I am no longer an AT&T customer. My iPhone is now useful.

I consider myself lucky: I was let out of my contract after a several-month long dispute over AT&T’s quality of service (or lack thereof). Look above; that picture shows what I saw every day: zero to one bars of service within a 1-mile radius of my office. Anyone who’s been on the phone with me me has earned the purple-heart-of-patience award for tolerating my dropped calls (sometimes as many as 2-3 times per chat). And this phone is my only phone, the one I depend on to run my business.

I expect I’m not the only one with this problem. I’ve spoken with you too; your reception sucks.

How did I do it?

I don’t mean for this to be a how-to for those who wish to sneak out of their contract. Mine was a legitimate problem of poor service. If yours is too, here’s what you can do:

• Call AT&T (1-800-331-0500 or 611 from your wireless phone).
• Ask them to open a support ticket. It’s important that you start documenting your problem.
• Remind them that they have the data to confirm this issue: call start/end times and dropped call logs. (Updated: Thanks, Paul)
• Wait at least a month. Let them try and resolve the problem—it’s only fair.
• If they can’t resolve your problem, demand compensation or to be released from your contract.

Seems like common sense, eh? It is.

An open support ticket is the key; it’s your documentation that there’s a problem, and proof that it hasn’t been resolved in a sufficient period of time.

Remember: it’s reasonable to expect that your service works; reasonable to ask someone to repair it if broken; and reasonable to leave if it can’t be fixed.

Good luck.