AT&T Wireless "free upgrade" -- an offer to refuse
March 1 2004
Just before leaving home on Saturday, I had a postcard in the snail mail from AT&T Wireless. The post card indicates that AT&T is
sending you a FREE upgrade to a Sony Ericcson T226 mobile phone. Your T226 allows you to take full advantage of our improved AT&T Wireless network. ...At first I thought, wow, what great timing! While at Lotusphere '04, I decided that I needed a new phone. The T68i has been OK, but not so durable -- the volume switch doesn't work anymore, for example. Also, the reception isn't great -- I was sitting next to someone at Lotusphere whose different phone was also on AT&T wireless, yet had full strength while I had no service.
Your new T226 will be sent directly to you ... You'll find...a return kit to dispose of your old T68.
I wondered if maybe the T68i had been identified as universally having such poor coverage, and that AT&T was essentially acknowledging this by recalling the T68i. Butwith such a generous offer, I was trying to figure out what the catch would be. There's always a catch, right? Well, sure there is. The postcard indicates that you can visit www.sonyericssont226upgrade.com for more information. So I did.
Well, there's quite a catch.
According to the AT&T T68i vs. T226 comparison matrix, the T226 is missing quite a few T68 features that I use every day. For example:
- There is no calendar on the T226.
- The T226 apparently does not support Bluetooth or SyncML.
- and the biggest problem of all, the T226 is not a WorldPhone -- It operates on "850 / 1900 (Americas only)".
IMHO, this is an absolutely ridiculous program. My AT&T Wireless account is a business account -- it is tied to IBM's contract with AT&T. Does AT&T think that IBM's employees really are going to be wowed by the T226's supposed advantages such as downloadable games and recordable ringtones?
It's too early to call back to the US to complain about this, but I am definitely torqued.
Apparently, so are others, as there is quite a discussion on the AT&T Wireless support forums, and on O'Grady's powerpage.org.
Update: I've posted some additional information in this new posting on March 7.
Post a Comment
- 2
Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 3/2/2004 2:37:46 AM
par for the course, they only provide an "800" number to call for customer service. Sometimes, you can call a US 800 number through the AT&T international access number, but most of the time, you have to pay for such access.
- 3
Brett van Gelder | 3/2/2004 3:42:40 AM
Slightly off the topic but my T68i also had terrible reception at Lotusphere and also at other location in the US where I spend a fair amount of time. I was glad to hear somebody else complain of this... I'm on my third T68 / T68i and this never seems to get better despite regular firmware upgrades. And as to the ability to use a phone worldwide... I agree. AT&T clearly are focusing on consumer desires in the hope of convincing those who don't think the thing through all just to their advantage.
- 4
Rob Wunderlich www.dominounplugged.com | 3/2/2004 8:34:17 AM
I also had a T68i that lasted for about a year. The reception kept getting worse and worse and it finally just quite getting a signal at all one day.
But your comments about AT&T are also interesting. I would urge your visitors to check out my thoughts about AT&T (which aren't very positive) <a href=http://www.dominounplugged.com/hosting/dominounplugged/home.nsf/archive/20031207-1054%20PM?OpenDocument&count=-1>Here</a>.(Hope that link works)
And, if I was buying a brand new phone today (I'm currently a Treo 600 owner), I'd sure look hard at the SonyEricsson P900.
- Rob
- 5
Rob Wunderlich | 3/2/2004 8:35:38 AM
Sorry for the typos, and sorry the URL didn't link correctly.
Most importantly, my comment was is "quit working", not "quite working"
- 6
Chris | 3/5/2004 1:18:04 PM
'Apparently, so are others, as there is quite a discussion on the AT&T Wireless support forums'
...until they deleted it at around 8pm (PST) or so yesterday (March 4)
Criticism is unwelcome, apparently.
- 7
vowe http://vowe.net/archives/004256.html | 3/7/2004 6:02:22 PM
Check out this posting: http://vowe.net/archives/004256.html
- 8
Ken http://attletter.winstrands.com | 3/10/2004 3:05:14 PM
T68i owners who want to express their discontent at this offer, and request a T616, are welcome to sign this letter.
http://attletter.winstrands.com
You'd think that they'd at least ask you if you want that particular model as a replacement before sending it, especially if it has fewer business-oriented features. Personally, I'd be pretty miffed if I had a WorldPhone and my provider thought it was a great idea to take that feature away from me. In short: rip 'em a new one when you get home. :)