Should I switch to sBC from Comcast?

Al Puzzuoli · 2005-01-06T09:11:03+00:00

Hi all,I have been a Comcast customer for years and their prices not withstanding, have been very satisfied with the service.However, Today, I got a call from an SBC salesperson. I know I'm not all that close to my CO, I think a little over 15000 feet; but, she said that a remote terminal had recently been installed in my area and that I appear to be "right on top of it". She offered me the following two deals, neither of which I could find at (if it matters, I live in Michigan just outside Detroit in the 586 area code:1. A monthly fee of $19.95 for downstream speeds up to 3MBPS. I don't know what the upstream would be, and I'm not sure if the $19.95 is just introductory or if it would be for the life of the contract. on the lowest monthly fee I saw was for the "express package at $26.95, and this package only clamed up to 1.5MBPS down. 2. The Pro package for $36.95 a month. The person I spoke with said that with the Pro package, I could possibly get up to 6MBPS down.Firstly, why is there such a discrepancy in terms of speed clames? The possible max speeds the rep quoted were twice as fast as those stated on the web. Does this have to do with my proximity to the remote? Can the rep tell me exactly how far I am from the terminal, and if so, can I determine anything based on the distance she gives me?Second, what is SBC's policy in terms of a cancelation period? I think what I would like to do would be to activate DSL on a trial basis. If it's at least as fast and reliable as what I already have, I would keep it, but I wouldn't know until after trying it for a few weeks.Thanks for any info,--Al

Jan 06, 2005 24 Replies

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Al Puzzuoli 21 years ago

Yikes!

Well, for whatever it's worth, I took the plunge and have an order in progress with them. I won't hesitate to cancel quickly though if things aren't up and running happily within the first few weeks.

I do have a question about that which I'll post in another thread.

--Al

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BR 21 years ago

That's fine. Just get as much as you can in writing, and get lot's of names. If something goes wrong, you want to argue from a position of strength.

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Percival P. Cassidy 21 years ago

But if he already has phone service from SBC, being on the do-not-call list doesn't stop SBC from calling him and offering additional services: there is an existing business relationship.

Perce

On 01/09/05 07:05 pm Erik Freitag tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

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Pierre Aterianus 21 years ago

Al,

What are they going to charge you for your service? They have been running a $14.95 and a $3.20 basic phone service ad's recently (I'm on Vonage) and I was wondering what are the real costs.

Pierre

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