Sometimes when I'm idling, I flash back to experiences that have stuck with me, for one reason or another. Today, I flashed back to a funny (and frustrating) experience Rachael and I had with AT&T not long after we purchased an internet package from them. I remembered that I had saved the amusing transcript of my discussing my issue with AT&T's online tech support. In the hope of offering a few laughs, here it is. I know it's not well formatted - this is how AT&T logged it - but it's still funny! And notice how patient and nice I was trying to be with their tech support, even though I knew he was on the wrong track the entire conversation (eventually, a different AT&T representative helped us fix the issue).

System

Welcome Mr. Jonathan Swenson.

System

Connecting to server. Please wait...

System

Connection with server established.

You

Technical Support Topic: U-verse High Speed Internet

System

rr156q(REINAN) has joined this session!

System

Connected with rr156q(REINAN)

rr156q(REINAN)

Hello Mr. Jonathan Swenson Thank you for contacting AT&T U-verse Member Support, my name is rr156q(REINAN) , May I please have the telephone number or account number associated with your account? Mr. Jonathan Swenson if by chance we are disconnected from this chat session, I would like for you to re-enter our chat service line, and ask for rr156q(REINAN) .

You

Hi, my account number is **********.

rr156q(REINAN)

##########,would this be a good call back number in case we need to do a follow up?

You

the number is actually ##########.

rr156q(REINAN)

Am I chatting with the account holder?

You

Yes, Jon Swenson

rr156q(REINAN)

Thank you for those information. How can I make you a very satisfied member today Mr. Swenson?

You

My problem is that it appears AT&T has blocked my access to www.ipage.com, www.sparksofgold.com, and perhaps a couple other sites.

You

I am not sure why I am blocked from those sites.

You

I can access those sites on other networks, but not on my AT&T U-Verse connection

rr156q(REINAN)

I'm sorry to hear that. Rest assured that I will do my best here to resolve this issue in a quick manner.

You

Okay, thank you.

rr156q(REINAN)

Are getting any error messages while trying to access those sites?

rr156q(REINAN)

You are most welcome.

You

Usually, when I go to one of those sites, my browser will try for 60 seconds to make a connection, and then it will time out, saying something like "Connection to server could not be established"

You

And I have checked, these sites are certainly up and running, because I can access them from other networks.

rr156q(REINAN)

I see> let us check the browser setting of your computer.

You

ok

rr156q(REINAN)

What is the Operating System of your computer. ( the computer cannot access those website).

You

Mac OSX

rr156q(REINAN)

Thank you since when you this kind of problem?

rr156q(REINAN)

when you have this*

rr156q(REINAN)

sorry wrong type.

You

since about 2 hours ago

You

I was able to access the site all day long before then

rr156q(REINAN)

I see. have you tried to clear cache?

You

yes

You

I would guess that for some reason, AT&T thought I was doing something on those sites that I shouldn't have been doing, but that is not the case

rr156q(REINAN)

I see. Is this Mac OSX Tiger?

You

Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Mac OS X Tiger on my other computer

rr156q(REINAN)

Do you mind waiting, while I research this issue, it may take a couple of minutes.

You

I can wait, thank you.

rr156q(REINAN)

Thank you for waiting, I will be with you momentarily with the resolution to your issue. Thank you for your patience.

You

Thank you.

rr156q(REINAN)

Can we try to "PING" to your MAC OSX Tiger.

rr156q(REINAN)

Go to " Apple Menu" select preference.

You

Can you ping Mac OS X Snow Leopard?

You

Okay, I am in my preferences.

You

What next?

rr156q(REINAN)

What are those option in your screen?

You

Is there something I should be looking for in particular? There are quite a few icons to select...

rr156q(REINAN)

What are those tabs?

You

Personal, Hardware, Internet&Wireless, System, Other

You

Hello?

rr156q(REINAN)

I see, By the way are you using wireless or hardwired?

You

I have tried both, and I cannot connect either way.

rr156q(REINAN)

Have you tried to reboot your computer?

You

I know exactly what the problem is. AT&T has blocked my access to specific sites, including www.ipage.com and www.sparksofgold.com

You

I need AT&T to unblock these sites so I can continue to access them.

You

Who can I talk to to get this problem resolved?

rr156q(REINAN)

Let us try to resolve this one for you. Let me have a research for this issue.

You

Well, I have done a considerable amount of research on this issue by myself this afternoon. Now, I just need to find someone who can unblock those sites so I can access them on my AT&T network.

You

I can access a lot of sites, like google.com, yahoo.com, att.com, and lots more.

You

But, there are VERY SPECIFIC SITES that I cannot access.

rr156q(REINAN)

I can do a line test in my end.

You

It appears that AT&T has blocked my access to these sites.

rr156q(REINAN)

Just give me 3-5 minutes while I'm doing a research and line test in my end.

You

Okay.

rr156q(REINAN)

Thank you for waiting. The first thing we need to do is launch the Terminal application so we can work on the command line.

You

Okay, I can do that.

rr156q(REINAN)

To do this, navigate to and open the 'Applications' folder that is on your hard drive.

You

I am already there, actually. I have a Terminal session open.

rr156q(REINAN)

Then scroll down and open the 'Utilities' folder that is contained within the 'Applications' folder.

You

Yes, I have Terminal open.

rr156q(REINAN)

Run the Terminal application by double clicking its icon.

rr156q(REINAN)

You should now have a new Terminal window open. Make sure it's selected so that you see the word 'Terminal' in the top left menu of your desktop.

You

Yes, I have Terminal open.

You

Now what do I do next?

rr156q(REINAN)

Before making any changes to system files it's always good practice to make a backup of the original file. Do that now by typing the following command in Terminal.

rr156q(REINAN)

sudo /bin/cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.backup

rr156q(REINAN)

Hit 'Enter' and type in your password

You

okay

rr156q(REINAN)

Now. just exit all the window

rr156q(REINAN)

and try to reboot your computer.

You

Okay, I rebooted it.

rr156q(REINAN)

And try to open your browser and access the website.

You

Let me get this straight. You just told me to copy a file so I have a backup, and then I didn't even change the original hosts file.

You

At any rate, my hosts file is fine. I am POSITIVE that this is not the problem.

You

AT&T has blocked my access to TWO VERY SPECIFIC SITES.

You

I need someone at AT&T to go into the system, wherever you have to go, and UNBLOCK THESE SITES ON MY NETWORK.

rr156q(REINAN)

Because I do aline test in my end but there is no problem in you IP Address. Let me try to change your IP channel. One moment please

You

Okay.

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