AT&T's Shenanigans in Hiding $10 DSL Service Go From Exasperating to Infuriating Posted by Bob at 08/10/07 01:29 PM

Let's not and say we did.

That appears to be AT&T's newest tactic when it comes to letting consumers know about a bargain basement, $10 a month Internet service the company was forced to begin offering to gain government approval of its megamerger with BellSouth last year.

In June we told you how there was not even a mention of the $10 a month service on AT&T's Internet service web page. To find out about it, consumers had to somehow devine they needed to click on a tiny button labeled "Term Contract Plans Available," which was buried in the boilerplate language near the bottom of the page.

Like us, St. Louis Post Dispatch consumer reporter Michael Sorkin has criticized AT&T for its tactics. So Sorkin says he was pleasantly surprised when he got an email recently from AT&T saying it was taking steps to make it easier for consumers to learn about and sign up for the $10 a month service.

As it turns out, not so much.

As Sorkin wrote in his "Saavy Consumer" column this week, AT&T spokesman Kerry Hibbs told him ""We've changed our website to make our $10 DSL offer more prominent and easier to find." There were new buttons and headers on the web page, he was told. The company even sent along instructions to Sorkin on how to do it.

Sorkin tried it. It didn't work.

We tried it too. We looked everywhere we could think of, but we couldn't find the new buttons and headers Sorkin had been told about.

We talked to Sorkin earlier today and he said he had heard from one reader who had been able to successfully sign up for the $10 a month service, but had heard from more than 20 readers who hadn't.

"It's really strange," says Sorkin. "It's like they flipped it on for a minute and then flipped it back off."

Now the clincher.

AT&T told Sorkin it will not provide a phone number or e-mail for people who still need help getting the offer.

We invite you to try it for yourself, and please let us know how it goes. It might not be a bad idea to let the FCC and your local utility regulators how it goes too.

comments (6)

1 Posted by Anne at 08/19/07 10:34 PM

When I tried to sign up for the $10 service I got this error message:
"We're sorry. Due to a system issue, we can't confirm whether or not AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet is available for this phone number..." However, they didn't seem to have that problem when I tried to sign up for their regular plans. They verified immediately high speed service was indeed available for my phone # but, then no mention of the $10 plan in the list of plans. I have yet to call the number given in the error message.

2 Posted by Larry at 09/20/07 01:51 PM

I tried to find the $10 service and could never find it. I was first directed to a bellsouth site. Nothing obvious there. Everything I tried sent me back to AT&T. If it is there it sure is hidden. Makes it look like a scam the fed bought into.

3 Posted by Sarah R. Brown at 12/14/07 12:09 AM

Can anyone help me get DSL through my former BellSouth (now AT&T lines?) I am considering switching telephone carrier just to get DSL, but AT&T (over the phone) vows their lines out here are NOT equipped for DSL. I live one mile from the Mall which was recently doubled in size and renovated completely.

4 Posted by Joe at 01/04/08 04:42 PM

As in past issues re AT&T, nothing negative about the company surprises me. I spent three hours on their "SST (Self Support Tool)" last night. For those who aren't aware of what SST is, it is a way of "chatting" online with a rep to help with problems. My problem was that when I went to log on after being offline for about two hours, all I could get was a Messenger with information I had never before seen. I was passed from one rep to another. The third rep had the patience and took the time and effort to get me back online. But I didn't get their logon page back. I spen 90 minutes this morning with, again, three different reps until the last one said I had to call their toll free number. I responded that I wasn't about to call and have to answer what seems like about 20 questions before getting a live person. It saves them time at the expense of the customer.
So I have to log on a slower way via IE but it sure beats getting on the phone with them!

5 Posted by msorkin@post-dispatch.com at 01/18/08 02:31 PM

'Naked DSL': how to find and get the best price
By Michael Sorkin
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Friday, Jan. 18 2008

Here's something you should know when you order DSL service from AT&T: The
company sells the same speed Internet service at $10, $15 and $20 per month.

— The $14.99 service is called Basic DSL and is the easiest to get. Anyone with
an AT&T landline phone can order it by phone or online.

— The $10 DSL service can be ordered only online, and hundreds of consumers
have had trouble signing up for this, the company's cheapest-ever DSL. AT&T
says it won't sell it to anyone who is already an AT&T Internet customer.

— The newest Internet service is called DSL Direct Basic and costs $19.95. It
can be ordered only through an AT&T call center, but some sales reps say they
have never heard of it.

There are four DSL Direct plans; the $19.95 version is the cheapest and
slowest. The Direct plans are the only ones AT&T will sell consumers without
AT&T landlines.

This type of service is known as "naked DSL."

Each DSL Direct plan costs at least $4 more per month than the same plan for
customers who have AT&T landline phones.

DSL users don't need a phone; Internet service works fine without one.

AT&T is free to charge the higher prices because Internet rates are unregulated.

As for the $10, $15 and $20 Internet plans described above, all are rated at
the same speed: up to 768 Kbps downstream. That's too slow for downloading
movies but may be fine for e-mailing or Internet surfing.

Why charge three prices for the same speed?

AT&T spokesman Andy Shaw says customers have different needs. It's not unusual,
he says, for companies to offer different customers different prices.

AT&T offered $10 DSL reluctantly. The company already was charging higher
prices for Internet service and had no incentive to offer it so cheaply.

As for naked DSL, AT&T wants to sell you as many services as possible:
landline, Internet, cell phone and video. That's called bundling. Naked lets
consumers avoid bundling by choosing only what they want.

But about a year ago, the Federal Communications Commission required AT&T to
offer the lower-cost services in exchange for approving its purchase of
BellSouth.

AT&T began quietly offering $10 DSL about midyear on its website. AT&T said it
would not provide a phone number or e-mail address for anyone needing help.

By the end of the year, the company also began offering naked DSL. It is
quickly gaining popularity with the growing number of computer users who have
traded landlines for cells.

The FCC is requiring AT&T to offer a naked DSL plan for less than $20. An AT&T
spokesman said last month that consumers shouldn't sign up for the $19.95
service online or by calling. He told them to go to company stores.

That advice turned out to be wrong, and Savvy received more than a dozen
complaints.

Mindy Lynn Thomason, a financial analyst from St. Charles, hurried to an AT&T
store, where "they told me I could only sign up by calling."

She called — and reached a sales rep who said he couldn't help her.

This week, AT&T's Shaw offered different advice: He said to sign up for the
$19.95 Direct Basic only through a company call center.

That $19.95 plan is AT&T's cheapest naked DSL service — and the only one for
which the company requires a 12-month contract. The other plans are
month-to-month.

AT&T's site says to call 1-800-288-2020 to sign up for its more expensive DSL
Direct plans ($23.99 to $38.99.) We reached a sales rep who said he knew
nothing about any such plans and transferred us to 1-800-264-0002.

As first reported by hearusnow.org on the Consumers Union website, AT&T is
asking callers seeking naked DSL to provide their AT&T landline phone number.
We were asked three times.

But consumers who want naked DSL won't have a landline — and don't want one.
That's why they want naked.

"They want to sell you a phone line," Thomason said after her experience.

She says after nearly a day, she finally connected with a sales rep who signed
her up for AT&T's $28.99 Direct Pro DSL plan. Service started this week, and
she's delighted.

But she chides the company for making it so hard: "They do a good job of hiding
it."

We called AT&T's Shaw, who responded:

"I apologize. We want everyone who calls in to be a customer. The vast majority
of these orders work. Sometimes we make a mistake, and we try to fix it."

msorkin@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8347
It’s a real chore to find the unbundled DSL price that’s advertised, but here is the direct link.
http://attsignup.com/att_dsl_for_$10.htm

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