It worked better than Twitter!
A 90-year-old Californian was so irritated by the slowness of the Internet in his home that he ran two Wall Street Journal ads to embarrass the AT&T CEO and get him fixed – and it worked.
Aaron Epstein of North Hollywood paid $ 10,000 for correspondence quarter page ads on February 3, complaining that the company was unable to deliver Internet to its neighborhood with speeds exceeding 3 megabits per second.
“An open letter to AT&T CEO John Stankey,” begins the announcement. “AT&T is proud to be a leader in electronic communications. Unfortunately for people living in North Hollywood 91607, AT&T is now a major disappointment. “
The complaint continues: “Although AT&T is announcing speeds of up to 100 MBS for other neighborhoods, the fastest now available to us at ATT is only 3 MBS.”
The ads were also printed in the newspaper’s Dallas, Texas edition, where the company’s executive offices are based – and it seemed to work.
Epstein told the local KTLA station that he received a call back from the office the same day he was executed.
“Let’s see what we can do for you,” said an AT&T representative, adding that the company can put fiber optics in its area to speed up the internet.
Epstein, who has been an AT&T customer since 1960, said he used the old-fashioned newspaper method to get the executive’s attention because he doesn’t use social media.
“With the response I am getting … I am fulfilling my goal,” he said.
“The money that we could have spent on other luxuries goes to something that also gives us pleasure.”
An AT&T spokesman said in a statement that the company often improves its networks and invested $ 3.1 billion in the Los Angeles area from 2017 to 2019.