AT&T Wireless

[January 21st, 2004] When the Federal Communications Commission announced in late November that cell-phone users could keep their old numbers when swapping service providers, many cellheads thought, "What a marvelous, simple idea."

Among the ranks of the rejoicing was Greshamite Quinn Rose-Blum.

Rose-Blum switched from T-Mobile to AT&T Wireless on Nov. 28, shortly after the "portability" plan went into effect. She was impressed by AT&T's superior coverage in the Portland area and calmed by its assurances of easy switching from her old plan.

If only she had known.

The AT&T rep told her service could be switched in a matter of hours (a few days in the worst cases), but at the start of December, Rose-Blum still had not been switched to the new service. So, on Dec. 3, she called AT&T's customer-service number on her new phone (she could still make outgoing calls but not receive incoming ones). Rose-Blum continued calling AT&T every other day for about six weeks, being swapped around by clueless customer- service reps on the call-center floor. None could explain what was happening, except to blame T-Mobile for the delay.

Rose-Blum was frustrated but not fuming. That is, until last week, when she received a bill from AT&T asking for $233 to pay for the 583 minutes she'd spent on the phone listening to empty promises and elevator music, especially when she's been told repeatedly that she wouldn't have to pay a dime. When she called to complain, she was told there were too many calls for AT&T to reverse the charges.

Rose-Blum has since filed a dispute with the billing department. And apparently she's not alone. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that AT&T has shown a 60 percent "portability error rate," one of the highest in the industry.

When Rogue Central called AT&T for comment, we were greeted by a dazed operator who referred us to another phone number--one that, according to a friendly recorded voice, "has been disconnected or is no longer in service."