AT&T customers reap the benefits of competition!...or not
UCAN News
AT&T wants to ensure its customers reap the full benefits of competition in a deregulated market...by increasing the price of some monthly services up to 55%. Deregulation is the best! UCAN and TURN recently released a joint statement criticizing the PUC's lack of oversight. UCAN believes the rate hikes disproportionately affect low-income and senior customers, and we urge people to drop their AT&T landline service. If you can't switch your local/long-distance provider, consider a VoIP or digital phone service (possibly through your cable company), or even using your wireless as your primary phone.
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AT&T stands to gain customers from the carriers, but not all at once. They stand to gain two or three million subscriptions, as subscriptions come up for renewal.
AT&T dropped; Cox better but...
I finally had it with AT&T when they jacked up their Caller ID rate twice in one year. I told the AT&T rep that they would be losing me as a customer, meaning a Caller ID customer. However, I dropped AT&T altogether and went with Cox telephone service. So far the service, after several months, has been fine and I have no intention of switching back. However, none of these services is great. For example, I thought I might get a Cox bundle which would have saved me quite a bit of money. I was told the only way I could get a phone/cable/internet deal is if I took their long distance service. Their cheapest bundle, which is what I wanted, does not state that on their web site; I was told the web site was incorrect. I call the U.K. often and my current long distance company is very reasonable and I did not want to drop them. I finally decided to go with Cox, not take a bundle offer, and keep the long distance carrier I was happy with. Quite simply, there are no fair or perfect solutions. One can only stay vigilant and make changes as needed even though that can be inconvenient. I now understand why UCAN no longer suggests long distance service providers, for example. What may have been excellent service yesterday is awful today. By the way, within one or two weeks of dropping my AT&T service I started receiving letters asking me to come back. I find it amusing that the company didn't want me when they had me and now that I'm gone they are trying to get me back.
Cox better but - SAVE with prepaid card
Take the bundled plan with Cox Standard Long Distance which has no monthly service charge and use a prepaid calling card for the U.K. calls.
Cox bundle/Calling card
Vince,
Thanks for the tip but I did not want to go the calling card route. As I stated in my original post, I am happy with my current long distance provider. What annoys me is Cox's bait and switch tactic. The bundles I did not want clearly stated that they included long distance. The one I did want made no mention of long distance. However Cox would not sell me a bundle without long distance. My current long distance service, without being a calling card, is so reasonable that I'm still better off with it than I would be with any Cox bundle. Frankly, I take with a grain of salt any promise/promotion that a large communications company offers.
AT&T American Thieves & Thugs
I hate ATT. A legal monopoly created by our government. Whats next? A soup line and one pair of shoes per year? I wish I could cancel my land line, I just use it for the security system and I get charged a bundle for nothing. All those little charges add up. I get those charges for landlines, cell phones etc.....I'm paying phone lines for communities that cant afford it. Aint I generous, I should write all those assholes off if they'd only send me their SS numbers. Thieving America!!!
AMERICAN THUGS & THIEVES (AT&T)
It looks like more of the same from American Thugs & Thieves (AT&T), they just jacked up the rates in January 2007! Now they are doing it again for more greed and corruption!
The thing is, this time most of the rates they are raising are all residential related! And that damn CPUC does nothing but give them the green lite!!
They are trying to return to the old "Ma Bell". After the ILECs succeeded in killing the "Unbundled Network Elements" for the CLECs, that was kind of the nail in the coffin for "competition". But we never really had any, did we?? The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was written by the industry! The old saying "be careful what you wish for" was certainly true for the ILECs...
AT&T is getting more like the cable companies, one of the lastest ripoffs is this "Cost Recovery Fee .99 + tax & license" they tacked on to their PIC, even if there are no calls!!!
So guess what, I get to do battle again over PICs. Those 99 Minutes for 99 Cents phone cards are looking very attractive...
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