Junk mail and the fine print

I keep hoping that some internet provider will offer 30Mbps service at $30/month with no other conditions, like phone or TV.  So I keep opening the envelopes and it is always the same old offer.  For example Charter Spectrum offers up to 30Mbps internet at $29.99 per month when bundled with TV at $29.99 and phone at $29.99.  The fine print also reads “for 12 mos”.  The print is so fine that I can’t even determine if there is an abbreviation period after “mos”.

Well, the really fine print with all the conditions includes: “To reduce Charter direct mail, visit charter.com/dmoptout.”

I filled out the form without concern because it did not ask for any information that Charter didn’t already have, that is my name and address.  It didn’t even ask why I wanted to drop out.  Charter probably doesn’t want to read what I wrote above.

But maybe thousands of us could make a difference.  If you think so, please pass on the link to this blog entry.  If you pass the link to this entry, I'll see how well the campaign worked. Thanks!

Internet service – What free market?

One of the tenets of a free market is all necessary information for buyers. Try getting full information about internet service! The ads in the newspapers show these "fantastic" prices, but the fine print is almost impossible to read without a strong magnifying glass. Even if you manage to wade through it, you probably still have lots of questions.

Once upon a time Qwest's website had the available choices with speeds and prices. Long before they were bought out by Century Tel, now called CenturyLink, they stopped providing such easily accessible information. Even our phone bill didn't give our nominal rate. I thought we had bought 7mbps, but I can't remember a measured speed much over 4mbps, and often less.

CenturyLink just mailed us a flyer "Speeds up to 40 Mbps (where available)". No price list.

I went to http://www.centurylink.com to see what I could see. I had to enter my telephone number to do so. That's OK, but then I get a window from Lisa that I can chat online with her for more details. In other words, CenturyLink, like so many other vendors doesn't want to give you full written information, but wants you to chat by phone or online with someone who will his or her best to sell the companies service.

I also tried signing in with my Qwest ID and password as I remembered it. Instead of accepting or rejecting the signing, CenturyLink's website gave me some gobbledegook - "Infinite recursion detected: [/freeRange/shop/ecbundle!execute, /freeRange/shop/handleGenericException, /freeRange/shop/handleGenericException, /freeRange/shop/handleGenericException, /freeRange/shop/handleGenericException]". I kid you not!

I wrote this message so that I had a link to include in my response to "How are we doing?" I did give a "Highly unlikely" rating of recommending CenturyLink.

Oh, well! I think we're already spending too much on telecommunications with a home phone with DSL, ISP provider, one cell phone, and a cabin phone.

P.S. See also "Internet service but not customer service".