This is something I’ve been sitting on for awhile. Satellite, Cable, ISP & Phone companies are not required by law to disclose taxes and fees when quoting you prices for their services. This little, annoying loophole, is being used by many companies to mislead you, the consumer into thinking their services are less than another companies services. Of course, they will tell you that their tariffs, fees, taxes, rental costs of equipment are all public documents available either by request or on their website, getting through some of that information requires a law degree. Take a look at this page on Comcast’s site: Federal Tarriffs. The list is a PDF files that goes into detailed explanation of terminology and more legalese. It isn’t until you get toward the end of the fifth document that “some” fees are listed. And these are just Federal fees per state.
That cable $15.99 per month fast internet cable isn’t looking so great now.
Here’s what I found I would actually be charged a month after I decided to look into a recent $15.99 offer from Comcast.
- I didn’t read the fine print. The offer was only available to current Comcast customers. Literally, this info was in 6pt grey print on the very last white page of the offer. Nowhere else did it say I had to be a current customer. Basic customer startup after all the free installation and generous discounts: 69.99 – this gets me what I currently have through my satellite network (for which I page 59.00 a month).
- Comcast offers three levels of speed. There was nothing on their flyer that said the $15.99 was only for their slowest speed which is equal to my 256K DSL connection. Oh, but I pay 30.00 a month for that same DSL that I’d be paying $15.99 for through Comcast; the operator reminded me. I reminded her of the 69.99 a month I’d have to add on top of the $15.99.
- Taxes, fees, box rental: The box rental was quickly disclosed, but the taxes & fees were not. I was given several excuses until I was told, “we’re not required by law to disclose taxes & fees.” At this point I said, then I won’t be continuing this call. A supervisor came online and quoted the percentage of taxes, the fees, and the additional tax on the box. That would round out to about $12.00 more a month. This quote did NOT include the taxes, fees, remote rental and box rental for the cable tv!
By this time I had spent nearly an hour on the phone with Comcast. I’d had enough and they apparantly were figuring out that the more fees they disclosed, the less I’d become a customer.
I have gone through similiar experiences with ISPs in Washington & California, with the phone companies I’ve dealt with in both states, and various cable companies besides Comcast.
I deal with my current phone company, because the way it is now, I have the least expensive phone bill possible. I do not get long distance with my company because with the additions of federal and state fees, it would cost an additional $25.00 a month just for long distance. I use a phone card that makes me call an 800 number and requires I type in a ten digit account number before dialing the number I want to call. It’s a hassle, but it’s $10.00 a month with no fees or taxes. This makes my entire phone bill (not counting the dsl) $30.00 a month.
Vonage has a great deal for $24.99, but here’s the hook, that really isn’t even Vonage’s fault: If I switch to Vonage and discontinue service with my phone company, I lose my DSL pricing. My DSL would go up by an extra $20.00 a month – that’s $50.00 a month for a 256K connection! Vonage isn’t such a great deal now. And, it still isn’t quite a deal when you have to figure in your broadband account costs per month.
To conclude, I think it’s high time that consumers get on their soapboxes and rebel. All companies need to disclose fees, taxes, etc. when quoting pricing for their services. And, consumers need to be aware when diving into any of these services, that sometimes one relies upon the other. It’s a terrible, tangled web and one that needs to be sorted out.
Now that I wrote what is below, it seems like an ad! Sorry. I just really like vonage, lol!
Since I will always have broadband, I love vonage. And I don’t pay the $25, I pay $16 for 500 outbound minutes a month (inbound calls, vonage customer to vonage customer don’t count.) I get all the extras you can imagine for that price, and for 4 bucks a month I can get a tollfree number. I can take the phone and router with me when I travel, and hook it up to any bb connection to make calls on my own phone. I love the voicemail and the fact that I can check everyhting online. With qwest, I payed $40 a month just for local calls! Our coop, midrivers, is only $16/mo local, but you need a $200 deposit. I think you are right, consumers need to force a change. And I think that the price for DSL or cable internet service is way overpriced. If these were less expensive, vonage would be less expensive as well.