6 ms·

I lived in a building that had an exclusive deal with AT&T. Problem was they were out of "connections," and couldn't hook me up. I only had my cellphone hotspot

I lived in a building that had an exclusive deal with AT&T. Problem was they were out of "connections," and couldn't hook me up. I only had my cellphone hotspot for months, until I threatened to write a letter to the FCC and CPUC about their "monopolistic" practices in my building. They got a tech out the next day.

r00fus 10y ago
If only more folks knew how the Telecoms/Utilities dreaded the public utilities commissions. If the FCC and PUCs could do marketing, that'd be awesome, but I'm sure some corporate crony politician (or even judge) would shut that down...
- Hupriene 10y ago
  This seems like a good use case for a PAC. Maybe you could get Netflix et al. to pitch in?
  - losteric 10y ago
    That's a PAC I could get behind
cm3 10y ago
Did you skip mailing the FCC/CPUC because you didn't want to piss off the landlord? I mean, you may have gotten on their naughty list either way, and it's important for the FCC to get more such complaints to take action.
therein 10y ago
I had the same experience in SF. AT&T tried to sell me 28Mbit for $75/month in SoMa and the building didn't allow me to bring Monkeybrains. They just said no and told me they had an exclusivity agreement with AT&T. Called Comcast, they told me they can't because the address looks like a business address despite being residential. I called the AT&T representative they got me in touch with. I told them about how what they are doing is illegal and they can't limit me to use this etc. They backed down. Gave me free cable, 50% off, waived the installation fee and came and installed it in a day. Their previous estimate for an installation was two to three weeks.
- jameskegel 10y ago
  You showed them that this tactic works, and have rewarded them for anti-competitive behavior. I wish I could say you've won in this situation, but at what cost to the rest of us?
  - cdubzzz 10y ago
    This. Reading this and the original comment is really weird. "They tried to lock me in, but I showed them by locking myself in _faster_!"
    - sliverstorm 10y ago
      A big reason lockin is bad is because they can screw you on price, right? So getting a fair price is, to some degree, beating lockin?
      - TeMPOraL 10y ago
        It depends on whether you only care about yourself, or think a little bit about others in your situation too. While the poster got himself a nicer deal, taking it only incentivizes the company to continue with this practice. After all, per one HNer who can negotiate a better arrangement, they'll have a hundred schmucks who will take the default. Now, I understand that in real life, it's not an easy, abstract choice - you have "only human" issues playing part, like being tired and wanting to get the Internet situation sorted out ASAP. So to be clear - I'm not blaming the poster for choosing this way. But it was a suboptimal decision - and the kind of decision that lets schemes like this exist in the first place, so I wouldn't call it "beating lock-in".
        in_cahoots 10y ago
        I think that, for the vast majority of renters, getting a discount is about as much as you can hope for. We would all love to have the time and resources to take the telecoms to court and set a precedent, but 90% of us (probably more in SF and among Hacker News readers) don't have the luxury of doing without the Internet to make a stand.
nikanj 10y ago
They probably solved the issue by pulling someone else's plug out and putting yours in. Repeat every few weeks until number of customers drops under number of available ports in router/switch/gizmo.
- Retric 10y ago
  That's likely vastly more expensive than installing new equipment.
travelton 10y ago
I had this same problem with AT&T! Wasn't until I raised a childish stink on Twitter (eye roll) that it got resolved.
- dawnerd 10y ago
  Twitter is amazing for getting companies to fix problems. They absolutely hate bad publicity and will usually go out of their way to fix the issue, or at least push you into a DM with them to hide it. FCC complaints also go a long ways.
  - TeMPOraL 10y ago
    In Poland, where Twitter is much less popular, Facebook seems to serve that role too. A telcom cheated you out of half of your prepaid? Good luck sorting that out by calling their support. Post a comment on their Facebook page? They'll reimburse you in a day. That said, I'm having a hard time understanding this obsession over social media. I'm pretty sure that if most companies simply ignored complaints made over Twitter or Facebook, it wouldn't hurt them in any way.
    - vxNsr 10y ago
      I've noticed the same thing, they get so many complaints on twitter and facebook they could ignore them all like they do phone calls and no one would care
      - bgnm2000 10y ago
        I think you're missing the point... It is bad publicity if your followers read a negative thing you say about a company. But it is good publicity if that company publicly fixes it. They essentially turn customer service into free marketing (so maybe its intentional that its the more effective than other methods of communication for receiving customer support?).
        dawnerd 10y ago
tn13 10y ago
"exclusive deals" are sham just call up the competitor.
- justinlardinois 10y ago
  The whole premise of this discussion is that the competitor isn't an option in these situations. Read the article.
  - tn13 10y ago
    I have found in many cases that the rental property is simply bluffing. Just call up the competitor first. My landlord told me about his exclusive deal that will give me cheap AT&T connection. I simply called up Comcast and they gave me an internet connection that was cheaper.
justinph 10y ago
You should have filed a complaint either way. Filing a legitimate complaint with the FCC will get their attention ASAP. I've done it before with my ISP (RCN) and all of a sudden I was getting executive support and a much better deal. It works.

r00fus 10y ago

If only more folks knew how the Telecoms/Utilities dreaded the public utilities commissions. If the FCC and PUCs could do marketing, that'd be awesome, but I'm sure some corporate crony politician (or even judge) would shut that down...

Hupriene 10y ago
This seems like a good use case for a PAC. Maybe you could get Netflix et al. to pitch in?
- losteric 10y ago
  That's a PAC I could get behind

cm3 10y ago

Did you skip mailing the FCC/CPUC because you didn't want to piss off the landlord? I mean, you may have gotten on their naughty list either way, and it's important for the FCC to get more such complaints to take action.

therein 10y ago

I had the same experience in SF. AT&T tried to sell me 28Mbit for $75/month in SoMa and the building didn't allow me to bring Monkeybrains. They just said no and told me they had an exclusivity agreement with AT&T. Called Comcast, they told me they can't because the address looks like a business address despite being residential. I called the AT&T representative they got me in touch with. I told them about how what they are doing is illegal and they can't limit me to use this etc. They backed down. Gave me free cable, 50% off, waived the installation fee and came and installed it in a day. Their previous estimate for an installation was two to three weeks.

jameskegel 10y ago
You showed them that this tactic works, and have rewarded them for anti-competitive behavior. I wish I could say you've won in this situation, but at what cost to the rest of us?
- cdubzzz 10y ago
  This. Reading this and the original comment is really weird. "They tried to lock me in, but I showed them by locking myself in _faster_!"
  - sliverstorm 10y ago
    A big reason lockin is bad is because they can screw you on price, right? So getting a fair price is, to some degree, beating lockin?
    - TeMPOraL 10y ago
      It depends on whether you only care about yourself, or think a little bit about others in your situation too. While the poster got himself a nicer deal, taking it only incentivizes the company to continue with this practice. After all, per one HNer who can negotiate a better arrangement, they'll have a hundred schmucks who will take the default. Now, I understand that in real life, it's not an easy, abstract choice - you have "only human" issues playing part, like being tired and wanting to get the Internet situation sorted out ASAP. So to be clear - I'm not blaming the poster for choosing this way. But it was a suboptimal decision - and the kind of decision that lets schemes like this exist in the first place, so I wouldn't call it "beating lock-in".
      - in_cahoots 10y ago
        I think that, for the vast majority of renters, getting a discount is about as much as you can hope for. We would all love to have the time and resources to take the telecoms to court and set a precedent, but 90% of us (probably more in SF and among Hacker News readers) don't have the luxury of doing without the Internet to make a stand.

nikanj 10y ago

They probably solved the issue by pulling someone else's plug out and putting yours in. Repeat every few weeks until number of customers drops under number of available ports in router/switch/gizmo.

Retric 10y ago
That's likely vastly more expensive than installing new equipment.

travelton 10y ago

I had this same problem with AT&T! Wasn't until I raised a childish stink on Twitter (eye roll) that it got resolved.

dawnerd 10y ago
Twitter is amazing for getting companies to fix problems. They absolutely hate bad publicity and will usually go out of their way to fix the issue, or at least push you into a DM with them to hide it. FCC complaints also go a long ways.
- TeMPOraL 10y ago
  In Poland, where Twitter is much less popular, Facebook seems to serve that role too. A telcom cheated you out of half of your prepaid? Good luck sorting that out by calling their support. Post a comment on their Facebook page? They'll reimburse you in a day. That said, I'm having a hard time understanding this obsession over social media. I'm pretty sure that if most companies simply ignored complaints made over Twitter or Facebook, it wouldn't hurt them in any way.
  - vxNsr 10y ago
    I've noticed the same thing, they get so many complaints on twitter and facebook they could ignore them all like they do phone calls and no one would care
    - bgnm2000 10y ago
      I think you're missing the point... It is bad publicity if your followers read a negative thing you say about a company. But it is good publicity if that company publicly fixes it. They essentially turn customer service into free marketing (so maybe its intentional that its the more effective than other methods of communication for receiving customer support?).
      - dawnerd 10y ago

tn13 10y ago

"exclusive deals" are sham just call up the competitor.

justinlardinois 10y ago
The whole premise of this discussion is that the competitor isn't an option in these situations. Read the article.
- tn13 10y ago
  I have found in many cases that the rental property is simply bluffing. Just call up the competitor first. My landlord told me about his exclusive deal that will give me cheap AT&T connection. I simply called up Comcast and they gave me an internet connection that was cheaper.

justinph 10y ago

You should have filed a complaint either way. Filing a legitimate complaint with the FCC will get their attention ASAP. I've done it before with my ISP (RCN) and all of a sudden I was getting executive support and a much better deal. It works.