm service, I was alerted to an older update to the Treo, offering improved battery performance and a new camera application. Despite my misgivings, I installed it.
While I don't see much change from the update, I was surprised about the process. First, the update took about 30 minutes, with frequent Treo reboots as part of the process, making it more reminiscent of a Windows update than a Palm one. Second, quite annoyingly, the update either wiped out several applications, or lost the registration info on others. Paired Bluetooth headsets? Gone. Serial numbers? Reset. It took over an hour to recreate...argh.
If this is what I have to look forward to for the next update, I'll make sure my old Boy Scout motto gets put to use, first.
Well, Monday came and went with no Treo update. Sigh. However, in signing up for Palm's MyPalm service, I was alerted to an older update to the Treo, offering improved battery performance and a new camera application. Despite my misgivings, I installed it. While I don't see much change from the update, I was surprised about the process. First, the update took about 30 minutes, with frequent Treo reboots as part of the process, making it more reminiscent of a Windows update than a Palm one. Second, quite annoyingly, the update either wiped out several applications, or lost the registration info on others. Paired Bluetooth headsets? Gone. Serial numbers? Reset. It took over an hour to recreate...argh.
If this is what I have to look forward to for the next update, I'll make sure my old Boy Scout motto gets put to use, first.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
What the...Palm's updating the 680?
What the heck is in the water at Palm? After literally years of malaise, first they chuck a product that the market clearly didn't want, then they introduce a $99 smartphone that people actually seem to like, and now comes word that they pushing out a free update to the 680 (my Treo) with actually cool features people want! Is this a signal that Palm is on its way back?
According to Treonauts, 10/22 (Monday) will bring us AT&T 680 owners a bevy of new goodies:
The embedded multi-service IM client newer Treos have? MP3's as ringtones? I never thought I'd say this, but I can't wait for Monday!
What the heck is in the water at Palm? After literally years of malaise, first they chuck a product that the market clearly didn't want, then they introduce a $99 smartphone that people actually seem to like, and now comes word that they pushing out a free update to the 680 (my Treo) with actually cool features people want! Is this a signal that Palm is on its way back?According to Treonauts, 10/22 (Monday) will bring us AT&T 680 owners a bevy of new goodies:
Maintenance Release for the Treo 680 Available 10/22 (current record)
* Enables PTT feature
* Places Stub applications on the devices in support of:
o IM clients (Yahoo!, AIM, Windows Live)
o TeleNav
o MobiTV
* Ability for a MP3 or any sort of music file to be translated as a Ringtone
* Will be available as free download for all AT&T Treo 680 customers
o SMS blast from AT&T will alert customers in addition to traditional channel and Customer Care messaging
* Requires a desktop computer –the download cannot be executed via OTA
The embedded multi-service IM client newer Treos have? MP3's as ringtones? I never thought I'd say this, but I can't wait for Monday!
Saturday, January 27, 2007
This Blog Just Saved Me $60!
In my recent posting about AT&T's VOIP Service, I wrote:
To which, a commenter, the mysterious SamIam, kindly said:
Well, I logged into my CallVantage account today, saw a link to change my plan, and was able to switch it to the $25 plan instead. There is NO difference between the $30 and $25 plans; just different price.
Thanks, SamIam: $60 a year savings, because of your comment!
In my recent posting about AT&T's VOIP Service, I wrote:"Yes, Vonage has a few more features I would like, and is $5 less;"
To which, a commenter, the mysterious SamIam, kindly said:
"AT&T CallVantage isn't $5 more than Vonage. Call them up and change your plan. The new plan (same as the old plan) is under $25 -- The FCC requires you change to the new plan!"
Well, I logged into my CallVantage account today, saw a link to change my plan, and was able to switch it to the $25 plan instead. There is NO difference between the $30 and $25 plans; just different price.
Thanks, SamIam: $60 a year savings, because of your comment!
Friday, January 12, 2007
The Clash said it best
Should I stay or should I go now?
The quandary: I currently have Comcast for my broadband service; paying them about $60 a month. Speed, according to the CNet bandwidth measurement tool, is about 476.5 kbps. For my Phone service, I pay AT&T for their VOIP service about $30 a month: unlimited calls, great features.
My router is starting to fail, so I'll get a new one, but it made me wonder: were there other providers that could do the job for me? Lo and behold,DSL has finally made it's way to my neighborhood.
Looks like AT&T/Yahoo's system to determine if service is available at an address needs work. After a 45 minute chat online with a rep, she verified service is NOT available. Sigh. Read on for details for your research.
AT&T/Yahoo will give me DSL that is 6 Mbps for about $40; 3 Mbps for $25 a month. Roughly half the cost of cable, and almost 10x the speed. Plus, they'll sweeten the pot with a $75 prepaid VISA. Potentially, I could save even more if I combine with Cingular (which changes it's name to AT&T Monday). Downside? I have to put a phone line back in. Of course, they offer an "all you can eat" phone service for $40 a month, or I could just get a basic line for $10 and keep my VOIP.
Monthly total for broadband & phone today: $90
With AT&T:
1) $80 for 6 MBPS & Unlimited calling line
2) $70 for 6 MBPS & VOIP
3) $65 for 3 MBPS & Unlimited Calling
4) $55 for 3 MBPS & VOIP
If you'd like to benefit from my research, and see if this would work for you, I've put together a Google spreadsheet for you to use. Good luck!
The quandary: I currently have Comcast for my broadband service; paying them about $60 a month. Speed, according to the CNet bandwidth measurement tool, is about 476.5 kbps. For my Phone service, I pay AT&T for their VOIP service about $30 a month: unlimited calls, great features. My router is starting to fail, so I'll get a new one, but it made me wonder: were there other providers that could do the job for me? Lo and behold,
Looks like AT&T/Yahoo's system to determine if service is available at an address needs work. After a 45 minute chat online with a rep, she verified service is NOT available. Sigh. Read on for details for your research.
AT&T/Yahoo will give me DSL that is 6 Mbps for about $40; 3 Mbps for $25 a month. Roughly half the cost of cable, and almost 10x the speed. Plus, they'll sweeten the pot with a $75 prepaid VISA. Potentially, I could save even more if I combine with Cingular (which changes it's name to AT&T Monday). Downside? I have to put a phone line back in. Of course, they offer an "all you can eat" phone service for $40 a month, or I could just get a basic line for $10 and keep my VOIP.Monthly total for broadband & phone today: $90
With AT&T:
1) $80 for 6 MBPS & Unlimited calling line
2) $70 for 6 MBPS & VOIP
3) $65 for 3 MBPS & Unlimited Calling
4) $55 for 3 MBPS & VOIP
If you'd like to benefit from my research, and see if this would work for you, I've put together a Google spreadsheet for you to use. Good luck!
