Fusion price increase and fiber expansion

[Guest]

I'll add to the disappointment in this price increase and method of announcement. Dane's earlier comment:

We have made a number of price increases via similar invoice notification, and haven't heard significant complaint from members about them being unaware of the price change.

may be because they haven't been listening. Multiple posts here clearly show that the invoice notification isn't enough. Personally, this is the second time I've been surprised by a Sonic price increase in the last 6 months alone.

I used to recommend Sonic to all my family and friends. Last year, I stopped due to the price increases, poor FTTN install I had (problems with both Sonic and AT&T) and generally low quality customer service. The notification process and indiscriminate nature of this increase just underscores why.

I'll add my voice to those who don't understand why those of us who will never see Sonic Fiber service are being asked to subsidize others. "Fusion" isn't a single product, and it shouldn't have a single price.

I'm also starting to look at alternatives now. Does a 1TB data cap matter, if it's impossible for me to even transfer 1TB in a month with current Sonic speeds? Does Sonic's privacy "advantage" matter if I'm already on AT&T's (spying) network and I can pay for a professional VPN with the savings from switching? Does Comcast horrible customer service matter when Sonic's trending down and all my neighbors say Comcast "just works" anyways?

Oh well. Just a continuing step down for what used to be a pretty awesome company.

[joe.higgins]

I just found out about the price increase from my invoice.

I live in Albany near the Berkeley/El Cerrito/Kensington border, is there an estimated date for which
some form of fibre will be available?

$60/mo. for 6/0.6 mbps is a bit steep.

Regards,

Joe

[steve123999]

Bye bye to all the whiny quitters I hope you won't be coming back when fiber is available in your area because then your argument of "I don't have fiber so I am not going to sponsor the roll out" becomes null and invalid ( since at that point somebody else paid for your roll out ) ... And to those who complain about price increase I dare you heck I double dare you to find an ISP that has the same level of service , privacy policy and no data caps for the price that sonic offers ... All of you mention comcast and ATT sure intro rates from those two companies look interesting and after the intro rate expires you are getting screwed over and have to play retention game ( have fun with that ) LOL , not to mention deep packet scanning and data caps ... LOL LOL .

Bye bye Felicia(s) don't let the door hit ya all .

.
LOL YOU OBVIOUSLY WORK FOR SONIC SO BE QUIET BRUH. COMMON LOGIC. PRICE INCREASE FOR NO GOOD REASONS = UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS. IF YOU ARE OKAY WITH THIS, YOUR PROBABLY HAVE NO LOGIC, SO DON'T TALK.

THIS IS BECOMING COVERED CALIFORNIA. I DON'T NEED EQUITY ON MY INTERNET. I NEED EQUALITY. WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY MORE COMPARED TO NEW USERS? WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY MORE FOR AN UPGRADE THAT DOESN'T HELP ME? WHAT IS THIS NEW FIBER THING? I JUST WANT MY NEW OLD RATES. SURE YOU CAN INCREASE THE PRICE BASED OFF INFLATION (~3.5% AT MOST), BUT $10.05 IS INSANE!

[danielg4]

Bye bye to all the whiny quitters I hope you won't be coming back when fiber is available in your area because then your argument of "I don't have fiber so I am not going to sponsor the roll out" becomes null and invalid ( since at that point somebody else paid for your roll out ) ... And to those who complain about price increase I dare you heck I double dare you to find an ISP that has the same level of service , privacy policy and no data caps for the price that sonic offers ... All of you mention comcast and ATT sure intro rates from those two companies look interesting and after the intro rate expires you are getting screwed over and have to play retention game ( have fun with that ) LOL , not to mention deep packet scanning and data caps ... LOL LOL .

Bye bye Felicia(s) don't let the door hit ya all .

.
LOL YOU OBVIOUSLY WORK FOR SONIC SO BE QUIET BRUH. COMMON LOGIC. PRICE INCREASE FOR NO GOOD REASONS = UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS. IF YOU ARE OKAY WITH THIS, YOUR PROBABLY HAVE NO LOGIC, SO DON'T TALK.

THIS IS BECOMING COVERED CALIFORNIA. I DON'T NEED EQUITY ON MY INTERNET. I NEED EQUALITY. WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY MORE COMPARED TO NEW USERS? WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY MORE FOR AN UPGRADE THAT DOESN'T HELP ME? WHAT IS THIS NEW FIBER THING? I JUST WANT MY NEW OLD RATES. SURE YOU CAN INCREASE THE PRICE BASED OFF INFLATION (~3.5% AT MOST), BUT $10.05 IS INSANE!

Dude: Until 2010, Sonic always cost more than the other guys. Everything old is new again.

[customerInExcelsior]

Bye bye to all the whiny quitters I hope you won't be coming back when fiber is available in your area because then your argument of "I don't have fiber so I am not going to sponsor the roll out" becomes null and invalid ( since at that point somebody else paid for your roll out ) ... And to those who complain about price increase I dare you heck I double dare you to find an ISP that has the same level of service , privacy policy and no data caps for the price that sonic offers ... All of you mention comcast and ATT sure intro rates from those two companies look interesting and after the intro rate expires you are getting screwed over and have to play retention game ( have fun with that ) LOL , not to mention deep packet scanning and data caps ... LOL LOL .

Bye bye Felicia(s) don't let the door hit ya all .

Most people haven't been very whiny, at least as of late. Let me ask you this - how long have you been with Sonic? I'd guess that you haven't been with Sonic as long as many of the "whiners" have - many being with Sonic since at least 2010, if not much earlier. You therefore probably haven't "contributed" to your fiber line as much as they have. What's wrong with those customers taking a leave of absence, coming back when fiber is available, and then getting the same benefit that any newcomer would have? What of those just moving into the area, or switching from AT&T or Comcast? Should they be stigmatized for not "contributing" to the build-out? Therein lies the flaw in your logic. What's wrong with anyone doing that? To Sonic, losing customers is undesirable, but gaining customers (even former customers) is always desirable, which is why you don't see Dane /Sonic belittling these customers, although you seem very happy to do so (hurting Sonic's reputation, in the process).

Sonic isn't the only "populist" ISP in the region - alternatives exist: Raw Bandwidth, LMI, MonkeyBrains, and DSL Extreme - to name a few. I'll take you up on your wager about alternatives - I did a cost comparison between MonkeyBrains paired with a VoIP carrier vs Sonic FTTN at 24Mbps (<= 6Mbps with Sonic is a lost cause). In San Francisco, Sonic FTTN now costs ~$67. If you sign up with MB, you pay $35/mo with a $250 installation fee. If you don't care for phone service, the amortized monthly cost in the first year is $55.83/mo, and the second year is only $35/mo. If you want phone service, add a $50 Obi200 and get PhonePower for $5/mo. The amortized cost in the first year is $65/mo and $40/mo in subsequent years. If you don't have a WiFi AP/router, throw one into the mix - almost anything is better than the Pace devices that are paired with FTTN service.

[Concerned]

Dane - since we are the ones who make this service possible and it is us you are asking to pay for (or at least leverage) the build out, the least you can do is give us the buildout plan. You pride yourself on customer service, but you failed us miserably on this one. Work with us. Don't become Comcast. Don't be a Trump.

[trailgirl]

I have really appreciated Sonic for years, but when I moved to Windsor, nothing was available. Then, this past year, VOIP Fusion was available. I have been pretty disappointed in VOIP and Sonic has no plans to go to fiber in my area for over 10 years. I don't appreciate that those of us who have tried to be faithful customers of our local ISP are now getting short-shrift. I've had issue upon issue with my service. Yes, some other customer in the bay area will reap the benefits of an extra $10 bucks on my bill, but not me. Dane, why have you forsaken your base?

[cbernabe]

Not liking it with the same bandwidth that I'm getting. It's time to go the darkside for four years

[Guest]

I live in Albany near the Berkeley/El Cerrito/Kensington border, is there an estimated date for which
some form of fibre will be available?

Yes, the date is "When Hell Freezes Over."

Sorry to say that, but there is zero evidence, and no logical argument, to the contrary, and much evidence that supports this conclusion.

[pockyken007]

Bye bye to all the whiny quitters I hope you won't be coming back when fiber is available in your area because then your argument of "I don't have fiber so I am not going to sponsor the roll out" becomes null and invalid ( since at that point somebody else paid for your roll out ) ... And to those who complain about price increase I dare you heck I double dare you to find an ISP that has the same level of service , privacy policy and no data caps for the price that sonic offers ... All of you mention comcast and ATT sure intro rates from those two companies look interesting and after the intro rate expires you are getting screwed over and have to play retention game ( have fun with that ) LOL , not to mention deep packet scanning and data caps ... LOL LOL .

Bye bye Felicia(s) don't let the door hit ya all .

.
LOL YOU OBVIOUSLY WORK FOR SONIC SO BE QUIET BRUH. COMMON LOGIC. PRICE INCREASE FOR NO GOOD REASONS = UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS. IF YOU ARE OKAY WITH THIS, YOUR PROBABLY HAVE NO LOGIC, SO DON'T TALK.

THIS IS BECOMING COVERED CALIFORNIA. I DON'T NEED EQUITY ON MY INTERNET. I NEED EQUALITY. WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY MORE COMPARED TO NEW USERS? WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY MORE FOR AN UPGRADE THAT DOESN'T HELP ME? WHAT IS THIS NEW FIBER THING? I JUST WANT MY NEW OLD RATES. SURE YOU CAN INCREASE THE PRICE BASED OFF INFLATION (~3.5% AT MOST), BUT $10.05 IS INSANE!

I was not aware I work for Sonic ( Dane where is my paycheck ? ) ... Also I believe your Caps Lock might be stuck it's a common error and easily mitigated , Price increase reasoning was explained by Dane many times in this thread just scroll back and you'll see his " no good " reason . Thanks for input next time try less caps ... it hurts my eyes .