Louisville Mojo: Reviewing The AT & T U-Verse service

I have either made a good decision or a bad one. We subscribed to the AT&T U-Verse system. The reason it is a Bon Air issue is that they have claimed that the system is available right now only in the Bon Air/Highgate Springs area and not elsewhere yet.

U-Verse is the phone company's foray into television using fiber optic cable. The sales contractor sent another young fresh face around tonight in the rain, and I thought it would be timely to write a review in the case that any of you had a knock on the door.

I started out 2009 with the Direct TV system. I could watch Hockey Night in Canada and my wife could have Soapnet. My wife was wanting a DVR system and it would have cost a lot more with Direct TV, plus Direct TV loses signals when thick clouds come through or a plane departs from or is in the landing pattern for the Bowman Field North-South runway.

So when Insight sent a sales person around in the summer with a deal where phone, internet, and a DVR cable box could all come at the same time for what turned out to be less than what we were paying for Direct TV and AT&T Internet we jumped on it.

The problems turned out to be that the DVR was only playable in the livingroom, and we could only get channels 2-99 in the bedroom. I gave up the NHL Channel and Hockey Night in Canada and started watching Louisville Metro Council meetings on the Metro Channel--I could adapt.

The Insight phone system was also good and the Internet was faster, however a fresh young face came around pushing the AT&T U-Verse system in September. They offered a better deal for phone, wireless internet and television. They offered two DVR's and the ability to record four programs at the same time.

The fresh young face said that they also said that they had the NHL Network and all local channels, plus phone and fast internet. I was sold. It did not take much for me to sign on the dotted line for the U-300 package.

Well, I discovered before the installation that the NHL Network was NOT on the U-300 package, but on the more expensive U-450 package.

Make sure you have a grounded outlet

Well, the install was not a big problem, except for it turns out that the ONLY grounded outlet in my house in my upstairs study. The main computer downstairs is now on wireless internet as the system box is sitting upstairs. This is a big deal as many houses in the Bon Air and Highgate Springs Neighborhood do not have updated wiring.

Testing out the customer service

About four days into being U-Verse customers, we lost all signal on a Sunday afternoon. I spent about 40 minutes cell phone time talking to several people in the Phillippines who spoke good English until they said the word "Kentucky." We wound up spending the night without TV, phone and Internet until the morning, but the local repair guys came and replaced the connectors immediately--problem solved.

About two weeks ago, my son dropped the U-Verse remote into his glass of milk--unintentionally of course--I am not mad. Seeing if it worked and getting a new remote was a little bit of a problem as I talked to customer service twice only to be told that I had to go to the AT&T website to buy a new remote. That was a bit of a waste of time.

Well, I have really yet to talk about the quality of the U-Verse System. I will say that the Internet has been very dependable. The phone has been fine. The TV part has been pretty good.

The U-Verse on-demand and DVR systems actually are smoother working than the corresponding Insight systems. You can FF and RR much faster and stop on a dime with U-Verse compared to Insight.

Squished talking faces on the TV News

One of the problems with the U-Verse system is that Rick Van Hoose, Vicky Dortch, David Scott and Elizabeth Woosley all look a little squished on screen. But like Direct TV, Channel 41 is Channel 41 and not Channel 9, and so on like Insight.

Potential liabilities

One of the potential liabilities in the future with U-Verse is that the system box is required for phone. As I understand it, if the power goes out, we have a 4-hour battery. After that, we will be dependent on our cell phones until power is restored.

Both the regular Insight and AT&T phone systems would stay on regardless of the electricity being out. If you do not have a cell phone, beware of this.

Responsiveness to my beef about the NHL Network

I have said twice to U-Verse that they should make the NHL Network part of the U-300 package, and I talked about the salesgirl's mistakes.

It would be worth more than having the Fox-Sports Network for Nashville and St.Louis when Thrashers and Blues games are blacked out anyway.

They did follow up with my internet-based website comments, which was good but it was disappointing that the guy tried to sell me the U-450 package to get the NHL Network, but I do not want HBO and Cinemax.

There is still hope I can be watching Don Cherry with his loud suits on Coach's Corner on Saturday nights.

The Sum of the Matter

So, if I could do this all over, would I do it again? Yes, because the DVR in both rooms and recording four shows at one time makes my wife happy, even if I do not have the Metro Channel and NHL Network.

But buyer beware--make sure you are getting exactly what you want.

I had to educate the fresh-face walking around tonight in the rain on a couple of things, and she said "I did not know that to three (3) of them, including that we had bought the system already.

The U-Verse sales people do not seem to be in total touch with their product lines, and they are not communicating amongst themselves.

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chuck tue nov 17 2009 at 7:54 am ·


	Thanks for the review... I had read previously that U-Verse was getting very good reviews in Florida and was curious how it was going to shake out up here. I have DISH, which has some fantastic HD DVR's, so I'm not looking to switch, but if I was, it certainly wouldn't be to Insight. It's good to have choices... keeps everyone on their toes. Please give us an update after living with it for a month or two. Best, - C

ColeB tue nov 17 2009 at 8:03 am ·


	Well, I have had U-Verse for approximately one month and the service technicians are coming out this morning for the third (and final time) to replace my hardware. They spent three hours here last night and still could not restore the connection to our house. After spending two weekends with no cable, I have to say I am questioning our decision to switch. I will say though, that the repair team has been pretty available and most times we call, is out to our house the next morning. Getting through the nightmare of an automated system, however is a bit taxing, and I find that if you simply scream your answers into the phone you will be routed to a live person immediately.

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