- Jan 18, 2001
- 14,465
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Every year we go through the same little song and dance. SBC informs me that 1) my DSL contract is about to expire and 2) if I do nothing SBC will start charging me 2x for the same service that I have been receiving for the last 12 months.
Easy right? I just call em up and say don't start charging me extra! Of course it would be even easier if they would just extend the same terms for another 12 months, but I guess that isn't tapping into the add-on fees and charges market aggressively enough.
Instead, SBC goes to great lengths to make sure that there are the little speed bumps along the way.
Last year they insisted that all this information should be sent to me through the email address they gave us with the account. Not a bad idea I suppose considering that I have never ever used that email account and you'll get at least one inflated billing cycle out of me before I catch on that my rate has doubled. I called and bitched at them. They removed the charges, and I renewed my contract. A big waste of time for me and their call center, but in the end contentedness was had.
This year, I guess there were enough complaints about the whole email correspondence thing. This year, they sent me an actual letter informing me that the year is almost up and that I should go to a web site where I can conviently go to and renew my contract. They obviously put a lot of work into it as its pretty and well designed. However, I can't help but notice that there is no discontinue option. I can either 1) renew at a given rate (slightly more than I am paying now) or 2) not renew and start paying month to month at 3 times the rate I am paying now. How about and third option for telling SBC that I am sick of this little dance?
SBC, you're fired.
UPDATE: Cancelled SBC as of 1-06. Our billing cycle began on the second. Of course they billed us for a whole additional month, prompting a call to their service department 15 minutes of explaining the problem (explained in full to two different people), and an uncontested reversal of charges by them.
Its pretty clear that they did this as a standard operating procedure. The reps acted as though this was a common occurance and quickly admitted the error.
SBC has now lost our regular phone account and all possibility of us buying future broadband from them.
Easy right? I just call em up and say don't start charging me extra! Of course it would be even easier if they would just extend the same terms for another 12 months, but I guess that isn't tapping into the add-on fees and charges market aggressively enough.
Instead, SBC goes to great lengths to make sure that there are the little speed bumps along the way.
Last year they insisted that all this information should be sent to me through the email address they gave us with the account. Not a bad idea I suppose considering that I have never ever used that email account and you'll get at least one inflated billing cycle out of me before I catch on that my rate has doubled. I called and bitched at them. They removed the charges, and I renewed my contract. A big waste of time for me and their call center, but in the end contentedness was had.
This year, I guess there were enough complaints about the whole email correspondence thing. This year, they sent me an actual letter informing me that the year is almost up and that I should go to a web site where I can conviently go to and renew my contract. They obviously put a lot of work into it as its pretty and well designed. However, I can't help but notice that there is no discontinue option. I can either 1) renew at a given rate (slightly more than I am paying now) or 2) not renew and start paying month to month at 3 times the rate I am paying now. How about and third option for telling SBC that I am sick of this little dance?
SBC, you're fired.
UPDATE: Cancelled SBC as of 1-06. Our billing cycle began on the second. Of course they billed us for a whole additional month, prompting a call to their service department 15 minutes of explaining the problem (explained in full to two different people), and an uncontested reversal of charges by them.
Its pretty clear that they did this as a standard operating procedure. The reps acted as though this was a common occurance and quickly admitted the error.
SBC has now lost our regular phone account and all possibility of us buying future broadband from them.
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