Haines residents are used to dealing without some of the amenities of big cities, but the cellular connection problems that plagued AT&T customers this last week have been too much for even longtimers.
“I was having to drive home to make calls from my landline,” said Leslie Ross, who manages the Haines small boat harbor. “I had a friend call who was in crisis, and the call kept dropping. This is a safety issue.”
People around Haines have been reporting similar stories of dropped calls, garbled voices and missing texts. The slew of stories prompted Ross to post on Haines Chatters Facebook page urging people to call customer service and push the company to resolve the problem.
After calling customer service, some Haines residents reported being offered up to $100 credit.
As of Friday, many residents reported conditions were improving, but it left customers with questions and frustrations. A spokesperson for AT&T said technicians had fixed the problem last week, but did not respond to questions about refunds for customers.
“It’s frustrating, we’re a small rural town, so they’re not gonna prioritize us unless they hear from us,” said Ross.
Stacey Prior was one of the people who took Ross up on her suggestion. She said at first, the customer service agent told her she needed to reboot her phone.
“I said ‘wait a minute, there are things going on town-wide,” Prior said. Eventually, Prior said the customer service agent told her that there was an issue with the tower, and that it would be fixed by July 10. Other residents reported that the issue could be fixed as soon as July 4.
Compensation was also inconsistent. Some residents reported being offered $15 to compensate for the service not working for a few days. Prior was on the other end: she was offered $100 credit.
“I’d rather have the service, but I’m good with getting some money off my bill,” Prior said.
Despite their frustrations, residents said they understand that living in Haines comes with connectivity challenges.
“I’m not calling for a boycott, I just wanna make a phone call,” said Ross.