How Might A Blogswell Impact AT&T? (Or, "I Want My Ten Dollars!")
A colleague directed me to this article about AT&T’s implicit refusal to market the $10 DSL subscription plan that the FCC forced them to create via a decree in 2006 (when they merged with BellSouth).
From the article:
“…(The) interesting fact is that (AT&T) launched it without any sort of announcement, or fanfare. The reasons could be any number of things, but the one that is being pointed out the most is that they were forced to create the service and offer the service, but no one said they had to market it.”
The article goes on to depict the significant amount of detective work that a typical consumer would need to go through, before finding any evidence of the $10 subscription plan. Truly lame.
Speaking as someone who has had nuthin’ but trouble from the likes of AT&T, Comcast, SBC, et al., over the years (something along these lines, and I know thousands of people can relate), I would love to see an outcry spawn from the grassroots level.
I wonder what would happen if the blogging community noisily took up the case: if the blogosphere demanded that AT&T adhere to the spirit of the FCC decree, not just to the letter of the law.
Anyone up for a meme? I suggest ATT$10 as a T’rati tag.
(Engadget also covered this “surreptitious” move by AT&T. That’s a good start!)
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Comments
Unable to find anything about the $10 dollar a month service on AT&T's web site and only passing mention of it on the BellSouth web page.
I decided to give AT&T a call. They are my local phone provider here in Pennsylvania and I also have their cell phone service (my wife got me stuck in some 2 year plan.)
After being passed around and given multiple numbers to call I was finally given 1-800-967-5363. This will allow you to talk directly to the DSL department with any questions regarding this matter. I should note that all representatives I spoke with were obviously outsourced, probably Indian, so it made communications difficult and frustrating.
My first go resulted in the representative saying that the $10 offer was not available to me so I asked to speak with the manager. The manager said the "special offer" was only available in 22 states. I asked him to list them and he gave me the following: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
I asked him why it is only available in those states. He didn't know. I then told him that I had family in California who would be interested in this DSL price, how do I directly access the AT&T web page that details this "special offer."
He directed me to att.net which uncovered nothing, then to att.com/localhelp which also uncovered nothing, finally he told me to go to newatt.com which redirects you to attfashion.net - a site selling shoes.
At this point he was getting frustrated and said he would connect me to one of his "DSL specialists" to resolve the matter.
Can you guess what happened? He redirected me back to the main menu of 1-800-967-5363. *sigh* I waited on hold again for another outsourced Indian representative. This lady was armed with a lot of information. She was obviously reading a printed statement and basically said that the $10 offer is only available where BellSouth owns the land lines. Because Verizon owns the land lines in Pennsylvania, the service is not available. I asked when the offer would be available to Pennsylvania and she said she did not have that information.
She then tried to sell me on the 19.99 DSL offer. No thanks. Much faster than the $10 offer! No thanks. How about AT&T dial up? No thanks. Its very fast with an accelerator! No thanks. Would you like AT&T wireless? I have it already, it sucks and is overpriced. How about adding another line? *CLICK*
That was my experience. I say to hell with AT&T. Although if you're in one of those 22 states you might be in luck and your best bet is probably ordering it over the phone.
Posted by: mr magoo | June 20, 2007 02:40 PM
Whoa. Great story, thanks for sharing it.
Posted by: Todd Defren | June 20, 2007 04:10 PM
Ma Bell sucks. Can we go back to 1996 and start over with that Telecom Act thing?
Posted by: Geoff Livingston | June 20, 2007 09:10 PM
I'm in Texas. I believe the offer applies to me. I tried calling to get the offer, and I was told that it was an online only offer. But I *called* because if I try to order online it says my account requires 'special handling' and that I can't order online and gives me the phone number. The sales representative wasn't at all helpful in resolving this (surprise, surprise, surprise) and more or less suggested that my only option was the $15/month if I couldn't order online.
I've filed a complaint with the FCC. I'll see if it pans out. My thought on the matter is that if I can get different prices online than on the phone, but the online ordering system isn't available to me, this amounts to price discrimination of some sort. (As it turns out, in my area, the only package available is the lowest speed. Same speed, but different prices: $10/month and $15/month. Isn't it convenient for AT&T that I just can't order DSL online?)
I don't like AT&T. I don't think anyone does. The next step after this is the utility commission. I think it would be easier for me to stick with cable or pay the $15/month, but that's not even the point. The point is that I hate AT&T.
Posted by: Adam Fabian | June 21, 2007 06:23 PM