customer emailed AT&T CEO, customer recieved "cease and desist letter"

[Trillo]

Sure, Steve Jobs might be a one-man email PR machine, but his pal Randall Stephenson at AT&T doesn't appear to be quite as gregarious -- as reader Giorgio Galante found out today, sending AT&T's CEO two emails in two weeks results in a phone call from AT&T's Executive Response Team and a warning that further emails will result in a cease and desist letter. What did Giorgio's emails say?

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http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/02/atandt-warns-customer-that-emailing-the-ceo-will-result-in-a-cease/
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I once wrote to Kerry Killinger, former CEO of the former Washington Mutual, and received a very nice reply, and the said-to-be "unresolvable" issue was solved immediately. I believe when I was a kid I also wrote to some company I no longer remember the name of, and I received a nice written reply, along with some discount coupons.

My how times have changed. Our "new rulers" seem rather insulated from the rest of us "new peasants."

[MineralMan]

1. Without seeing the content of the two letters, I can't comment

on this. I don't see how anyone can. Let's see the emails.

[JBoy]

6. One of the emails, and an audio of the cease&desist threat are here:

http://attepicfail.tumblr.com/

" Thanks for making the switch to a Sprint HTC Evo an even easier decision. I don’t think even Steve Jobs can spin 2GB for $25/month as a good thing for the consumer. I may not use 2GB/month today, but the point of these devices (iPad 3g, iPhone 4G, etc.) is that we’ll be able to do more and your network either can’t handle it, or you’re just trying to squeeze more money out of your customers. The $15/month 200MB plan is just a crappy anchor price that makes the $25 plan look like a better deal than it really is, given that the $30/”unlimited” plan goes away.

Please don’t have one of your $12/hour “Executive Relations” college students call me – I’ve found them to be generally poorly informed (Engadget.com readers know more than they do about AT&T) and they have little authority to do anything sensible.

This is simply a soon-to-be former customer feedback.

Regards,

Giorgio G"

[MineralMan]

8. OK, thanks!

[digitaln3rd]

9. Re: One of the emails, and an audio of the cease&desist threat are here:

Wow.

That letter is pretty snarky and rude. I think I'll be siding with AT&T on this one.

If he wants to be taken seriously, then how about stating his opinions in a rational way? I know that's not a very novel concept these days.

[JBoy]

14. I didn't find it rude. A little sarcastic, but he knew his facts.

AT&T's response was idiotic: Thanks for your feedback. We liked it so much we'll sue you if you give us any more.

Realistically, what they should have done was either chuck the email in the trash, or respond with a bland, generic statement about how they are constantly updating their offerings to adapt to what new technology offers, what their research shows customers want, at prices that are competitive yet allow them to continue to invest in new technologies and products for the future. Blah blah blah.

<Reply> + <Response #3A> + <Send>

Either way they'd likely still lose that customer, but they wouldn't have egg on their faces like they do now.

[digitaln3rd]

18. Re: I didn't find it rude. A little sarcastic, but he knew his facts.

In retrospect, you're right. I think the better response would have been to just delete it.

After taking another look at the letters, I do think that both responses are childish, in my opinion.

They definitely broke the cardinal rule of business - don't let a minor thing get blown out of proportion with an equally idiotic response (especially not in the age of 24/7 blogs).

[Raineyb]

17. It doesn't matter if it was rude. He's not harassing this poor beleaguered CEO nor

did he make any threats. And as there's no copyright issue that reason for a cease and desist doesn't exist.

This asshole CEO seems to be under the impression that he doesn't need to ever hear anything from the peons from whom he takes money which partially pays his clearly over-inflated salary.

That you side with AT&T shows that YOU are part of the problem. The CEO's don't own any of us we don't have to suck up to them and we damn sure shouldn't have to expect cease and desist letters for daring to make our displeasure known.

What the fuck is wrong with you?

[jberryhill]

21. "One" of the emails?

What do the other ones say?

[Name removed]

2. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Enrique]

3. what a charmer

[JBoy]

4. I don't like to judge a book by it's cover, but

that book looks like a total douchebag.

[femrap]

13. Nah....

a tiny dildo is more like it.

[enlightenment]

5. My granny loved 'Jiffy' brand cornbread mix -

the kind that comes in the little blue box. They make all sorts of mixes - cake, muffin, bread, etc. All in the little blue box. Granny liked them because they were so small; a box made just enough for her to have for a couple of meals, but not so much that it would sit long enough to go stale.

One day (in 1979), she opened a box of the mix and discovered that it was only half full. She was incensed and did what she did best - wrote a scathing letter to the CEO of the company and sent it, along with the offending mix, in the post.

About a week later she received an extremely apologetic, hand written (not typed) letter from the CEO; about a week after that, she received a HUGE carton filled with multiple boxes of every single mix that Jiffy made - with another apologetic letter enclosed, this time from the line supervisor at the factory.

Apparently, her complaint turned them inside-out. Today? I suspect they'd just toss it in the round-file. If you're not a major shareholder, that's apparently the best you can hope for - at worst it looks like they loose their dogs on you.

[Trillo]

11. "round file"

That's one of the questions, why didn't the AT&T CEO just blacklist the customer.

[Tesha]

15. You'd suspect wrongly.

> Apparently, her complaint turned them inside-out. Today?
> I suspect they'd just toss it in the round-file.

You'd suspect wrongly. While it may not get you a carton
of free products any more, a politely-written complaint
letter will still routinely get you several free instances of
the product you're complaining about.

The product doesn't even have to be defective; perhaps it's
just hard to find in your area and you're "complaining" that
you wish it were more available.

Important hint: You catch more flies with honey than with
vinegar.

For example, "While we've always been very satisfied with your
product in the past, last Tuesday we bought a box (UPC and
date code enclosed) that had (describe defect)..."

To varying degrees, this works for everything from groceries
to computers.

Tesha

[JBoy]

19. The old saying applies - costs a lot more to get a new customer than retain an old one.

[tammywammy]

24. Excellent advice

I learned back in high school, when I worked customer service at an amusment park, the nice customers always got nearly everything they wanted and more. Those that were assholes from the moment they walked up, nothing.

[enlightenment]

27. Interesting leaps there, Tesha.

A presumption that the person writing to the AT&T CEO was rude?
A presumption that all complaints are rude?
A presumption that you are the only person who knows how to write a letter to a company?

I know, from personal experience, that a politely worded letter most certainly stands a reasonable likelihood of being ignored, as I have never received so much as an acknowledgment from the companies I have contacted (three, over the course of about 20 years, so don't bother leaping to the conclusion that I spend my time writing letters of complaint).

"To varying degrees" is the crux of your argument, I believe, so it is incorrect to tell me I have 'presumed wrongly' - your personal experiences aside.

I agree with your 'hint' - you might find it astonishing to know that I was very familiar with the concept before you brought it to my attention, since you felt the need to explain it in such detail. Given that, I'll pass along a hint to you in return; adding an 'example' to a 'hint' is rude. It presumes that the person to whom you are responding is too stupid to grasp the essentials - and carries a not-so-lovely scent of condescension that makes you look like an utter prat.

I appreciate that you believe you were being helpful, but your delivery leaves much to be desired.

[Tesha]

29. Reading your reply, I understand completely why your letters were ignored. (NT)

[Horse with no Name]

28. I remember those days when the consumer MATTERED

Now, the don't. It is evident just about everytime you walk into a retail store.
However, I do have to say that I have had the BEST customer service with Sprint. They are the exception.

[elocs]

7. Yes, I read that here at DU this morning:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8475862

[Trillo]

10. Sorry, didn't realize it was already posted. nt

[femrap]

12. AT&T are scum....

they're the ones who wiretapped us and got off the hook. I won't use them. Why did Jobs pick AT&T anyway?

They're the #1 Corporate Scum of communications.

This CEO is a true asshole...spending time on a customer's complaint?? And then threatening w/ Legal? Get a f*cking life.

[Tesha]

16. Jobs picked AT&T because Verizon...

...didn't want to deal with Apple and their service,
while perhaps more-widespread than AT&Ts, is
technically inferior (it can't support simultaneous
voice and data connections, one of the key selling
points of the iPhone).

Tesha

[hobbit709]

25. A friend mine's neighbor tried to get DSL from ATT

They said it wasn't available in his neighborhood.
His response was "Everyone else in my subdivision has it, including my neighbors on either side and across the street."
He got nowhere even after demanding to speak to a supervisor. So he called another company, got phone, DSL and cable through them and 2 years later ATT is still bugging him to come back.

[femrap]

26. May at and t rot! nt

[REP]

20. Customer service reps, however, have to take being called "bitch," "cunt," " asshole," etc

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck you, AT&T. Just fuck you.

[Trillo]

22. I've heard most customer service reps

have to deal with something like 90% of calls being from upset folks. Maybe that figure was hyperbole (wasn't my job), but it would seem at the very least a regular occurance.

[REP]

23. Upset is one thing; abusive is another

I was in one office that was niot CWA and we could dc on abusive calla, but CWA offices had to take outrageous abuse.