I use a lot of SMS, and so do some of my friends (particularly the expatriates). Those SMS threads get long, and my Blackberry had been crapping out with Java exceptions. I drop into an AT&T store, and they give me two options: 1) go home, call customer service, and they’ll probably replace the phone, or 2) wipe the Blackberry and start over, hoping that would solve the problem. I couldn’t really do the latter in store without backing up some data, so I opted to try it from home first.

Last night I finally got around to syncing, and started the phone wipe. At first the menu remained, while a little submenu stated “Erasing” while displaying a little hourglass. Roughly an hour later, the phone’s still spinning, and I assume it’s just the screen locked because of another Java problem. I pull the battery and replace. Now, I’ve got a white screen with a spinning hourglass, and a network light blinking red. I watch that for another hour fifteen before I move to phase two.

The Service

I call AT&T, and meet the usual business customer care. They in turn transfer me to technical support, but not until after asking me what else they could do for me today. Of course, there isn’t a hell of a lot I can do when the phone is dead, so I decline any “additional support.” Upon transfer to tech, I sit on the phone for roughly 15 20 25 30 35 minutes, while the recorded message rolls through pitch after pitch. Interestingly, those offers are dispersed with messages that sound like they should be to the customer service rep. They say things like “Notify your customer that expected wait times are long, and reset their expectation” and “Have you upsold your customer for additional services?” That isn’t verbatim, but you get the idea - the transfer obviously didn’t go smoothly.

Eventually I get a technical support rep, and they have me take out the battery (again). Nothing works there, and I’m pushed to the warranty department (but I’ll qualify that that the tech support dude was pretty kind about it all). I’m now in the queue. 10 15 20 25 minutes pass before I get a human. The matter is “quickly” resolved - the Blackberry is under warranty and they are sending me a new one. In five to seven days.

The Irony

I left the phone sitting on my desk with that little hourglass spinning. I went out to walk the dog. I returned to the same.

Interestingly, a bit later the phone reboots - it’s now wiped and everything looks fine. My guess is the combination of password and content protection (i.e. encryption) and 1,000+ contacts, a full calendar, all my Entourage notes, etc. took a lot longer than anyone expected.

Despite being quite caring on the phone, if AT&T had taken another hour to answer in the first place, the problem would have been solved!

Epilogue

I called AT&T back to see if they could cancel the replacement - it isn’t happening. So, the replacement device goes right back where it came from (in five to seven days) unless those Java exceptions start reappearing again. And, despite all the commentary about how bad AT&T customer service is, my experience wasn’t bad at all. Yes, I was on hold for quite a while, but I did call in the evening (so that’s expected). Second, everyone was courteous…actually extremely pleasant. I got the feeling they were actually jumping through hoops for me. Maybe it’s my phone voice.

UPDATE: The Java errors returned almost immediately. And the next morning, my phone was back in white-screen/hourglass mode - I set it for automatic turnoff each evening, and it wakes with the alarm - the thing was obviously toast.

Maybe it’s just a cruel joke on me.

Last night at about 10:00 pm my Blackberry clock fell back an hour. I checked the time on the laptop, and sure enough it said eleven. At first I thought I’d wake up in the morning and the laptop would have changed, but this morning that hadn’t happened. Immediately, I blamed Apple and their updates, but as it turns out that’s not the case - Apple pushed updates long ago, and time isn’t supposed to change until next week.

The perpetrator is the Blackberry. I check my time settings, and found device time an hour behind network time. Strangely, however, my phone is set to update on network time, but an adjustment didn’t happen. Who do I charge that hour to? Eh…the dog doesn’t mind either way.

UPDATE: I wasn’t the only one.

Not as though that this something new, after AT&T was found handing the NSA data, but there is a twist. Instead of the info being phone call records, handed out voluntarily, this time it is credit card data taken by “unauthorized personnel” (uh..hackers).

The potential victims (estimated at 19,000) are folks who purchased products and services from AT&T’s website. No worries there - anyone affected will be liable for no more than the standard $50 or so that applies in the case of credit card fraud. Nonetheless, AT&T has made a point of promptly notifying everyone involved. Good for them.

***UPDATE***

Unfortunately, that data is purportedly being used for phishing attacks. Yes, already.

Sources say AT&T is closing in on BellSouth, in a deal worth a $65 billion.

Such a move would give AT&T/SBC coverage in wireline across the nation, as well as bring together the owners of Cingular Wireless (which purchased AT&T’s wireless offering not too long ago).

Any deal would require approval from antitrust authorities as well as the Federal Communications Commission.

“The deal is likely to be approved,” said Blair Levin, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus and a former Federal Communications Commission chief of staff. “The government has already given us a road map and it had very few speedbumps and much less brick walls for this kind of transaction.”

He said the government would likely seek similar conditions to this transaction that were placed on the AT&T-SBC deal, which included providing competitors access to some buildings, some price controls, and ensuring customers have unfettered access to the Internet.

You have to love the “unfettered access to the Internet” part. BellSouth is exactly the ones screaming for more dough from content providers while they haphazardly drop prices to consumers, all the while complaining that they can’t recover bandwidth costs.

If there was a really good way to stifle telecomm innovation while positioning one’s self to cram more internet control down consumers’ and content providers’ throats, this is it. But none of that is for certain.

The only thing in fact that is for certain - another big round of layoffs.

***UPDATE***

Now it is official (I guess). And the grand tally, $67 billion. I might also note that “$18 billion in synergies” is a hell of a lot of severance packages.

***UPDATE 2***

Via Bloomberg:

AT&T Inc., the largest U.S. telephone company, plans to eliminate about 10,000 jobs after completing the $67 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp.

The acquisition will cement AT&T’s position as the dominant U.S. provider of local, long-distance and wireless calling and enable it to better fend off new competition from cable-television companies and Internet calling companies.

And how does owning more of the same allow you to “fend off new competition,” particular as the existing competitive product you have sounds like it sucks.

As if worrying about Bill Gate’s “end of spam” prediction wasn’t enough to throw me into depression, I now see there is a telco starting up a news service for security professionals. Spamroll is no great shakes to begin with, but the competition is just too much!

Tops on the list of news will be headlines such as “AT&T Does Something? About Spam” and “AT&T Did This? in the Spyware Wars” and “AT&T Lobbies Someone? About Computer Security.”

Nail in the coffin.