Hey folks, this is probably silly but I'm taking suggestions as to how to handle a situation I'm in now. My bill for internet has gone up like 50 dollars in the last few months between the promotional deal expiring and the affordable connection subsidy going away. So I called a competitor to see about changing service. I wasn't able to shop services online because something was wrong with my address, so phone call it had to be.
It took like an hour and they have to come out to see whether I can actually get service still. But they tentatively signed me up for service so I got an email a couple hours after the call.
They have me being billed for a landline.
It's still cheaper than I'm currently paying but I'm absolutely not going to use a landline. So I'm in a bind.
Do I call them back and try to out-talk a sales rep to get them to just sell me internet?
Should I go to the physical store location in my city and talk with them in person? We still don't even know if I'll be able to get service, would that be a waste of everyone's time?
Should I wait and resolve it after the 'can you get service' question is resolved, or will that make changing it more painful?
Some other thing I'm not thinking about?
Reddit is probably your best bet. You can post in your provider's sub and your local subs. You can always make an alt if you want more privacy. It's hard to give generalized advice. Also - local people in particular can be a great source of info.
They have me being billed for a landline.
If you live in the US or a place like it - you could say "I do not want a landline. Please give me a better deal." That's what I'd do. And if they refused - I'd politely ask to speak to their supervisor. But I'd still check reddit first.
Yeah, I'm normally assertive about that sort of thing, I actually thought I caught what he was doing during the call but when I challenged him on it he said it was just part of getting internet service. And since there was nothing in front of me and no way for me to just order what I wanted myself I had no way to double check.
Which is part of why I'm reluctant to call again, they'll just keep talking around this stuff and I have nothing solid to point them back to.
it was just part of getting internet service.
He probably gets paid on commission and in that case he's a lying salesmen. I wouldn't argue though. I'd be polite and ask for him to transfer me to a supervisor. And if he lies more and says "My supervisor isn't here" - I wouldn't challenge him on that either. I'd just say something like "Please transfer me to somebody else then."
Idk what American sales is like, but I'd at least try calling first. Worst case scenario, your billing stays the same.
If they insist that you should have a landline, just say no. You can just keep saying no calmly. Keep saying no until you get what you want.
Are you getting some form of DSL? If I remember correctly, you'd need a landline in order for the internet to work. Maybe that's why they're also billing you for a landline?
Turns out they can't even serve my address so it's irrelevant. Saves me having to waste time on a bunch of phone calls I guess.
Sorry to hear that. These companies are stupid monopolies, it should be a nationalized public good like so many other things.
My internet company is currently forcing me to pay in person over some dumb shit and hate them so much for it.
I'm unsure of any "legislation" or anything that you might be able to search around for to resolve the issue.
Every company can do different things, I don't think there are any "rules" for/against this. You might be able to talk your way out of it, but when I tried to talk one local utility out of paying for a landline that was part of the internet package they politely told me to fuck myself.
After the electric company decided to do internet stuff in competition with the phone company, the phone company's internet packages stopped having a landline bundled. So maybe you could harass customer service until they dropped the phone line charge.
Though I don't know if there's a requirement by certain companies organized in certain ways (like if the phone company is set up like a utility or something) that require it to have a means for 911 (or whatever your local equivalent is) emergency services to be able to ID your home's location.
Solved itself to some degree, they can't sell me service apparently. Guess I live in a monopolized zone.
