Yesterday, I got a special offer… JUST FOR ME… To get high-speed DSL internet from AT&T for $19.99 per month.

I stumbled upon an offer from DirecTV shortly thereafter, and started to imagine the possibilities. Could I really get out of my Time Warner indenturement? My cable and internet cost me about $108 per month, and trust me, that is just the basic channels. By switching to DirecTV and AT&T, I could slash my monthly cost by about $38.

So I called AT&T to sign up for this super deal, and eagerly blurted out my offer code. The fellow on the phone was extremely friendly, and he said “I just need some basic information to see if this service is available in your area.”

“But I got this offer in the mail – at my house,” I said.

“I understand that, but I still need to check.”

As he asked me more questions about the offer price, why I was looking to change, etc., and after about 10 minutes of conversation apologized profusely that the service is not available in my area.

So, the phone guy has the power to determine the availability of the service by typing in my address, but some other system elected to send me a promotion for something I am not eligible for.

Even with bulk mail rates, if every one of the 350 houses in my neighborhood got one of these mailings, that was a huge waste of money.

Not to mention, I wasted time calling to redeem an offer that was “just for me,” only to be shot down, which irritated me.

So, as a now disappointed non-customer, I suggest AT&T revisit their direct mail marketing strategies. If the letter stated “Call now to see if you’re eligible” rather than making a false claim that this was an offer tailored to me, I would have gone into the whole process with the knowledge it might not pan out.