Early termination fee with sonic now live - Other bad practi

[bhaveshmital]

Looks like sonic wants us to commit to 12-month contract.
And if you break the contract there is early termination feehttps://wiki.sonic.net/wiki/Billing_policy
But when I go to that link there is no mention of early termination fee and how much it is.
Btw , this is where I feel that as they grow bigger the lines betweensonic & AT&T/Comcast start to get blurred
Also , now that with the new fusion plans https://www.sonic.com/for-the-home/fusion modem leasing is mandatory that adds north of $10 per month to existing bill.So how is this different then comcast below the line charges for local programming.Since these are not optional why are these things not included in base price and why is the lie of low base price promoted.

[dane]

A one-year term is being driven by a few factors. The economics of two-line X2 upgrades, the coming VDSL2 upgrades, the term commit per circuit for the AT&T FTTN service and the cost of Fusion Fiber drop installation all require full year commitments in order to cover costs. For all of these, if members stay for less than a year there is a substantial financial downside.

Single-line Fusion had lower non-recurring costs, so it was possible to provide that service month-to-month, but that doesn't work with the other products.

Regarding equipment, for all products except the AT&T FTTN service, equipment rental and wire service is optional, but recommended.

[bhaveshmital]

Thanks Dane for your clear and crisp reply.This is what makes me continue to stay with sonic.
Btw what is the ETF ? the wiki does not have that information.
I understand the investment portion needed to upgrade new technology.
It would be great if sonic continued to not have 12-month contract.While I do not have visiblity into how many people leave sonic.net , however i do know that there are lot of loyal customers like me , who stick around to support smaller ISP's and sometimes contracts just puts us off.

[dane]

The early termination fee is $149, or the remaining monthly service fee, whichever is less. So if there were three months left on a $40/mo Fusion product, it'd be $120 instead of $149. All of our products continue to have a 30-day money-back satisfaction guarantee, we want to make sure that every new customer is happy with the product.

What doesn't work economically is to upgrade someone to VDSL2 or X2, then have them depart six months later. That would be a substantial loss, and it is not sustainable. We've got a balance to find, delivering the most cost-efficient and feature rich product to as many people as possible at the lowest cost, so we have to assure we don't create high costs in areas like early departures which reduce our ability to serve everyone well. Running the business is about finding reasonable balance that is sustainable.

[m2m3]

The early termination fee is $149, or the remaining monthly service fee, whichever is less. So if there were three months left on a $40/mo Fusion product, it'd be $120 instead of $149. All of our products continue to have a 30-day money-back satisfaction guarantee, we want to make sure that every new customer is happy with the product.

What doesn't work economically is to upgrade someone to VDSL2 or X2, then have them depart six months later. That would be a substantial loss, and it is not sustainable. We've got a balance to find, delivering the most cost-efficient and feature rich product to as many people as possible at the lowest cost, so we have to assure we don't create high costs in areas like early departures which reduce our ability to serve everyone well. Running the business is about finding reasonable balance that is sustainable.

The content of last paragraph is why I try to support Sonic. I personally find no reason to complain when a company is doing its best to look out for you in what I feel is an honest and considerate way. I know they are not trying to rip me off. That is one reason why I don't mind paying the $9.50 for the modem rental and bonding equipment for my Fusion X2 because I know that I am not simply renting the equipment; I am also being covered for wiring and equipment failures too. There are costs to doing business; so, I take that into account. Even when I had U-verse and POTS with ATT, I was paying something like 5 or $6 for an inside wiring plan; so, I am definitely not going to grapple over Sonic's offering. If I felt that they were being excessively greedy with fees and costs, there is always a way to deal with it: that is, move on to another provider if possible. In most cases, it is.

[Guest]

What doesn't work economically is to upgrade someone to VDSL2 or X2, then have them depart six months later. That would be a substantial loss, and it is not sustainable. We've got a balance to find, delivering the most cost-efficient and feature rich product to as many people as possible at the lowest cost, so we have to assure we don't create high costs in areas like early departures which reduce our ability to serve everyone well. Running the business is about finding reasonable balance that is sustainable.

The content of last paragraph is why I try to support Sonic.

Agreed. When a company clearly has their policies aligned with their end users they should be supported. It's been difficult to have less than 10 Mbps but I don't regret staying with Sonic nor doing the same for my parents. It's easy to move away and get faster speeds from the large ISPs but I feel that's a short sighted decision as it would just embolden them to continue their customer-adverse policies.

[Duncan]

A one-year term is being driven by a few factors. The economics of two-line X2 upgrades, the coming VDSL2 upgrades, the term commit per circuit for the AT&T FTTN service and the cost of Fusion Fiber drop installation all require full year commitments in order to cover costs. For all of these, if members stay for less than a year there is a substantial financial downside.

After one year does the service contract switch to month-to-month?

(Not that I'd plan to leave after only one year, but just for the sake of a scenario where I did...)

[aznalan15]

The early termination fee is $149, or the remaining monthly service fee, whichever is less. So if there were three months left on a $40/mo Fusion product, it'd be $120 instead of $149. All of our products continue to have a 30-day money-back satisfaction guarantee, we want to make sure that every new customer is happy with the product.

What doesn't work economically is to upgrade someone to VDSL2 or X2, then have them depart six months later. That would be a substantial loss, and it is not sustainable. We've got a balance to find, delivering the most cost-efficient and feature rich product to as many people as possible at the lowest cost, so we have to assure we don't create high costs in areas like early departures which reduce our ability to serve everyone well. Running the business is about finding reasonable balance that is sustainable.

Hey Dane,

Love it that you are active on the boards and communicating with us as the consumer. I spoke with some guys over the support line but they weren't sure about the question.

So I just upgraded to X2 and am aware of the 12 month $149 ETF is I do decide to walk (which I won't). My question is, IF for some reason that a better internet product comes out from Sonic within the next 12 months, whether it be faster or cheaper or both, for me changing from different products will I be charged the ETF?

[dane]

Service is month-to-month after the 12 month term, yes.

And upgrades and moves are possible, and simply re-start the term. This is how we're handling for example X2 upgrades, and will be handling VDSL2 port changes.

[kevinmcm]

Does the one year contract come with a performance guarantee? The primary reason for me not switching to Comcast Business is that they guarantee a term of payment but they will not guarantee any performance. If Sonic and Comcast will have similarly hostile contracts, I'd probably go with Comcast's faster service.