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Review by gpontis 
Posted: 1.6 years ago
member for 6.1 years, 268 visits, last login: 6 days ago
 Redwood City,San Mateo,CA
 Business customer
 $50 per month (month by month)
 AT&T
 "Consistently good service (when ATT does not screw up)"
 "None"
 "A great ISP"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I had mid-range, static IP DSL service with Sonic for more than 5 years. They have consistently provided great service. About the only times that I need to talk wth them are when there is a screw up with the local provider, ATT, and previously PacBell. This is about twice a year when all DSL service in the area goes away for maybe 12 hours. In each case Sonic figures out that the problem is with the telephone company in minutes, and files a trouble report. They escalate the trouble report if it is not fixed soon enough. Sometimes I have reached a Sonic technical support person after 9:00 PM. Meanwhile, my neighbors that use ATT-Yahoo are on the phone with the foreign call center going through endless scripts to check their computers, plug and unplug cables, and otherwise wasting time and getting frustrated. Their contacts seem to be totally disconnected from the local situation. Sonic also has easy to use tools for configuring reverse DNS and other parameters associated with static IP addresses. Their pricing on static IP is comparable to others, so to my mind Sonic is clearly the best option.
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Review by Alennx
UPDATED: 1.6 years ago
member for 6.2 years, 51 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Riverside,Riverside,CA
Contract price not specified.
AT&T
"Reasonable, knowledgeable people giving great service."
"$150 fine or prorated payments when you move house!"
"Plan ahead, You are paying for a service, NOT a utility"
| |
I like Sonic.net for their customer service.
BUT, I moved house recently and have to pay them $150 penalty because I terminated the service before the end of the contract.
NOTE: You will pay for the full term of the contract even if you move so consider this before you sign up.
AT&T have top end speeds at Sonic's introductory pricing WITHOUT a yearly contract. Sonic normal pricing is twice as much for the SAME RESULT.
Balance Cost Vs Great Tech support...
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Review by caboy
Posted: 1.7 years ago
member for 3.9 years, 3 visits, last login: 1.7 years ago
Milpitas,Santa Clara,CA
$34 per month (12 month contract)
 about 3 days
"Reliable Service"
"Never remind you about contract being expired!"
"Just watch out when your contract expired, month-month pricing!!!"
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings match consensus)
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At the beginning, I loved Sonic about their pricing and service.
But after three years, my attitude changed.
Every now and then, I would talk to a CSR who just wanted to
hurry up the Q&A or problem solving session. Other times, CSR just
respond slowly or paused with no words, and wanted ME to resolve
my own problems.
Now, my issue is more of why Sonic doesn't want to remind me
when my contract is about to expired? So Sonic can make more
money from charging me month-month?
($000 x 10,000 customers)....serious extra $$$$
I though Sonic supposed to be the ethical, #1 CSR Company.
Is it hard to put the word like " Contract Expire or Needs to Renew"
on the SUBJECT line??
I know Sonic probably doesn't need to do that like the other guys.
But you, Sonic, is different because Sonic provides the best CSR
and pricing, right??
But somehow....every year I had gotten dinged for some extra charges
because I wasn't reminded of my contract was about to expired.
And I was/am more than happy to renew too!
disappointed
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Review by leafnose
UPDATED: 1.7 years ago
member for 5.6 years, 14 visits, last login: 239 days ago
Los Angeles,Los Angeles,CA
$17 per month (12 month contract)
about 1 days
AT&T
"Superb service, low introductory price"
"The best service I've ever enjoyed"
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings match consensus)
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I found Sonic.net through this website. I couldn't be more delighted. They use AT&Ts trunks and it was a seamless transistion with no down time when they took over provisioning.
The techs are all in California, speak plain, clear english; all seem to have a superior computing knowledge. For instance, while intially setting me up the tech easily solved a glitch in my router.
Try this on!!! I sent support a question in regards to Outlook. Yesterday A TECH CALLED ME!!.....Not a ten light years would an AT&T rep call a user on basic query to help me out!! This guy had me dialed in quickly, and I probably wasted his time in being chatty.
I've had the maid knock the modem senseless once and it caused me to call tech support late at night. The kid have me up and flying in moments.
I'm thrilled with the service, and can only hope that at the end of the 12 month term that I'll be retained for the same price.
All ISPs are not created equal. Sonic rocks!!
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Review by SonicSucks
UPDATED: 1.7 years ago
member for 1.7 years, 0 visits, last login: 1.7 years ago
San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
$49 per month (12 month contract)
about 7 days
SBC
"Fairly easy set up, fast support and equiptment"
"dishonest, customer service are kindergartners, bumped price up to $50 after promis of 12 months at $18"
"There's no 'fine print' because they just neglect to put it in writing. Go elsewhere."
| Pre Sales information:
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(ratings below consensus)
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We chose Sonic.net because of $18 for 12 mo. promise. Statement that they had the right to raise cost with 30 day notice turned out to be a sneaky plan to ram the price up $50 per month with 5 days notice after 6 mo. I didn't notice as big a change as I had expected after leaving dial up, but for $18 per mo the service was ok, but it's not worth $50. Cancellation? Good luck. They just charged me for a second time at $50 after telling them to cancel last month. The equipment came promptly and tech support was available and knowledgeable during that initial installation. But it's not worth it. They told me that I would get the $49 equipment fee refunded as long as I was a customer for 12 mos. I asked if the price would be the same for the 12 mo and was told absolutely, that it was not going to change for the first 12 months. Sonic net is dishonest and trying to communicate with them via email made me wonder which of their elementary school children were manning the emails that eve. Can't get a straight answer. Billing is very ambiguous and their responses are cryptic. Which ever of their reps is replying to these complaints, don't bother with mine. You aren't fooling anyone with your sharp tongue and adolescent challenges.
Followup comments:  
DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Price lock During the sign-up, you opted for month to month pricing, not the 12 month price lock offer. Month to month pricing is subject to change. You were sent notice of the change a month prior to it taking effect.
That said, if you're interested in a contract rate, give billing a call, weekdays 8am-6pm and they can likely give you a lower rate in exchange for a term commitment.
If price is your top priority, we may not be the provider for you. Our goal is quality customer service and honest transparent network operations, not the absolute lowest price at any cost. FYI, for those making an ISP selection.
-Dane Jasper | |
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Review by russbutton
Posted: 1.7 years ago
member for 7.7 years, 31 visits, last login: 249 days ago
Alameda,Alameda,CA
$60 per month (24 month contract)
AT&T
"competent tech support"
"None so far"
"Good service and reliable for a fair price. What's not to like?"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
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(ratings match consensus)
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Elite-S DSL account
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Review by rickmars
UPDATED: 1.8 years ago
member for 1.8 years, 1 visits, last login: 1.6 years ago
San Francisco,San Francisco,CA
$60 per month (12 month contract)
about 30 days
AT&T
"Low initial rates"
"Unethical sales practices and shoddy support"
"Not worthwhile - stick with the majors"
| Pre Sales information:
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I tend to favor small local companies - they often provide superior service and are more likely to reinvest in the local community. This was my thinking when I chose Sonic.net as an ISP for my second home. I use Pacific Bell and Speakeasy for my business and home, and have been largely satisfied with them. I am a fairly experienced consumer of DSL service, and know that none of them are perfect, but this this was something of a disaster from a number of angles. The support organization was disorganized, lacking even basic information about the account and the service. The business side was worse - poor record keeping and questionable business practices. Grudgingly, I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say they are incompetent rather than suggesting that they are willfully unethical. When I did my initial research, Sonic looked like a good outfit; hard to understand what caused the dramatic decline. In any case, I would caution others against using them if another choice exists.
Followup comments: 
veloslave
Geek For God
Premium
join:2003-07-11
Pleasant Hill, CA
 ·PHONE POWER
 ·SONIC.NET
3 edits | Considering the source You call yourself a "fairly experienced consumer of DSL service" and yet you just joined today?
You make a LOT of HARSH accusations about the top rated ISP around yet offer zero proof.
I am not saying that Sonic is unable of dropping the ball (never happened in my three years + with them) but I also watch the feedback around here daily and it traditionally DOES NOT HAPPEN... especially like your drama describes.
Your post so far sounds like some competitor spam or some spoiled jerk with a grudge...
Why should anyone believe this post?
--
Mom was right.... I NEED fiber! | |
| 
Spoonbender
@sonic.net
| Sonic I agree - Sonic.net has really gone downhill. Their customer service is weak and their sales dept is pathetic. They flat out refuse to be competitive. AT&T offers the exact same services for $30 less and no contract (Sonic's Elite DSL is $65 compared to $35 for the same package from AT&T). They offered a rate of $45 if I signed another year contract. Ridiculous - I gave them three chances and finally just switched to AT&T. | |
| | 
Snypes
join:2003-12-29
Santa Rosa, CA
| Still happy to help. Hello,
I am a service rep. at Sonic.net specifically in the DSL department. I am concerned about the review you posted about our business and would like to review the situation. I realize this may not win you back as a customer but it would help us understand possible issues that we can avoid in the future. If you would send me the login name you used at Sonic.net I will be happy to take a look for you.
Thanks! | |
|
Biggie
@ascendance.net
| Common Thread A lot of people fail reading the fine print. It's unfortunate situation. On the other hand, when reviewing Sonic's reviews on this board, there are two common themes. One is full of praise of Sonic, and the other is the complaining ones. When reviewing the complaining ones, there is one common theme about their complains. It is billing issues. The concern here is perhaps Sonic drops the ball on this area. Otherwise, we all won't find this common theme on their complains. | |
| | 
highhatsize
Norm, The Enourmous Basset
Premium
join:2001-02-08
San Francisco, CA
·SONIC.NET
1 edit | Re: Common Thread I like Sonic service, but I agree that their billing practices could be improved with advance warning of a rate increase.
I know that there are three providers here in San Francisco that offer identically priced DSL service, all with promotional rates that automatically pop up to higher rates down the road. However, I was surprised to find that my "no contract" rate was popped up by Sonic after only six months, (when I was compelled to take out a year's contract or pay twice what I had been paying), rather than a year, which I had expected. Had I known that the "no contract" rate was good for only six months, I would have chosen the yearly rate right off.
[Edit: Forgot to mention that I am paying about $8 more a month now than I would have had I taken the yearly contract to begin with.]
That being said, I could cancel Sonic and transition to one of the other companies at their promotional rate, but my experience with Sonic in San Francisco is far better than with the other companies that I have used to date.
--
Cordially,
SANFRANSON | |
| | JMoen
join:2008-02-13
Danville, CA
| I've been a Sonic.net customer for over five years. They've done a great job of dealing with the DSL transport company (PacBell/SBC/ATT) so I don't have to. Though I've had very few reasons to call Tech Support, I've gotten excellent support when I did. I've felt I've paid a little more (not much more) for the reliable service and premium support I'm getting.
I recently called Sonic.net Sales about upgrading my account for faster DSL speed. I asked them not to quote promotional prices -- my decision is based on the normal price. Of course I'm happy to take that discount for the first year, but that's not how to analyze an offer.
I can't believe some people sign up without clearly understanding what the non-promotional price is.
I also called Comcast and they have promotional pricing also. Nobody is trying to confuse us, they are all just trying to compete. I ended up upgading to Elite-S service with Sonic.net. | |
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Review by ppk
Posted: 1.8 years ago
member for 7.5 years, 116 visits, last login: 156 days ago
Palo Alto,Santa Clara,CA
$54 per month (12 month contract)
AT&T
"Great service and reliability"
"None"
"Very good especially when compared to the local phone company"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
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(ratings match consensus)
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I've tried Earthlink, PacBell and Sonic and Sonic is by far the very best. They have prompt service and their reliability is amazing.
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Review by twophayse
UPDATED: 1.8 years ago
member for 4.1 years, 9 visits, last login: 145 days ago
Fremont,Alameda,CA
$50 per month
about 5 days
"Good tech support, Consistent speed, Easy relocation"
"Overpriced services, Questionable billing charges, Inconsistent renewal policies"
"Only worthwhile if you can't get service elsewhere"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
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Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I switched from my old provider to sonic.net since I was too far from the central office to relocate my existing service and still under contract. I was able to get a consistent 384 kbps download speed and great help in optimizing my connection. After a while, I moved and changed my number without any problems with my service, and even noticed a speed increase which I suspect was due to being closer to the central office. Unfortunately, my monthly rate doubled without warning or an option to renew once my contract ended. Ironically, my domain was automatically renewed for another year and added to my monthly bill without any prior communication. In addition, after a change in the billing policy two months worth of the twelve months of service fees I prepaid in advance was sucked into oblivion. Afterwards, I decided it to cut my losses and switch to a cheaper, faster, and contract free service.
Followup comments:
DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Checking your email? Are you getting emails from our systems consistently? By default, we email all receipts and notices to the Sonic.net mailbox - you can also use our member tools (on the home page) to forward this mailbox elsewhere if you use another address as your primary inbox.
With the domain name that we had registration for you on, you were emailed a notice a month prior to it's renewal, letting you know it was set up for automatic renewal. For domain names, you can change this setting, also in the member tools. You can configure each domain name you own to let them expire, or cause them to be automatically renewed. In either case, you'll get emails prior.
Finally, any changes to your pricing when your initial introductory pricing expired also would have been documented via email. The terms and procedures are quite transparent, and shouldn't come as surprise! That's certainly not what we'd like, and I'm sorry you felt surprised by any changes.
-Dane Jasper | |
|
g5magnus
@sonic.net
|  Not true.
Looser company that poses as a hip little dsl co. | |
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Review by trueseong
Posted: 1.8 years ago
member for 1.8 years, 7 visits, last login: 204 days ago
Fremont,Alameda,CA
$17 per month
AT&T
"You may need to restart modem as well as routers often..."
"It's ok if you want cheap provider."
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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I switched to sonic.net 6 month ago with month to month base. I recently got surprising credit card billing statement and they won't do anything about it. I'm done with sonic.net and will try finding another provider.
So, here this is what happened and I hope you don't get tricked into it.
I paid $17.95 per month for express residential plan. Since it wasn't a year contract, I was little bit worried about rate increase and was expecting to receive a mail or email (at least) stating when it happens. So, I could determine if I keep it or find another.
Well, your guess is right. I did not receive anything from them and my rate increased to $46.85. I did not even received billing statement for this month from them and I found out this from my credit card billing statement.
I don't know if this is done by intentionally or by mistake, but they got more money than I would expect to pay. So, forks out there looking for provider, watch out for this.
If you are worried about the service quality, I would say normal. Once or twice a week, I had to do power restart (I don¡¯t know what they call it, but you turnoff everything and restart modem, router and computer in order) to get my original dsl speed.
Thanks for reading this and hope you find good provider with honesty.
Followup comments:
DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs:
| Terms I sent you an IM in response.
The month to month pricing is subject to change, with 30 days advance notice. This notice is sent to the same email address your receipts are sent to, so if you're not checking that mailbox, please look there. If you use any local anti-spam software, you may also want to check the folder where it places messages that it thinks are spam. (Sonic.net's own anti-spam systems never block our own messages) Contact billing at 707-522-1000 to talk about any questions about your billing.
Regarding the need to reset your equipment periodically, this is something we'd be happy to address for you! Our tech support's hold time averaged just 76 seconds for all of 2007, so PLEASE don't hesitate to pick up the phone and call us right now. 707-547-3400. We will check the stats on your circuit, and if it looks bad, will dispatch a repair. Or, if the stats look good, your issue may be your modem, and we've got loaners and replacements available. UPS will get either to you tomorrow if you phone in before mid-day.
Please don't let annoying technical issues languish because of an assumption that support will be difficult to reach or work with. Unlike many other services across most industries today, we make the support experience really simple.
-Dane | |
| | trueseong
join:2008-01-17
Fremont, CA
·LaunchNet
·SONIC.NET
| Re: Terms I've been getting monthly billing statement through same email address. They always come to my inbox.
I check this address often since this is my primary address. So, I do not think it's blocked or sent to spam folder, and I don't think I missed it or discarded in any way. | |
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DaneJasper
Sonic.Net
Premium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
clubs: | Re: Terms It's part of the previous month's statement, I believe it's all caps, "NOTICE:", etc. Checking our logs, I do show that we've emailed you every receipt as scheduled.
-Dane | |
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