What are they on?

Today, in a moment of pure optimism, I sent a message to AT&T asking when some kind of DSL service be available where I live. I’m out in the country somewhat, but less than 10 miles from another small town that gets DSL. A remote DSLAM at a nearby crossroads would put a lot of homes in the three-mile radius of DSL availablility. I’m not hopeful, but I asked the question anyway.

About 30 minutes later, I get this reply (quoted in it’s entirity):

“Greetings,

Thank you for your email and for choosing the AT&T family of companies.  We value your business and continued loyalty.  We will make every attempt to respond to your inquiry within 24-48 hours.

SPAM filtering software may be installed on your computer or used by your email provider or internet service provider.  To ensure that you receive our response to your inquiry, do one of the following:

-  Add the “att.com” domain to your email “safe list”
-  If your settings do not allow you to add email addresses to a “safe list,” use the Help section or contact your email/internet provider’s Customer Support to research your configuration options

While you are waiting for our email response, you may want to visit our online self-help tool, where many customers have found fast answers to their questions.  Please visit: http://ask.att.com

Regards,

AT&T Customer Service

Safety Tip: Learn more about ensuring a safe Internet experience at:
http://att.com/safety

NOTICE: Based on the information you provided, our understanding of your request, and currently available data, we will address your inquiry to the best of our ability.  Please note that prices, terms, and conditions are subject to change, and in the event of a discrepancy, prices, terms and conditions in any applicable tariffs govern.“

What?

I ask a question about DSL and you tell me that my computer may be using SPAM (why the capitalization, it’s not an acronym) filtering?

Just answer the question already.

Although I shouldn’t expect too much. This is the same company that happily lost my cell phone business – I was all ready to get three iPhones with the associated data plans – because they cannot let me have a number with an out-of-market area code. I could have any combination of Kansas area codes, which is a real help to the kid who lives in another state. Funnily enough no other carrier has that restriction, but I’d have to buy two separate plans from AT&T to make this happen. Too bad the customer is no longer king.

UPDATE:

I got a reply from AT&T… basically, hurry up and wait… blah, blah, blah… waiting list… sorry for the delay, etc. Pretty much the answer I expected.