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... AT&T finally broke this camel's back. The last incident involved three tech visits in three days, totaling seven hours. To summarize what I endured since 2009 (and it's only the Cliff Notes version) ...

1. Ten (count 'em, 10) modems ... turns out that only two were actually bad; the other eight were changed because the techs couldn't figure out what was actually wrong. Of course, every switch involved resetting the password on all devices ... 4 TV's, three computers, 2 tablets and two phones.

2. Four DVR's ... all were bad. We lost hundreds of recordings.

3. Three years of continual freezing and pixillating ... after countless visits by at least a dozen techs (one of whom managed to disable all functions for three days), it was finally determined that the original installer failed to change out the main co-ax cable, which was nicked. This is a five-minute repair, except when AT&T techs are involved.

4. Continual breakdowns of equipment ... in addition to the gateways and DVR's, all of the other set-top boxes have been replaced at least twice.

5. The beginning of the end ... One TV kept losing its signal. When rebooted it functioned for a while ... sometimes a day, other times a couple of hours. Three different techs diagnosed three different causes, none of which solved the problem. It took a fourth visit, and a supervisor, to fix the issue ... plug the power cable into another receptacle. Incredible!

6. What finally did it ... Our brand new 65" Smart TV wouldn't pick up the signal, even though it was a simple HDMI connection. We tried all we knew, including changing the cable. The first tech spent approximately four hours bypassing the co-ax connection (first changing the modem, of course) ... only to discover that the other three TV's stopped working. After another hour, all was fine. The following morning, the big new TV crapped out again ... another tech visit revealed that the DVR (brand new, out of the box less than one day) was bad. With yet another new piece of equipment, we we were good to go. Next morning ... nothing! Here comes another tech ... diagnosis: defective power cord. OK ... we're up and running, but only after countless hours babysitting poorly trained (or thoroughly incompetent) technicians.

My wife and I jointly concluded that enough was enough ... figured that we must have had at least fifty service calls over the six years. We could no longer rearrange our time to accommodate these visits, not to mention paying for unreliable service ... over $200/mo. When we first considered cable, we conjectured that it likely wasn't much better ... we've since concluded that it couldn't be any worse, and that AT&T does not deserve our business. When I called to cancel, the "retention specialist" looked at our service history ... first response: "Oh my." She conceded that we've had "excessive" issues ... to the point at which she didn't even bother to entice us to remain with AT&T (they usually offer all kinds of financial incentives). I asked her, "If you were me, would you keep you?" To her credit, she replied, "No." Our new cable equipment was installed promptly, neatly and efficiently. I couldn't wait to get the AT&T equipment to the nearest UPS store ... we now have closure.

Incidentally, they also drove us away from their wireless phones after 20 years with various AT&T mutations ... wanted to charge us an additional $200 over the full retail cost of an iPhone 6 because "your contract is too new." We've been with T-Mobile for well over a year ... less money, better service, and they reimbursed us for the ETF.

"My local bookshop would not give me a refund even though I had a receipt. I submitted a complaint on MeasuredUp and the people at corporate contacted me to get me a refund. Thanks MeasuredUp." Sally R.