Yesterday evening while waiting for my grill to heat up, I turned on my SkyGrid app on my iPad. The number one most talked about story was about the FCC reviewing the wireless industry practice (or lack of) on cell phone bill shock. You know the shock you get from a big bill when you aren't paying attention to your wireless usage especially when you are traveling internationally.
Now, I already had my own bill shock surprise not when travelling overseas but just using my wireless phone.You see when I first signed up for AT&T I didn't get an unlimited voice plan, but now I
love my iPhone so much that I started using it for all of my calls. My wife pays the bills and didn't pay much attention to a $500 bill, but when it hit $1,000 I called into AT&T. They were great and credited my bill basically the full amount over the two months minus the cost of an unlimited plan. Also, when I do travel overseas I get the international wireless data plan, but even that is just good for email - you open up an app and wham - you download a ton of data.
Anyway, I didn't pay much attention to the articles because I've had my personal experiences and I can see the bill shock problem for customers and even though I'm an ex-AT&T guy, I actually agree with the consumer. My own experience with AT&T was great, but then again with a little advanced warning I might have caught it early. Well today, I received this email from AT&T regarding Travel Tip for Your iPhone which I found the timing very interesting.
Is this just a standard email sent out by AT&T? Perhaps, but then again I think they know this is my second iPhone. However, even if this was already a planned email, did AT&T notice the buzz yesterday and decided to be proactive and send out this email?
I think the answer is Yes. I have to believe AT&T has buzz monitoring services and someone at AT&T must have had their own SkyGrid type report and decided this email should be sent out on the heels of the big news story. I think this was very smart political rapid response which is something I know a thing or two about. I think they would have been perfect, if they were running some paid search ads or had some sort of website devoted to tips for fighting bill shock, but the timing on the email was beautiful. Nicely done.
PardonMyFrench,
Eric
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