I have lived in the same house for 12 years.

I have had a cell phone for 13 years.

Let me rephrase, I have had the same cell phone number for 13 years and have stayed with the same cell phone company even thought they have changed from SWBT to Cingular and now to AT&T. In that time frame I have changed plans, renewed contracts, and added all kinds of features.

My plan now has five phones on it that share minutes and my bill is around $150 a month. I also have an AT&T cell phone that my company issued me that I use for business on a seperate plan.

I have had no land line for the past 6 years. My company reimburses me for a land line also and I didn't need one until March of this year. In the previous 12 years, I have had no problems making or receiving cell phones calls at my house. I have always had 4 to 5 bars. In March, the cell phone service at my house quit working. I couldn't make phone calls and so I added the land line.

My wife called AT&T and told them about the problem and they researched it and said that there was a problem with a tower a mile or so from our house and it would take up to two weeks to fix. No problem, I had the land line so we waited and sure enough it was fixed, back to good service again.

Last week, same problem. No bars, no service on any cell phone. Called AT&T and had them investigate. This time they said there was nothing wrong on their end. It must be our phone is old. When informed that it is all phones including my new company phone, they said they would investigate more.

Call back and we were again informed nothing wrong on AT&T's end, it must be our phone. Nope, it can't be because it affects all cell phones, not just the one. "Did you move?" last I checked, I'm in the same spot for 12 years. "Did the terrain change? " Last I checked, I don't have wheels under the house and no volcanic activity. "Did you add on to the house or do anything to change it?" Nope, didn't build an air tight dome over it or nothing. "Well sorry nothing we can do on our end."

So I said fine, I guess we will have to switch to Verizon.

Their response.... "I don't blame you, perhaps another company can give you service."

That was it. Thirteen years as a loyal customer that shells out over $1800 a year, pays on time every time, and they basically told me that they did not want me as a customer any more.

Companies wonder why they fail, why there is no brand loyalty. If they would have said, perhaps it's sunspots, if you're still having issues call us in two weeks. Or no we don't want to lose your business, let me talk to my supervisor and see if there is anything else we can do.

I wasn't being rude (trust me, I can be if I wanted to.) The fact that they were able to fix the problem last time led me to believe they could fix it again.

Instead, they would rather I take my business elsewhere.

Oh well.

How are you going to switch to Verizon?

I'll answer that for you. Verizon recently purchased Alltell and we'll have VZW here in a few months once the networks have been fully integrated. Suweeet.

I do enjoy my iPhone, but the coverage is just awful.

It can be done. I have a coworker who's been on Verizon for over a year.

I actually had Verizon on my last company phone. I really enjoyed the ability to tether it to my laptop and use it as a modem. When I switched divisions I had to switch phones as well. Bummer.

Their response.... "I don't blame you, perhaps another company can give you service."

That was it. Thirteen years as a loyal customer that shells out over $1800 a year, pays on time every time, and they basically told me that they did not want me as a customer any more.



Instead, they would rather I take my business elsewhere.

Oh well.AT&T is famous for shutting down your account and six to nine months later you get a call from a collection agency that says you owe them for all the months you weren't getting billed.

They know it is almost impossible to prove you didn't receive any billing in the mail and that you will most likely pay instead of going to court.

AT&T has pulled this scam on every single person I know that has dropped their service. Maybe AT&T pulls this on everyone?

Just a word to the wise...I know this is fact because it worked when AT&T did it to me.

I actually had Verizon on my last company phone. I really enjoyed the ability to tether it to my laptop and use it as a modem. When I switched divisions I had to switch phones as well. Bummer.Is it easy to tether your phone? Is there a charge when you do this?

I do enjoy my iPhone, but the coverage is just awful.

Hm. I've had the original iPhone since it came out and the 3G for a couple weeks now and haven't had coverage problems at all. But for a couple locations, I've had great coverage. We travel all over, too.

That's weird.

im sticking with cricket. i hate having to monitor my minute usage to see if i dont go over every month...arrrrghh.

Verizon will be here July 12.

Is it easy to tether your phone? Is there a charge when you do this?

Very easy, the usage was all part of my plan. I could be anywhere and get pretty decent internet access.

I tether my Sprint Palm Centro to my laptop when my Cricket Broadband card is out of area. Works pretty good.

I'd love to just use Cricket, but their coverage is extremely limited. I have several phones with Sprint and about 4,000 shared minutes.

i get terrible reception with at&t. i call and they ask if i power cycle my phone (yes, every few days). am i out in the country, no i work downtown. i know there are some dead spots around, but there are times i'm sitting in my office in downtown and have zero bars. when they say it's my phone, i tell them it's all three on the account. the three phones are all the same make and model, which tells me the problem is the phone. it's extremely frustrating. since the phones are under warranty, i had them send me three new phones (the phone we have, sony ericsson 580i, are junk, well known for charging problems and keys breaking). got the new phones yesterday and i can barely hear the caller on them.

when my contract is over i'm going to find a new providor.