I think they stopped viewing us as people a long time ago. The administration has essentially become Mr Krabs and they only see walking wallets instead of a population
I was looking at prices today, turns out I can get a symmetric and uncapped plan in Brazil that costs 1/5th of what I pay in the US. It's a fucking cartel.
Yeah but minimum wage is 80$ / month and you have to choose between betting shop and internet every month.
Like some kind of real life adaptation of "Papers, please"
Centurylink added a fun one for me, a building relocation fee, I shit you not.
They mailed me paperwork stating how they need to charge an extra fee for when roads expand or move, and they have to relocate a building. So instead of just setting aside some of their profit for the few times they'll need to move a fucking building, now I get to specifically pay for this occurrence.
I understand this, but now they get to double dip, have a high price, AND charge more. Instead of having all the pricing roled into the final price, they get to say $65/m *
with additional taxes and fees
They also get to invent new situations to charge you for. Instead of just, "our service costs this much" they now get to add additional things like:
Hail damage recovery fee
Flood damage recovery fee
Who knows if they ever actually have to relocate a building like they told me. I'd like to see some figures in how often that actually happens, and how much it costs them as a company.
I don't know why you've been down voted. This is the way businesses operate. They either tell you the reason for an added fee or they hide it in a price increase.
And now that they don't have to report them, how do they ask you to pay for them?
Here in Finland, you sing up for an internet connection for a certain price a month, usually for 12/24/36 months at a time and... That's literally it. E.g I have 250/250 fibre for 35€/month for the next year. If they want me to pay more, they'll have to increase the price next year when I renew it.
You're shopping internet plans. You see a plan that seems like a good deal to you and meets your needs. The price listed in bold text on the website is $50/month. If you look closely, there's a little asterisk referencing tiny text at the bottom of the page that simply says something like "plus additional fees."
So you feel it's a good deal, so you move forward. You enter all your personal info, everything needed to set things up. Then you get to checkout...and the price has increased to $70/month, inflated by a bunch of bogus fees.
You would think this wouldn't make a difference in your decision-making, but it does. It actually changes what the average person is willing to pay. Among the reasons:
Anchoring: When you're shopping, you've already subconsciously decided the plan is a good deal at $50. Then you put in the time investment to set up the account. When they spring the fees on you, your mind is in a state where it really doesn't want to reconsider things. You've already finished the price comparison portion of the task! So even though you can see the price increase, the plan still subconsciously feels like it's $50/month.
Anti-Competitive Behavior: these fees make cost comparisons much more difficult. The only way to see all the fees that your account will be charged is to go through most of the account sign-up process. You can't just quickly pull up the websites of various ISPS and quickly compare their plans/rates.
In Spain I signed my contract about 5 years ago for 200/200 fiber and they no longer offer it so they changed it to 800/800 but the price stayed the same. The contract renews automatically every year.
The metronet fee is what they said for keeping maintenance on the ont and the cost sending an tech out. They put in place in last year working their before they laid me off.
Let's be honest though. This policy was a chicken-shitted rule only a liberal could love. Should we ban ISPs from tacking on extra fees and simply charging the sticker price? No, instead let's just require them to disclose it in the fine print!
34 Comments
PattyMcB@lemmy.world · 101 pts · 27d
Those poor ISPs...
Why does this administration hate the American people so much?
Jesusaurus@lemmy.world · 37 pts · 27d
It's not that it hates people! It just values their money and ability to take that money over everything else!
Broadfern@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 27d
It hates poor people. And punishes those poor people by continuously poor-er-izing them
CIA_chatbot@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 27d
Which is everyone with a net worth less than 1 billion dollars
PattyMcB@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 27d
I don't know... some of the shit they've been doing and saying really seems hateful (above and beyond greedy corruption) at times
BadlyTimedLuck@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 26d
I think they stopped viewing us as people a long time ago. The administration has essentially become Mr Krabs and they only see walking wallets instead of a population
SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 26d
Because the American people were stupid enough to vote for them.
6_Electrons@lemmy.world · 34 pts · 27d
What a wild world... Lived in the US my whole life... Figured I could do better else where so I left.
Now for internet I pay $22 a month and get symmetrical 700mbps...
eager_eagle@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 27d
I was looking at prices today, turns out I can get a symmetric and uncapped plan in Brazil that costs 1/5th of what I pay in the US. It's a fucking cartel.
danielfm123@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 27d
Chile too
6_Electrons@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 26d
I'm not far from either of those companies
creamfresh@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 27d
eh so definitely not Germany then
Sinax@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 26d
8$ / month in Romania for 2Gb/s. Also, you can download ANYTHING here.
jnod4@lemmy.ca · -5 pts · 26d
Yeah but minimum wage is 80$ / month and you have to choose between betting shop and internet every month. Like some kind of real life adaptation of "Papers, please"
Sinax@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 26d
Minimum wage is 630$ / month after taxes. Are you an American?
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net · 27 pts · 27d
Can someone share what fees they were charged while they were reporting it? In Europe my fees are:
What else can there be?
thesohoriots@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 27d
Meaningless vague stuff like this
paper_moon@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 27d
Centurylink added a fun one for me, a building relocation fee, I shit you not.
They mailed me paperwork stating how they need to charge an extra fee for when roads expand or move, and they have to relocate a building. So instead of just setting aside some of their profit for the few times they'll need to move a fucking building, now I get to specifically pay for this occurrence.
frongt@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 27d
You were paying for it either way, they just broke it out as a line item.
paper_moon@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 27d
I understand this, but now they get to double dip, have a high price, AND charge more. Instead of having all the pricing roled into the final price, they get to say $65/m *
They also get to invent new situations to charge you for. Instead of just, "our service costs this much" they now get to add additional things like:
Who knows if they ever actually have to relocate a building like they told me. I'd like to see some figures in how often that actually happens, and how much it costs them as a company.
Peffse@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 27d
the slight difference is that now it doesn't affect profits
jsnfwlr@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 11d
I don't know why you've been down voted. This is the way businesses operate. They either tell you the reason for an added fee or they hide it in a price increase.
eager_eagle@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 27d
"Deregulated Administration Fee" sounds like a fee for doing nothing
Verqix@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 27d
Sounds more like the fee they directly use for lobbying to reduce oversight on ISPs.
JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 27d
And now that they don't have to report them, how do they ask you to pay for them?
Here in Finland, you sing up for an internet connection for a certain price a month, usually for 12/24/36 months at a time and... That's literally it. E.g I have 250/250 fibre for 35€/month for the next year. If they want me to pay more, they'll have to increase the price next year when I renew it.
isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 26d
It's a slimy business tactic that applies the anchoring effect.
You're shopping internet plans. You see a plan that seems like a good deal to you and meets your needs. The price listed in bold text on the website is $50/month. If you look closely, there's a little asterisk referencing tiny text at the bottom of the page that simply says something like "plus additional fees."
So you feel it's a good deal, so you move forward. You enter all your personal info, everything needed to set things up. Then you get to checkout...and the price has increased to $70/month, inflated by a bunch of bogus fees.
You would think this wouldn't make a difference in your decision-making, but it does. It actually changes what the average person is willing to pay. Among the reasons:
Anchoring: When you're shopping, you've already subconsciously decided the plan is a good deal at $50. Then you put in the time investment to set up the account. When they spring the fees on you, your mind is in a state where it really doesn't want to reconsider things. You've already finished the price comparison portion of the task! So even though you can see the price increase, the plan still subconsciously feels like it's $50/month.
Anti-Competitive Behavior: these fees make cost comparisons much more difficult. The only way to see all the fees that your account will be charged is to go through most of the account sign-up process. You can't just quickly pull up the websites of various ISPS and quickly compare their plans/rates.
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net · 4 pts · 27d
In Spain I signed my contract about 5 years ago for 200/200 fiber and they no longer offer it so they changed it to 800/800 but the price stayed the same. The contract renews automatically every year.
notptr@lemmy.cyberia9.org · 2 pts · 26d
The metronet fee is what they said for keeping maintenance on the ont and the cost sending an tech out. They put in place in last year working their before they laid me off.
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net · 1 pts · 27d
Jesus, that's insane.
yestalgia@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 26d
phoenixz@lemmy.ca · 13 pts · 26d
USA?
USA...
paraphrand@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 27d
Brendan Carr is a dummy.
isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 8 pts · 26d
Let's be honest though. This policy was a chicken-shitted rule only a liberal could love. Should we ban ISPs from tacking on extra fees and simply charging the sticker price? No, instead let's just require them to disclose it in the fine print!
goatinspace@feddit.org · 7 pts · 27d