ATTBI Extortion :(

[SuperTool]

Hi. ATTBI rep just called me, and said that unless I subscribe to their basic cable service, they will increase my Cable modem bill from $45 to $57.
Can they do that legally in CA? Sounds like extortion and unfair trade practice to me. Did anyone else get a similar phone call?

 

[Placer14]

Tell them to fvck off and say you're going to another ISP.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Are you for real, SuperMyNameFitsTheBill?

If you listen to why, you'll know it's not extortion.

Call them back and find out why they're going to raise your bill. There's a REASON for it. They don't just raise your bill.

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Are you for real, SuperMyNameFitsTheBill?

If you listen to why, you'll know it's not extortion.

Call them back and find out why they're going to raise your bill. There's a REASON for it. They don't just raise your bill.

I did ask them that. She said that was just the new pricing. What's the REASON for it? FIne if the price goes up, that happens, but to use that to get me to subscribe to some other service?

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: SuperTool

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Are you for real, SuperMyNameFitsTheBill?

If you listen to why, you'll know it's not extortion.

Call them back and find out why they're going to raise your bill. There's a REASON for it. They don't just raise your bill.

I did ask them that. She said that was just the new pricing. What's the REASON for it? FIne if the price goes up, that happens, but to use that to get me to subscribe to some other service?

Again, how is that extortion? It's a service change. Their reason might be cost of new hardware to be put in within the next few months to make your service faster and more reliable. It might be because ATTBI got bought out by Comcast and Comcast is changing what it is charging ATTBI for ATTBI to use Comcast's network and ATTBI is forced to relay part of the cost to it's customer base. Lots of reasons. Extortion is not one of them.

 

[Vic]

Heh... you know what I like about ATTBI? The hideous customer service. Even the Member Services page on their website always times out (try it).
Or how about that get $5 off each service for having multiples services with them? For example, having digital cable TV service and internet service would get you $10/mo. off for up to 12 months. Oh yeah, I signed up for that and then they said that I couldn't get the offer anymore, that they had cancelled the offer for everyone it had been offered to. Funny how phone calls to the BBB and the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission were effective in getting that situation resolved in my favor.

Not that any of this matters anyway, the Comcast deal is supposed to finalize in March/April, and I doubt that'll bring any improvements.

 

[Placer14]

So what's the score now,
FFM: a few hundred
Random ATOTer: negative something?

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Placer14
So what's the score now,
FFM: a few hundred
Random ATOTer: negative something?

Pretty much. Even thought I don't work for them anymore, I am STILL resident ATTBI king.

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt

Originally posted by: SuperTool

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Are you for real, SuperMyNameFitsTheBill?

If you listen to why, you'll know it's not extortion.

Call them back and find out why they're going to raise your bill. There's a REASON for it. They don't just raise your bill.

I did ask them that. She said that was just the new pricing. What's the REASON for it? FIne if the price goes up, that happens, but to use that to get me to subscribe to some other service?

Again, how is that extortion? It's a service change. Their reason might be cost of new hardware to be put in within the next few months to make your service faster and more reliable. It might be because ATTBI got bought out by Comcast and Comcast is changing what it is charging ATTBI for ATTBI to use Comcast's network and ATTBI is forced to relay part of the cost to it's customer base. Lots of reasons. Extortion is not one of them.

Well, that's not the way she put it. If she said "we are raising your rates, and BTW we have a special offer where you could get a discount package" that's one thing, but "Unless you subscribe to our cable TV, we are going to raise your rates" is another thing. They should train their reps more.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Vic
Heh... you know what I like about ATTBI? The hideous customer service. Even the Member Services page on their website always times out (try it).
Or how about that get $5 off each service for having multiples services with them? For example, having digital cable TV service and internet service would get you $10/mo. off for up to 12 months. Oh yeah, I signed up for that and then they said that I couldn't get the offer anymore, that they had cancelled the offer for everyone it had been offered to. Funny how phone calls to the BBB and the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission were effective in getting that situation resolved in my favor.

Not that any of this matters anyway, the Comcast deal is supposed to finalize in March/April, and I doubt that'll bring any improvements.

I don't see how their business practices have qualified a call to the Better Business Bureau. Was it because they didn't kiss cheeks?

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt

Originally posted by: Placer14
So what's the score now,
FFM: a few hundred
Random ATOTer: negative something?

Pretty much. Even thought I don't work for them anymore, I am STILL resident ATTBI king.

*bows to the ATTBI king*

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: SuperTool

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt

Originally posted by: SuperTool

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Are you for real, SuperMyNameFitsTheBill?

If you listen to why, you'll know it's not extortion.

Call them back and find out why they're going to raise your bill. There's a REASON for it. They don't just raise your bill.

I did ask them that. She said that was just the new pricing. What's the REASON for it? FIne if the price goes up, that happens, but to use that to get me to subscribe to some other service?

Again, how is that extortion? It's a service change. Their reason might be cost of new hardware to be put in within the next few months to make your service faster and more reliable. It might be because ATTBI got bought out by Comcast and Comcast is changing what it is charging ATTBI for ATTBI to use Comcast's network and ATTBI is forced to relay part of the cost to it's customer base. Lots of reasons. Extortion is not one of them.

Well, that's not the way she put it. If she said "we are raising your rates, and BTW we have a special offer where you could get a discount package" that's one thing, but "Unless you subscribe to our cable TV, we are going to raise your rates" is another thing. They should train their reps more.

I couldn't agree with your last statement more if you were God Almighty saying it down from heaven with the clouds lit up and blinding light piercing through. I still don't see what the problem is, though.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Evadman

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt

Originally posted by: Placer14
So what's the score now,
FFM: a few hundred
Random ATOTer: negative something?

Pretty much. Even thought I don't work for them anymore, I am STILL resident ATTBI king.

*bows to the ATTBI king*

Hey, you're just sucking up cuz you want that dollar when I get my first paycheck

 

[DaveSimmons]

It's not extortion, it's a $12 price increase. If you don't like it, switch to DSL or dialup.

They have every right to offer a package discount for cable + cable modem subscribers, and even to make the package discount exactly equal to the price increase.

The price increase is certainly something to rant about, though the cable and telco companies are mostly losing money not raking it in like you probably believe, but calling it "extortion and unfair trade practice" makes you look either childish or ignorant.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
I don't see how their business practices have qualified a call to the Better Business Bureau. Was it because they didn't kiss cheeks?

No, idiot. It's because (as I already said) they promised me a $10/mo. discount in writing for merging my TV and internet accounts into one bill and then didn't come through with it, cancelling the offer (after it was already given) to thousands of customers. That's a deceitful and (in Oregon) illegal business practice for a cable company and it most definitely merits a call to the BBB. It's called "bait-and-switch."
Why don't you pull your head out of your ass?

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
It's not extortion, it's a $12 price increase. If you don't like it, switch to DSL or dialup.

They have every right to offer a package discount for cable + cable modem subscribers, and even to make the package discount exactly equal to the price increase.

The price increase is certainly something to rant about, though the cable and telco companies are mostly losing money not raking it in like you probably believe, but calling it "extortion and unfair trade practice" makes you look either childish or ignorant.

I am moving, and will most certainly be switching to DSL
BTW, they better not be charging me for installation of their so called service. They didn't say anything about installation fee, so it there is one, I am going to refuse.

 

[Placer14]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
I don't see how their business practices have qualified a call to the Better Business Bureau. Was it because they didn't kiss cheeks?

No, idiot. It's because (as I already said) they promised me a $10/mo. discount in writing for merging my TV and internet accounts into one bill and then didn't come through with it, cancelling the offer (after it was already given) to thousands of customers. That's a deceitful and (in Oregon) illegal business practice for a cable company and it most definitely merits a call to the BBB. It's called "bait-and-switch."
Why don't you pull your head out of your ass?

[announcer] "And RATOTer just pulled a blinding hook shot which nearly took FFM down. He's staggering here, let's see waht he comes back with...I dunno folks, i've seen this sort of thing in the past with FFM, but he normally just dusts himself off and nails RATOT straight to the wall...." [/announcer]

 

[DoNotDisturb]

Originally posted by: Vic
Heh... you know what I like about ATTBI? The hideous customer service. Even the Member Services page on their website always times out (try it).
Or how about that get $5 off each service for having multiples services with them? For example, having digital cable TV service and internet service would get you $10/mo. off for up to 12 months. Oh yeah, I signed up for that and then they said that I couldn't get the offer anymore, that they had cancelled the offer for everyone it had been offered to. Funny how phone calls to the BBB and the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission were effective in getting that situation resolved in my favor.

Not that any of this matters anyway, the Comcast deal is supposed to finalize in March/April, and I doubt that'll bring any improvements.

my internet got faster, they said they're upgrading on feb though.... but my service went from 1.5Mbps to 2.4... upload became slower though.

 

[SuperTool]

I don't see why someone without cable TV should have to pay more than someone with cable TV. I mean what does it have to do with cable modem?
I don't understand why it's so expensive anyways. I only download maybe 50 GB of stuff a month. Does it really cost $1/GB for bandwidth? Ridiculous.

 

[BD231]

Originally posted by: DoNotDisturb

Originally posted by: Vic
Heh... you know what I like about ATTBI? The hideous customer service. Even the Member Services page on their website always times out (try it).
Or how about that get $5 off each service for having multiples services with them? For example, having digital cable TV service and internet service would get you $10/mo. off for up to 12 months. Oh yeah, I signed up for that and then they said that I couldn't get the offer anymore, that they had cancelled the offer for everyone it had been offered to. Funny how phone calls to the BBB and the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission were effective in getting that situation resolved in my favor.

Not that any of this matters anyway, the Comcast deal is supposed to finalize in March/April, and I doubt that'll bring any improvements.

my internet got faster, they said they're upgrading on feb though.... but my service went from 1.5Mbps to 2.4... upload became slower though.

WTF is up with their bullsh*t upload speeds anyway? Yeah you can download the entire internet in about 2 minutes but it'll take you about 6 to 8 hours to send the entire content of a 750mb cd.

 

[DoNotDisturb]

Originally posted by: BD231

Originally posted by: DoNotDisturb

Originally posted by: Vic
Heh... you know what I like about ATTBI? The hideous customer service. Even the Member Services page on their website always times out (try it).
Or how about that get $5 off each service for having multiples services with them? For example, having digital cable TV service and internet service would get you $10/mo. off for up to 12 months. Oh yeah, I signed up for that and then they said that I couldn't get the offer anymore, that they had cancelled the offer for everyone it had been offered to. Funny how phone calls to the BBB and the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission were effective in getting that situation resolved in my favor.

Not that any of this matters anyway, the Comcast deal is supposed to finalize in March/April, and I doubt that'll bring any improvements.

my internet got faster, they said they're upgrading on feb though.... but my service went from 1.5Mbps to 2.4... upload became slower though.

they're arseholes, thats why

WTF is up with their bullsh*t upload speeds anyway? Yeah you can download the entire internet in about 2 minutes but it'll take you about 6 to 8 hours to send the entire content of a 750mb cd.

 

[outriding]

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt

Originally posted by: Vic
Heh... you know what I like about ATTBI? The hideous customer service. Even the Member Services page on their website always times out (try it).
Or how about that get $5 off each service for having multiples services with them? For example, having digital cable TV service and internet service would get you $10/mo. off for up to 12 months. Oh yeah, I signed up for that and then they said that I couldn't get the offer anymore, that they had cancelled the offer for everyone it had been offered to. Funny how phone calls to the BBB and the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission were effective in getting that situation resolved in my favor.

Not that any of this matters anyway, the Comcast deal is supposed to finalize in March/April, and I doubt that'll bring any improvements.

I don't see how their business practices have qualified a call to the Better Business Bureau. Was it because they didn't kiss cheeks?

well in many areas they might be the only provider and if they are they should be able to justify the price increase and because is not a reason.

i have had attbi and comcast. i was hounding the crap out of them for poor service then comcast raised their rates and i complained and all they could tell me was to offer you better service ironicly i asked her if i am getting better service then why did i have to wait 45 minutes to talk to someone.

if you can i would recomend wideopenwest ( yes i have 3 cable providers where i live ). in 6 months time i have had 3-4 outages that lasted no more than 8 hours each. and the customer support is great everytime i called i had a tech that knew what he/she was talking about.

but either way monopolys suck and they should have some price regulations on them even if it is "life needed"

 

[BD231]

Originally posted by: SuperTool
I don't see why someone without cable TV should have to pay more than someone with cable TV. I mean what does it have to do with cable modem?
I don't understand why it's so expensive anyways. I only download maybe 50 GB of stuff a month. Does it really cost $1/GB for bandwidth? Ridiculous.

It's a sales pitch dude, you'll be paying what everyone else without cable TV service from them is paying

. Wether their service is worth it to you is of no consequence to their price raise, just deal.

 

[Wingznut]

MY ISP was AT&T broadband two years ago... Up until the point they went bankrupt and left me with no service. A couple of days later, I find a message on my machine stating that my service is back, and to go to a particular site and follow the instructions. I couldn't connect to said site.

I cannot tell you how many phone calls I made... How many hours I spent on hold (no exagerration here, but 4+ hours was not uncommon)... How much of my life I wasted trying to get my cable ISP back. I never really did receive a reason, other than they were "working on it", all the while being reassured that I would not have to pay for my down time.

I finally gave up 34 days after it was shut off. Then I receive a bill as if service was never interrupted. I call them back, explaining what had occurred. They refused to credit me, stating that I had service the next day. I had to argue with 3 different people, over the course of 2.5 hours before they rescinded the charges. ABSOLUTELY ridiculous!

Combine that with their horrible long distance customer service (they tried to charge me after I switched services, and I again had to argue with them), and the fact that AT&T cable TV prices have increased more in the past five years than any other cable service (with practically zero additions) I will never... NEVER use AT&T for anything. Period. I will not support any service where customer service and satisfaction is of so very little concern.

 

[ViRGE]

ffm, don't you work for AT&T BI? If so, doesn't it seem that the "AT&T King" has a slight impartiality issue?