An AT&T customer since 1990

Seems like nothing more to say then.  Are you asking for this thread to be closed?

1989 customer would have been ATT Wireless part of the breakup of Ma Bell . The #1 cell provider.

Cingular was created in 2000 as a partnership between SBC and Bell South (2 of the baby bells from the Ma Bell breakup)

ATT Wireless (#1) was purchased by Cingular (#2 in wireless) in 2004.

SBC purchase ATT Corporate in 2005 renaming combined to ATT Inc. 

SBC (ATT Inc.) purchased Bell South in 2006.

While you remained a loyal customer for 35 years the ownership of the service of the service has changed sereral times meaning both leadership and company goals have changed also. Current day ATT Incorporated is not the ATT Corporation of 1989 but SBC Incorporated from 1982 breakup.

This isn't an airport honey. There's people making similar announcements on other service providers for reasons which may or may not be the same as yours.  None of them care. The churn is still under 2%. Manufacturers are raking in sales from people who are buying direct and using cheaper prepaid, and deprioritized service providers 

Not sure of your point. If you are suggesting that the evolution of Corp. ownership has something to do with customer retention, satisfaction, etc., you are in violate of the fundamental concept of "end product growth" which supersedes, but still maintains retention which is a sub-product of satisfaction that intern, is necessary for growth. However, in the end, a customer that has maintained longevity, has done so under that very premises of satisfaction through-out the evolving process of the company so contracted, and/or responsible for the service of its customer. AT&T along with all those you have mentioned are "service" companies that provide a service. Gaining market share through acquisition, is a goal of any company, However, earning market share through customer satisfaction is an entirely different animal. Much more here, but the change in ownership has nothing to do with me as a customer, but everything to do with the financial health of any given company.

The grass is always greener......

 AT&T has increased its wireless subscriber base substantially.  I don't think they're worried about having enough business. If anything they have more customers than their network can handle

AT&T 290 million 

T-Mobile 260 million

Verizon is looking distant third at 148 million

Not counting over 12 million cricket subscribers, Cricket is entirely owned by AT&T 

This is why I applied my Master of Business Theory comment above. I know it may be hard to understand by some, but the below snapshot taken from Forbes illustrates the point. You are touting the size of the beast and forgetting about its anger. When long time customers are fleeing the beast to seek waters more kind, the beast will fall. It's just a matter of historical fact.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has released its latest study on wireless providers and smartphones. In an interesting outcome, AT&T has beaten out both T-Mobile and Verizon for customer satisfaction even though it usually ranks third when it comes to performance and more. However, all three major US carriers ranked very close.

ACSI published the new report today based on almost 15,881 respondents that it interviewed between April 2022 and March 2023.

Looking at the major US carriers, AT&T jumped 3% this year to a score of 75 out of 100 for customer satisfaction.

That put AT&T one point ahead of T-Mobile at 74 and two points ahead of Verizon at 73. U.S. Cellular came in fourth with a score of 70.

Maybe you should spend some time on T-Mobile's community forum. There's an awful lot of people who would find that level of satisfaction very amusing. 

Consumers view T-Mobile as the cheapest carrier, with the least security for its customers.  T-Mobile is also seen as the really friendly carrier that lets you use their service in other countries for free.

  T-Mobile is not the cheapest carrier and they do have major security problems. 

Not all T-Mobile plans roam for free or have free long-distance calling.  Only T-Mobile's expensive plans have these perks.  T-Mobile customers are generally satisfied with the service, but there are still complaints about dropped calls, text messages not coming through, and dead spots that you could build a small city in.  Most customers who switch from Verizon or AT&T and find the coverage lacking, switch again.  

    The biggest complaint is a T-Mobile customer's constantly complain they're being scammed. The biggest complaint is the free lines. They give you a free line but then they sneak in a phone that they're giving to their brother-in-law and charge you for it.  

   I have tested T-Mobile again. When the service works it works very well. But the problem is there are too many places it does not work at all. You can't even get a text message to go through, text messages fail and just never happen. 

I live in one of those giant T-Mobile dead spots. I'm now on the fringe.    Even in the worst dead spots for AT&T and Verizon I still can get a text message to deliver.  

Verizon has always been viewed as the Cadillac of the three.  The biggest, most expensive service provider with excellent customer service.  But completely uncompromising, rigid/inflexible.

    They can be more expensive, but I'm actually paying less with Verizon than I would be with either of the other service providers for comparable service plan.  They are indeed uncompromising and inflexible. But that's not a bad thing. They're also very secure. Their customer support is capable.  The surprise is that Verizon is the smallest of the " big three ".  They hemorrhaged customers when the business model changed from contract to installment.  

AT&T has always been viewed as customer friendly. Just that. Super flexible, super accommodating, whatever you want AT&T will somehow bend over backwards to make it happen.

    Well AT&T is still that.  They have infantilized their customers for decades. Some customers still expect AT&T to be able to do absolutely everything including getting them logged into their Facebook accounts. AT&T employees are now prohibited, due to the liability, from switching people's data between phones.  Authorized retailers will still do it.  

Overall, T-Mobile easily could take over as the number one carrier. But they need to clean house. T-Mobile has always been extremely strong and urban areas when it was easier to cover the maximum amount of customers with the minimum amount of towers.  But the same areas have always had, and still have some extremely shady sales people.  

   There are news articles going back a decade for people who lose their temper with T-Mobile and take it out on their local store.

Lastly T-Mobile is not an American company. Verizon and AT&T are entirely spawned and owned in the USA. T-Mobile's primary owner is a German telecom company.  You can find T-Mobile stores all over Europe.  

There is not enough branded merchandise from any business company or entity to make a difference in how I view that company.  But it does work for some people.  It changes the company perspective for some customers to be generous and giving and kind.  Wise up people, they write all those goodies off as an advertising expense.  If you are carrying a magenta umbrella or wearing the magenta socks, you are now advertising for T-Mobile and not getting paid for it.   It's like product placement in movies.   

Google T-Mobile charging one of their customers over $183,000 roaming charge. They were not going to give any relief until a local TV station got involved. My sisters have many dead spots using T-Mobile while I have excellent service.