AT&T's tech support gave this customer a headache - and blamed Alexa

Customer service matters - especially when you're already dealing with a headache-inducing situation. But not all customer service comes stocked with metaphorical aspirin, as one former T-Mobile loyalist found out the hard way after switching to AT&T. Let's just say... the frustration came free with the plan.

User @hollywoodclo shares their story with an irritated Reddit post. Apparently, they have switched to AT&T for a free iPhone after being with T-Mo for 15 years, and they report regretting their decision every day.

The user shares that they feel like the tech support department of AT&T hasn't been able to help them. According to the user's report, the representative thought they had a watch which they didn't have.

The user called to inquire why the 5G Standalone option was suddenly grayed out on his phone. It's important to know that currently, only T-Mobile offers 5G Standalone nationwide, and Verizon and AT&T are still in the deployment process for the new, faster 5G connectivity.

Despite this fact though, the AT&T representative seemed to have confused the customer even more instead of providing him with a reasonable explanation. Apparently, the AT&T tech support representative told the customer that Alexa may be the reason why the 5G Standalone option is grayed out (welp, Alexa is taking over the world, folks!), after suggesting 5G Standalone was only for smartwatches.

5G Standalone (otherwise referred to as 5G SA) is basically a technology that allows a device to communicate directly with a 5G tower instead of going through the LTE core of the device first to connect. Direct communication like this could ensure better performance like faster upload speeds and low latency.

The technology is still rolling out, so it is not fully available in all areas and to all users. It's highly likely that the user is living in a place where AT&T's 5G Standalone is not deployed just yet, but apparently, the representative couldn't explain this to the customer.

Other Redditors have also pointed out that T-Mobile is currently the only network offering 5G Standalone nationwide at the moment.

Yep, although the user may have just expected a feature AT&T doesn't fully offer right now, one thing is clear: there was a problem with the representative's handling of the issue.

Such things don't happen only with AT&T though. Recently, we reported about Verizon customer support reps not fully being aware of current promotions and giving a hard time to customers who are eligible for them.