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AT&T CEO threatens customer who emailed him

35 points by CoryOndrejka 16y ago

awa 16y ago
Not a good PR day for AT&T today
jrockway 16y ago
What a clueless company. Now I know why they bumped the ETF.
BRadmin 16y ago
Here's the emailer's original blog post that includes the audio from the Executive Response Team member's message: http://attepicfail.tumblr.com/ http://attepicfail.tumblr.com/ You'll also find a link to Stephenson's contact info at the bottom (just in case you're inclined to drop him a line)!
- arethuza 16y ago
  So a paying customer trying to get in contact is "bothering the CEO" - what a truly awful bit of customer service.
- uptown 16y ago
  I like how they both thank him and threaten him in the same breath. It seems like they put about as much thought into their customer service calls as they've put into their network bandwidth capacity and service plan changes.
philk 16y ago
If I were an AT&T shareholder I'd be somewhat concerned to have a CEO who thought "hiring someone make legal threats" was a better use of company funds than just filtering the guy out as spam.
- ntulip 16y ago
  if you were a CEO, you would notice just how quickly your share holders don't care so long as they make money. The Board on the other hand, they could care.
paul9290 16y ago
They are the first of all the other carriers to implement this type of billing. Verizon and the others will follow no doubt. In five to ten years(maybe more) no one will be using cellular service to place calls and thus the carriers have to maintain and grow their revenues somehow.
msabalau 16y ago
While no reasonable person would expect the CEO of a large company to personally attend to every customer issue that randomly reached them, it's hardly a bad thing if the bubble of yes men is pierced. I can't help but imagine that a company that makes legal threats of this type is also dropping the ball in listening to customer feedback through normal channels, such as tech support or customer service. Customer complaints are a gift, a point well made in the classic Exit, Voice and Loyalty. Being removed from the voice of the customer is one of the worst things that happens to business leaders as their organizations grow.
ntulip 16y ago
I bet you he uses the eAt sh*T&T legal department against his neighborhood association too. But we all hate them also.

35 points by CoryOndrejka 16y ago

awa 16y ago

Not a good PR day for AT&T today

jrockway 16y ago

What a clueless company. Now I know why they bumped the ETF.

BRadmin 16y ago

Here's the emailer's original blog post that includes the audio from the Executive Response Team member's message: http://attepicfail.tumblr.com/ http://attepicfail.tumblr.com/ You'll also find a link to Stephenson's contact info at the bottom (just in case you're inclined to drop him a line)!

arethuza 16y ago
So a paying customer trying to get in contact is "bothering the CEO" - what a truly awful bit of customer service.
uptown 16y ago
I like how they both thank him and threaten him in the same breath. It seems like they put about as much thought into their customer service calls as they've put into their network bandwidth capacity and service plan changes.

philk 16y ago

If I were an AT&T shareholder I'd be somewhat concerned to have a CEO who thought "hiring someone make legal threats" was a better use of company funds than just filtering the guy out as spam.

ntulip 16y ago
if you were a CEO, you would notice just how quickly your share holders don't care so long as they make money. The Board on the other hand, they could care.

paul9290 16y ago

They are the first of all the other carriers to implement this type of billing. Verizon and the others will follow no doubt. In five to ten years(maybe more) no one will be using cellular service to place calls and thus the carriers have to maintain and grow their revenues somehow.

msabalau 16y ago

While no reasonable person would expect the CEO of a large company to personally attend to every customer issue that randomly reached them, it's hardly a bad thing if the bubble of yes men is pierced. I can't help but imagine that a company that makes legal threats of this type is also dropping the ball in listening to customer feedback through normal channels, such as tech support or customer service. Customer complaints are a gift, a point well made in the classic Exit, Voice and Loyalty. Being removed from the voice of the customer is one of the worst things that happens to business leaders as their organizations grow.

ntulip 16y ago

I bet you he uses the eAt sh*T&T legal department against his neighborhood association too. But we all hate them also.