dsl

Consumerist Ask Metafilter Round-Up

Consumerist Ask Metafilter Round-Up

• Which pets are more apt to eat their deceased owners? [Link]

Get AT&T DSL Month-to-Month

Get AT&T DSL Month-to-Month

In a move towards empowering consumer choice, AT&T DSL customers no longer have to be locked into 12 month contracts. AT&T now offers DSL on a month-to-month basis.

More Lies Verizon Told Us

More Lies Verizon Told Us

Coming in a year later than the original post, a Gizmodo reader wrote in to supplement their Lies Verizon DSL Support Has Told Me Today post of May 25th, 2005.

Verizon & BellSouth Back Away Nervously From Mystery DSL Fee

Verizon & BellSouth Back Away Nervously From Mystery DSL Fee

Last year, the federal government finally eliminated a charge to DSL consumers that subsidized phone service in underdeveloped rural areas. Good. It was a silly, antiquated fee that has long since been irrelevant.

Verizon Drops Baseless DSL Fee After FCC Pressure

Verizon Drops Baseless DSL Fee After FCC Pressure

Nine days after installing a new “supplier surcharge” fee to essentially replace one government regulators dropped, Verizon DSL decided to stop levying the fee. Verizon came under heat from customers and received a letter from the FCC asking it to explain its actions. BellSouth, which also received a FCC letter, announced it would drop a similar charge.

The Onion Peels Verizon’s Redonkulous Billing ‘System’

The Onion Peels Verizon’s Redonkulous Billing ‘System’

The Onion nails it.

Verizon DSL, A Fee By Any Other Name…

Verizon DSL, A Fee By Any Other Name…

Verizon announced in an email sent to customers that starting August 14th, Verizon Online will stop charging the FUSF (Federal Universal Service Fund) fee. This fee cost customers $1.25 or $2.83 a month, depending on their plan. FUSF was a fee “assessed” by Verizon’s DSL suppliers, but since they’ve stopped “assessing” it, Verizon will stop “recovering” it.

HOWTO: Get Internet On The Cheap

HOWTO: Get Internet On The Cheap

How does $500 extra a year sound? And it doesn’t even require stuffing envelopes.

HOWTO: Fix DSL Fast Like Ninja

HOWTO: Fix DSL Fast Like Ninja

A DSL call center manager emailed in some nifty tricks for getting at the top of the fix list. Many of them are quite sneaky. We like that. Thank you, sneaky Phil.

Be a Customer Service Ninja

Be a Customer Service Ninja

Inspired to by Mike D’s Vonage story, Austin writes in a hot tip for all of looking to pole vault low-level CSR and reach the Valhalla of customer service.

Qwest Modem More Expensive, Less Functional Than Ever Before!

Qwest Modem More Expensive, Less Functional Than Ever Before!

Isn’t the functionality of technology supposed to get cheaper over time? Apparently not — after all, every piece of hardware can be unbundled into component services that companies can charge you for.

DSL Customers Told Shaft Shoved up Their Ass is a Figment of Their Imagination

DSL Customers Told Shaft Shoved up Their Ass is a Figment of Their Imagination

“You must have imagined it.”

Verizon D.S.L. = “Does Suck Loads”

Verizon D.S.L. = “Does Suck Loads”

Eric hates Verizon DSL. All he wanted to do is switch around his contract to save $8.00 a month.

DSL: For a Few Dollars More

DSL: For a Few Dollars More

In some of the more epic consumer complaints we receive, its evident that the customer service gotterdammerung became about more than just the money. The flaw is not with the Indian service rep’s but rather, there is perhaps a greater flaw in the universe, somehow the world is fundamentally askew for these disgruntled people. In setting right these corporate wrongs, we wonder if some consumers are fulfilling a greater quest for justice.

Consumers Need Advice: Verizon Service “Upgrade” Brought Negative Changes

Reader Adam Higley wrote in to ask the throbbing hive-mind of Consumerist readers for their wide-ranging expertise in solving an issue he’s having with his Verizon DSL service, after the local exchange was upgraded from copper to fiber. Ever since that upgrade, he finds he is unable to access certain web sites and forums — specifically, a private forum he set up for friends. The problem appears to be that Verizon has blocked certain ports on their end which they are absolutely unwilling to open, citing their refusal as a security measure. Does anyone have any decent advice for Adam?

Consumers Speak: SBC Yahoo DSL’s Rack Rate

Mike L writes:

Received a letter from SBC regarding my DSL service – informing me that my 1-year contract is about to expire. And, for my convenience, they will automatically renew my service (currently paying ~$26 per mo.) for “just $34.95 per month, with absolutely NO TERM commitment!*” The letter went on to encourage me to take “absolutely NO ACTION” It boasted that this “low monthly rate” is “$5 less than the rack rate for SBC Yahoo! DSL Starter (a service not listed on their website, not that I know what a “rack rate” is…), and $15 less than the rack rate for SBC Yahoo! DSL Express (I was starting to feel the sensation of being “racked”). This lovely letter is signed, sincerely, by one Jason Crawford of the SBC Yahoo! Marketing team.

Consumers Speak: Earthlink Puts the DSL in DSL

This bad experience from “JJ” is eerily similar to an experience we had with Earthlink while in New Orleans. But it’s not us, we swear. In our case, we weren’t supposed to be signed up with Earthlink at all, ever. JJ writes:

Had quite a party with Earthlink last night. The skinny:

Consumers Speak: SBC Global DSL Supports Macs ‘Probably Never’

s kind of sad for a company that should put being technologically current above all else, if you ask me.