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nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA
 ·Cox HSI
 ·Speakeasy
| reply to waka
Re: End of Reg Fee = Higher Reg Compliance Fee???
I went to the FCC site, as well. I filed the following:
Recently, the Federal USF fee was discontinued. SpeakEasy communications previously passed on this fee as through a "federal compliance" fee as part of the monthly billing structure. After the FUSF was lifted, SpeakEasy deleted the FUSF line item from the monthly bills, creating a new, combined "regulatory compliance fee". This new fee is roughly the same as the previous separate "compliance" fees plus the FUSF fee. The only difference in this combined fee is approximately a 1% total fee reduction (versus the expected reduction by the amount of the FUSF removal). The overall description of the fee is worded to suggest that it is related to taxes on the line, however, the overall change in fees suggests that, while they are intimating the use of the fee for taxes that SpeakEasy is, instead, pocketing the fee. Essentially, they have instituted a rate hike through a fee so that they can misrepresent their subscription rates in public advertising. Requests for clarification on the fee have been met either by silence or obsfuscation.
-tom
--
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficial. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." -Louis D Brandeis | |
claudeo
join:2000-02-23
Redmond, WA
| reply to bjcatlin
The damning language is in this quote from Speakeasy (see previous post with transcript of ticket):
In the event that Speakeasy's pricing increases, your monthly recurring charge will remain at the price set during order placement or special billing agreement for 12 months following your Activation Date, but this excludes applicable state and federal taxes, as stated in the ToS(speakeasy.net/tos). So, the changes are not in violation of the ToS.
"This excludes applicable state and federal taxes". The RCF is not a tax therefore according to this statement it should not be excluded from the guaranteed price. Oops.
Also, I hope you printed out a copy of the TOS at the beginning of the contract. They reserve the right to change the TOS so what you see now may not be what you signed for. | |
Michieru2
zzz zzz zzz
Premium
join:2005-01-28
Miami, FL | Googling around I see that the RCF is not a tax, so that applies to what you have said. That would mean though that all new customers should not be getting the RCF though. | |
speakeasy2k
join:2006-09-01
Seattle, WA
| reply to bjcatlin
Great idea. I just changed my rating, too. Here's the text:
Since I've been a customer with them, in late 2000, there have been two very different Speakeasys.
The first - when the founder Mike Apgar ran the company - was great. They charged a little more, but they were insanely reliable, easy-to-contact, and exhibited a "do-no-evil" attitude that made me happy to pay a little more. I had years of reliable and pleasant service with them. Even when other broadband options and providers came available in my area with lower prices and faster speeds, I didn't think of switching, though I easily could have.
Unfortunately, the second Speakeasy - the one you'd sign up with if you started today - is a very, very different animal. The new owners have a "profit first, second, and last" attitude, and focus their time and attention on their much-more-profitable business customers at the expense of the home users. When questioned about their policies or business practices towards the "little guys", they've become increasingly reluctant to engage in any dialogue or provide meaningful explanations.
A case in point is the recent fee increase. The "Speakeasy regulatory compliance fee" - which is *not* a pass-through tax; it's in fact a tricky way of saying "Speakeasy additional profit" - was hiked by 50% or more with little or no warning in August 2006. What's worse is that Speakeasy chose to try and hide this fee increase by timing its introduction to coincide exactly with the end of the Federal USF (Universal Service Fund) fee. The net result was that customer bills should have gone down by $3 or so a month, but instead they dropped only slightly (.65 in my case) or stayed the same. Despite repeated emails and phone calls about this, current customers have been given only marketing doublespeak or (in my case) no answer at all, and have resorted to filing complaints with the FCC and their state Attorneys General.
Bottom line: if you're a business customer, Speakeasy should be on your short list of broadband providers, without a doubt. However, home users, beware: unless you're made of money, look elsewhere first for better values - and a better attitude. | |
Michieru2
zzz zzz zzz
Premium
join:2005-01-28
Miami, FL | Well said. | |
nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
·Speakeasy
| reply to speakeasy2k
said by speakeasy2k  :Bottom line: if you're a business customer, Speakeasy should be on your short list of broadband providers, without a doubt. However, home users, beware: unless you're made of money, look elsewhere first for better values - and a better attitude. Dude, I wouldn't even drop that bit of a compliment. As a business owner, do you *really* want to do business with a company that, one day is great to you and the next day you simply aren't a priority? As a residential subscriber, it's merely annoying. As a business subscriber, such shifts can threaten your livelihood. As a business owner, I'd avoid such behavior like the f'ing plague.
-tom
--
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficial. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." -Louis D Brandeis | |
russotto
join:2000-10-05
Collegeville, PA
2 edits | said by nixen :Dude, I wouldn't even drop that bit of a compliment. As a business owner, do you *really* want to do business with a company that, one day is great to you and the next day you simply aren't a priority? Unfortunately, over the long term, ALL businesses are like that. Well, except businesses like Verizon and Comcast for which you're never a priority. | |
TheOtherPete
join:2001-06-28
Boyds, MD
| said by russotto :Unfortunately, over the long term, ALL businesses are like that. Well, except businesses like Verizon and Comcast for which you're never a priority. At least you always know where you stand with them.  | |
plutarch
join:2002-12-29
Kansas City, MO
| FCC complaint filed:
This complaint is regarding the FUSF on DSL service.
As you know, DSL providers were recently deemed to not have to pay into the Federal Universal Service fund. Previously, Speakeasy Communications passed on the FUSF as a line item they called "Federal Regulatory Fees".
Once Speakeasy and other DSL providers were not required to contribute to the FUSF, Speakeasy eliminated the "Federal Regulatory Fees" but increased another bill line item, the "Regulatory Compliance Fee" by almost the same amount. Their announcement, of which I have a copy if required, trumpets this sleight of hand as a net reduction in regulatory fees, while not mentioning that it resulted in their pocketing almost the entire amount of the FUSF contribution as additional revenue.
In my particular case, the FUSF portion ("Federal Regulatory Fees" on my June 25, 2006 bill were $2.62 and the "Regulatory Compliance Fee" was $2.24 for a total of $4.86. On the July 25, 2006 bill, the FUSF ("Federal Regulatory Fees") line item was reduced to zero and the "Regulatory Compliance Fee" increased by $1.92 for a total of $4.16 billed regulatory charges. Copies of these bills are available for inspection if needed.
I have attempted to obtain an official answer from Speakeasy as to what taxes and regulatory fees the newly increased regulatory fee that captured most of the FUSF fee is funding, and received no straight answer. In fact, the representative who answered the service ticket declined to give an official answer. I have asked that representative to forward my request to their executive offices and received no response to that request as of this writing.
Based on the FCC's indication that it had intended to investigate Verizon's and BellSouth's similar practices, I contend Speakeasy is engaging in the same practice and respectfully request they be required to cease their deceptive practice with respect to their increased "Regulatory Compliance Fee" and issue refunds in the amount of the increase after the FUSF contributions were no longer required. Thank you | |
bhan261
join:2001-02-12
New York, NY | Very well said. | |
nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
·Speakeasy
| reply to russotto
said by russotto :said by nixen :Dude, I wouldn't even drop that bit of a compliment. As a business owner, do you *really* want to do business with a company that, one day is great to you and the next day you simply aren't a priority? Unfortunately, over the long term, ALL businesses are like that. Well, except businesses like Verizon and Comcast for which you're never a priority. I'm just saying, I would not do SpeakEasy any favors. I would not indicate, at all, that they might be good for anything.
-tom
--
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficial. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." -Louis D Brandeis | |
claudeo
join:2000-02-23
Redmond, WA
| said by nixen :said by russotto :said by nixen :Dude, I wouldn't even drop that bit of a compliment. As a business owner, do you *really* want to do business with a company that, one day is great to you and the next day you simply aren't a priority? Unfortunately, over the long term, ALL businesses are like that. Well, except businesses like Verizon and Comcast for which you're never a priority. I'm just saying, I would not do SpeakEasy any favors. I would not indicate, at all, that they might be good for anything. -tom Now, that's throwing the baby out with the bathwater. What is your purpose here? Revenge, or trying to prod SE into better behavior? If you think SE is irremediably going down the wrong path, just cut the ties and turn the corner. Just forget them. But if you think that there is something worth salvaging, then it is also worth pointing out the positives.
Also, consider this: Are we harder on SE because it is a smaller and therefore apparently more amenable target for our efforts at reform than the Verizon, Qwest, Comcast, AT&T benemoths that wrote the book on bogus fees, or are we harder on SE because we feel betrayed? Those of us who signed on with SE when there was a no-nonsense TOS and a feeling of trust do feel betrayed, no question about it. | |
nixen
Rockin' the Boxen
Premium
join:2002-10-04
Alexandria, VA
·Cox HSI
·Speakeasy
| said by claudeo :Now, that's throwing the baby out with the bathwater. What is your purpose here? Revenge, or trying to prod SE into better behavior? If you think SE is irremediably going down the wrong path, just cut the ties and turn the corner. Just forget them. But if you think that there is something worth salvaging, then it is also worth pointing out the positives. Also, consider this: Are we harder on SE because it is a smaller and therefore apparently more amenable target for our efforts at reform than the Verizon, Qwest, Comcast, AT&T benemoths that wrote the book on bogus fees, or are we harder on SE because we feel betrayed? Those of us who signed on with SE when there was a no-nonsense TOS and a feeling of trust do feel betrayed, no question about it. Read more closely, grasshopper...
Unless one has empirical proof that SpeakEasy is a good business ISP (e.g., an existing Business subscriber relationship that wasn't indicated in the statement), it's silly to make a recommendation based on supposition. I'm not saying to say "I wouldn't use them for business", I'm saying that it does not make sense to provide a recommendation. speakeasy2k stated "Bottom line: if you're a business customer, Speakeasy should be on your short list of broadband providers, without a doubt. However, home users, beware: unless you're made of money, look elsewhere first for better values - and a better attitude," without indicating any real basis for such a statement (beyond the apparent supposition of "they're abandoning residential to pursue business, therefore they must be good at business service).
-tom
--
"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficial. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." -Louis D Brandeis | |
speakeasy2k
join:2006-09-01
Seattle, WA
| Unless one has empirical proof that SpeakEasy is a good business ISP (e.g., an existing Business subscriber relationship that wasn't indicated in the statement)
Actually, this is the case. I informally (not as an official "Speakeasy partner") have recommended them to a number of my clients, many of whom are now using Speakeasy as their provider. I do believe Speakeasy provides quality, reliable, efficient service and support to their business customers, and the cost difference between them and a lower-priced option is far less meaningful given the value of the service they provide in a business context (where downtime means lost revenue, pretty directly).
I *will*, however, now think twice about recommending them to my smaller clients or non-profits; I'll also tell anyone considering them to shop carefully and make sure ALL fees are included in the quote. | |
jcricket
join:2002-08-30
Seattle, WA
| I *will*, however, now think twice about recommending them to my smaller clients or non-profits; I'll also tell anyone considering them to shop carefully and make sure ALL fees are included in the quote. It won't matter. Speakeasy will just jack up some BS fee later (disguising a price hike) and there won't be anything your clients can do. Like they did this time.
I agree that Speakeasy has good up-time, but I rarely hear about downtime these days from any of the ILECs (DSL or Cable). Speakeasy does offer business VOIP, which is useful, if you trust Speakeasy not to go out of business. I will guess that you'll get better tech support from Speakeasy when there is an outage than you will from an ILEC. That's just a guess.
Also - you can get a much cheaper hosting package from a true hosting provider, like dreamhost.com. $7.95/month for more than enough features for most people. I'd recommend most small businesses/non-profits separate their web sites from their access providers. That way you can switch either one without having to switch both. | |
CylonRed
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County
1 edit | Unless you are in Ohio and have TW cable.... My BIL is a installer for TW and I have been over there when the cable went out 3 times in 20 minutes - the one way they tell is if the modem is dead... | |
knightmb
Everybody Lies
join:2003-12-01
Franklin, TN
·AT&T DSL Service
| reply to jcricket
said by jcricket :Also - you can get a much cheaper hosting package from a true hosting provider, like dreamhost.com. $7.95/month for more than enough features for most people. I'd recommend most small businesses/non-profits separate their web sites from their access providers. That way you can switch either one without having to switch both. Not to bang on dreamhost.com because I have looked at their packages before, but mainly the problem I see is most of us using the speakeasy connection use it for hosting reasons beyond what a hosting provider can provide. Why, mainly because dreamhost.com and others could never give me what my business needs as far as hosting without having to spend a fortune a month. It would be nice to let someone else worry about the apache servers for a while, but then I need something that's going to give me GB of hosting space and unlimited bandwidth a month for cheap and no true hosting provider does this (for cheap). Most of my friends who use Speakeasy because they are a "do what you want" ISP when it comes to service. If you want to run your connection full bandwidth 24/7 then good for you, they won't care. If you want to use 12 static IP on one connection to host 200 websites, they will let you. If we had no choice but to use Comcast or Bellsouth then I could see where a separate hosting provider would come in handy because they are not as reliable as speakeasy, just like what was said earlier, time is money. When you spend your time talking to tech support at the ISP then you aren't working on more important things.
Also, hosting providers are not invincible, they have downtime and tech support issues with the ISP they deal with, just like the rest of us. I would just prefer to have everything in one place with only one person to yell at when things don't work. Sure, Speakeasy works through a lot of different companies, but for the most part they handle all of this so we don't have to. I've seen Speakeasy really whip up on Bellsouth when I had line issues last year, I never had to speak to Bellsouth once about this and I'm glad. The culture at Speakeasy I've noticed is to do business customers first, then residential later. I think that's why a lot of us here have such contrast when it comes to dealing with Speakeasy. A residential customer calls with a problem, they will get back to you. A business customer calls with the same problem, they bend over backwards to get it fixed as soon as possible. I've been a residential customer of Speakeasy for years before I moved to a business account and I noticed a big difference in the way customer service is handled between the two. It might be the same tech guy who answers, but priorities are certainly in place for the business customers. At least that's what appears to be to me. | |
waka
join:2002-06-01
Tacoma, WA
·Speakeasy
| reply to bjcatlin
Here is the most recent note added to this ticket:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I would provide an itemized breakdown, but I do not have one. This increase in
this particular item was simply meant to allow the absorption of both existing
regulations that have become very difficult to support with the previous
monthly regulatory charges, as well as new regulations that came into play with the
removal of the FUSF.
The changes made to the fee system was not that the FUSF was just no longer
required. They also involved the addition of some other regulations that we must
now support.
Thanks,
xxxx xxxx
Business Support Representative - Online Support
(800) 556-5829
My Hours Mon-Fri 5am-1:30pm PDT
www.speakeasy.net
----------------------------------------------
All I can say is, "HUH?!?!"
What "New regulations" and "other regulations that we must now support" is Speakeasy talking about?? Can you get any more vague?? Does any one know what these would be?? I've asked for more clarification. | |
russotto
join:2000-10-05
Collegeville, PA | reply to bjcatlin
Maybe it's the fee to send all your packets to RIAA and the NSA for examination. | |
speakeasy2k
join:2006-09-01
Seattle, WA
| said by russotto :Maybe it's the fee to send all your packets to RIAA and the NSA for examination.
ROTFLMA! I think you nailed it! | |
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