Yeah, I’m pissed! Was it just a coincidence this issue reared it’s ugly head for me personally the same day NYT tech guru David Pogue threw down the guantlet? I think not!
Here’s the article that started it all:
And here’s the comment I left on the New York Times website in response:
“Just upgraded to iPhone 3G S today. For two years, I’ve had AT&T voicemail without the canned instructions — just my recorded greeting, then a beep. After upgrading, the AT&T instructions come in after my greeting.
Spent all afternoon talking with AT&T tech support (Issue Tracking Number: CM20090730_6792219). They say there’s NO WAY to delete the instructions, even though I’ve had it set that way since the original iPhone launch.
For business users, the idiotic instructions are a dead giveaway that you’re sending calls to your cell. I’d rather not divulge that information.
Until today, one of the benefits of having AT&T / iPhone was “my voice only” voicemail. Why does “upgrading” so often result in lost features and usability?
In case you think it’s just me, I upgraded my wife’s iPhone, too — exact same thing.
If you know how to get rid of these annoying voicemail instructions on an iPhone, please post the exact steps below.
— Chris Allen”
Here’s a video I just posted on YouTube:
I am ready to take up the torch from Mr. Pogue and see this issue through to the very end. I make my living battling the excessive rates and fees levied by the telecom giants — primarily in the directory assistance industry — and this wireless voicemail issue wastes as much time as their $1.99 fees for 411 wastes money.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
UPDATE: Looks like this issue has some legs. Follow me on Twitter -> @takebackthebeep
How weird – I’ve had all 3 versions of the iPhone and I’ve never had the canned message. It still bugs the crap out of me to hear it from others, though. Can’t wait to stop hearing it!
I make my living doing television VOICE OVER work. My old iPhone did not include the canned instructions; my message was slick, quick and totally professional. But now the annoying instructional is back. I CRINGE at the thought of potential employers hearing the “dead lady voice” and all the redundant directions. It sounds like amateur hour.
I have ATT. Apparently it does not allow me to erase their message; but it does allow me to put a message before the ATT standard, so I added at the beginnign: “Press # to go to the beep.”
It works. Thanks. bpp
I had exactly word for word Chris experience with ATT
for 2hours yesterday. I also had 2g for over 2 years.
Never had the problem until I went 3gs.
I didn’t get my case number from ATT. Waiting for a call back
Now I know I will not get it
This is really got me hot! I can’t even type
what can we do?
I have been on the phone with ATT for 6 hours in the past week over this issue on my iPhone.
I used my iPhone for 2 1/2 years without “THE LADY”
It went right to the beep recording from the Iphone and loading into my voicemail when pushing save.
Over 2 years no “THE LADY” Then 2 months ago I got the 3GS including “The Lady”. I started calling ATT right away and spent over 10 hours to date.
I tell them I want my voicemail back the way it was for 2.5 years with NO LADY.
First level has NO idea what you are talking about. There is nothing in their rules of engagement with the customer about this issue. So they take you on a trip down the rabbit hole before they can escalate to a higher party.
It’sin the rules!
They first run you over this step
to turn off the 15-second instructions press 7, from administrator prompt to turn off the THE LADY.
Probability is NO 7 in the platform for iPhone users. Then they say wow well press 2 to make it rapid prompts.
It is rapid prompts already.
I just want it back the way it was without the lady. Okay sir we will reset your voicemail and start over sorry we are taking so long…. okay go for it level 1 support engage.
After voice is reset and set up over a 3rd telephone so we can turn off the iphone and turn it back on and go over all the steps again we just went over it doesn’t work.
We don’t know what to do sir except escalated to tech support can’t you just live with it and press # we don’t understand why you don’t like this LADY.
Because I didn’t have the lady for 2.5 years I want it back the way it was I don’t want anything else except an answer why did you take my greeting way from me and give me the lady added on. I don’t want her around my greeting.
We don’t know sir nothing in the rules of engagement about this problem we’ll open up a ticket and they will call you back to try to get rid of the lady. OK thank you. hey level one now ask your management why they don’t want you to know what to say about taking back the beep. OK Sir!
24 hours later here comes tech support. WOW last week they never called me back. So last night I must have had some impact on the 1st level Bridget in Arkansas with a key stroke to my account tech support calls back. Thank you Bridget!
Just look over your shoulder from here on out because they will be watching you!
Okay Paul calls with my open ticket number to try to resolve my frustration over “THE LADY”
####HEY POUGE maybe different pre beep prompts for instance say it was California Governor Arnold
Please leave a message after the beep then hang up or press 1 for more options…I’ll be back…beep
Or whoever you like from a list of celebrties.
Would that take the pain out of it? HAW!
Okay So PAUL calls me with my open case number CM20090824_7004982 If any high power ATT management read Pogues blog pease give me back my beep. Ive been a good customer. Just put my phone back the way it was for 2.5 years. Send out a memo update the rules of engagement for your level ones!
much much time is beeping wasted over this.
So Paul nice level 3 tech support. Seems I skipped level 2.
Kind of like press 7 to turn off prompts but NO 7 for iPhone platform. OKAY OKAY. So Paul’s story is….It’s all about the platform and the market and the forwarding number to the platform and the roll out and the wires and this and that…STOP PAUL… I just want my beep back can you do that for me?
To be honest SIR NO I can’t.
Well Paul can you tell me why you can’t or can you tell me why they took it away from me? NO SIR I can’t.. What can you do Paul?
I can send it to level 4… Okay okay.. Paul send it up the food chain please. Are you sure sir? Are you sure you don’t want to leave a greeting that says press # to go to the beep? That’s simple enough huh?
NO thank you Paul please escale for me.
OKAY SIR.
Hey Paul what do you think is really going on…..?
Well Sir I heard rumors that they were taking away the beep if the test marking plan of adding extra prompt works out for them and better service to incoming calls..
What do you mean by that Paul?
I think you were in the take away group study to see what you would do.
OH really?
Yes sir. it’s my understanding that they are going to increase the number of users that well get a variety of different helpful prompts, Not just the lady..
Oh really? So you think they are rolling out the lady?
Yes sir I think there’s some big changes in store and it’s not going to be get rid of the lady it’s going to be more of the lady.
What about Arnold? Can you get him on there?
No sir it’s not my decision..
That comes from the Commitee up the food chain.
Hmmm okay
what next?
I’m sending it to level 4 to see if they will be willing to take you out of the study and give you back your beep. No Guarantees Sir it the best I can do..
Thank Paul C-YA
Now I wait. Do they give it back to me to shut me up? Wait and see…I have a morning show on radio in a major market just to let you know POGUE.
I’m not going away until I get my beep back..
If they don’t give it to me…
well I guess I’ll go to Sprint and try the Palm Pre…
Darn I love my Iphone.
…I’ll be back
Success! Only one day after my initial call (see my other comment in the “Contact” page), AT&T called me back today to inform me that they had removed the voicemail instruction on my VM. While I was on the line with the tech (a different phone) she called my iPhone to verify that she got the beep right after my personal message. Then I called my wife’s iPhone to do the same test, but she still has the voicemail instructions. The tech said she would inform the VM team and they would try to make the same change to wife’s iPhone tomorrow.
Rob Tatu Ruggeri, it sounds like you had a _much_ worse experience than me – very frustrating! In case it helps, I asked my tech specifically what the technical name of change that was made to my account, and it is “set the caller prompt field to ‘none’”. I also asked what was the most direct route to making this request, and she said (1) call AT&T customer service, (2) explain the issue and ask for AT&T technical support (not Apple), (3) explain the issue to tech support and request the that they “set the caller prompt field to ‘none’”, and then (4) they will open a ticket to have the VM team make the change. I was actually quite impressed with the prompt service I got from everyone I spoke with at AT&T.
Incidentally I have asked all of the techs I talked to if they were familiar with David Pogue’s NYT column about this issue, and none of them were, but they all seemed interested. The last tech also noted that there were a lot of requests for the same change in the past few days, so perhaps this thing is getting some momentum within AT&T.
So today, one day after having my iPhone 3GS corrected to eliminate the VM instructions (see previous post), I was waiting to hear back from AT&T about making the same change to wife’s 3GS. I got a call from a polite AT&T tech who told me “sorry, we can’t eliminate the VM instruction message for customers with Visual Voicemail “. I politely informed him that yesterday his colleagues had done just that for my iPhone. He was surprised, but said he would resubmit the ticket to the VM team to basically duplicate the change they had mad to my iPhone on wife’s iPhone. I thanked him and hung up. Within 30 minutes I got a call back from the same tech who told me that he had rechecked the original ticket, and found out that evidently they had already made the change on wife’s iPhone. I gave wife a call to check her VM, and success no VM instructions!
So lessons from all this are (1) the people who talk to you on the phone are NOT the people who can actually make the change, so don’t get too upset with them if they pass along incorrect information – it’s what they are being told, (2) the people who have the power to actually make the change don’t all seem to agree on whether it is possible to make the change, (3) it is quite definitely possible to eliminate the VM instructions for an iPhone 3GS – I’m 2 for 2!
If any of you have been stuck at the “sorry we can’t make the change” message from tech support, try again. Try using the lingo from my previous post (e.g. “set caller prompt field to NONE”) to help communicate exactly what you want. If you get really stuck and repeatedly fail to get tech support to find back-end engineers willing and able to make the change, leave a comment for me in this forum and I’ll send you my case number so you can reference it as an example of a AT&T successfully executing this request.
FYI this tech repeated the comment that my other tech had made yesterday – AT&T is getting a lot of these requests lately. He was also the first among the techs with whom I have spoken aware of the NYT column.
Okay Alan I did suggest what you said to Level 3 Tech Support.
asked my tech specifically what the technical name of change that was made to my account, and it is “set the caller prompt field to ‘none’”.
John Lynch real nice guy said there is NO such field.
It’s still open ticket with the engineers.
This is crazy, What is really going on? So I still wait. They said they would or could or consider releasing me from my contact so I could go to Sprint Palm Pre with NO LADY.. I don’t really want to but Guess I will when we get to that bridge
Thanks Alan
BTW- The techs a reading this at ATT.
“Just fix it”
Thank you Chris for your time and allowing us to post
Alan maybe your case number may be helpful.
I ask the question…If Alan allegedly has the fix “NONE” in “that field”
why is my ATT ticket still open?
This is ridiculous people!
September 2 2009
Rob, how frustrating! I’m on travel in Europe, and I don’t have my case number with me; I can get it for you when I get back to the US next week. Chris Allen left a Twitter post (see Twitter Updates at the top of this page) that he was also successful and said that he will be posting instructions on this site.
NEWS FLASH! ATT decided to give me back my beep. After 3 weeks and 10 hours of phone talk. I could tell they just didn’t want to do it. They wanted me to wait until they finished upgrading. I said why couldn’t you just fix it. They said it’s fixed now isn’t it!
I tested it and said thanks. They hung up. So that’s it? I don’t know what they did they wouldn’t tell me. I just hung up!
Then I see this story floating around
AppleInsider is reporting that AT&T and Apple are discussing new features that could arrive exclusively on the iPhone “before year’s end.”
“other exclusive features will reportedly come in the form of a new voicemail setting that will allow users to disable the custom voicemail greeting and the AT&T voicemail introduction heard by other users. The feature, presumably to be pitched as a time saver, will also allow users to automatically bypass all greetings and instructions when placing calls to other AT&T customers.”
NOW just how is this going to work? This voice mail platform stuff is really deep ya think? Would some please explain what’s next?
I just got off the phone with AT&T – who after two levels of tech support, 45 minutes on hold, and a manager callback, told me “this is impossible – it can’t be done”.
So, armed with this blog, I called back again, got a different rep, and he opened a ticket in five minutes. (We’ll see in a few days whether it actually worked, of course…)
Thanks all for the info and support.
TSG
Has there been any indication that AT&T is willing to disable the caller instructions for non-iPhone users?
Me too! I’d like to know if anyone has any news on this:
I tried calling AT&T once and that Tech was not even sure what I was talking about. Am going to try again later…