Fusion price increase and fiber expansion

[dwanjackson]

I've been with Sonic 10 months and I've really enjoyed the service. It blows AT&T Uverse out of the water. I'm fine with the ten dollar increase I just wish I was notified of the price increase through email or something. I don't think that's asking for much.

[alexandertudor]

It is worth noting that the $40 rate is still being advertised on sonic.net.
Conspicuously absent is the fine print with which I was provided by billing customer support:

"Currently the advertised price of $40 a month is for our brand new customers. They are having the $50 price as well, but then they are receiving a one year $10 discount to bring it down to $40. This is to allow them to try out the service and be sure that this works for them."

I thought this was Sonic, not ATT. Particularly when Mr. Jasper writes:

"It has become commonplace in our industry to offer lower pricing to
customers who call to complain about price, particularly if they
threaten to cancel service. This is an unpleasant process for both
customers and staff of the competitors, but more importantly, it is not
fair to those who do not call, who are not aware a lower price is
available if only they had called and spent significant time and effort
threatening cancellation."

It is just as unpleasant to: a) increase the customer base at the expense of loyal customers who subsidize the $10 discount and b) force all customers to pay for fiber expansion, many of whom will never see the benefit.

[pockyken007]

it actually does say on their website I put in my address to do a search and came up with this ...

[Hellaluyah]

I have to say that I think it's pretty obnoxious to just raise the price by $10 all of a sudden. I mean, if it were $5 to start I would be much more inclined to agree with it, you know- ease people into a whole 10$ increase. Now I feel like I'm going to have to start looking for alternative ways to get internet at my house, since I don't need, or want tv or phone service. This is a bummer.

[oaklandcustomer]

I live in a large apartment building near Lake Merritt and have been a Sonic customer for 3 years. I did not see a note in my bill in December or January. All these notices tell of people very unhappy with a) unprofessionalism; b) a high % rate hike; and c) unfairly increasing across the board. Sonic's reputation (and word of mouth) is not good right now. ...

Currently, I'm paying $67 total ($40 data + $10 phone + fees + rental) and I'm getting a download speed of 1.08 MBPS and upload speed of .79MBPS.

That's great that San Francisco and Brentwood are getting high-speed fiber net - but Oakland would really like it, too -- AND I'M PAYING FOR IT, my bill just increased, and I'll be paying $120 a year. I'd like to know when I'll be getting faster Internet, WHY I'M PAYING MORE MONEY NOW than 3 years ago for slow Internet that isn't getting better.

Everyone in the East Bay (minus Brentwood) wants to know the same. ....

$120 a year might not seem like a lot to some people, but to others that adds up. And, no, I have no interest in "bundling" or getting more service. I have Fusion X1 for $67/month.

I came to Sonic because I liked that you are local, "affordable", and offered good customer service. Right now -- you seem to be only local -- and even then, you're not taking the interest of the entire city of OAKLAND into consideration from customer service, respect, and perhaps business strategy.
I'm going to Yelp next ... And word-of-mouth, yes, I'll tell a friend, or two, or three.

[Bob W.]

I live in a large apartment building near Lake Merritt and have been a Sonic customer for 3 years. I did not see a note in my bill in December or January. All these notices tell of people very unhappy with a) unprofessionalism; b) a high % rate hike; and c) unfairly increasing across the board. Sonic's reputation (and word of mouth) is not good right now. ...

Currently, I'm paying $67 total ($40 data + $10 phone + fees + rental) and I'm getting a download speed of 1.08 MBPS and upload speed of .79MBPS.

That's great that San Francisco and Brentwood are getting high-speed fiber net - but Oakland would really like it, too -- AND I'M PAYING FOR IT, my bill just increased, and I'll be paying $120 a year. I'd like to know when I'll be getting faster Internet, WHY I'M PAYING MORE MONEY NOW than 3 years ago for slow Internet that isn't getting better.

Everyone in the East Bay (minus Brentwood) wants to know the same. ....

$120 a year might not seem like a lot to some people, but to others that adds up. And, no, I have no interest in "bundling" or getting more service. I have Fusion X1 for $67/month.

I came to Sonic because I liked that you are local, "affordable", and offered good customer service. Right now -- you seem to be only local -- and even then, you're not taking the interest of the entire city of OAKLAND into consideration from customer service, respect, and perhaps business strategy.
I'm going to Yelp next ... And word-of-mouth, yes, I'll tell a friend, or two, or three.

I don't think this discussion is being addressed. To escalate it, post the poor ratings at yelp guys!

[pockyken007]

I live in a large apartment building near Lake Merritt and have been a Sonic customer for 3 years. I did not see a note in my bill in December or January. All these notices tell of people very unhappy with a) unprofessionalism; b) a high % rate hike; and c) unfairly increasing across the board. Sonic's reputation (and word of mouth) is not good right now. ...

Currently, I'm paying $67 total ($40 data + $10 phone + fees + rental) and I'm getting a download speed of 1.08 MBPS and upload speed of .79MBPS.

That's great that San Francisco and Brentwood are getting high-speed fiber net - but Oakland would really like it, too -- AND I'M PAYING FOR IT, my bill just increased, and I'll be paying $120 a year. I'd like to know when I'll be getting faster Internet, WHY I'M PAYING MORE MONEY NOW than 3 years ago for slow Internet that isn't getting better.

Everyone in the East Bay (minus Brentwood) wants to know the same. ....

$120 a year might not seem like a lot to some people, but to others that adds up. And, no, I have no interest in "bundling" or getting more service. I have Fusion X1 for $67/month.

I came to Sonic because I liked that you are local, "affordable", and offered good customer service. Right now -- you seem to be only local -- and even then, you're not taking the interest of the entire city of OAKLAND into consideration from customer service, respect, and perhaps business strategy.
I'm going to Yelp next ... And word-of-mouth, yes, I'll tell a friend, or two, or three.

I don't think this discussion is being addressed. To escalate it, post the poor ratings at yelp guys!

LOL we don't get our way so instead of taking your money away ( moving to whatever other ISP ) I will bad mouth the company ... sigh idiocy of some people is astounding .

[Bob W]

I live in a large apartment building near Lake Merritt and have been a Sonic customer for 3 years. I did not see a note in my bill in December or January. All these notices tell of people very unhappy with a) unprofessionalism; b) a high % rate hike; and c) unfairly increasing across the board. Sonic's reputation (and word of mouth) is not good right now. ...

Currently, I'm paying $67 total ($40 data + $10 phone + fees + rental) and I'm getting a download speed of 1.08 MBPS and upload speed of .79MBPS.

That's great that San Francisco and Brentwood are getting high-speed fiber net - but Oakland would really like it, too -- AND I'M PAYING FOR IT, my bill just increased, and I'll be paying $120 a year. I'd like to know when I'll be getting faster Internet, WHY I'M PAYING MORE MONEY NOW than 3 years ago for slow Internet that isn't getting better.

Everyone in the East Bay (minus Brentwood) wants to know the same. ....

$120 a year might not seem like a lot to some people, but to others that adds up. And, no, I have no interest in "bundling" or getting more service. I have Fusion X1 for $67/month.

I came to Sonic because I liked that you are local, "affordable", and offered good customer service. Right now -- you seem to be only local -- and even then, you're not taking the interest of the entire city of OAKLAND into consideration from customer service, respect, and perhaps business strategy.
I'm going to Yelp next ... And word-of-mouth, yes, I'll tell a friend, or two, or three.

I don't think this discussion is being addressed. To escalate it, post the poor ratings at yelp guys!

LOL we don't get our way so instead of taking your money away ( moving to whatever other ISP ) I will bad mouth the company ... sigh idiocy of some people is astounding . :roll: :roll: :roll:

Yup, Oakland customer reminded me to post a yelp review, which it makes sense. I am just expressing my opinions.

[oddhack]

That's great that San Francisco and Brentwood are getting high-speed fiber net - but Oakland would really like it, too

Both LMI and AT&T are, as best I can tell, deploying fiber in significant parts of Oakland. Therefore the likelihood of ever getting it from Sonic seems exceedingly low, since they have previously stated (AFAIK) that they won't go into areas that are served by other providers. The reality for many, many customers who aren't in the few underserved, high-uptake, high-Sonic-customer density areas is:

- Sonic prices have gone up quite a lot.
- Sonic service isn't going to get any faster, ever.
- Sonic will not stop charging people for a heavily taxed phone service many of us have no need for.

I'll probably be moving on within a few months, once I've explored VPN options sufficiently. Too bad.

[aznalan15]

That's great that San Francisco and Brentwood are getting high-speed fiber net - but Oakland would really like it, too

Both LMI and AT&T are, as best I can tell, deploying fiber in significant parts of Oakland. Therefore the likelihood of ever getting it from Sonic seems exceedingly low, since they have previously stated (AFAIK) that they won't go into areas that are served by other providers. The reality for many, many customers who aren't in the few underserved, high-uptake, high-Sonic-customer density areas is:

- Sonic prices have gone up quite a lot.
- Sonic service isn't going to get any faster, ever.
- Sonic will not stop charging people for a heavily taxed phone service many of us have no need for.

I'll probably be moving on within a few months, once I've explored VPN options sufficiently. Too bad.

I went Comcast for $50 a month for 200down/10up.

Bought my own SB 6141 modem for $50 and will be paying comcast $90 for installation (I have Directv for tv which I am happy with so I need to drop a new line down to the box).

PIA VPN will cost $4 a month.

I've always considered this but since Sonic was "decent" I never pulled the trigger on this plan. Looks like I am getting upgraded into the future this Saturday though. Good luck all.