The iPhone's Visual Voicemail Is Broken For Many, How Is It For You? [At&t]

I've griped as much as anyone about AT&T's service. I switched from Verizon with full knowledge of AT&T's spotty coverage, having used the 30 day trial period on the iPhone to get a feel for things. Yes, in the past 6 months it has gotten worse. But I bought into it and I still use my iPhone 3GS to do much more than I ever did with my Blackberries and Treo and WM phones.

What surprises me is the persistent way that AT&T seems to completely disregard the negative PR generated due to network problems. It's as if they're either a) oblivious or b) just don't care. Either way if I was a shareholder I'd be very concerned. No business can operate with this degree of arrogance and/or disregard for customer opinion. Without customer loyalty, you have no business over time.

The iPhone's Visual Voicemail Is Broken For Many, How Is It For You? [At&t]: "

If you own an iPhone, you've probably noticed lately that voicemails randomly show up a few days after they should have. The Visual Voicemail system is basically broken for people, and it's AT&T's fault. Why aren't they acknowledging it?

At this point, the problem is more than just a few scattered instances. Literally every single person I know that has an iPhone has complained about this problem. They'll just be sitting there and suddenly four voicemails will appear on their phone, some from as long as two weeks ago. It works for some people (commenters, some of us at Giz), but it's basically hosed for many others.

This has been happening for weeks now, yet AT&T has yet to acknowledge the problem. How is this happening? How can a major advertised feature of a carrier's flagship phone be completely broken and nothing be being done about it?

For many AT&T customers, this has got them at the end of their ropes. We've put up with terrible coverage, spotty 3G speeds and delayed rollout of super-basic features like MMS and tethering, but when we're missing potentially important messages, it begins getting downright unacceptable. We rely on voicemail to let us know when a family member or coworker or friend has left us a message, and whoever has left that message assumes we got it. Having it flat-out not work puts relationships and reputations on the line.

Apple has created a product that is, by most standards, amazing. Yet having it trapped on AT&T is ruining the experience for millions of people. Either AT&T needs to get its shit together, and fast, or Apple needs to get this phone on a more reliable carrier. Otherwise, people are going to start switching phones. Because no matter how awesome the iPhone is, it's just not worth it when it's not working.

(Via Gizmodo.)