Shame on you AT&T!

AT&T has stooped to a new low by running "confusion" ads in Louisville, KY.  The ads obviously were designed to suggest that their bundled pricing is more of a guarantee than ours.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

We sent a letter to AT&T asking them to stop misleading consumers and guess what -- their lawyers refused. 

I'll be specific and you judge for yourself.

Here's what they say in the big print:

Insight's $95 Triple Play bundle promotional prices start low and go up over time.  But you get the same price every month with the AT&T Triple Pack. 

But here's what their tiny fine print says about their bundled pricing in their ad:

rates subject to change without notice...offers may be modified or discontinued without notice"

They claim that our "promotional" rate is a short-term deal, compared to their bundled offer.  But the truth is, our deal is guaranteed for a full year while theirs isn't guaranteed for even one day. 

Isn't it enough that we are competing with the behemoth, reconstituted Ma Bell, which alone is larger than every cable operator in the U.S. cable industry combined?  Are they so desperate that they have to mislead people in their advertising in order to lure them in? 

Shame on you AT&T!  Consumer beware.

Comments

[Pepe Gwynn]

I agree -ATT is present false information- my neighbor got caught up in a contract and less internet speed with bad HD reception -only available on one television.

[Brett Wilkerson]

AT&T has billboards all over Evansville saying "Insight can't compare to our triple pack for $75 a month", but they fail to mention that their internet is 8 times slower than ours, and TV service is provided by Dish Network that goes out everytime the weather is bad. And I really love the "tired of Insight" commercials on TV. It's too bad that they're threatened by such a small company, but good for Insight. :)

[PCChick]

I wish Insight would come back with a advertisement that compares ATT (slow,slower,slowest)-vs- Insight speed, performance and cable reliability. I do wish Insight should come up with a lower speed cable so they can compete "speed to speed". I think the elderly could really benefit from lower rates, they mostly use it for e-mail and have such low usage. Just a thought.

Also, why doesn't someone buy that ATT guy a razor. He looks like a bum.

[Draxx]

Yes I hate those misleading ads! I also hate the misleading sales calls from God knows what country, (sounds like an Indian accent on the phone) trying to convince me that my 10 meg cable internet is actually slower than their 1.5 meg DSL service....give me a break!

[Danny McGlone]

Ive been an insight customer for 1 1/2 yrs and started with 10.0 and now its 20.0 or something like that and next year its something higher why am I not getting the same download speed.Its like if I buy a computer today its outdated in a year,

[Jeff S.]

Takes misleading advertising to know misleading advertising I say.

I have an apartment in both Louisville and Lexington due to my job. In lexington I use Insight as my tv and internet provider and started using Insight for the same services in Louisville.

Insight runs commericals stating that its technology is far better the sat., because storms cause the picture to go out on sat. My parents who have Dish Network experience this maybe 2 - 3 times a year. While my cable has gone out (for more than an hour) twice this month already. The picture quality of Insight is less then what I have seen on sat. and what some telephone companies are offering such as Verizons FiOs or AT&T's U-verse. It also seems that every other Television distributor offers more HD choices then Insight as well.

In both Lexington and Louisville I subscribed to Insight BB 10.0, but rarely ever saw this speed. Internet would come to a crawl in the afternoons around 4PM till about 9 PM. So while Insight may advertise the fastest Internet speed possible, what times exactly do they provide these speeds?

I have since dropped internet service in Louisville for AT&T's 6.0 DSL. Would do the same in Lexington but it is not available. Since the switch I always get the speed I pay for and could not be more pleased. Unfortantly Sat. is not an option for me as I have apartments that do not allow the dishes so I remain an Insight customer due to lack of choice as I suspect many others do as well.

Simply put, Insight is not innocent from misleading advertising, and those living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

[Tom]

The simple fact is that none of these services (including Insight) has any deal that gives the customer the advertised product for the advertised price.

EVERY ad has some disclaimer about rates being subject to change and most have 'fine print' admitting that other charges and fees may apply. The bottom line is that a $99 deal costs about $128 before the "taxes and fees" get tacked on, making the total over $140.

This isn't limited to just the cable industry, look at the bill for any of your subscription type services, home phone, cell phone, etc.

What really bugs me is that none of the companies (again including Insight) will give the customer a straight answer about the actual cost of any of their products.