tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51563602402658570662024-09-10T18:32:29.441-07:00BLOGanthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-33741387846897994152010-06-02T21:59:00.000-07:002010-06-02T22:03:39.198-07:00As I detailed in my last post, I got a new iPhone today. The one down side was that it took about two hours to restore to the settings of my last phone. I have no idea as to the capabilities of other phones to do this process, but it just seemed to be a bit on the long side for me.<br /><br />I did not make any calls on the phone tonight, however I sent and received several texts. Things went very well texting. I had always assumed it was poor AT&T service, but it was odd to me that I texted with such ease. No fails yet. We will see how this new phone behaves in the long run, but this is a nice start.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-73580145568907721632010-06-02T21:48:00.001-07:002010-06-02T21:59:46.140-07:00As I said in my last post, my problems are not with Apple. Apple told me in February that it would swap my phone for free, which was surprising because my phone was six months out of warranty at that point. I'm not sure if the store rep hooked me up simply because I had dropped so many calls, or if it was my smashing good looks.<br /><br />All I had to do was go home and back everything up and come back. Well, I delayed this return trip until finally going into the store last week. Of course I forgot the paper given to me in February that quoted the swap as being free. This representative told me he would not swap the phone for free, but I could do it at $199 because I was so far out of warranty. (I was almost six months out of warranty in February and I'm almost ten months out of warranty now.)<br /><br />I left the store in a salty mood. When I returned home, I picked up the work order and it almost looked like a contract from Apple with the $0.00 price quote. Thing is, I revel in situations like this. I was prepared to get into it with the manager, noting they had virtually gone back on their price quote. What kind of business is that? Then I could mention this blog, that several people come to me to ask about technology purchases, that I myself would be in the market for a computer soon and was considering Mac vs. PC, that I would contact other media.<br /><br />Turns out I didn't need any of that firepower. It took a few moments for the manager to understand the situation, but he said, "If we said we would do the free swap then we will do the free swap." He was very professional and it was a good experience. Also had a good experience with my representative, who happened to be the same representative I had last week. He also had some advice for me when I told him I would be in the market for a computer soon.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-47736234438863727452010-06-02T21:37:00.000-07:002010-06-02T21:47:58.680-07:00I've made a decision that I'm almost certainly making the move to Verizon after my contract is up in August. I love the iPhone but I'm not going to let it walk all over me when it can't carry out the basic function.<br /><br />Will I miss it? Yes, I will. However, I am already taking up plans to have an iPod so I can still use all the services of my iPhone on WiFi. But I'm not going to sit around and play the "When will iPhone come to Verizon?" game. It is stupid. Make a decision based on what is going on and stick to it. I love the iPhone but I'm not going to wait with great anticipation for the big announcement. When I can get an iPhone that provides me with good service, I will get it when my phone contract permits. Until then, I'm going to confidently make a decision to go with another phone so that I can begin to enjoy the basic service I have not received since I've had a cell phone.<br /><br />I suggest others do the same. Think about it. The reason the iPhone/Verizon storyline is so big is because there are so many disgruntled iPhone/AT&T subscribers. The storyline has lasted for years because these same people are addicted to the iPhone and would rather have a picture of fruit on the back of the phone that they use to play Words with Friends instead of valuing the ability to make a phone call over an icon and a game. The more people who make this decision, the more Apple will take notice.<br /><br />Basically what I'm saying, iPhone... it's not you, it's your mother. I just can't take AT&T as my mother-in-law any longer.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-71287767949140840492010-06-02T21:32:00.000-07:002010-06-02T21:37:41.115-07:00-Visited New Orleans. Was there for 5 days and dropped 2 texts. It's not limited to Columbus.<br /><br />-Upon returning to Columbus, I was waiting by the baggage claim and I dropped 2 more texts while waiting. Welcome back right?<br /><br />-I was home for a few days and I dropped 2 calls and 3 texts. Also an instance of failed 3G service.<br /><br />-I did a house sitting job in Westerville for 8 days and service was much better there. A nice break...<br /><br />-Had a voicemail show up without a missed call yesterday.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-17422817703678543382010-05-12T16:45:00.001-07:002010-05-12T21:06:14.461-07:00Lots of posts from me lately, but it only happens with lots of fails...<br /><br />-Failed text. Went through the second time.<br /><br />-Dropped phone call.<br /><br />-Voicemail appeared out of nowhere.<br /><br />(All tonight at home)anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-83007058273492641322010-05-12T16:22:00.000-07:002010-05-12T16:24:27.521-07:00-Dropped a call at home last night.<br /><br />-Failed to complete a call on several attempts this afternoon at home.<br /><br />-Dropped a call about an hour ago at home.<br /><br />-Dropped a call just moments ago at home.<br /><br />Just no luck on any voice connection while I'm at home for about three weeks now.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-31507004584446692292010-05-11T09:08:00.000-07:002010-05-11T09:11:47.956-07:00Found <a href=http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/05/11/iphone.att.2012.mashable/index.html?hpt=T2>this article on CNN</a> that says the AT&T/iPhone exclusivity goes through 2012. And that will be the clincher for me. Two more years of this service? I think not. I'll honor my contract until August and then I'm gone. Besides, I still need to visit an AT&T store to get my peace. (I feel sorry for whoever waits on me that day.)anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-4098270661825473232010-05-11T09:06:00.000-07:002010-05-11T09:08:01.878-07:00Starting the May cycle that begins May 8:<br /><br />-4 dropped calls<br /><br />-2 phantom voicemails<br /><br />-2 failed textsanthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-30057533205772521542010-05-11T08:56:00.000-07:002010-05-11T09:06:24.914-07:00To finish out my month of April:<br /><br />-8 dropped calls. The service overall got really lousy in that last week of April and things have continued since. The most infuriating experience I had was when I conscientiously waited to return a call until I left my house, since that's when most of the problems occur. I was out on High St, the most notable street in Columbus, not more than seven or eight miles from downtown, and I dropped the call. I called back and it dropped again. I returned it once more to tell the guy that I would have to call him later on. He said even that call was breaking up. This incident will count as four fails, one for each of the dropped calls, one for the call that was breaking up and on its way to being dropped and one because I couldn't have a conversation with a guy when I needed to when clearly I should be in a coverage zone. I find it disgusting that AT&T's commercials note they cover 97% of Americans, but I couldn't have a conversation with someone while I was outdoors in the metropolis of the 16th largest city in the U.S.<br /><br />-4 voicemails showed up out of nowhere - and two of these showed up while I was outside of my house. As I have noted, most of my problems with this phone arise from being inside my house. But since that last month of April, the problems are much more widespread than that.<br /><br />-2 failed texts.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-18071750575539458612010-04-29T18:47:00.000-07:002010-04-29T18:55:11.155-07:00Been a horrid week of service. It seems I can't even complete a call indoors right now...<br /><br />Since we've last spoken:<br /><br />-6 failed texts<br /><br />-9 (plus 1) dropped/failed to complete calls. Three of these occurred occurred while I was housesitting in Westerville, an area where I have normally had very good service. I'm also going to add an extra fail because after my phone dropped three calls last night alone and another the night before I gave up on making a phone call I intended to make. The only phone calls I've completed in the last three nights have been when I go outside... and it hasn't exactly been warm out there after the sun goes down.<br /><br />-3 voicemails appear out of nowhere, including one that happened while on I-71 between Columbus and Cleveland.<br /><br />-4 instances where I tried to use the internet but there was no service. Two of these occurred while on I-71 today.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-32775066891381538482010-04-17T19:35:00.000-07:002010-04-17T19:36:02.865-07:00Another failed text just now.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-43801321294018386122010-04-17T19:19:00.000-07:002010-04-17T19:25:29.281-07:00A new month of billing and AT&T is trying to make sure this month will be its worst month of coverage yet for me. And it should be noted I am not using my phone nearly as often as I was in March. This month so far:<br /><br />-7 failed texts - the most recent of which went to five people and it failed while sending the last one. I tried to send just to who I think was the last recipient (not sure if iPhone sends in the same order in which I load recipients) and that failed again before going through.<br /><br />-3 outgoing calls that could not be completed<br /><br />-4 dropped calls (including one while setting up an interview with a potential employer, big thanks on that one AT&T)<br /><br />-2 moments of no service at all while in a public place. (Again, I don't even count when these moments happen at my house.) The point of this is that I had no Wifi and so I could not use the internet. And again, we're not talking the basement of some warehouse in the country, this is was the first floor of a coffee shop only about three miles from downtown Columbus.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-59041283359921946762010-04-09T11:44:00.000-07:002010-04-09T11:52:17.023-07:00More fails over the last few days:<br />-Failed to send at least three texts<br />-Two dropped calls, one while setting up a job interview... that last one made for lots of fun!<br />-Failed to complete a call<br /><br />I am not proud to announce that a new milestone was set with this past month's billing cycle that ended April 8. Thirty-seven fails in one month, a new record made possible by AT&T.<br /><br />I admit I sent my into all out oblivion this month and had to take out an unlimited number of texts for the first time. (A cap of 1500 texts was not enough given I was in Vegas and had tons of work to do on the fantasy baseball league I run.) But I'm sure AT&T will strive to make this coming bill cycle even more painful for me.<br /><br />And even better news to report: No Verizon + iPhone mentioned in the most recent geek conference. However, I maintain that since a contract between Apple and AT&T likely lasts for a certain number of years and since the iPhone was introduced in June three years ago, the contract will not end until June of 20XX. The question is just what numbers XX represents.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-37889971760225531582010-04-01T19:26:00.001-07:002010-04-01T19:26:50.542-07:00Tonight:<br /><br />-Failed to send a textanthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-29764528794900089062010-04-01T19:25:00.000-07:002010-04-01T19:26:21.115-07:00Wednesday night, March 31:<br /><br />-Failed to send a text<br /><br />-Received four texts from the previous half hour or so all at onceanthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-6351992511308393092010-04-01T19:24:00.000-07:002010-04-01T19:25:29.794-07:00Tuesday night, March 30:<br /><br />-Failed to send a text<br /><br />-Failed to send another text<br /><br />-Received a voicemail despite no missed callanthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-28070976598106828292010-03-25T18:18:00.001-07:002010-03-25T18:19:52.041-07:00Forgot about two fails:<br /><br />-March 24: Received about seven texts all at once from various people. They had been sent throughout the previous half hour but all came late. (Should count this as multiple fails but I will give AT&T the benefit.)<br /><br />-March 25: Received a text about 25 minutes after it was sent.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-84507908859343326832010-03-25T18:09:00.000-07:002010-03-25T18:16:50.953-07:00No doubt you have seen how bad my service is. I want to take a moment to note what my service is like on a routine basis, because these are not being documented as fails so far.<br /><br />My phone frequently says I have service at home, or elsewhere. It is usually 3G service, but not always. Whatever the case, I am almost always in populous destinations in Columbus. Here are some things I have to do:<br /><br />-No internet or slow internet... It is rare when I have internet access at home on 3G. My phone is supposed to connect to my wireless internet, but it logs off after I send the phone to sleep mode. That means if I don't touch it for about 15 seconds I have lost wireless.<br /><br />-I have probably held my phone up to a window about 15 times this year to send a text<br /><br />-When I have a phone call, I talk outside if the temperature is OK or I try to stay near a window.<br /><br />-When I have very few bars or no bars I shut the phone completely off and then turn it back on in hopes it will pick up a signal better.<br /><br />This stuff just doesn't get documented but it should.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-64719631151805155972010-03-25T18:01:00.001-07:002010-03-25T18:09:26.184-07:00I started a new billing cycle so here is a new post to bring it all present:<br /><br />March 9: Dropped call on I-71 inside of I-270 in Columbus during the afternoon. Really no excuse for this.<br /><br />March 9: Failed in three attempts to send a text to a friend. It finally went through on the fourth try.<br /><br />March 11: Dropped call<br /><br />March 12: Watched a basketball game at a bar downtown. Failed to send a text. Service goes in and out all the time while at this bar. In order to send a text at one point I went over to the door and held the phone up to the door's window. I can't believe I'm doing this...<br /><br />March 17-22: I went to Vegas and service was absolutely terrible. I was not able to document everything properly. I think I dropped a call or two, but I can tell you I failed to send at least 10 texts during these days. In addition, there were moments where I simply had no service. I am counting this as 15 fails. AT&T is horrendous in Vegas.<br /><br />March 24: Back in Columbus. Failed to send a text on two separate occasions.<br /><br />March 25: Failed to send a text.<br /><br />March 25: Failed to complete a call.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-65918453485428871632010-03-25T17:54:00.001-07:002010-03-25T18:01:28.637-07:00I failed to update for a long time but I kept a record as best I could of fails. Here's what we have:<br /><br />Mid-Feb. - Dropped call at the beginning of a conversation. Called back and talked without incident for about 40 minutes.<br /><br />Mid-Feb. - Failed text<br /><br />Late-Feb. - Was driving around in Columbus and received no phone calls. One voicemail showed up out of nowhere.<br /><br />Same day as last one - Exact same situation, same day<br /><br />Late-Feb. - Dropped two calls with someone who works for Verizon... how ironic.<br /><br />March 6 - Voicemail with no missed call while in Clintonville<br /><br />March 6 - Voicemail with no missed call while in another part of Clintonville<br /><br />March 6 - Missed a call from my sister while I was at homeanthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-71824167295251969772010-02-16T19:02:00.000-08:002010-02-16T19:05:46.423-08:00That previous fail came on Sunday. This fail came Monday. I received a text and responded accordingly, then left the text app on my phone as I often do. But no, I need to oversee the whole process as though I'm some evil warehouse micromanager overseeing some poor commoner on an assembly line. I received a second text from the same person and noticed the red '!' symbol denoting my text did not go through. I resent.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-88257470380997930922010-02-16T19:00:00.000-08:002010-02-16T19:02:41.700-08:00Had just started a phone call to discuss an exciting matter with a friend when the call was dropped. I called him back and told him I would try him the next day if I was dropped again, but the drop never happened. So that's it... I have to threaten my phone and it will cooperate.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-72602959670899198572010-02-10T15:19:00.002-08:002010-02-10T15:20:38.226-08:00Tried four times in a row to send a text message Monday night and it finally went out on the fifth try.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-16650615943291233792010-02-10T15:19:00.001-08:002010-02-10T15:19:49.984-08:00Received a voicemail with no phone call Monday night.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5156360240265857066.post-25620470401083974402010-02-08T11:56:00.000-08:002010-02-08T12:03:58.736-08:00Saturday ended the first month of fail documentation on this blog and we had a total of 24 fails. I will be in contact with AT&T before I pay my next bill and I will post what happens.<br /><br />With a new month in mind, I will start classifying fails as they happen monthly while still keeping track of overall fails.<br /><br />Since I averaged almost one fail per day during the first month of documentation, it was only fitting that I got a fail on the first day of the new billing cycle. It came yesterday in the form of a voicemail despite no missed call. Also a website I visited failed to load when I was at a friend's house after the big game. (I won't use the trademark.) However, I can't confirm that the website wasn't overloaded so no room to judge the 3G network based on circumstantial evidence.anthony.tynanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409241090042704259noreply@blogger.com0