Fusion price increase and fiber expansion

[pockyken007]

Yeah, two middle fingers up for how Sonic has handled the price increase nonsense.

I just called to return the (defective) modem rather than pay $10/mo to debug Sonic's hardware. The rep:

- indicated my account was past due (it's not) and that I had a long expired card on file (I don't)
- indicated he couldn't find invoices newer than two years
- indicated the account didn't appear to show anything regarding FTTH on it
- indicated he didn't realize there were two lines of service (despite me mentioning this a few times)
- indicated that I'd lose the $10/mo discount (BTW your trucks and website still say $40/mo) if I returned the modem
- indicated that I wouldn't qualify for the $40/mo anyhow because I was an existing customer

That's almost worth eating the $120 ETF (hey that's what this useless modem would cost!) and switching to Comcast. It's not like I'm getting anything unique with Sonic at this point (no static IP, no IPv6). Quite a change from ten years ago when I had to do Sonic's work for them and hassle AT&T endlessly so I could get what's now called legacy DSL from Sonic at this address.

Loyalty is a two way street, guys.

Actually their websites clearly indicates the 10$ as a promo discount ....

In both pictures you can clearly see the 10$ as a discount / promo .

[alexz]

Actually their websites clearly indicates the 10$ as a promo discount ....

Where?

http://imgur.com/a/m71CB

I see $40, no mention of promotions or discounts. Same with the trucks.

[pockyken007]

Let me guide you through it ...

Step 1) go to http://www.sonic.net
Step 2) click on check availability
Step 3) input your address
Step 4) Look at the screen where it says the price ( for me it looked like this - see Sonic5.png attached )
Step 5) if you want to proceed click on ADD TO CART
Step 6) you will see a screenshot like this ( see Sonic6.png attached ) where it clearly says " Monthly price adjustment "


I hope this explained to you that Sonic indeed does notify people about the 10$ promo .

[Going Going Gone]

I have been with Sonic for 4 years now. I never felt the price was a spectacular deal, but Sonic was local and I would rather support them than a BIG conglomerate. I have heard horror stories about Comcast and AT&T and have stayed with Sonic.

This last Christmas in very early morning, Sonic cut my Internet connection off. My credit card had expired, and I really didn't think about Sonic automatically sucking money off of every month. Regardless of the reason, my fault / their fault, whatever, they cut me off on Christmas, not the day before, or the day after, but on Christmas. You know, there's not that much to do on Christmas as most establishments are closed. I might mention that Sonic was closed as well. That means that I had no way of getting my service turned back on until the next day at best. I really would have liked to have had my Internet connection available on such a day to be able to utilize. To say the least, that truly irritated me.

When I called support the next day to get my service turned back on, I expressed my disenchantment. The support person, had a pretty blase attitude about the situation. Since he seemed to care less, I simply asked for a credit for one day as I did NOT receive service for that day. He told he would check with his supervisor. After several minutes on hold, he came back and started explaining how it was my fault and that they would not credit me the day, even though I did not receive service for the day. The call ended. As I though about it, I don't owe for service I didn't receive. I called back, keep in mind both times I called I was on hold for 30 minutes. Another guy answers, I asked to speak to a supervisor, He's says "today is an observed holiday, there are no supervisors." I explained - the guy I just talked to said he talked to his supervisor and that supervisor denied my request for a single days credit for no service. This guys says he's sorry but that he'll document what I have said and a supervisor WILL call. I explained that it seems that supervisors have already be circumvented. He reiterates that the management is really good and they will call without a doubt. To this day, NO ONE has taken the time or trouble to call.

That really started me thinking. If Sonic's customer service is that bad, I can't do any worse, they ARE just like everyone one else. I can get bad customer service from anyone! I started looking, but more just "kicking the tires" until I get my latest bill with a 25% increase. That made it a no-brainer. I can dump DISH which I have had for 20 years plus (they have screwed me many many times) along with Sonic with their crappy phone line and 3 Mbps service. I can get 100 Mbps / TV / and phone for $30 less a month...

So Sonic, You gained a days worth service fees for which you did not earn, and lost a customer. I'm sure it's worth it to you...

[J.Hirshen]

As a customer who has generally been very happy with Sonic's customer service, I too was pretty surprised by the price increase. I called the customer service folks to express my surprise about the increase and they pointed out that notice of the increase was posted in the previous two months billing, I think it Sonic could have done a much better job highlighting this such as doing a specific mailer/e-mail indicating this was coming. Price hikes are always hard to adjust to and when they information is buried in a bill well...it makes it tougher to swallow.

Also, per others in the forum, I have no idea if I will benefit from the fiber upgrade that is discussed. It would be helpful again if there was more communication of the upgrade process and where it's happening and when, so we know that this increase will benefit us and when. It's always about communication and this could have been handled better.

It's always quite annoying to see Sonic trucks with the $40 price and the website still touting the $40 price of the service and knowing I'm now being charged more than that. I was told this is just an intraodcutory offer. So, again, it would be helpful if this was explained.

So, overall the roll out of the price increase was not handled well and left me feeling pretty disappointed. Julie

[spbriggs]

Dane -

I'm joining the VERY long list/line of upset customers.

Because I'm on an "automatic" credit card payment scheme, I may never have noticed the price increase if I hadn't been surfing the forums yesterday (!) looking for info about whether your fiber would ever reach my part of SF (Pacific Hts.).

1) It looks to me like the date is pretty much never.

2) You handled the price increase in just about the worst possible set of ways. How hard would it have been to send us all a simple email prior to the increase. Further, to justify the increase as a way to finance fiber installation - you must be kidding! I'm with all those who wonder why we should be taxed to pay for installing fiber somewhere else.

3) I have no complaints at all with Sonic's service. By that I mean that you're transparent to me - and that's just about the best possible situation. No hiccups, no outages; I guess adequate bandwidth for my purposes (abt 6mb) as I'm not a gamer nor, yet, a streamer of content over Sonic.

4) You're overlapping with Comcast in my house. You're the phone/internet provider, they're the TV pipe (thru a Tivo box). As such, you're getting a bit redundant as your price increases but your service offerings don't (at least in my 'hood).

5) Frankly, the clock is ticking for Sonic. I appreciate your challenge as a small independent access provider and, as I said, have no issues to date with your quality. But I think you're getting left behind.

Hope you find ways to do better.

[pockyken007]

Dane -

I'm joining the VERY long list/line of upset customers.

Because I'm on an "automatic" credit card payment scheme, I may never have noticed the price increase if I hadn't been surfing the forums yesterday (!) looking for info about whether your fiber would ever reach my part of SF (Pacific Hts.).

1) It looks to me like the date is pretty much never.

2) You handled the price increase in just about the worst possible set of ways. How hard would it have been to send us all a simple email prior to the increase. Further, to justify the increase as a way to finance fiber installation - you must be kidding! I'm with all those who wonder why we should be taxed to pay for installing fiber somewhere else.

3) I have no complaints at all with Sonic's service. By that I mean that you're transparent to me - and that's just about the best possible situation. No hiccups, no outages; I guess adequate bandwidth for my purposes (abt 6mb) as I'm not a gamer nor, yet, a streamer of content over Sonic.

4) You're overlapping with Comcast in my house. You're the phone/internet provider, they're the TV pipe (thru a Tivo box). As such, you're getting a bit redundant as your price increases but your service offerings don't (at least in my 'hood).

5) Frankly, the clock is ticking for Sonic. I appreciate your challenge as a small independent access provider and, as I said, have no issues to date with your quality. But I think you're getting left behind.

Hope you find ways to do better.

I would love to hear your answer on this then mr. Spbriggs ....

regarding your #2 . I already have my fiber as I was lucky enough to live int he part of the city included in the build out said that I could be in the same boat as you and say " Well since I already have my fiber why should I finance some schmuck who doesn't have it " and protest the price increase ... ( now if your argument that speed VS cost is not worth it I agree with you on that and you can see that in few posts above where I actually suggested a very simple solution )

[FTTN_user]

Well since I already have my fiber why should I finance some schmuck who doesn't have it " and protest the price increase ...

If I'm having a seven-course feast for the price of an egg sandwich, I wouldn't complain either.

Perspectives can change quickly if rates are commensurate with speeds.

[Sonic user]

Ken, I have a couple questions for you.

1. If the shoe was on the other foot, and your place has <10Mbps with no speed increases in the foreseeable future,what would you do? Vent/complain/switch to another ISP?

2. Why do you feel the need to defend Sonic at every turn?

[customerInExcelsior]

Ken, I have a couple questions for you.

1. If the shoe was on the other foot, and your place has <10Mbps with no speed increases in the foreseeable future,what would you do? Vent/complain/switch to another ISP?

2. Why do you feel the need to defend Sonic at every turn?

It would be hard to get an honest response for #1, but I would hazard a guess that pockyken007 would be singing a different tune, especially after all of his efforts to support Sonic. If he weren't so lucky to live in an area where Sonic Fiber was available - now or ever - would his "altruism" survive what many see as a betrayal on the part of Sonic? I doubt it, but I'm sure he'll address this in a subsequent response.

As for #2, I can find a very simple and self-serving reason - he's trying to ensure that Sonic Fiber stays viable so that he can continue using it. I call BS on all of his talk of altruism because of his combative words. I would say that he's doing a poor job of arguing his case however, as he feigns empathy for his fellow man while putting him down left and right, just like so many liberals I know who speak past Trump supporters instead of trying to find some common ground with them. (For the record, I do not support Trump, nor am I conservative-leaning, but I will not treat the vast majority of his supporters as un-American or less than human!)

I've given up trying to counter his arguments because he continues to repeat himself (as is his right) to others who are well within their right to express their disdain, and quite frankly it benefits me in no way to waste my time doing so. Honestly, I very much doubt that pockyken007 cares about you, so why continue to engage him and feed the troll? In any case, I've finally left Sonic, so I won't continue to read these forums (or his juvenile messages) any longer. pockyken007, feel free to wish me good riddance! I wish upon you many more years of reliable service - and for others, many more options for better Internet connectivity in the future!