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Does anyone in the United States actually like their internet service provider (ISP)? If new research is anything to go off of, the answer is probably no. The results from a first-of-its-kind nationwide ISP study were published Thursday, and in what will come as a surprise to absolutely no one reading this site, consumers' reliance on this modern necessity is being widely exploited.
Consumer Reports, an independent nonprofit research organization best known for its product reviews, launched its Fight for Fair Internet study in July 2021. At its core, the study sought to publicize what Americans pay for internet service and (more importantly) what their money actually gets them. We'll avoid any fanfare here: Things aren't great. After analyzing more than 22,000 internet bills from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, Consumer Reports found that arbitrary pricing and other disturbing practices are commonplace. Worse, the magazine found this to be true across many of the 526 domestic ISPs examined during the study—including all 26 of the largest providers, which cover more than 90 percent of the country's services.
One anonymized AT&T bill from the published study illustrates how consumers are issued discounts seemingly at random and without information on how to keep the discount. The bill shows that the customer was given two $10 discounts on their original bill of $80: One for bundling and another for "loyalty." Most of us appreciate a good discount, but without any explanation as to what "loyalty" involves—was the customer made aware of the discount? Is the discount permanent?—it's difficult to compare pricing with other ISPs, which stymies competition.
Some ISPs even use these arbitrary discounts to make it appear as though their customers are getting a better deal when they actually aren't. More than half of the AT&T and Verizon bills Consumer Reports analyzed included some sort of discount, while Google Fiber bills never did...even though some Google Fiber customers paid lower prices for the same level of service.
[...] "The unavoidable fees are especially problematic because consumers may believe they are government-imposed when, in fact, many are company-imposed and distinguished from the core service price at the provider's discretion," Consumer Reports said. "They can surprise consumers when they appear on monthly bills, and can enable providers to raise prices without seeming to violate marketing or contractual price commitments."
ISPs often boast higher speeds than their competitors'—a factor that increasingly weighs on consumers' minds as more people work and attend school online. But many of these companies regularly fail to provide the megabits per second (Mbps) promised in ads and service agreements. This is particularly the case for consumers who pay extra for "premium" plans, who reportedly receive less than half the download speed they're paying for. Consumers who subscribed to plans promising 940 to 1,200Mbps often end up receiving median speeds of between 360 and 373Mbps.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Monday November 21 2022, @01:53AM (3 children)
> Is the discount permanent?
Xfinity/Comcast customer here, I can tell you with certainty: no.
They'll offer bundles with cable TV that are cheaper than internet alone, for a period of 6-12 months.
They'll sign you up at 50% off, then 6-12 months later you're jacked up 2x, then every 6-12 months after that you're jacked up again whenever they feel like.
As the article says: arbitrary prices, poor customer service: oh, your internet is out for the 12th time this week? Well, sir, I'm checking it now and it seems fine, there's nothing we can do. On the 4th service call to the house, which took over a year to get to, as the service tech was driving away it thankfully flaked out and I ran down the driveway to drag him back... Oh, well, yes, that is bad, I'll run a temporary line from the pole and we'll see if that fixes it. Somebody will be along to bury it in the next 7-10 days. 10 MONTHS later I plant myself at the manager's desk in the local service center and start explaining in a way that everybody on our half of the room can hear that an orange cable has been lying on top of our grass for TEN MONTHS with periodic promises of somebody coming to bury it, someday. Miraculously, buried within 4 hours of that event. Last week, Monday Tuesday and Wednesday, 45-ish minute service outages starting around 10:30am. No warning, no explanation. I would understand if you need to do something to service the lines, but considering what all those lines are used for anymore it would seem the least you could do is somehow notify your customers of a planned outage and the expected duration.
I was considering getting a $50/month 5G service as a backup, I mean, we already have our cellphones and can hotspot off of them for $0.01/MB, but the outages were getting to me. But, it seems that it was getting to everyone else in our neighborhood too because the 5G service that was available a few months ago isn't anymore - too many customers already signed up in our neighborhood, I wonder what their service is like during peak hours now?
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2022, @10:46AM (2 children)
Why are you bitching about an internet cable above ground on your property? Jesus dude.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday November 21 2022, @11:56AM (1 child)
Unburied cable is more vulnerable to being cut by lawn mowers, damaged when driven over by cars and trucks, chewed by squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, etc.
Next time your buried cable gets replaced just tell the tech you don't care if they bury it or not and enjoy tripping over it yourself for a couple of years. Call me when UPS or FedEx wins that injury lawsuit against your homeowners insurance.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by gznork26 on Monday November 21 2022, @01:54PM
After an unburied wire was set up to get us service, the city's mower truck came by and I watched it destroy that wire. On the phone with customer service, they insisted on going through a series of diagnostics to prove to them that the was no longer a connection. Anything to find a way to convince the customer that what they observed never happened.
Khipu were Turing complete.