Petitioning to drop voice bundling

Fusion Voice service, features and help.
27 posts Page 1 of 3
by kdquine » Wed Oct 21, 2020 12:08 pm
(California)

I filed a petition with CPUC to ask them to force Sonic to unbundle the phone service and stop senselessly charging us fees, some of which go to the state, some of which go to themselves for a service they KNOW many of us don't use and don't want.

Make no mistake - Sonic is lying if they are telling you that unbundling phone service wouldn't save you money. They aren't keeping 100% of the fees they're forcing us to incur. Dropping mandatory phone service would indeed reduce cost of internet service to the consumer and result in more honest advertisement of prices (which are STILL in Sonic's favor even if they increased 6$/mo)

I encourage other California subscribers who are frustrated about the forced bundling of phone service to file a petition with CPUC as well.

You may file complaints here:
https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/complaints/
by dane » Wed Oct 21, 2020 6:52 pm
I certainly hear how emphatic your request is. But the CPUC does not decide how we package and sell our services. And today at least, the internet+phone bundle remains our approach across all of the access platforms.

Some of this is legacy: federal regulations require delivery of voice telephone service when using a copper loop. And we'd like to keep all of the product configurations identical, and as simple as possible. This is why for example you don't see us offering our own fiber at three different speeds like most ISPs, or charging different prices for copper services that might be 10Mbps or 45Mbps - it's all just one flat rate and delivery of the maximum speed that the technology can. We've have worked to simplify even when we are reselling too, and today, there's just one product offered at any given location, rather than two or three choices.

Our approach isn't going to be a perfect fit for everyone, but we are carefully managing the financial, sales, logistical, billing, and software/tools development here as we build and deploy more fiber, more quickly to more places.

I do hope that the product will provide you with a good overall value for the performance and capabilities (including home phone, nationwide and international calling, e-fax, etc - it's all in there.)
Dane Jasper
Sonic
by kdquine » Sun Oct 25, 2020 8:22 am
~ You're not using copper for my service ~
by bullick.don » Mon Nov 02, 2020 3:46 pm
I am very happy with the speed and reliability of my internet service with Sonic. However, I’m puzzled by Dane’s explanation for bundling voice service along with internet service. Is Sonic able to charge less because you only offer one product to everyone? In looking at the details on my bill, I see a long list of fees for services that I don’t use, nor am I interested in using. Bundling is one of the reasons I switched from Comcast. Am I being charged for the voice service to make it more affordable to those who use it? If so, that sounds a lot like the old cable providers’ business model.
by tlmanfredi » Mon Aug 09, 2021 12:02 pm
What a ridiculous explanation for including this charge. This is an antitrust violation if I've ever seen one. We understand it is Sonic's "choice." That's why we are asking you directly to make a change before a regulator or lawsuit forces you too. But go ahead and continue to ignore this problem and let Google eat up all of your business.
by jessiebynight » Fri Aug 13, 2021 6:50 pm
Not interested in paying $10 per month for something I will never use, especially because it's listed as a separate charge. The ads say $39/month for internet, but that's not true, partly because of this extra charge. If it were included for "free" and the fiber charges showed as $49 then I would be a lot less miffed about it because then my expectations would be appropriately set, but I still don't want voice. I've got a cell phone and haven't needed a landline for over 15 years.

Y'all want to make money, I get it. A company's main goal is to sustain itself. Part of what was so appealing about Sonic was the company reputation for being not like Comcast/Xfinity, which gave me the expectation of integrity. The way Sonic can sustain itself is by dealing fairly, openly, honestly, and putting customer needs near the top of the priority order to differentiate itself and draw people away from the big games in town that everyone hates.
by ozzyoli » Wed Aug 18, 2021 10:09 pm
I hate to say but I agree that this is a dishonest that has tarnished my otherwise good impression of Sonic.

It wasn't made clear to me on signing up that there would be an additional $14.99 a month for Voice.

I think its misleading and non-transparent and a step backwards for the kind of pro-consumer internet infrastructure we are all hoping for.

I will resume actively recommending Sonic to my peers when this unnecessary voice package is unbundled from Fiber.
by jtt002 » Fri Sep 10, 2021 11:12 am
To be honest, I am also miffed by the voice fees on my first bill.

After canceling xfinity and enjoying sonic fiber, I have been recommending it to whoever will listen.

However, I feel the need to change my sales pitch or disregard it completely. The advertised $39.99 price, plus $10 eero rental.. is $64.99 with a list of 20 or so voice charges??

Still incredibly happy with the fiber and performance, but it may make customers happier if you just advertised the monthly cost as... $64.99?
by ngufra » Mon Sep 13, 2021 3:46 am
jtt002 wrote:To be honest, I am also miffed by the voice fees on my first bill.

After canceling xfinity and enjoying sonic fiber, I have been recommending it to whoever will listen.

However, I feel the need to change my sales pitch or disregard it completely. The advertised $39.99 price, plus $10 eero rental.. is $64.99 with a list of 20 or so voice charges??

Still incredibly happy with the fiber and performance, but it may make customers happier if you just advertised the monthly cost as... $64.99?
Exactly what I wanted to say: the advertised price is misleading to be competitive with the other players.
If sonic could just advertise it at $65 for phone and internet at the fastest speed available, they may lose some new customers who only read the large characters but avoid the feeling of being cheated after.
All the line items make people think they can pick and choose what they want.

For the service we get I feel it's a great value.
by cmeisel » Thu Sep 16, 2021 7:18 am
I am so sick and tired of all you ungrateful people whining about the phone bundle. Sonic provides a service with speeds that any business pays $500+ for per month. If you don't like the bundle, sign up with Xfinity.
I wish Sonic would just make a change and offer Fiber without the phone but increase the price. Including taxes and all, I pay (after all specials are done for a year) around $79 now. This includes rental for two eero units. And I feel this is actually too cheap. Fiber for under $80 including taxes and a free VPN, free phone with free calls to most countries, free fax number, free hosting, privacy (because sonic deletes all data every two weeks) and still it is never enough.
A small provider who tries to do the right thing and who is on the forefront of net neutraility, fair pricing (yes, a one gig fiber line for $80 total is more than fair, even $100 would be fair) has to deal with constant complaints and I am not sure how they put up with it. I want no phone, i want a fixed IP, I want to pay with my bank account and so on. Just stop whining and enjoy that you have good, fast, private service. 90% of the country (or more) don't have that.
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