Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

Too much work, not enough techs. Company too cheap to allow overtime. The automated dispatch system is complete garbage. Way too many light violations from sales. It’s a perfect storm.

So the T has changed how the techs dispatch it is all preloaded on techs. The system is a dumpster fire. Management has been directed to not fix it or modify it unless certain circumstances are met. This causes techs to be late to installs and repairs. I’m guessing that you are sales. That is why you are having to put the same order in multiple times. Try scheduling only morning installs and your personal results should improve slightly.

The company needs to bring in more DirecTv contractors. After we here in the I&R department take over the single pair internet installs (by April we're told) they can get rid of the rest of the prem techs. They are considered a disposable entity anyhow.

Msoc time estimates are based on a simulated environment, not the real world. The cable plant - ball of beanies is not the same as the simulation.

And according to our 2nd line, over 90% of missed customers still reschedule and get our service anyway. They want that fresh new intro price deal cause they’re tired of getting reamed by the BIG C.

So hopefully the op has become more enlightened. We don’t pick up the phone cause we’re driving of course. And we know who’s calling.

Insider tip: Just because you see a tech ID on a ticket, that doesn’t mean that particular tech will get that ticket. Tickets are either soft assigned (any tech could get it when hitting the button), or fireballed/hard assigned (the ticket belongs to that tech). And we and you have no way of telling what’s what unless the tech is bulked with the work in question.

So don’t call us please! It’s not our job to manage the load and give status updates on anything! We can only work one ticket at a time and that’s it. It’s the first line manager job 100 percent to manage the load. If they see techs overrunning then those jobs need to be pulled, reassigned. And even then we’re still going to be late.

No doubt there is overbooking but this has been a long term deal. Not as if the Installations are being done in -50 every day. It is these extremes that invalidate a very real issue. On the phone for 15 hours to work out issues. Give me a break. Did that work before. You get the orders or tickets that do kick your butt.

This is what you get by overbooking and reduction in workforce. Driving distance to jobs and poor planing. Dispatching techs in a sense of urgencies and not demographic locations. There’s only 8hrs to do the work . 3 jobs with 20-45 min driving time plus two15min breaks and 30min lunch. One install could take 3.5hrs. When do you break. When do you lunch. Not to mention traffic and bad weather in midwest and east side of globe. Extreme cold below -50 degrees at times. Safety precautions and setups maintained throught the day. I’ll just stop now, you have no idea.quality service with quality work takes time.

You do realize that HSI stands for high speed Internet, right? Sales agents didn’t come up with that name lol.

“Some sales agents are scum bags, they sell hsia1.5 and call it high speed internet.”

Overbook appointments? Is that what they tell you retailnis doing? Because I can assure you that’s not how it works. If the point of sale doesn’t have a slot we cannot book it, there is no override. Whoever told you that is full of it.

Sad how retail workers overbook appointments intentionally and override it even though there are no slots!!

Commissions used to be based on order completion. The quicker the completion the sooner the check can be cashed.

Sales people over book appointments all the time too to get that next day install. Overpromise under deliver. Stores and ihx are the worst at that!

Some sales agents are scum bags, they sell hsia1.5 and call it high speed internet. We show up to cx house and we see have to break it down to them after seeing all tablets and kids in the house and telling them that 1.5 is not going to work for them. Then they start with “well the sales agent said it was going to be fast internet and it was going to work for all my tablets etc.” Two hours later the ticket is cancelled and all this could have been avoided if the sales agent was honest from the beginning. Wasted time that could have been used to get to another cx. Yet we have a sales rep that started this thread complaining about missing appointments.

"Doesn’t help when your bulked a dtv job plus a repair and another fiber 4 boxer and you show up to the dtv job order shows internet cancelled and dtv is 1 box basic just for the customer to say no it’s supposed to be internet 4 TVs premium package. So then you have to spend 2 plus hours just sorting out the order before even starting the install.

Maybe you guys could do a better job making sure the orders are correct."

Isn't all that automation placing the orders correct? We don't need "guys" to make sure the orders are correct we have people with multiple degrees and masters that make sure the automation does it correctly.

because we have to pay down debt and so having humans working is a big no no. do more with a lot less. how in the world do you expect us to pay people salaries when john stankey has to get a raise. not to mention we are getting rid of uverse so we don't want to sell it anyway. we are a wireless company we can't have cables laying around all over the place. people are streaming on their phones haven't your heard. (sarcasm but unfortunately true)

Well you shouldn’t be selling garbage to people in the first place.

Doesn’t help when your bulked a dtv job plus a repair and another fiber 4 boxer and you show up to the dtv job order shows internet cancelled and dtv is 1 box basic just for the customer to say no it’s supposed to be internet 4 TVs premium package. So then you have to spend 2 plus hours just sorting out the order before even starting the install.

Maybe you guys could do a better job making sure the orders are correct.

Hmm let’s see - the OP first assumption is it the techs fault and not the CSR who made the ticket. Second - most garages don’t have the CPE to cover all installs and repairs. Third - the plant isn’t at fault it’s Labs fault thinking 100meg single pr will work fine at 2000+ft or gnac not wanting to correct order issues. But for you main concern - ATT is the largest communication company that fails at communicating

Not enough techs, they laid off a bunch and a lot of areas are on forced 6 days. The plant is c-ap so most days techs are gonna get stuck on repairing a bonded pair, stringing a fiber over multiple poles while also installing basic TV on satellite service. Things are about to get worse with the layoffs.

Apparently the OP never worked outside... never had to deal with unrealistic expectations... ... AT&T has a bad habit of giving minimal training... sending Techs into the workload with NO mentoring... the plan is OJT... on the job training... tech that have near zero experience training the newbies... .... for the OP to take the attitude of elitism speaks volumes of what is wrong with the Company... ... rather than making wild accusations and showing total disrespect... they should ask questions of the Techs to learn what roadblocks they deal with on a daily basis...

Throw in the fact that appointments are made ahead of time based on schedules in the system. If the clocks are pushed out any period of time it doesn’t see techs on who will schedule vacation, sickness or last minute emergencies a week or two in advance. Then there are the overrides when a customer bullies a rep or their Mgr to take orders even though the schedule is full. Then toss in the orders that have been in some type of hold status that gets cleared at the last minute and tossed in. Been there done that in another life. Get a call from some center asking if you can take more work that day and you say no. Gets bumped up the line and invariably it becomes yes.

Even our L1s admit openly we are being over-booked so most are behind the eight ball before they even start their day. Heck, just adding the allotted times of your a.m.'s averages out to over 5 1/2 hours - all between 8 and 12 - with no time for a pit stop or driving or an hour on the phone to the Philippines.

Make the mistake of leaving 3 minutes unaccounted for in your afternoon - BOOM - here comes a same-day order on top of the two heavy builds already scheduled.

And let's not forget those wonderful 4 pm to 8 pm appointments where you are told to sit in front of an empty house until 515 when your first late pm finally drives in.

Moral of the story - yes, we PTs take every opening we are given to reschedule or cancel. Customer even hints of a delay we jump them like a starving cat on a three legged mouse. "Yessiree Bob, I can get you a new time if today doesn't work for you maam." Anything to get a break and see your house in the daylight at least once.

Lest you think we fake it - know that to get approval to set aside a job, your manager wants screenshots of your calls or texts, or calls the customer to confirm and always looks at your trucks GPS to verify you are even there. It's kind of like work release parole - complete with the ankle monitor.

So yeah, I talk hesitant people out of things every week - but that only really happens 1 or 2 times, the other 29 or 30 jobs that week I get done.

signed - DirecTV Tech

We have been opening everyday over a 3.5 and install heavy. They are loading us with work. Over 100 installs a day, 12 to 15 single dispatch’s, and repairs while keeping the clocks open.

Also not all the work is assigned so we could pick up an 11 to 1 at 3 o’clock.

I don’t know where you are from, but in my area we can’t just jep jobs for no reason and not show up or call. Our managers would be all over us and our dispatch efficiency metric would tank. Either the work is being pulled from the load before it ever even hits the techs or your orders are not making it all the way thru.

Too few techs so we can’t get to them all. And if they lay even more of us off as is rumored it is going to get worse. And we can’t call when we aren’t even assigned the job. There just aren’t enough people to do the work!

Well depending on the area, Prem Techs in some areas are way over worked and are working behind all day long. Some areas we are being sent over a hour away from our garages to pick up work. Often we get 8:30 to 9:30 appointments when its not even possible to get to the customer within the time frame. I would love to know what areas you are having issues with, I know there are bad techs, and they need to be surplussed asap.

Everywhere? I have not been to any install where customer stated this was a multiple request.