Origins Of My U-Verse, Part 1: A Roadside Stand

Funny how an unceremonious $20 cable bill increase can make a decision for you.  I've elected to give AT&T U-Verse a shot after all, and this is the first of a series on my experience.

Not too long ago, I wrote about my first time trying out AT&T U-Verse, the new TV - Internet - Phone service in town after my parents got talked into switching a month ago.  Those who regularly read my columns know how much I loved it, but I couldn't find myself justifying the additional expense for it.  On a totally "apples-to-apples" comparison, it would have cost almost $50 more per month to get exactly what I was getting with Time Warner at that time.  On a minimum level, it would have been $20 a month more, taking a slower Internet speed and no premium channels.  At that time, for what I was paying with Time Warner, I couldn't justify switching when I was at least somewhat satisfied with what I had.

Then I opened my cable bill.

What went from a bill in the $75-80 range went to a $95 range.  Apparently, my promotional period was only six months long, and there are still things on my bill at a no-charge which could also send my bill higher any day now.  I know what you may be thinking right now -- "why don't you just call and threaten to cancel so they bump your bill down?"  For one thing, I don't want to have to play these haggling games every six months just to keep a reign on my bill.  On a fixed budget, I'd like to know what I'm paying is going to be somewhat of a known figure month-to-month.  My train of thought was, if I'm going to be paying this extra amount every month, why not give this new service a try when they offer more channels and a more modern offering anyways?

I've been inundated with AT&T U-Verse marketing materials.  That's no understatement.  I'm slowly amassing a portfolio of mailings and catalogs that have reached my mailbox, all hawking the virtues of this new IPTV-based service.  The most recent one that intrigued me is one that offered one month of TV service for free, plus $200 cash back, if I ordered online.  I've found myself many a-time over the past few weeks tiptoeing around the U-Verse website and other sites online where U-Verse customers congregate, doing my research, getting my questions answered and just generally stoking myself up enough to actually pull the trigger.

Last Friday, I'm driving home as I always do, past a line of apartment complexes that preceed mine.  About a block away from home, I see a sign on the side of the road that read "AT&T U-Verse Event," pointing into the parking lot of one of the apartment buildings.  As this occured during my period of intrigue, I rolled in to check it out.  What I found was a small, square tent adorned with AT&T logos tucked away in the corner of the lot.  There I found two AT&T employees, a guy and a girl, standing behind a table full of AT&T-tagged swag, as well as a couple of display TV receivers.  What seemed odd to me made more sense as I thought about it.  In places like my apartment building which has secure access and don't allow solicitors, setting up camp in the area is a genius way to direct sell to customers in these areas.  Whether these events or door-to-door salesmen, AT&T clearly seems to be targeting areas where they know service is available, as it's not available everywhere in this market just yet.

I walked up and engaged into a conversation with them about the service, what they were offering and what questions I still had.  Right then and there, I took the bait and started putting together my order.  They said that ordering here would promise speedier installation than doing it online.  The offer they featured was different than the one I had seen in my mailing, but they said I would likely be eligible for it anyways.  They took my information with my order, and said their manager would be contacting me Monday or Tuesday to finalize my installation. 

They asked for either a social security number or a driver's license number, in order to do a credit check.  The guy said it's because they're essentially leaving a thousand bucks worth of stuff in your home.  If you order U-Verse at an event like this or through a door-to-door salesman, I would strongly recommend you go the driver's license number route.  Call me paranoid, but something about leaving a social security number on a form with someone you just met in a parking lot doesn't scream "safe and secure" to me.  They actually mentioned that soon they will be doing away with asking for this information altogether, as it has chased so many prospective sales away.  I would certainly hope this is true.  (For those ordering online, it appears there is an option to omit a social security number online as well, which I would also recommend for safety reasons.)

I asked about weekend installation and they put me down for one, as it is often hard to get away from work during the day, especially for a four-to-six hour installation window.  They asked whether 8-10, 10-Noon or Noon-2 would work best, and that that two hour window of time would be the only time I would need to be there as most of the installation would occur outside of my apartment.  I don't know for sure that is true, as my parents had an 8-10am window and they didn't show until just about 10 am, and were on site until 1 pm.  I still wanted a weekend window, to be safe.

On completion of my order, I gathered my free swag and took off.  Not a bad take either -- a 1 GB USB flash drive, a retractable ethernet cable, a pen and a highlighter.  I also could have taken packet-sized samples of sunblock with a U-Verse logo on it, but no one needs freebies that bad.

Come Monday, and I had not heard anything from the aforementioned manager.  Tuesday afternoon, I get two emails in my inbox.  The first is one saying that I had opted for paper billing on "my account," and the second was my order confirmation.  Bear in mind, this is before I had received any contact from anyone, and I already had a customer number and the promise of a bill on it's way.  A couple hours later, I received a welcome message from a woman named Melissa, thanking me for my business and assuring me I was eligible for the rewards I had seen in my mailing.  The installation date secured for me was the Tuesday after Labor Day from 10am to noon, which is not the ideal I was hoping for.  However, I was given a number to call if I wanted to change my window.  I was also given a number to call if my rewards information didn't come as promised.  I will definitely attempt to get my install date changed.

I was also informed that I could make some money by letting AT&T help me hold a "U-Verse home party," basically a Tupperware party for TV lovers.  While I don't know if I would go through with such a thing, it's interesting to see the grassroots, take-it-to-the-streets types of marketing they are employing to promote their service.

Coming up in Part 2:  The installation...