• Brandweek, Wednesday, January 6, 2010 10:50 AM

Todd Wasserman takes AT&T to task for having a tin ear regarding customers' complaints about its overtaxed infrastructure. Rather than refusing to sell iPhones in New York City, as was the carrier's brief decision last week in response to the overload, it should "shut up and deal with the responsibilities" of being the exclusive network for Apple's popular phone.

AT&T has a history of whining about how hard it is to keep with the demand, Wasserman says. In September, it released a video starring a geeky dude named Seth the Blogger Guy. "Look, we see the discussions on the Web, on blogs, on Twitter, on Facebook," Seth averred. "So we thought it would be a good idea to take what's being said head-on." But he didn't accept responsibility.

It's a "crappy" attitude and consumers have not been sympathetic, says Wasserman, writing that Seth is right up there with "Star Wars"'s Jar Jar Binks or Cousin Oliver on "The Brady Bunch" in terms of negative response. AT&T's argument, he says, roughly translates to "Look, all you kids are just going crazy with these new phones, so give us a break, will you?"

Read the whole story at Brandweek »