AT&T is ridiculous

[mechanicx]

For phone and DSL services at my mom's AT&T is charging about $60/month. This is just a basic landline with no other features like call waiting or even caller ID. And the DSL which is about $25/month of the $60 is only 768K! And they charge $10 for long distance service which she never uses.

So I called them last month to take off the long distance service. They talked me into a special deal of doubling the DSL speed for just $3/month extra and it would fall off if I didn't say i wanted to keep the updated speed (Jeez at $25/month already they should at least give you the 1.5M speed). and they assured me they were going to take the long distance off. To make matters worse, they didn;t even take the long distance off the bill that she received this month, but were sure to add the $3 for the upgraded internet. So now the bill is even slightly more than it was before calling them lol. Plus their phone bill is almost impossible to decipher and is never the same amount for no apparent reason.

I have Uverse at my place, which I like the service but as soon as the promotional period is over AT&T's prices just skyrocket. I use to have their cell phone service, but got tired of how the bill was different every month for no apparent reason. AT&T is outrageous but really all the big telecommunications are.

I need to figure out a better option for my mom than AT&T. Oh yeah, I jsut noticed on the bill there's a price change notice that the internet will increase $3.05 next month for no apparent reason. They got jokes

.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
For phone and DSL services at my mom's AT&T is charging about $60/month.

That's almost what I pay for a landline alone, no internet. It includes unlimited LD though. Thankfully, I'm able to expense it, so I'm not too worried, but yeah, it's ridiculous.

 

[JHZR2]

See my FIOS threads. Not sure if you get it, but if we kept the phone with the internet, it is $59.99 (but not sure of the taxes, though apparently they are less over fiber...).

Our 768k with phone without long distance, was at $54.99.

With naked FIOS and the landline over on our cell, we are paying $40.06/mo.

 

[mechanicx]

AT&T's customer service is temporarily unavailable right now. I doubt she has FIOS available but maybe. It's a retirement apartment and they only allow one cable service provider. There might be a cheaper DSL service available and I don't know about phone services.

It's just ridiculous that you call them up to remove a $10/month service and end up with a bill even higher than before. Then they are telling you they are going to raise it more next month. $60/month for very basic service is too high to begin with.

 

[antiqueshell]

It's amazing what you can get away with IF you have deep pockets and plenty of professional lobbyists hanging around the halls of congress buying off all the crooked hacks that are so called representatives.

The only thing we can do is cancel services. It's too bad that more people won't "do without" to get these crooked, unethical, and greedy companies to shape up. Of course having essentially duopolies and monopolies is yet another problem.

The US is trailing far beind Europe and Asia when it comes to making the internet affordable for the masses. And if anything it is getting worse, not better in the future.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
$60/month for very basic service is too high to begin with.


Absolutely. But what amazes me is how many people making not a lot of money has no problem spenging 3-4x that from all the connectivity and tv services.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
$60/month for very basic service is too high to begin with.


Absolutely. But what amazes me is how many people making not a lot of money has no problem spenging 3-4x that from all the connectivity and tv services.


I think this stuff is too expensive also. Including cell phones which are far worst with data plans attached.

Are these companies really making fortunes doing this. A small company took over residential Verizon in our area. They are bankrupt with these rates and have trouble keeping service up at times.

 

[Errtt]

Loaded with misc taxes & fees makes my statement not worth looking at. I just pay the bills.
Sat TV, I'd like to pay for the channels I routinely watch and not the other millions of channels I never watch.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: Errtt
Loaded with misc taxes & fees makes my statement not worth looking at. I just pay the bills.
h.



I wonder how many extra dollars you have MISTAKENLY paid over the years with that kind of attitude.

This is how they rip you off. They EXPECT you are NOT paying attention..and they can claim it is an accidental error. LOL

 

[daves66nova]

dsl extreme,around 15.00, magic Jack, 3.xx a month,done.Save a lot of money.

 

[-SyN-]

We were AT&T customers for 28yrs. Horrible customer service! Could never get an good English speaking person on the other end of the phone. They would always say the problem is on our end and not on their end. And It would cost to send one of their Awesome-Energetic techs Out our way.

Finally had enough of Very Slow DSL and constant problems with internet connectivity. Mainly telling us the problem was always on our end and not theirs. Hard to have issues with brand New Cat 5 from the outside box to one drop in the house where everything is wireless. And their cable in the ground was at least 27yrs old.

Went with Sudden Link--> $15 less a month and twice the speed and not one issue for 6 months. Even dropped our phone line. We use our cell phones.

 

[mechanicx]

I could probably get the DSL cheaper and faster from another provider easily for her. I just bought an AT&T dsl modem though ugh. I didn't see a universal dsl modem at the store when Ibought it.

How does the Magic Jack work? Does it work as seemlessly as a landline or what?

 

[Hallmark]

Invest in AT&T, it's paying out 5.10% dividends. You'll double your money every 14 years at that rate.

 

[Spazdog]

I hope they improved their billing practices.

While I was between jobs many years ago, I skipped the payment on my cel-phone. Paid the landline bill as I needed it for dial-up e-mail and job searching.(told you it was many years ago) Went down to the barest necessities.

When I got a job, I dug into my savings and promptly called AT&T to settle the bill. They would not accept payment.

Me:"You won't accept payment?"
AT&T: "We are turning it over to a collection agency."
Me: "Okay, how do I contact the agency?"
AT&T: "We haven't selected one yet."
Me: "So you won't accept payment in full from me?"
AT&T: "We cannot. We are turning it over to a collection agency."

I personally think refusing payment is the same thing as forgiving the debt. Unfortunately what I think has no bearing on my credit score.

It took almost 3 years for a company to call me. It took several months of negotiations to settle the debt....for the amount that I originally owed. AT&T only got a fraction of that amount from the agency.

 

[drive4show]

At least in the past couple years, I have updated my AT&T service either online via the website, or the myAT&T app on my smartphone. You immediately see the changes (and price difference) you are about to make.... and no talking to a person!

 

[crazyoildude]

that is like verizon here in nj i cancelled them and got cable and save half

 

[daves87rs]

Another reason to avoid AT&T....

 

[Brons2]

I have a local company, Grande Communications, for Internet. The basic package for 3Mbps is $27, but when I do a test at speedtest.net, I get 6Mbps. Netflix HD content plays fine. I am very happy with their service.

No landline, have VZW cellphones. Get 25% off my bill with employee discount. It's still expensive but it works good at least. I got 36Mbps download sitting outside on a park bench in downtown Austin a couple of weeks ago. Incredible.

 

[Cutehumor]

Seems the only way to get the bills lower is to threaten to go to a competition. Have Comcast? Tell them you will cancel and go to uverse or Verizon. Have DirecTV? Threaten to go to dish network. I may start doing this every two years to get these new customer specials.

 

[tinmanSC]

I had a similar experience. I had a billing error what went on for 4 MONTHS on an AT&T cell phone bill on my first iPhone. On the 4th month, I again corrected the issue (4th time), was told that it was again resolved and they would send me an updated bill. A few days later I got a notice from a collection agency. They sent me into collection for the CORRECT amount, never having sent me a bill for that amount. I just about blew a gasket.