Misleading marketing, or a Netflix moment?

[wa2ibm]

Well, it's a difference of $5 or $6 right now, but how long will that hold? Folks like AT&T and Comca$t seem to make special deals to keep you, then it expires after some period of time and you're right back where you started. And, you don't have to worry about LD charges either.

If you switch to Fusion, you can keep your existing phone number, so that won't have to change on your business cards. If you're talking about the email address, you may not have to change that either. AT&T/Yahoo email address will usually grandfather over to a free account after you drop the DSL service, so you can still keep that as well.

However, I always tell folks to use a generic email account, such as gmail, yahoo mail, etc., instead of your ISP's email address. This way, if/when you change ISP's, you won't have to change your email address. If you want to use your ISP's email storage and client, that's fine, just configure your email client to send me "from" your generic account and forward the generic email over to your current ISP's address.

Go for it - you'll enjoy much better customer service.

[Guest]

thank you for taking time to respond and reassure....

[virtualmike]

...A difference of five bucks and I wouldn't have to change any business cards, etc.......I'm really trying to move to Sonic but can someone give me a good solid reason? THANKS. I need to make a decision very soon.

First of all, you shouldn't have to change any business cards. Your AT&T phone number can be ported over to Sonic.net.

Reasons to switch include:

No caps/quotas or fees for "using too much Internet" with Sonic.net. With AT&T, you can go over your monthly quota easily with streaming a few movies...

Better customer service and support

VPN service (gives you a secure connection when using a wifi hotspot when away from home) [Can't get with AT&T]

U.S. long distance included; 8 hours of LD to Canada, U.K., Japan, and a few other international destinations also included

Enhanced telephone services (caller-ID, call waiting, plus many others) at no additional charge

Privacy protection (Sonic.net doesn't just hand over logs because it's asked, and logs are deleted as soon as practically possible) [Can't get with AT&T]

I could go on, but I think you get the point.

[digitalbitstream]

The good part about the modem rental is everyone's on the same equipment, used equipment can be recycled when customers leave, and support can offer a higher level of service.

The bad part the deceptive pricing, and the fact the deal gets worse the longer you're a customer. It's sort of an anti loyalty bonus. Long after the modem is paid for, you keep paying for it.

I feel Sonic should offer a modem buy out/buy back option. In other words, you're still required to use the standard equipment, but can fix the cost.

[Dave 1981]

I was all setup to order Fusion and switch from AT&T DSL after researching Sonic and seeing $39.99 for phone and internet. Sonic seemed like a great company and the price was a great deal. A few days later, when I went to sign up, I noticed the fine print of $6.50/month for renting the equipment. Completely deceptive. How is this $39.99/month.

I'm certainly not going to do business with a company which engages in such deceptive practices.

Dave