FYI cancelling Sonic FTTN and moving to AT&T: A total mess

[sushinut]

Just a FYI that canceling Sonic FTTN and moving to AT&T is a complete mess. I went to my nearby AT&T store to see if a bundled offer for directv+internet would be a better price than my existing directv+25 Mbps sonic. I got better pricing and at a 45Mbps speed. Great sign me up! Nope. AT&T saw that I had an active AT&T internet service, but through sonic. Ok, so I call Sonic to cancel and was told it would take up to 30 days for the cancellation to go through since AT&T handles the disconnect...or part of it, it was not clear. So almost 2 hrs later after multiple calls to various internal AT&T depts, the very helpful agent at the AT&T store told us he would follow up with us later that day. The store agent called us back and has an internal incident# open. Hopefully they can push the cancellation through on the AT&T side. I don't blame the store agent at all.

Sonic, is there any way to make this process straightforward if I want to cancel Sonic and move to AT&T?

[toddfx]

Cancelling Sonic and going with the evil empire (Comcast xfinity). So far not a mess.

Since I use it for work I had to overlap them and have the new link up and running before canceling (that's next week's chore since they don't let you cancel online).

Showed up on time. Looked a bit amazed that I had no comcast lines already pulled to my house but had a new one pulled in ~ an hour. 30M down/ 5 up for $29 a month + taxes. Beats 7 down/1 up for $60. I ordered it through amazon so I think they're trying extra hard to be good because they don't want Bezos to yell at them.

[Guest]

@toddfx, is there any other fees? Installation? modem rental? Thanks.

[toddfx]

You can rent one for $10/mo or just buy a DOCSIS 3.0 modem for $40 (kind of a no-brainer). If you want to future proof yourself you could buy a DOCSIS 3.1 but they're kind of pricey. I grabbed a netgear DOCSIS 3.0 free from a friend who was no longer using hers (has AT&T fiber - almost asked her to marry me when I saw the speed test).

If you already have a comcast line and can self install (plug in the modem and type in the MAC address on their site) I think it's $0. If they have to roll a truck I think it's $80 (what I was charged).

[sushinut]

quick update: AT&T cannot switch service from Sonic to AT&T cleanly. I have to call sonic to cancel, wait until I lose service and then call AT&T to roll a truck to do the install.

[sushinut]

back on 3/15, the 30 day mark, sonic cancels service as expected. Now we have a strange half internet access where only some websites work, most do not. I get a "Internet service suspended" for business enterprise splash screen from AT&T. On the AT&T side our line goes into a "cancel pending" state, which prevents the CSR from placing an order to roll a truck. They can get through multiple screens to place the order, but get an "error" state on the final screen to roll the truck. Multiple phone calls later and we're still in the dark. The AT&T employees are great and doing their best.

oh on 3/15 sonic charged us on the same day they cancelled service. Another phone call to sonic to refund us the charge.

wohoo.......

[mileslincoln]

I'm discovering this right now. Saw that I could get more than double the speed (45mbps) for ~$20 less per month, so I signed up immediately.

I've spent over an hour on the phone with AT&T, and no one seems to understand how to activate my account. It sounds very likely that I'll either pay double for a month, or go without internet for a month.

[sushinut]

mileslincoln, you're in for a bumpy ride.

latest status:
This cancel pending state is in place for 7-10 business days, which means no internet access for up to 14 days. To have internet access in our home the employees at our nearby AT&T store graciously lent us a hotspot device with a data plan tied to their store. They are not required to do this. Someone on their team is on the phone with AT&T and/or Sonic for hours each day trying to move this along.

so, still no internet access even though we technically signed up for 45Mbps for $30/month back in February.

[sushinut]

mileslincoln do all of this in an AT&T store and set aside 2 hrs. Trying to mess with this only on the phone will drive you crazy. You can have your store call the one I'm using to speed things up since they have experience with this (ask for Andrew or Luis)

AT&T Company Store
2980 E Capitol Expy Ste 60
San Jose CA 95148
408.528.6990

[mileslincoln]

Thanks, sushinut. I'll try contacting that store, but a few more calls like the ones I've had with at&t may force me back to comcast

I received this message from Sonic after requesting cancelation:

Your disconnect order for Sonic Fusion FTTN service is in progress. We expect the process to complete on or before: 2017-04-20

Is my internet going to shut off at a random time in the next 30 days? That seems less than ideal.

I need to wait 7-10 business days after it's shut off for at&t to start service/schedule an install?