dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
4146
JmanA9
join:2003-06-12
Pittsburgh, PA

1 recommendation

JmanA9

Member

$7 DSL Price Hike

Click for full size
$7 Price Increase Notification
Did anyone else see a $7 DSL price hike notice in their most recent bill? I got one in PA.

I currently pay $33 per month for bundled 3Mbps. $40 for 3Mbps, the fastest speed I can get from Verizon, is very steep in my opinion. Unless this is because of infrastructure improvements, this seems like price gouging.
Corporate
join:2014-10-04

2 recommendations

Corporate

Member

said by JmanA9:

Did anyone else see a $7 DSL price hike notice in their most recent bill?

There was a thread on this a while ago found here: »[Billing] Price hike $7/mo High Speed Internet Enhanced Double P.

If you are not in a promotion, your price may be increasing by $7/month.
said by JmanA9:

Unless this is because of infrastructure improvements...

It is not, Verizon has left their DSL network in 2004.

Do you have FiOS available at your address?
JmanA9
join:2003-06-12
Pittsburgh, PA

3 recommendations

JmanA9

Member

I saw the September 2015 thread but I figured enough time had passed that a new thread was warranted.

I was being sarcastic about the potential infrastructure improvements

No FiOS in my apartment building but the surrounding single-family dwellings can get it.

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

1 recommendation

pjsutton to JmanA9

Member

to JmanA9
What bundle do you have? I have the Triple Play with Directv and the DSL portion is $26.01 and the Freedom Essentials is $29.99 for $56 total before taxes, fees, and Directv.
JmanA9
join:2003-06-12
Pittsburgh, PA

JmanA9

Member

My bundle is just phone and internet. $33.00 for High Speed Internet Enhanced and $19.99 for Regional Essentials.

krenn
join:2006-08-23
Somerset, PA

krenn to JmanA9

Member

to JmanA9
My DSL is also $26 and regional essentials is $20 per my last bill. Plus my Directv side of it.

JRave
Premium Member
join:2005-02-19
New Kensington, PA

JRave

Premium Member

I can see a $7 price increase on a single page of my account right now. (At the top of the services section where you can change your bundle options) But with all of my current billing issues and screw ups on Verizon's part I can't state exact numbers.

Prior to this current issue.. My bill looked like the following.

37.99 - High Speed Internet Enhanced
2.49 - DSL Gateway Service Plan
5.22 - Flat Rate Unlimited Service
8.07 - Dial Tone Line
11.29 - Fees/Taxes/Charges
JmanA9
join:2003-06-12
Pittsburgh, PA

2 recommendations

JmanA9

Member

I called today to see what could be done about my bill. My current bill is $54.81 after tax and a $10/month credit. With the $7 increase and the $10 credit expiring, my bill is about to jump $17 for 3 meg internet and Regional Essentials.

The best they could do was to re-build my bundle which brings the bill down to $49.99 pre-tax, but after tax it will be about $60. That's a lot to pay for what I'm getting IMO. I could get 25Mbps internet and unlimited LD phone with Comcast for about the same price. The main reason I'm still with Verizon is because I strongly prefer switched voice service over VOIP and they're the only game in town. But at this price I really have to reconsider.

ActionLess
@optonline.net

1 recommendation

ActionLess

Anon

Hey JmanA9,
said by JmanA9:

The main reason I'm still with Verizon is because I strongly prefer switched voice service over VOIP and they're the only game in town. But at this price I really have to reconsider.

I both feel and hear you. I have a deep appreciation and a lot of respect for the higher-quality telephone audio afforded by copper lines delivered over a fully functioning and well-maintained copper plant. Unfortunately, the months, weeks, and days are numbered for quality infrastructure at Verizon's properties.

Recently I experienced catastrophic problems with the 768 kbps-DL DSL service, for which Verizon bills $33.99 monthly. After nearly ten tickets, five technician team (eight technicians) dispatches, and HOURS... no, DAYS and NIGHTS on the phone with Verizon Internet Support in India, I wound up with just over 320kbps-DL/160kbps-UL and a static-filled line on a good day. If you're interested to learn more, I started a thread about this issue here on this forum.

The point of me jumping into your thread is to tell you, JmanA9, that enough was enough for me. I looked to Verizon's competition and found a package that fits my needs. I have happily moved on. While this is a very personal decision for most people, I would advise you to do the same. You most likely will not look back with any regrets whatsoever. And you will save MUCH money.
HappyFrappy
join:2000-10-04
North

1 recommendation

HappyFrappy to JmanA9

Member

to JmanA9
What can anybody expect with the price gouging as they've allowed the copper to rot where 3mbps is the maximum most areas can handle, a friend of mine with 7.1 Mbps service was told either downgrade to business class(1 email box) or be disconnected for hitting the soft cap by telecommuting(remote desktop) and it was cheaper to jump to Comcast Business instead. The on-going strike will further erode customer numbers.

Considering all the line hell issues of my area(summer 2015 to Feb 2016) with over a dozen repair requests, Verizon will lose enough double play customers from poor management and it'll take a good three or four years before FiOS(Boston area) is fully done if the strike continues. Haven't had working landline service for two weeks since the strike began, stuck settling with Sprint Phone Connect($8/mo). On a warm day I get 3mbps/800kbps service, on rainy days DSL hits the fan at 384kbps/64kbps. (knew a IBEW member who warned me to switch to Comcast before the strike, locally you're seeing Comcast & RCN wiring up new customers... yes, it's that bad)

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

pjsutton

Member

Your friend hit the "soft cap"? It's been reported that Verizon caps DSL at 1.5 TB. If he was hitting that at 3 Mbps, that's pretty impressive! He'll certainly go over his cap at Comcast if that's his true usage.
JmanA9
join:2003-06-12
Pittsburgh, PA

JmanA9 to ActionLess

Member

to ActionLess
said by ActionLess :

I have a deep appreciation and a lot of respect for the higher-quality telephone audio afforded by copper lines delivered over a fully functioning and well-maintained copper plant.

If only there were more like us! I saw your thread and it's frustrating for me to read about your issues but I'm glad you, like me, have another option! I feel bad for those rural folks who may not.

I came across a thread in the FiOS forums that mentioned a monthly discount for AAA members. Although my employer mentions nothing on their HR website about a Verizon discount, I plugged my info into the webpage and found that I quality for a $5/month discount. I think I'm going to punt on the issue until I see how my next bill comes out.

»www.verizon.com/FORYOURH ··· MC-A0891

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

pjsutton

Member

Interesting. I just tried with the USPS for my mom's account, and looks like she may get a discount. She does not have a work email address so they need to verify via faxed-in pay stub.

I'm really surprised they are able to do this - my guess is the price comes off the DSL portion and not the POTS.
HappyFrappy
join:2000-10-04
North

1 recommendation

HappyFrappy to JmanA9

Member

to JmanA9
said by pjsutton:

Your friend hit the "soft cap"? It's been reported that Verizon caps DSL at 1.5 TB. If he was hitting that at 3 Mbps, that's pretty impressive! He'll certainly go over his cap at Comcast if that's his true usage.

My friend had 7 Mbps service, however on family usage you can average between 500-750 GB with a 3 Mbps plan. New announced caps at Comcast has more breathing room for those who rarely hit 1TB so it'll be interesting how it impacts Verizon DSL-only duopoly areas.
If someone does remote desktop, watches Netflix/AmazonPrime content, lots of cloud sync and admin remote servers you'll reach 1.25-1.5TB with a 7 Mbps plan quickly but I think Verizon has been monitoring that soft cap in more congested/oversold areas as the nearby town with Fios had several locals complaining too. Keep in mind if VZ can fire the customer it'll free up two 3 Mbps capacity slots at the local office and lower cost of maintaining other customers. Within my area if you report line issues they'll just downgrade your speed tier if a line repair job goes nowhere, when the lines were good enough for 7 Mbps until 2007/2008 they started to drop customers to 3 Mbps and more recently Dec 2015/Jan 2016 they reserve the right to roll you down to 1.5 Mbps if you get too much uncorrectable line noise as VZ can't justify replacing more than two street blocks worth of copper unless other customers in the area are impacted(reasoning to the 14 day delay).

Comcast Business is $70/mo or opt for the unlimited fee with residential service, if you move to business DSL you can't retain bundle discounts with a residential landline or the extra email boxes and the total cost goes much higher with recovery fees & taxes.

Smith6612
MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY

1 recommendation

Smith6612 to pjsutton

MVM

to pjsutton
First time I've heard of the Soft Cap being enforced on the DSL end of things! They must be sticking behind the caps at this point. I assume the DSL circuit was a small business circuit?

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

1 recommendation

pjsutton to JmanA9

Member

to JmanA9
So the USPS offers a $10 monthly discount for Verizon. Whodathunk!
HappyFrappy
join:2000-10-04
North

3 recommendations

HappyFrappy to Smith6612

Member

to Smith6612
said by Smith6612:

First time I've heard of the Soft Cap being enforced on the DSL end of things! They must be sticking behind the caps at this point. I assume the DSL circuit was a small business circuit?

I'd suggest Googling Ars articles on Verizon transition between CEOs, during Ivan's BA-VZ era they were using AUP to justify customer usage audits to prevent bandwidth hogs in congested areas. Pre-national 7.1 Mbps(1.5 & 3 Mbps were national plans) they had an AUP which flagged customers hitting above 500/700 GB and that policy ended around 2006/2007 when Ivan began his Fios goal and 1TB became an internal soft cap. It was only until Comcast created the 250/300 GB cap which Verizon went public about their AUP/cap.
ISP consolidation has created a zero-competition environment.

Keep in mind Verizon DSL/Fios customers were getting "throttled" as greed over backbone interconnect usage impacted Netflix but also Google services, well after the network neutrality law you still have YouTube choking on streams/auto downgrading to 240/360p at 1pm on Verizon DSL/Fios(this issue doesn't happen on Comcast, Cox or RCN).

Smith6612
MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY
·Charter
Ubee EU2251
Ubiquiti UAP-IW-HD
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-AC-HD

1 recommendation

Smith6612

MVM

Gotcha. I've had DSL service for over a decade, and definitely recall using an excessive amount of data even when I hosted a small web server out of home. Never got a call from Verizon which is why I felt it was never enforced. Granted, my area didn't become congested up until the past couple of years. As for those on old RTs, however...

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

pjsutton to JmanA9

Member

to JmanA9
I noticed this on my bill for this month but my price did not go up yet. I chatted in with someone, and they were basically clueless. They said it may or may not actually apply to my account, and the only way to know for sure is to just wait for next month's bill. And then I can call or chat in to see what/if they can do. It apparently only applies to certain areas and certain accounts of certain areas.

....????

Why can't they check my address and then find out for sure, and then not print that on my bill if it doesn't apply?
pjsutton

pjsutton to JmanA9

Member

to JmanA9
My bill just went up by the $7 online, minus the $10 discount I have received. If I add the same Triple Play to my "cart" that I just had, it goes back to $56 per month. What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?

JRave
Premium Member
join:2005-02-19
New Kensington, PA

JRave

Premium Member

Yeah seems like they are getting around to increasing everyone now. I also got the $7 increase finally, although my billing situation is still screwed up completely.
Expand your moderator at work

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

pjsutton to JmanA9

Member

to JmanA9

Re: $7 DSL Price Hike

Verizon has the worst billing system imagineable. I re-bundled my account (supposedly) last week at $56 per month. It complete today, it shows $63. I just spent an hour on a chat and the person was very confusing and I still have no idea what is happening.

I had been given an order number on 6/22, this person says that order was just to apply the Connections discount (even though I already had it)? The price went back to showing $63 on My Verizon today, because the order was supposed to complete today.

My bill is dated the 1st of the month. I wanted to do this now, so everything would be "correct" by the time the bill is generated -- but no, apparently the bill is already generated and it wouldn't change anything, anyway.

I was then told to re-bundle again the and $56 price would apply for August. I still don't believe it.

So, I'm not actually sure if I'll be paying $56 or $63! How ridiculous!

Maybe once I get the bill, I will call and speak to someone instead of chatting.

JRave
Premium Member
join:2005-02-19
New Kensington, PA

JRave

Premium Member

if you were given an order number, chances are high that your billing cycle has also changed because of it. Their screw ups with my account(s) has changed my billing date 3 times now.

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

pjsutton

Member

Hmm interesting ... it can't change by a whole lot though, since we have Directv bundled.
pjsutton

pjsutton to JmanA9

Member

to JmanA9
Just saw the new bill - I called and bitched them out. They put me on hold for several minutes - came back and said they were able to get my old price of $56 back --- even after at first being "unable" to change anything. What a crock!

It'll stay that way for 12 months, they say.
JmanA9
join:2003-06-12
Pittsburgh, PA

JmanA9

Member

You were luckier than I was. Maybe I should try again.

The discount I applied for never appeared on my bill. I called and they told me to try again. We'll see if that works.

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

pjsutton

Member

I asked to speak to a supervisor, and had the attitude that I wouldn't take no for an answer. I commented that they probably raised the rate because they knew I have no other options, she claimed they don't do that and have no way of knowing (which I doubt). She still seemed adamant that there was nothing she could do. I also questioned why a new customer could sign up for the same price I previously had ($56). Oh, also said that in 2016 that was a ridiculous price for 3 Mbps DSL, and said that there has been no increase in service speed or value that would IMO justify a $7 price increase.

Then she put me on hold and came back and said she put me back on the $56 plan starting next month.

I think they do these things with the hopes that no one will call them on it.