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From: hansen@pegasus.att.com (Tony L Hansen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: AT&T Mail Info and Questions
Message-ID: <15147@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 30 Nov 90 16:52:57 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 860, Message 1 of 11


 From: nelson%bolyard.wpd.sgi.com@sgi.com (Nelson Bolyard)

< Today, an AT&T Mail Customer Assistance Center techincal representative
< dropped this bombshell on me: He is NOT PERMITTED to tell me ANYTHING
< about how to use their Internet mail gateway because it's not
< "official" yet.  He didn't think it was working yet.  When confronted
< with the news that there are people who use it regularly to communciate
< with the internet, his response was that I should reply to a message
< from one of those people and ask them how they do it.  Astounding!  If
< you want to know how to use AT&T Mail, you're better off asking their
< customers, not their Customer Assistance reps?

Nelson,

Let me get this straight: You're offended because AT&T Mail has a test
connection to the Internet, but won't tell you how to use it? Note
that test connections are probably subject to unreasonable amounts of
down time or potentially lost or mangled mail. (I'm not saying that
the AT&T Mail test connection does or does not have these problems.)
They're called "tests" for a reason; tests don't always work perfectly
100% of the time. Obviously some other people are willing to take the
risks; does that mean that AT&T Mail should advertise where to take
the risks?  AT&T Mail has a certain reputation regarding guaranteed
delivery or acknowledgement of non-delivery. In light of this
reputation, non-disclosure of less-than-perfect services by the
Customer Assistance is definitely in line with their goals.


Tony Hansen     att!pegasus!hansen, attmail!tony   hansen@pegasus.att.com


[Moderator's Note: Apparently the testing is now finished. I got a
note from my contact at att.com saying that a copy of the
documentation would be sent to me for publication in the Digest. As of
yet that documentation has not arrived (either here or my box at
attmail), but assuming it will come eventually, I'm publishing the
next two messages to explain the process.  PAT]