A 90-year-old Californian frustrated by his slow AT&T internet service ran two newspaper ads, totaling $ 10,000, to tell the company’s CEO that he needed to do a better job of providing his North Hollywood neighborhood with faster speed. .
Aaron M. Epstein said he has been an AT&T customer since the 1960s and only started having problems with his internet speed in the past five years, when internet streaming became widely available.
He said he was paying for 3.5 Mbps, but did not support streaming.
“When I watched a movie on Netflix or some other streaming service, it was like a slide show. It started and stopped, started and ended, very frustrating, ”he said in a telephone interview on Friday.
Epstein said he started calling the company to request a faster service, but was told it was not available in his area.
Epstein said he didn’t want to switch to another ISP because he was concerned about having to change his phone number and email address, so he decided to place two ads in The Wall Street Journal to vent his frustration.
A spokesman for The Wall Street Journal confirmed that the ads appeared in the February 3 issue of the newspaper; one in New York and another in Texas, where AT&T is headquartered in Dallas. The spokesman declined to comment on how much Epstein paid for the ads.
Epstein titled the ads “Open letter to Mr. John T. Stankey CEO of AT&T”.
“Many of our neighbors are creative technical workers at Universal, Warner Brothers, Disney studios in the nearby city of Burbank and in our city. We need to keep up to date with current technology and look to AT&T to provide us with fast Internet service,” is written.
“However, although AT&T is advertising speeds of up to 100 MBS for other neighborhoods, the fastest one now available to us at ATT is only 3 MBS. Its competitors now have speeds of more than 200 MBS. Why AT&T is a leading communications company, treating us so miserable in North Hollywood? “
On the day the ads were run, Epstein said he received a call from Stankey’s office asking how they could resolve the situation. Earlier this week, he received a surprise: two AT&T technicians arrived at his home to set up a faster internet speed.
“It’s definitely a lot faster and that’s all I expect from him,” he said of his new service.
Epstein said that some people praised him for what he did, while others criticized him for the high price of the ads.
“I am not a frivolous money spender and $ 10,000 means a lot to me, but in this specific case, it was money well spent,” he said, explaining that he and his wife have spent their time during the streaming coronavirus pandemic. TV shows and movies.
“People don’t go to expensive restaurants. People don’t go on fancy holidays. My wife and I are at home and watch more Netflix and streaming services. So I have no complaints about spending that kind of money, ”he said.
Epstein said he received a call from Stankey and thanked the CEO for the updated service. He also asked his neighbors to receive faster Internet speed.
An AT&T spokesman said on Friday that the company had completed its planned expansion of AT&T Fiber, a faster Internet speed, in the Epstein neighborhood.
“This neighborhood has already been planned to receive fiber and is part of our continued expansion of fiber in the greater Los Angeles area. Nationally, we recently announced that we will bring AT&T Fiber to 2 million more residential locations this year,” said the spokesman. .
