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Small warning about high speed internet fees...

SorthNarolina

By SorthNarolina,
in Huddle Lounge

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SorthNarolina Newbie

SorthNarolina

Posted
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Most of you are much older and wiser than I, and you probably already are aware of such things. I just figure I would tell this little story.

I came home from school and for the last 2 months the internet seemed a little slow. I thought it was just because I had come from the land of fiber optic and T1 lines.

It started to get really bad so I checked our speed, it was 1.5mbs which was the "ultra" option. It seemed sufficient and it passed speed tests so I figured it was something on my end but I couldn't figure out why it was so slow. Oddly enough IE was the faster browser.

So one day after we had experienced our 3rd outage, which has NEVER happened before after 8 years of subscribing to high speed internet, I looked at our bill just out of curiosity. We were paying 42.95 for ultra. I thought that was normal until I checked the AT&T website.

ultra on their site was 32.95, so my parents were paying were actually paying the price for the super duper 6.0mbs speed. It isn't even possible to get that in our area.

So I got on the phone and talked to them about it. They feel it is the customers responsibilities to find out when the rates change, and they need to call AT&T and let them know they want a new "package".

They say when they send you the advertisements with the new packages that that's their way of letting you konw. Most people are going to pay much attention to it because it usually is just a strong advertisement for direct tv or iphones etc. They don't really tell you anything about the rates changing at all.

After talking to the customer service folk I got my parents a new package with 3.0mbs and a few other goodies as part of a new package for about 10 dollars cheaper than what they had previously. They also agreed to give a credit of 30 dollars for the last 3 months. But my parents have been paying 42.95 for internet since 2002, so who knows how long they have been over-paying. The customer service reps wouldn't tell me when the rates changed, either they didn't know or they just wouldn't tell me.

I might call back tomorrow to get a better explanation. I suppose it is the customer's responsibility to be on the lookout for rate changes, but they could at least send an e-mail or letter to my folks. I don't really know how hard I should press them on it. It just gets a little shady when they make it so hard to let you know that your rates change.

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blackcatgrowl Newbie

blackcatgrowl

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None of this surprises me, and is just another example of AT&T's piss poor customer service.

I had cell coverage with them for 3 years back in 2001 to 2004. They pulled the same kind of poo, messing with rates, and cutting off my digital service because I had an older phone.

After wrangling with their customer service 5 times, I finally got a guy that said I needed to buy a new phone, and "they don't care if I could use their service or not". I smashed the phone with a sledge hammer, and refused to pay them for the last $30 of fees they tried to bill me, switched to Verizon and have never looked back (not that Verizon has been 100% awesome, but they've done a hell of a better job at CS than AT&T has).

Also, AT&T is a big proponent of killing Net Neutrality. Ditch them to prevent this kind of practice from becoming common place.

Also, the Devil is AT&T's owner. Ditch them to save your soul.

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SorthNarolina Newbie

SorthNarolina

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That reminds me of another thing that happened. My parents were using the same modem they sent them since 2002. Before, I could get to them they called At&T and they sold them this is little cheap Motorola thing for 40 dollars. It would probably retail for 15 max. That's pretty much my parents fault though. It was just one of those things that doesn't rub you the right way.

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sunbunny Newbie

sunbunny

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If at&t is the devil, sprint is one of the princes of hell. They never got our bill correct. We stayed with them for almost 10 years before finally changing carriers. I know T Mobile isn't the carrier with the most coverage, but we've not yet had a problem with our bill. And at least the phones are better than what US Cellular carries.

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Zaximus Veteran

Zaximus

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TWC's cable side pisses me off but their internet service has always been top notch for me. Super fast, updated speed often, and they told the RIAA they aren't giving names up of downloaders, A+ lol.

I have heard bad things about AT&T. I know a friend in South Charlotte that has that Uverse, it's OK for the most part, but the channels are less quality than TWC and the guide and changing channels is very slow. Then of course, the bill issues others have.

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