AT&T disappointment letter (update) → Northpoint is to blame, not AT&T.

Buggy and the others who see things logically have the correct understanding. All AT&T has done is come and buy up the pieces of a dead company. Northpoint should have informed you of what to expect and what your options would be. Bottom line is they're dead so rather than wasting energy complaining why not put your efforts into finding a solution.

My own personal experience: I was a Winfire customer who was dropped in much the same way. No warning, no nothing except for a DSL connection that couldn't be released. Rather than stew over it, I switched to cable and was back up in two days. I should have picked cable in the first place as the speeds are incredible and reliable.
And if cable isn't available, there's always good old dial-up to get you by until something else is available.

When AT&T bought Northpoint, they inherited the subscribing base, regardless of what they purchased. Regardless of what the "ink on the paper" says, AT&T took on the subscriber base responsibility when it bought Northpoint.

There is more to the story than "buying pieces of a dead company". Northpoint may have died, but the subscribing public has not.....this alone obligates AT&T to "do the right thing".

Anytime the consuming public is treated in this manner by a voracious corporate entity, it is a crime.

I do agree that Northpoint should have been more forthright with its customers, but seeing that they did not, AT&T needs to pick up the ball.

Here is an analogy of what AT&T, NorthPoint, and Verizon did...

Mrs. NorthPoint, was a landlord who leased apartments in a building to real estate agents, so the real estate agents could get individuals to live in the apartments.

The Building was BRAND NEW, and the apartments had everything anyone needed to live comfortably. Things weren't going too well, and when Mrs. NorthPoint, was approached by Mr. Verizon, decided to take Mr. Verizon on, as a partner. Mr. Verizon has a lot of interest in Mrs. NorthPoint and offered to invest into Mrs. NorthPoint's building. Mrs. NorthPoint agreed.

Mrs. NorthPoint, not being very good at accounting, did not forsee future expenses, and did not properly charge the correct rents on the apartments. Mr. Verizon saw this, F**KED Mrs. NorthPoint, and got the hell out of the apartment building. Mrs. NorthPoint took Mr. Verizon to court and sued for breach of contract, and spent a small fortune doing so. Mrs. NorthPoint, now violated, was running out of money, and to PROTECT her building, declared bancruptcy.

Soon after Mrs. NorthPoint declared bancruptcy, she started to look for others to invest in her building, being careful not to recruit another Mr. Verizon. But because Mrs. NorthPoint could not find anyone interested, the bancruptcy court had to sell the building to settle Mrs. NorthPoint's debts.

In walks Mr. AT&T. Mr. AT&T proposes this huge settlement, and wants to buy Mrs. NorthPoint's building. Mrs. NorthPoint doesn't agree because Mr. AT&T wants to rebuild the entire lot. But being that the bancruptcy court is holding an AUCTION, there really is very little Mrs. NorthPoint can do at this time.

So Mr. AT&T, being the highest bidder at the auction, gets to purchase NorthPoint's lot and building. Mr. AT&T couldn't give a rat's ass who lives in the building, and begins to knock down the building, BEFORE he even gives the tenants an eviction notice. What tenants are left, are struggling to find new places to live, while they are holding out their leases to Mr. AT&T and their respective real estate agents. Mr. AT&T stands there laughing and giving all of the tenants the FINGER. Mr. AT&T then announces that late this year, he will have an even BETTER Apartment Building, built on the same lot as the apartment building he is currently tearing down.

Since we are all the tenants, what do you think we should do?? I know what I would like to do , but if I say it here, I might get arrested for it.

Pete...

You're right! AT&T should had been obligated to pick up the loose ends missed by NorthPoint, but you have to remember that AT&T DID NOT buy NorthPoint as you had mentioned. AT&T merely bought NorthPoint's assets and has no "OBLIGATIONS" of any kind to the 100,000 subscribers of NorthPoint.

winfire, that's funny, i have a friend that signed up, and from what i understand, got dinged the 200 install fee and low and behold, belly up. oh well, live and learn

said by promano:

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Here is an analogy of what AT&T, NorthPoint, and Verizon did...

Mrs. NorthPoint, was a landlord who leased apartments in a building to real estate agents, so the real estate agents could get individuals to live in the apartments.

The Building was BRAND NEW, and the apartments had everything anyone needed to live comfortably. Things weren't going too well, and when Mrs. NorthPoint, was approached by Mr. Verizon, decided to take Mr. Verizon on, as a partner. Mr. Verizon has a lot of interest in Mrs. NorthPoint and offered to invest into Mrs. NorthPoint's building. Mrs. NorthPoint agreed.

Mrs. NorthPoint, not being very good at accounting, did not forsee future expenses, and did not properly charge the correct rents on the apartments. Mr. Verizon saw this, F**KED Mrs. NorthPoint, and got the hell out of the apartment building. Mrs. NorthPoint took Mr. Verizon to court and sued for breach of contract, and spent a small fortune doing so. Mrs. NorthPoint, now violated, was running out of money, and to PROTECT her building, declared bancruptcy.

Soon after Mrs. NorthPoint declared bancruptcy, she started to look for others to invest in her building, being careful not to recruit another Mr. Verizon. But because Mrs. NorthPoint could not find anyone interested, the bancruptcy court had to sell the building to settle Mrs. NorthPoint's debts.

In walks Mr. AT&T. Mr. AT&T proposes this huge settlement, and wants to buy Mrs. NorthPoint's building. Mrs. NorthPoint doesn't agree because Mr. AT&T wants to rebuild the entire lot. But being that the bancruptcy court is holding an AUCTION, there really is very little Mrs. NorthPoint can do at this time.

So Mr. AT&T, being the highest bidder at the auction, gets to purchase NorthPoint's lot and building. Mr. AT&T couldn't give a rat's ass who lives in the building, and begins to knock down the building, BEFORE he even gives the tenants an eviction notice. What tenants are left, are struggling to find new places to live, while they are holding out their leases to Mr. AT&T and their respective real estate agents. Mr. AT&T stands there laughing and giving all of the tenants the FINGER. Mr. AT&T then announces that late this year, he will have an even BETTER Apartment Building, built on the same lot as the apartment building he is currently tearing down.

Since we are all the tenants, what do you think we should do?? I know what I would like to do , but if I say it here, I might get arrested for it.

Pete...

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Okay, let me get this straight...

Verizon = Evil company because they saw that Mrs. Northpoint was running her business into the ground and decided to back out before they both got f*cked?
and
AT&T is evil because they decided to buy out a business that is in shambles and take what they want from it (not the customers).

Correct me if I am wrong but large companies often buy out business and fire employees, stop making products, and close buildings. That is what business is all about. Why would either Verizon or AT&T want to invest more money in a losing proposition? And where does Northpoint fall into this scenario? Was Mrs. Northpoint just a little ol landlord who we should pity? Why doesn't any of the blame seem to be pointed her way?

correct. i don't get why people don't understand that np screwed up. they went broke and couldn't pay up their lenders. they were up for sale so that the banks and others that lent money to them can collect what little they can.

I am happy that you learned how to use the AUTO QUOTE button.

You must work for AT&T also.

Yes, many companies merge or get acquired, BUT THE INSTALLED USER BASE IS STILL SUPPORTED, FOR THE LIFE OF THE PRODUCT.

Pete...
[text was edited by author 2001-03-27 12:21:23]

You know what I love about this place? The maturity of some of the posters. Promano, you are the man! You stuck it to me with that crack about the auto quote button. Ouch that stings. Did my post feel like a personal attack to you? It wasn't but if you feel the need to lower this conversation to that level you go right ahead big man.

And yes, I work for AT&T, in fact Im the president. Why does everyone here assume that if a poster has a view opposing theirs, they most work for the offending company?

I also love the maturity of some of the posters here. I also love to laugh at the LACK OF MATURITY as well.

You don't know it, but I DO WORK FOR A BIG CORPORATION, that has had many mergers, and acquisitions. We also wholly own a few companies, and have investments in others. And to top it off, we probably have the best rapport with some of the greatest manufacturers of the world. But for as long as I have known this corporation, we have NEVER shown the disregard for consumers, Residential OR Business, as AT&T has shown in this deal. I have even made some PERSONAL trips to clients homes and facilities to aid in trouble shooting problems.

Consumers control the market, believe it or not. The RIAA can tell you that better than anyone. Making the CONSUMER #1 is the most humble thing that ANY CORPORATION can do to insure its success. Once you lose site of the consumer, then you might as well put the key in the front door, and tell everyone to go home.

Your comments, as blatant as they may well seem, show the position you take here on this site. My crack about the AUTO QUOTE button, was because it was unnecessary, in my opinion, to auto quote my entire message. Was my message going anywhere? Was it necessary to increase the size of your message by adding a copy of my message to it? None of these questions may ever get answered and frankly, I don't care.

And, BTW, you did just as I wanted you to do. You replied to me, WITHOUT using the AUTO QUOTE. You CAN use good judgement when posting.

Thank you.

Pete...

You are an arrogant man. I used the auto quote initially because I was going to input info into your post. I decided not to but saw no reason not to leave the quote. I apologize if that upsets you. I was not personally attacking you though you seem to be taking that stance. Nor had I insulted your maturity until you took a cheap stab and showed your lack OF maturity. I was posting a valid response to your analogy about the current situation.
Furthermore, the position that I take on this site? What is that about? I have been here for awhile now and have offered help to quite a few people. I am a knowledgeable poster and enjoy this board quite a bit. However, people like you that don't like when someone questions their stance sours my experience here. Oh well, guess I'll just ignore you from here on in since you have nothing constructive to add any longer. Have a nice day.

I think this thread needs to be shut down. Moderator, please!!

Another Fractured Fairy Tale? Someone's been watching too much Bullwinkle on late night TV.

This is just perfect, this raps everything up into one neat package that everyone can understand. I just wanted to give Pete thumbs up on his remarks concerning the whole NP, AT&T and Verizon deal. I myself am a xDSL tech for a major ISP that has been working very hard to get our DSL customers options to migrate to other broadband providers. Even if these providers are our compition, we are NOT going to leave our DSL customers HIGH & DRY unlike others.