Misleading marketing, or a Netflix moment?

[Guest]

lame. almost signed up. not now. read that tiny asterisk

[wilkesfamily]

I recently recommended my daughter switch away from AT&T to sonic.net as she setting up her new apartment as a student, on the basis of "service for $39.95". And now I find the mandatory equipment rental fee. I was really happy with sonic.net until I saw that show up. Wow. Now I'm going to cast around for alternatives for her.

[pope]

I have been a Sonic.net customer for ~1.5yr and am just moving house. Since I must set up a new service at the new address (Sonic.net don't allow you to 'move' service) I was shocked to hear that I now have to rent hardware - so the ZTE modem I bought from Sonic.net ~6 months ago is now surplus, as is my old wireless router.

To be honest, it would take quite a lot to make me signup with another provider. I just hope that the 'benefits' of the new Pace hardware are worth it.

[virtualmike]

I must set up a new service at the new address (Sonic.net don't allow you to 'move' service)...

Are you moving to a different neighborhood that's in a different rate center?

[dane]

Current customers moving who have service that pre-dates our equipment roll-out can request an exemption and return the equipment once their circuit is up and stable. But, I hope you'll keep it, as it does deliver some benefits.

[klui]

Current customers moving who have service that pre-dates our equipment roll-out can request an exemption and return the equipment once their circuit is up and stable.

Thank you for providing at least older customers an option.

[Juan]

I'll join the chorus. I was about to change. Not because of economics: I have the cheapest 1.5 mbps u-verse, and with 13,000 ft to the sonic CO I'll probably be getting the same and paying the same. OK, paying more now with the rental fee.
I was about to change because sonic.net is different. The underdog that treats customers as smart human beings.
This is definitely a step in the wrong direction.

[Guest]

I agree with the many sentiments here! I had been considering switching to sonic.net from AT&T for the $39.95/month service that I saw earlier, which I thought was very reasonable. I was very surprised to see the new mandatory equipment rental fee. If it's mandatory, you should be advertising your monthly rate as $46.45/month, not $39.95/month! The rental fee is outrageous considering the retail price of the equipment. I have AT&T U-verse service with a new modem + WiFi router and I only paid $50 for it. It would probably work just fine for the Fusion service, but I'd be forced to rent new equipment that I don't need if I go with Sonic. That just makes no sense! I don't need many of the calling services that are provided. I'm currently paying about $22/month for phone (measured rate service) and $19.95 (promotional price) for U-verse with all taxes/fees included, so Sonic is WAY more expensive. I was trying to decide what to do when the U-verse deal ends, but with the higher prices from Sonic, I think I'd be better off downgrading to a slower rate package with AT&T than switching to Sonic.

[Guest]

I was about to sign up for Sonic.net, but am shocked to hear the mandatory equipment fee. I can see the need to offset the cost of technical support, but mandatory 6.50/month is outrageous. I been using DSL with various providers and the most I had a technical call is once or twice in 5 years.... And it's because it was after a rainstorm. Once the line is up and running, I don't see a need to contact technical support. If it's a line issue or troubleshooting, isn't that part of the quality of service agreement that the line be operable up to a limit? and fixed by the provider? I don't see why the customer needs to pay an extra "service surcharge" for rental equipment if the customer doesn't use it.

[digitalbitstream]

The fee is forever... if it at least sunsetted after two or three years... it would be easier to take.