AT&T WORLDNET SUCKS! (Optimized for 16-bit color or greater) Yes, it's true, AT&T Worldnet sucks. "Why?" you ask. Read on to find out the many ways in which their "service" is sorely lacking. You may even be a Worldnet customer. If so, beware. And if you have any Worldnet horror stories you would like to share, please drop me a line at dudesden@hotmail.com (not Worldnet, of course). What's Here? Truth in Advertising The Story of My Experience as a Worldnet Member Feedback A Bonehead's Email Additional Thoughts A Recent AT&T Advertisement Truth in Advertising The Story of My Experience as a Worldnet Member In the Beginning: "Wow!" I said, after hearing about AT&T's new Internet service back in April of this year. "That sounds great! Hmmm, $19.95 for unlimited access--and it's from the telephone company!" So I picked up the phone and called to order my free software. "Um, is there a local number for my calling area?" I inquired. The representative, speaking in a nasal tone almost befitting an AT&T operator, said, "I'm sorry, we just don't have that information here. You'll have to wait for the software to arrive, then install it, and dial our toll-free number to check on a local number for your area." "That sucks," I thought, but I agreed and my new software was on the way. Waiting for the Software: I waited. I waited some more. I waited a little more. "Hey! What's taking so long? I ordered three weeks ago!" I said to myself. "Self," said my self, "you'll just have to call and check on this great new software." So I did and I was told by another nasal AT&T Worldnet operator that it would probably be another week. "This sucks," I almost told the rep, but I decided to hold my tongue. You see, they weren't anticipating such a demand for this great new software from AT&T, so they were backed up... Great New Software?: On the day the software arrived in a cute little package, I was just about peeing in my pants. "Wow! On a CD-ROM too!" I exclaimed. "Not like those floppies that I get once a week from AOL! There must be really great stuff on here!" So I stuck the CD-ROM in and proceeded to install the software. Well, at the time, Netscape 2.0 was the standard and 3.0 betas were rolling out, but AT&T Worldnet software included a brand-new-specially-designed-for-AT&T-customers version of Netscape 1.0... "Hey!" I said, "This sucks!" Then I realized that not only was it an outdated version, but it was 16-bit and I'm running Windows 95. "Hey!" I said again. "This sucks!" So I got on the phone and called up Worldnet, only to discover that a new version of the software wouldn't be available until June, over a month away. "No problem," I said, still talking to myself. "I can just download Netscape 2.0 again once I've logged on." Well, little did I know, but installing the 16-bit version of Netscape 1.0 limited me to the 16-bit version of 2.0. "Hey, this really sucks!" I screamed. Local Number (May): So I called the toll-free 800-number to log on to AT&T. I entered my phone number and was presented with an amazing two numbers for my entire area code, none within my local calling area. I had two choices: 1) call long-distance for Internet access or 2) use the AT&T 800-number which has a surcharge of $4.50 an hour. So I had waited a month to find out that their amazing claim of $19.95 a month for unlimited access didn't apply to me because I had no local number... Guess what I said? Yep. "Man, this sucks..." So I got on the phone yet again and called Worldnet. "When will there be a local number for my area?" I asked. The "Customer Care" rep was very friendly and told me that there should be a local number for me in a month. So I decided to remain a member of Worldnet. After all, I'd pay through the nose for a month, but then I'd have a local number! Wheeee! Local Number (June): A month passed. I called Worldnet again. I spoke to yet another friendly Customer Care rep. "I was told a month ago," I began, "that there would be a local number for my calling area in a month. It's been a month." The rep typed a little on his computer and reported that there hadn't been a number added. "That sucks," I muttered. "When will there be a local number for me?" I asked. "There should be one in another month," I was informed. "Check back in July." Now please remember, kind ladies and gentlemen, I was paying $4.50 an hour to use Worldnet. "Why?" you ask. Well, simply put, when you're stuck in Northwest Alabama, there aren't many choices for Internet access... So I decided to remain a member for another month, hoping and praying that the powers-that-be at AT&T Worldnet would get their asses in gear. Local Number (July): Well, here it was. The magical month had arrived! I had waited two whole months for a local number and now I was just about to have a heart attack because I was so excited! I dialed the telephone with shaking fingers, eager to have a local number finally! The rep answered, I gave my information, and then asked the million-dollar question about a local number for my area. "I'm sorry, sir. There have been no local numbers added in Alabama." "What?" I exclaimed. "I was told by a rep in May that there would be a local number added in June. Then I was told in June that there would be one in July. When will one be added???" I asked. Of course, I expected the same answer I had received before: "Check back in a month." However, this time I heard (in a not-so-friendly tone, I might add), "We don't know. There are plans to add 250 new numbers soon." "This absolutely, positively sucks!" I said to myself. My self wholeheartedly agreed. I was advised by the Customer Care rep to call back every week and check the Worldnet website frequently to check on the addition of a local number for my area. In other words, I was led to believe that I might have a local number any day. I hung up the phone in a state of shock. In both May and June, the two Customer Care reps that I had spoken with had lied, telling me I'd have a local number in a month. Local Number (August, September, October): Well, I did as I had been instructed by the Worldnet rep back in July. Every week I called Worldnet to check on the local number situation. And every week I was told the same thing. Nearly every time I called I spoke to a different rep and asked, "No one at AT&T Worldnet has any information about when there will be a local number in my calling area?" The response was always negative. According to them, no one at AT&T Worldnet had a clue about local numbers. August passed into September, September gave way to October, and every week I called Worldnet to check on the local number situation. I probably spent a total of ten hours or more on the phone with various Customer Care reps, supervisors, billing reps, etc. from May to October! Slowly, my opinion changed from thinking that only certain aspects of Worldnet sucked to an overall belief that AT&T Worldnet sucks, in general. Finally, in October, I gave up. After repeating my usual speech about local numbers, the Customer Care rep offered to transfer me to the complaint department. Truths Revealed: The person I spoke with was the highest-level person in the complaint department. During the course of the long conversation, I learned several things: 1) An internal report had been issued by Worldnet in August, projecting where new numbers would be added through the end of 1996; Alabama was not on the list at all, meaning that I had been wasting my time and effort calling Worldnet every week to check on a local number. 2) Although Customer Care reps lied to me in May and June, AT&T Worldnet's position was basically that it was the reps' fault, not the company's. 3) Essentially, because the internal report had been issued in August, the Customer Care reps had also been lying (or, at the very least, they were simply incompetent) when they told me during August, September, and October, that no one knew anything about the local number situation. In short, I discovered that my feeling was correct: Worldnet sucks. Cancellation: Needless to say, I canceled while on the phone with the complaint department. After all, had I known that I wouldn't have a local number through the end of 1996, I wouldn't even have joined AT&T Worldnet. I requested that I be given credit for my outrageous bill for the month of October. Denied. I requested that all 800-number charges be waived from that point forward because I been lied to by various reps. Denied. The only thing I was offered was a $50 dollar gift certificate for AT&T long distance. (Not even a credit! Make fifty bucks in calls, apply the certificate. Doesn't that suck?) I attempted to dispute the charges with my credit card company, but I was told that I need actual written proof that I had been lied to. Unfortunately, the reps weren't kind enough to provide me with proof that they had lied... So basically, I paid through the nose for AT&T Worldnet "service," hoping for over five months that a local number would be added, only to discover that Worldnet wasn't interested in customer satisfaction, they couldn't care less about unethical practices, and they cheated me out of my hard earned money. Do these "Customer Care" reps care? No. Does AT&T Worldnet suck? Yes. The Aftermath: Well, I have a new ISP, the only decent one available from my local calling area. But AT&T Worldnet is not forgotten. I still have to pay off the mammoth credit card bill for my five months of Worldnet access. The nightmares are still frequent. My [ex-]girlfriend often complains that in my sleep I often yell out, "AT&T Worldnet sucks! AT&T Worldnet sucks!" I continue to use AT&T as my long distance carrier and I'm as satisfied as I have always been with their telephone service. However, occasionally, when I see that blue AT&T logo I have to stifle a scream. Whenever I see the ads for AT&T Worldnet, which claim $19.95 a month for unlimited access, I'm known to drool and mutter over and over my litany of "Worldnet sucks." Is there a cure? I hope so. Perhaps sometime before I die, maybe in the year 2043, Worldnet will add a local number for my area. However, I don't count on it... Updates: Well, it's been nearly two years since I was lied to concerning a local number for my area. Today, February 12, 1998, I was feeling frisky so I decided to call AT&T Worldnet just out of curiousity. "Surely they've added a local number by now," I told myself. "Doubt it, DUDE®," my self replied dryly. Sure enough. When I called, I was told by the automated voice that my number was the extra-special, $6.00 an hour 800-number! No surprise here. Nearly two years and there still hasn't been a local number added for my calling area. And the verdict is (drumroll please)... Worldnet still sucks! Feedback "Loved your WorldNet story. As my boss says all of the time, and if you might have seen Lilly Tomlin do her operator skits on Laugh In way back when: 'Sir, we don't care. We don't have to care. We're the phone company!' I love that." --Sandy Stoltzman "As an ex-Worldnet member, I understand fully. I live in the Detroit, Michigan area and I didn't have a local access number either. I had a hard disk crash, lost the password, and was never able to get them to give it to me..." --Keith Huntley "First of all, I really enjoyed the story and its nice to know that I am not alone in being screwed over by AT&T. My story is much the same as yours except that I lived in Laurel, MD (20 minutes from Washington DC) and they did not have a local access number!!!!! I paid through the nose listening to their lies and cancelled the service with them. Only to find out that they were still billing my credit card after the service was cancelled. Since I have never had a very calm temper, I have since severed all ties with AT&T (internet,local phone, and long distance). I would rather pay more money to another phone service than to get back on with AT&T. Only time will tell if the wounds left by them will ever close up. However, I kinda enjoy nursing this festering cess pool of hatred for them!" --Stephen Josef Tripp "I too had local access problems with AT&T Worldnet Service. However unlike you I told them that I would use Netcom as a provider and and declined their service. As it happened, the lady I spoke with failed to stop any billings to my Visa account.Like many high use credit card customers I only peruse my statement in detail for high dollar charges above $100, and give only a cursory check to all other charges. What this all leads up to is that I have been charged $279.30 for services that I never received and had declined in the first place. I called them about this and some lady agreed that I was due a refund, but she was only authorized to refund three months charges which amounted to $59.85. She informed me that I had to write AT&T Worldnet Services For the remainder. I did. The reply from Marcus Harvey was 'We do ensure that a customer's billing information is made available to him either through statement or inquiry. AT&T Worldnet Service does not, however have control over, nor does it dictate as to how or when a customer reviews, pays or otherwise acknowledges a charge for a billed service.' AT&T Worldnet Service is unscrupulous in its business practices or put another way, theft is perfectly acceptable as long as one is not caught. Does anyone out there know what remedy I might have? I wrote to The new CEO of AT&T to no avail." --rlkeith (DUDE®'s Note: if you can offer any suggestions, please send rlkeith email.) "I agree, Worldnet sucks big dick. I want to switch ISP's, but is going to be a big pain in ass since I run 8 sights with my shitty Worldnet e-mail address on them. Also Worldnet is no longer giving 24 hour service, and dropping Macintosh service." --Sean (a.k.a. Mindsnare) "Like you I was inpressed with a telephone company offering access for only $19.95. Boy did I get screwed. One month on the Internet and a whopping phone bill for over $250. What a crock of shit! I, too, called them and asked about the 'local' numbers. 'We're sorry, but at this time only these two numbers are available in your area.' So what do I say? 'What the hell? Cancel this crap.' Their reply was, 'If we get an local access number would you be interested in returning to AT&T?' And of course my response was, 'Are you really that DUMB, Do you use AT&T?' Their response was, 'I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to say.' What a horror. I can't believe a telephone company would do that. I was so pissed I even cancelled them as my long distance carrier. I'd rather pay through the nose for someone else. At least they're honest about screwing you. They tell you up front to hold on to your wallet, no surprises. I'll pay for honesty any day before I pay for a crock of lies." --Mark Ellis "I had one heck of an experience with Worldnet today and I was feeling like I really wanted either a piece of this guy named Marcus or his retarded supervisor Schom (probably short for Schom Nerve). Disgusted as I was, I resolved to get on the net and tell somebody about what a stinking bunch of low-life 24-hour Customer Care Reps existed at the New Jersey headquarters of Worldnet. On a pure chance I punched 'AT&T SUCKS' into my faithful search engine and WAA-LA. Thanks for the site. It even made me happy to know that these idiots really are like I believed them to be, which includes, but is by no means limited to, RUDE, DISHONEST, LYING, and DECEITFUL people. My story is available upon request but parallels most of the experiences you have already mentioned." --Rick Wimberly "Dude, I have had the same bullshit problems with AT&T Worldnet. They're still billing me 2 months after I cancelled service with them. Thanks for the page, at least I feel I'm not the only one getting screwed by them. Be well." --Mike Goulet A Bonehead's Email Here's an email that I received from some bonehead (a.k.a. Kevin Sgroi) with his head up his wazoo. My replies are in italics. It's interesting to note that he never emailed me back, although I suggested that he do so after reading the page instead of jumping to conclusions based on the title. Hey: I am still hearing echos of "AOL Sucks!!" in my ears, and now, AT&T Worldnet Sucks? My opinion is that most people need to learn how to use their PC's and stop complaining just because everything is not easy. I know how to use my PC. If you had taken a few minutes to actually read my piece on Worldnet, you would have learned that my problem resides primarily with the fact that they lied to me about local access and their software was outdated. As for the local number issue, although they told me there would definitely be a local number for my area in ONE MONTH, it's been a year and a half and no local number has been added. Does that sound kosher to you? And, yes, AOL sucks too, but for many other and different reasons. I use Worldnet, and have tried just about every other Online service out there, they are all the same, because they all have one thing in common: analog telephone lines and the Internet, which are both unpredictable by default. They are not the same. Period. However, since you're so self-assured, I'll explain. 1) AOL: they censor their users, restrict access to sites, etc. Their service is slow (that's not just my opinion; it's an established fact). You sit and wait for new art to download every time you go online just about. And let's not even mention busy signals... 2) Worldnet: as for service quality, I could not FTP anything to my web site using Worldnet. The FTP connection was horrible. In addition, their email was constantly going down. The only positive thing I have to say about their "service" is that their newsfeed was pretty good. 3) Hiwaay: the ISP I'm using now is a local one with a local number. Their newsfeed isn't the greatest, but they hardly ever have email difficulties. In addition, FTP is great. Plus, I've never gotten a busy signal or been disconnected. So they are all the same, huh? And, yeah, I've tried several others too. And my opinion is that AT&T and AOL both suck. Computers and the internet are incredibly complex, it's amazing that they work as well as they do. Uh, gee... Isn't that a profound statement. ;( My advice: before you crank up that email proggie the next time to write someone about their site, READ THE INFO FIRST. Go ahead, go to [my AT&T Worldnet Sucks! web page]. Read it, then email me back... It is interesting to note that since I put the page up, your email is the only negative comment I've received. In fact, an employee of AT&T Worldnet emailed me to say she understands. Seems that more than a few people working for AT&T are now using my Halloween-AT&T operator mix .wav for their Start Windows sound. Apparently I'm not the only one that thinks they suck--even their own employees do. Kevin Additional Thoughts I'm not the only one to experience the same problems with Worldnet. Many Worldnet customers I've had contact with were told that they would have a local number in a month when they joined. It's pretty pathetic when a telephone company like AT&T cannot work with local companies to provide access numbers. Over the six-month period of operation for Worldnet, absolutely no new numbers have been added in approximately 40 states, including Alabama. Sure, I realize the demand for local numbers is not as high as in New York, but this is uncalled for. AT&T customers are being misled, blatantly lied to, and overcharged for access. Period. My advice: 1) avoid AT&T Worldnet like the plague--unless, of course, you have a local number for your area from the start; 2) don't believe anything a "Customer Care" rep tells you; I've been lied to repeatedly concerning different issues; 3) don't count on support; the majority of their tech support staff apparently knows little or nothing; 4) their email server has been down repeatedly, even resulting in getting email addressed to other people; and 5) don't expect reliable ftp uploads if you do join. Please Note: This page is the opinion of myself alone, and does not reflect the opinion of Tripod or anyone else (well, maybe other Worldnet customers). Although the overall tone in some of the passages is intended to be comedic, this is a very serious issue. Essentially, something is dreadfully wrong with AT&T Worldnet yet nothing is being done about it. Total visitors since 11/4/96: © 1998, DUDE® (a.k.a. Kevin Kannenberg)