Last month I bought an iPhone, and just as you'd expect, I like it. But I had a problem with it last week, and now not only do I still like the phone, I like the company that makes it more than I used to. But maybe that's because they look so good in comparison to their "partner", AT&T.
I had to fly to Las Vegas for business, and when I landed and took the iPhone out of airplane mode, I had no cell service. I tried everything I knew to do (including swearing), but it didn't work. All the way through the airport and into the hotel, still no service. This was a major problem, as I had several important calls that day and the iPhone was going to be my main means of communication for the week. My lifeline was reduced to a very expensive iPod.
In my room, I hooked up my laptop and pulled up the AT&T website. After all, there wasn't a problem with the phone, it must be a service issue. I hunted for over 30 minutes trying to find a phone number on the site. The FAQ's were all about trying to sell me more stuff. The "phone support" area was for online bill payment and checking how many minutes I had used (none today, thanks), but no phone number. If I had a problem (which I did), I was supposed to go into some ridiculous message board area and chat with other AT& T users who might be able to help me solve my problem (Do they really think that's a good idea?)
At last, I find a phone number. I call, and you guessed it, I'm in a holding queue.
Finally, when I'm connected, a live person (and I use the term loosely) asks me for my phone number, name and explanation of the problem. She is downtrodden and clearly on a script. She tells me to power off the iPhone. I do so, and I don't have the heart to tell her I've done that about 200 times in the last hour already and it hasn't solved the problem. "OK", she says "now I want you to remove the battery". She already knows I have an iPhone, and she wants me to remove a battery that can't be removed.
I tell her that's not possible. There is a long pause, a couple of keyboard thwacks, and then"....I'm going to transfer you to Apple".
In a heartbeat I am talking to a cheerful, helpful woman who knows my name and I know hers. Within 15 seconds she walks me through how to do a reset on the iPhone, and once the reset is done, I instantly have my phone service restored. She asks if there is anything else she can do for me and thanks me. She doesn't ask me to take out the battery. Within a few minutes, I have an email in my in box from Apple giving me my case number and a phone number in case I need to call again. A day later, I have another email from Apple asking me to take a short survey and confirm that my problem was solved promptly.
Now, I have to wonder. Why did I have to be transferred to Apple to be told how to reset the phone? Or does Apple not give secrets like that out to AT&T so that they can look like service heroes when they save the day? Why does AT&T instruct you to take the battery out of the iPhone? Or is that another secret? Why did Apple diligently follow up with me and encourage me to call them again while AT&T seem relieved to hand me over to someone else and disappear into the vapor? How will two brands with clearly opposing views of customer service manage to convince the world that they are partners?
Oh, and in case you're wondering, you have to click a very tiny link hidden in the footer of the AT&T website to find the phone number. But you might want to skip it and call Apple instead.
