The Meaning of Life

AT&T

Today AT&T finally told America when iPhon users can expect to be able to send and receive picture messages…a feature available to the most rudamentary of phones.  While just about every other iPhone provider in the world enabled the “cutting edge technology” back in June when Apple released new software.  AT&T’s ineptitude was said to be coming to an end “by late summer.”  Today they said it would arrive on September 25 — a few days after the official start of autumn.  Perhaps I’m splitting hairs here but I was pissed…I crafted a tersely worded e-mail and got the following response:

Dear Mr. Chupka,

Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T regarding the September 25 release date for MMS for your iPhone. I apologize for any frustration this may have caused.. My name is Jacqueline Wright, and I am happy to help you with your inquiry.

I can certainly understand the frustration experienced in regard to MMS not being available as soon as expected. The information that MMS would not be available until late summer was released at the time Apple announced there would be a software update released that would allow MMS for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. No specific date was released until now due to the time it would take to ensure the network was ready. I assure you we have been just as anxious to provide the service to our customers as they have been to have access to the service.

I hope that the information provided has been helpful and has resolved all of your questions. Should you have additional concerns or questions about this issue please reply to this email. If you need to contact us again regarding a new issue please send us another email via the contact link through your online account. Again, my name is Jacqueline Wright, and I thank you for being a valued AT&T customer. We will do our best to ensure that your wireless experience is a success.

I encourage you to visit our web site (www.att.com/wireless) often to view current and previous monthly statements, make payments and to shop for new product and service offerings.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Wright
AT&T
Online Customer Care Professional

I get that this woman’s job is to tow the corporate line and frankly this is pretty much exactly what i expected but it still gets me…how they can drag their feet and technically lie to they customers and get away with it.  While the alternative (Verizon) isn’t much better, based on principle, I hope AT&T loses their Apple contract next year — and when they do I will switch to Verizon they day it happens.