AT&T Makes $10 DSL Marginally Easier To Find Following Complaints

from the it's-in-there-somewhere,-we-swear dept

Mon, Aug 20th 2007 7:41pm — Mike Masnick

Remember the $10 DSL from AT&T? The same one that the company had to offer as part of its deal to buy BellSouth? Yes, the same one that it had to offer, but never had to promote to anyone. Well, after numerous complaints, AT&T finally recognized that maybe people do want it (even as its CEO denies that people want cheap DSL) and has made it just slightly more findable. Consumerist points us to a column at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where the columnist tried and failed to find the $10 DSL offer -- until someone from AT&T walked him through the process (while noting they had just made it easier to find). It's still not easy, though. Even though it's the same DSL the company is promoting in big type for $14.95, down in the righthand corner there's a link (in smaller type) saying you may be able to "get DSL at a lower price!" Then, you have to click through to see if you qualify. It's a slight improvement, but unless people know to look for it, many people who likely qualify will simply miss it and end up paying $5/month extra.

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Filed Under: dsl
Companies: at&t

26 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 20 Aug 2007 @ 7:51pm

Obviously a case of too much government regulation.
(/sarcasm)
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john, 20 Aug 2007 @ 8:08pm

i recently decided to order this service because i found the $10 offer...a couple days later when i actually tried to place the order online (since it was an online only special), the $10 deal was nowhere to be found...
furthermore, i got a page stating "we're sorry, but we can't process your order at this time", please call the 800 number...
the 'very polite' phone rep. said they couldn't offer me what i wanted...after the supervisor got involved because i was being pushy they agreed to a $5/month credit...
hmmpphhh!...sorry @55 bait-and-switching B@5T@RD5 !!!!!!!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Aug 2007 @ 8:23pm

Fact: ATT hates it's customers
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Morgan, 20 Aug 2007 @ 8:39pm

It's EXACTLY a case of too much regulation-- regulation is so ham-fisted, so inept, and so useless, that they can demand they offer a service, but can't very well demand they spend money promoting it. Any reason AT&T should work to promote a service they are forced to provide? The whole thing's stupid.
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- john, 20 Aug 2007 @ 8:55pm
  
  Re: Morgan
  check your facts morgan...ATT agreed to the $10 offer to curry favor with the FTC so they could buy BS...
  
  now they're trying to squirm out of their agreement AGAIN...like when they announced their "everybody gets fiber" deployment plans to curry favor with the FTC for other acquisitions, only to kill off those plans when the deal went through...
  
  too much regulation?...NO...a bunch of snakes?...YES
  
  P.S. sorry if i offended any Herpetologists...
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anonymouse, 20 Aug 2007 @ 8:58pm

Morgan
yeeehaaww! i love it: ham-fisted, inept, AND useless!!

now that's a good comment, that you can sink your teeth into.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Aug 2007 @ 9:17pm

Government Regulation needs to take off the sandals and put on some effin steel-toed boots. Nuff Said.
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niftyswell, 20 Aug 2007 @ 10:03pm

ATT never going back
Had ATT/Suncom cell phone service and the bastards required me to give them advanced notice prior to cancelling my contract or they would auto - renew it. They would not build up the infrastructure and I had issues with dropped calls and no signal after I signed up. Problem was they would not agree what constituted prior notice. Couldnt do it over the phone, couldnt write them, do it on the internet, or go to the local cell store and do it either. You also could not do it more than a month in advance so the clock was ticking every day you could not get the service canceled. The state attorney general stepped in later and called bullshit on them and they had to start letting people out of their contracts. I had already signed up with Verizon a month early and when I could not get out of my ATT contract VZW gladly allowed me to return my phone, cancel my contract, and did not charge me a dime- 45 days after I signed my contract with them. When I finally managed to shake the ATT monkey off my back I decided VZW had my loyalty. I went on a trip to Florida and constantly called Washington, Colorado, and New York whenever I saw I was off their network for 3 weeks- when I got back they canceled me for excessive roaming. I heard about doing that on a site similar to this at the time. They had special managers the operator would transfer you to available to argue with customers on the phone that would hang up on you if you were trying to cancel your contract. This was about 4 years ago. I dont care if ATT gives away internet- I am never going to use their service again and will tell everyone I know (even 4 years later) what assholes they were. I will walk 60 miles in death valley if my car breaks down to another town and possibly die before putting a quarter in their phone booth. I have had minor issues with billing that I was always able to resolve quickly with my other provider, but nothing compares to the hell ATT puts you through. IPHONE users are in for some fun that they had no idea about.
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Sam, 20 Aug 2007 @ 10:09pm

I cannot find this deal on their website.
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- Dennis, 21 Aug 2007 @ 3:25am
  
  Re: The offer is there on their web site
  I found the offer. It was easy to find. Just go to www.att.com, click on internet and look to your left about halfway down the page. It says "DSL at even a Lower Price!
  Get high-speed Internet for less, for qualifying customers". Happy Hunting!
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- mkam, 21 Aug 2007 @ 3:41am
  
  Re:
  I just tried to find the offer too, and I couldn't figure it out. I followed the directions on the linked site too. I thing MaBell took out the link when it got publicized.
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DaveNWB, 21 Aug 2007 @ 5:28am

Link to $10 deal
Here's the link to page for $10 dsl signup. http://attsignup.net/att_dsl_for_$10.htm?gclid=CImvtorMho4CFSUMIgodbDcoSA
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Ray Waldo, 21 Aug 2007 @ 5:33am

$10: Must NOT have ATT High Speed Internet
The reason that the offer is so difficult to find is that their system checks whether you are a current (or past) ATT High Speed Internet customer. If you are NOT, then the offer will be presented. Here is the window that pops up when you finally get there:

FastAccess DSL Lite with term agreement
With FastAccess DSL Lite with term agreement, you can talk and surf at the same time, send and receive e-mail, and cruise the Internet without the delays and hassles of dial-up. It includes connection speeds up to 768k per second downstream and up to 128k upstream.
FastAccess DSL Lite with term agreement is $10 per month and requires a 12-month commitment. Plan is available to new FastAccess DSL customers who have not previously subscribed to AT&T or BellSouth high-speed Internet.
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Fred, 21 Aug 2007 @ 6:11am

ATT $10
I called and they explained exactly how to get it on the internet. You subscribe to the 19.95 offer but at the end it charges you $10 per month for the first year then goes to the higher rate. I got the modem in two days, it worked to a computer out of the box, I had a problem with the router. I called and the tech support was great had it up in minutes and best of all it is fast, almost four times faster downloading than SpeedFactory.
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- DJ, 21 Aug 2007 @ 7:17am
  
  Re: ATT $10
  I signed up for the $10 deal. Love the deal. Despise the arrier. Really decent speed. Surfing seems as fast as the cable we have at work. You have to look for the link saying "other term contratcs". Click it. Enter your phone number. Go back to the same page and click again.
  
  DO NOT sign up for the $19.95 expecting a reduction later. That won't happen. I got a pop up chat with At&T while I signed up. The "operator" tried to talk me into paying more ($20+) for the exact same service. She tried to mislead me by omitting information and by flat out lying to me. Luckily, I'd done my homework (Thanks Clark Howard dot com!) and knew not to bite. I signed up for a deal that was listed as $10 term contract. Be VERY careful dealing with AT&T.
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Darren, 21 Aug 2007 @ 6:19am

I guess I was lucky..
I helped a friend purchase the $10 DSL via BellSouth's website. After typing in their phone number the website gave us 4 choices, the first one being the $10 DSL offer. They were already BellSouth phone customers. They got an email confirmation the next day and then the self-install package 2 business days later. They plugged it in and they were off! They hooked it all to the $100 desktop I found them on eBay. They could not be happier!
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Brian, 21 Aug 2007 @ 8:47am

What?!?
$200 installation fee if you don't do it yourself? That's crazy. I guess you don't get anything for your $10. There's an awful lot of restrictions too. Wow.
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D, 20 Oct 2007 @ 5:12am

I had to disable my pop-up blocker to see this page, Oct 20 2007
http://www.bellsouth.com/consumer/inetsrvcs/inetsrvcs_agreement_plans_pop.html
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denizen, 18 Nov 2007 @ 10:46am

bait and switch?
Last I heard bait and switch is an illegal practice, i'd use www.ripoffreport.com for starters if it happened to me. And if you plan to call att you need to brush up on your eubonics.
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joshua, 2 May 2008 @ 10:20am

Not working for me
Hello,
I came across your posting and I went to At&t to sign up for $10. dsl. Currently I have time warner and based on At&t's questions for eligibility, I qualify but then when I clicked on button to proceed I get error message and states that offer is only availabe to business customers. So I check business section on the site and there not $10 internet offered. Plans are more expensive and the only page that mentions $10. internet is on beginning page for selecting a plan in residential section. Could this offer have expired or is at&t rigging the site to keep people from ordering internet for this price. Please advise.
thanks
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YouYap.com, 21 May 2008 @ 6:12am

i wil llike to sign up
i dont think there have it in AZ yet. Probable COX wont let them come here.
-------------------------------------
http://www.youyap.com
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michael, 9 Jul 2008 @ 6:51am

I have the internet for 8mths now and i have had so much problem cant get nit in may state even when im home can only get on it for an hour yet i pay $72 and since i drive a truck i need it all over the states i have seen to this each time i come home and never get a good result yet that say that fixed it I will never have at&t for anything again
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michael, 9 Jul 2008 @ 6:52am

I have the internet for 8mths now and i have had so much problem cant get nit in may state even when im home can only get on it for an hour yet i pay $72 and since i drive a truck i need it all over the states i have seen to this each time i come home and never get a good result yet that say that fixed it I will never have at&t for anything again
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granule, 29 Apr 2009 @ 8:51am

ATT Dry loop and intermittent very poor service
I recently had my phone changed to another carrier. I asked for my DSL to be converted to a dry loop. It doesn't work, yet they want me to pay for non-service. Why? I should pay for the days it works.
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- Anonymous Coward, 29 Aug 2009 @ 7:56am
  
  Re: ATT Dry loop and intermittent very poor service
  I converted to dry loop 10 days ago and haven't had service since the pots line was cut and have had nothing but a run around on 3 calls bastards better prorate the useless days cause I'm close to a cable switch at this point
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