After spending far more time than any customer should have trying to figure out why the ‘Blocked Contacts’ feature on my iPhone is ineffective, I was on another 24-minute call with AT&T’s tech support. This was just the latest in many calls and chat sessions that have gone nowhere. The same issue remains unresolved—and it’s been years.I’m talking about an iPhone 11-Pro I purchased directly from an AT&T store just before COVID-19 hit. So, this problem has been festering for quite a while. Let me get straight to the point: I’m done. I refuse to be your unpaid, unappreciated beta tester. I’m done dealing with spam calls slipping through despite being ‘blocked’ by a feature that should be reliable. But why do ALL blocked numbers "slip through"?We’re talking about years of this nonsense—years of you pretending that spammers somehow outsmart your technology. Any competent business would have flagged and fixed this issue by now—either out of respect for their customers or to cut costs. Unless the real goal is to keep customers frustrated, waste time on tech support, and eventually push them toward paid “upgrades.” All the while, small business owners like myself bear the cost of wasted time and lost productivity.I decided to test this myself. Following your instructions, I called my cell phone from one of our business lines and blocked the number. The call went straight to voicemail—no ring, no notification. So why doesn’t it work this way for every other blocked caller? Is it that hard to make this technology consistent? Or is it designed to fail?Given AT&T’s resources, I find it hard to believe you can’t solve this. Especially when offering “upgrades” like AT&T Call Protect, AT&T Mobile Security, and AT&T ActiveArmor—each conveniently priced at $3.99 per line per month. I’m old enough to remember when the federal government broke up AT&T’s monopoly. What I see now feels like déjà vu—the same tactics that got you into trouble. And let me assure you, those tactics won’t work in today’s market.I’ve been a loyal customer since the 1970s. Not because you were the cheapest but because you were supposed to be the most reliable. I’ve paid a premium for that reliability—$115 for the remaining two lines, to be exact. But now? I’m looking at $15 per line elsewhere, with service that’s just as good, if not better. And to top it off, I’m sitting here with one bar of signal, practically within arm’s reach of the state Capitol.After decades of loyalty, I’m finished. I won’t keep paying for what I once believed was trust and reliability when it’s clear those values are no longer upheld. I urge others facing similar issues to reconsider their loyalty to AT&T. It’s time to explore more reliable alternatives.
