Man details attempt to get AT&T's $10 DSL

While we're no doubt sure many of you have already attempted to get in on AT&T/BellSouth's "offer" for $10 DSL, those that have yet to take the plunge may want to first read up on the customer service adventures of one Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins, who recently set out to find just what was involved in getting the deal. As you might have guessed, the first requirement is an ample suppy of patience, as Rizzn spent about four hours on the line before actually getting some degree of satisfaction. During that time, he found that he first had to get some basic phone service (the cheapest of which was $7 a month), and pay an extra dollar for various taxes and special tariff add-ons, bringing the total monthly cost to $18. For some reason, however, he has to wait until July 9th to actually get the $10 DSL deal activated, at which point he promises to follow up with details on how it all worked out.

[ScOObyDoo @ Jul 6th 2007 6:10PM]

Perhaps he could spend his $10 on a better website template first? What a turd of a site.

[Z_Xx_C @ Jul 6th 2007 6:35PM]

So goddamn true... He can spend some freaking cash on a good WYSIWYG.. Hell, even a shitty one can do the job... but a load of text and links? jesus..

[Duo @ Jul 6th 2007 8:04PM]

Simplicity is divine. Not everything has to be pretty graphics and flash animations.

[Andy Gratton @ Jul 7th 2007 12:16AM]

Content is king.

[Todd @ Jul 6th 2007 6:21PM]

Good for this guy - a while back, when I signed up, I told the AT&T person on the phone U was a student and didn't want ANY extras just basic phone service. Got the phone turned on for 29 bucks, then 12 a month after...

...then after I got the first paper bill, I went to the web site and ordered DSL "Elite" 6 megabits ;P

[nzaw4 @ Jul 6th 2007 6:38PM]

I acutally signed up with ATT on the 10 dollar DSL plan. They do require a telephone line in order to get the DSL line. The cheapest plan for a land line was 5.67, with the surcharges for tax it comes out to about 18 dollars a month.

[eh @ Jul 6th 2007 7:22PM]

I'll never trust any internet service that refuses to list the actual speed upfront. "DSL Lite" means jack to me.

[Phour ZwanZig @ Jul 6th 2007 11:02PM]

I wanted to know also how fast FastAccess DSL-Lite was so I check up on it..

768 Kbps/128 Kbps
Maximum
Downstream/Upstream

Thats from their site which states normal price is $19.95 /mth

Many dont know, but most companies offer a slower service if you dont need all the speed for about the same price.. We offer 1Mbps down and 256Kbps up (up might be 384) but we dont adver it..

[rizzn @ Jul 6th 2007 8:30PM]

A) I know my site is a turd. :) I like simple. Sue me.
B) The delay till the 9th is because I need to wait until the phone line is 'activated' before the DSL can be ordered.

[paul34 @ Jul 6th 2007 10:02PM]

Simple is fine, but honestly man... lime green background color? =/

[Bill @ Jul 6th 2007 9:09PM]

Gee, I'd love $10/month voice service.

The cheapest residential plan here (former BellSouth) is just short of $30/month after all taxes/fees/"subscriber line charge".

But the $10/month DSL has been great for me - got the modem/install kit 3 days after I signed up online, and have been using it since (goodbye to overpriced $45/month cable broadband)

I figure by the end of 2009 ($10 deal runs 30 months minimum) there'll be plenty of other cheap broadband options.

[Phour ZwanZig @ Jul 6th 2007 10:50PM]

Im sure that is just the cost of the service line.. with no calling plan.. Just the wire from the junction to the house so that they can supply the DSL..

[brassready @ Jul 6th 2007 9:12PM]

yeah.. just wait till he calls back on the 9th, only to find that the $10 dsl promo ended on the 8th.

[BWhaler @ Jul 7th 2007 12:16AM]

Reason #1 Never to Use AT&T:

Illegal NSA listening posts for Cheney and his lap dog George.

Reason #2 Never to Use AT&T:

Monitors traffic for RIAA/MPAA

AT&T are total dirt merchant.

[Dan @ Jul 7th 2007 9:27AM]

DSL companies are beyond ridiculous when it comes to hidden fees. Embarq screwed me over BIG time. They claimed $25/mo. Then I needed to get a phone line, and the minimum would require me to pay $50/mo for the DSL (ontop of $10/mo for the phone line). I finally came to a deal to do the basic local deal and DSL package to come out to $65/mo.

So I get my service and its not too bad. A month passes by and I finally get my first statement (also, never once did I put my John Hancock on a single document) and it was $180!! I called them up and they stated it was setup fees, taxes, and installation. Then I realized it was broken up into 3 payments... meaning I would have been paying over $400 for the 1st 3 months just to have a mediocre 3mbit line!

I decided to cancel and get my money back becuase I was no satisfied, and ohhhh the headache to go through that process was HORRIBLE. They started spewing out lies about cable being unsafe, and how I signed a contract (incorrect- I never once signed a contract), and all kind of ridiculous excuses.

Needless to say, I finally got my money back and every dime I was charged had been returned after hours on end of talking to brick walls and morons. Lesson learned- DSL companies are getting desperate to keep some income by screwing the customer with hidden fees/terms.

...oh, and STAY AWAY FROM EMBARQ!!

[eufreka @ Jul 8th 2007 3:39PM]

I signed up for the 10/deal the first day...it was unbelievably easy and well-organized...the absolute opposite of cable internet companies...

I was up and running in 5 days (still have my cable internet too).

It's great! People having problems are people who create problems...I never even had to talk to anyone.

Meanwhile, my neighbor's cable is still running across the yard 2 MONTHS LATER waiting for them to bury it.

[The ZeroCorpse @ Jul 8th 2007 10:08PM]

I had this deal for about two years in a row (I moved, so the second year was considered a whole new contract with me as a new customer). Now I'm on the faster grade of DSL service (3 Mbps) , and I like it a lot for $20 a month. I've never had any problems with it.

I was on Comcast cable for a while, and I HATED it. The service was crap. If the bill was more than a day late, they'd cut it off and charge an additional fee for re-starting the service, and in the evenings that "high speed" got really slow because everybody in the neighborhood shared the same network at the same time. It got bogged down fast.

And Comcast's customer service is utter crap. If I had a problem with the service (it went down a LOT) they couldn't troubleshoot over the phone-- They had to schedule an appointment and I had to wait a few days for someone to come over and do all the stuff I just tried before telling me that there was a problem with the servers or something wrong at the main junction or whatever. DSL rarely fails, and when it does, it's usually because something on my end needs to be reset.

I've got nothing bad to say about AT&T's DSL service, except that their allegiance with Yahoo! is kind of a joke and they could probably go it alone without all the Yahoo! junk connected to it.

[mr_mike1972 @ Jul 9th 2007 3:30PM]

what a bonehead. . . i signed my parents up for it. . . took all of about 10 mins on the ATT website. . . had the modem in a week. . . is this guy a freaking idiot?

[skytrecker @ Jul 11th 2007 6:49PM]

The sign up is easy, but I already have an AT&T land line and AT&T is rushing to complete the buildout of VRAD units all over our (BigTen) campus/city. I'm in a newer 10 yr old res. area, less than 2 miles from downtown and AT&T says no DSL is available in my neighborhood. :(