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Arty50
Premium Member
join:2003-10-04

Arty50

Premium Member

Losing new customers over modem rental

Dear Sonic,

I've now recommended your service to two friends and they've both decided to use other providers instead. The two reasons they cite for this are being forced to get voice and the modem rental. I always counter with the fact that the included voice is basically free when compared to similar data services. But they can never get over the modem issue. People just don't look kindly on this. I know that's only two potential customers, but I thought I'd pass it on.

rolfp
no-shill zone
Premium Member
join:2011-03-27
Oakland, CA

rolfp

Premium Member

I just ordered Fusion, which is adsl2 with landline phone over the AT&T copper, afaik. The required modem lease is for first month, only, to simplify troubleshooting potential start-up issues. That seems reasonable. I didn't see anything about VOIP.
thear
join:2004-02-16
San Francisco, CA

thear

Member

»wiki.sonic.net/wiki/Equi ··· t_Policy
Customers who wish to use their own equipment may do so, however, the equipment fee is required for service and the customer must retain the rented equipment.

rolfp
no-shill zone
Premium Member
join:2011-03-27
Oakland, CA

rolfp

Premium Member

We ordered on the phone and the sonic sales rep explained it as I said, as I recall. I don't know if policy has changed or there was misunderstanding/misrepresentation in this sales transaction or something else is going on.
bbear2
Premium Member
join:2003-10-06
dot.earth

bbear2

Premium Member

Please let us know if you are still being charged the monthly modem rental fee or if it really was for the first month only for trouble shooting purposes.

rolfp
no-shill zone
Premium Member
join:2011-03-27
Oakland, CA

rolfp

Premium Member

This is GF's new account and we had no intention of buying our own modem. So, she rents the modem and we expect it would be easier to get support for it, if need be.
The Way Out
join:2003-01-20

The Way Out to Arty50

Member

to Arty50
Me too. I am looking to get plain old ADSL service (I'm out of range for ADSL2/Fusion) and being forced to rent your guys' equipment is a deal breaker for me.

It's effectively a 32% below-the-line fee on top of the $19.95/mo rate. Not cool.
Skyrunner8
join:2002-01-10
San Francisco, CA

Skyrunner8 to Arty50

Member

to Arty50
Allegedly, this is now Sonic.Net's policy
»forums.sonic.net/viewtop ··· 5&t=1666

Yes, current policy does allow members who prefer to use customer-supplied equipment to obtain and RMA and ship back or drop off the Sonic equipment. Of course we would prefer the use of the integrated equipment for a broad array of reasons, but with all those disclaimers aside, members can opt out at this point.

One early heads up: IPv6 is coming, so it would be prudent to make sure equipment you use supports 6RD.

bbear2
Premium Member
join:2003-10-06
dot.earth

bbear2 to Arty50

Premium Member

to Arty50
As posted from older thread: »Re: Modem rental?

said by mc510:

Thanks Dane, I'm glad to know that you're thinking about this. This must have come up before, but the same logic would suggest that you separate the $39.95 base service into two line items, one for local phone service (to which the myriad of federal, state, and local taxes would apply), and one for the internet portion (for which few or no taxes would be applied). This is not to suggest that the voice line be optional, just that billing be structured in a way to minimize the crazy tax hit. (You've probably discussed this in another thread, but I couldn't find it.)

Yes, for taxing purposes, Fusion at $39.95 is divided into a voice portion at $19.97 and a data portion at $19.98. (Clearly, it is a bundle, and neither is available separately, as each uses the same underlying facilities.)

Nice to see the reversal regarding the bring your own modem policy and giving customers the choice of the monthly rental fee or not. Any chance of un-bundling Fusion at $39.95 so that customers can purchase the data portion only without the voice? Not sure why they cannot be made available separately.
thear
join:2004-02-16
San Francisco, CA

1 edit

thear

Member

Read Dane's post that addresses the issue on bundled services.

»forums.sonic.net/viewtop ··· 5&t=1541
bbear2
Premium Member
join:2003-10-06
dot.earth

bbear2

Premium Member

Thanks. That answers it for me.

Dan Tseng
join:2001-04-01
USA

Dan Tseng to Arty50

Member

to Arty50
Because of the rental issue, I no longer recommend Sonic: the charge is unethical and quite unlike the Sonic of old.
PowerMac
join:2011-03-02
Anaheim, CA

PowerMac

Member

said by Dan Tseng:

Because of the rental issue, I no longer recommend Sonic: the charge is unethical and quite unlike the Sonic of old.

This is what Sonic.net CEO said
You can opt out and return the modem once your service is up and running, after it's completed it's automatic optimization process, a week or two.

But you'll lose the benefits of support visibility of the CPE, plus the included Wire Plan, which covers the cost of any necessary truck rolls or inside wire repair. And of course the end-to-end service assurance and next-day replacement shipping in case of equipment trouble.

Obviously I'm hopeful you will retain the bundled equipment, as I believe it makes the Fusion service better and easier in many ways, but today it is possible to opt out and return it to avoid the $6.50 expense.