I just figured out that AT&T (formerly SBC) has been overcharging my family $20 a month for our home DSL service.
The company's current advertised price for "High Speed Internet Express" service is $29.99 a month, once you're past your initial one-year contract at the $12.99-$14.99 promotional rate. "Express" service means ADSL with up to 1.5 Mbps download and up to 384 Kbps upload, with one dynamic IP address. That's what we've got.
But AT&T is still billing us $49.95 a month for it.
And I'm willing to bet we have lots of company.
Here's the history: We signed up for a year of "Standard" DSL in April 2003. At the time, that meant paying $49.95 for 768 Kbps down and 128 up. That contract ran out in April 2004, and we continued with month-to-month service at the same price.
At some point -- about the same time as the contract ended, I think -- we noticed that our download speed had doubled and was now routinely testing at 1.2 Mbps or better. Hey, we thought, that's pretty cool. In retrospect, I guess that was SBC converting our "Standard" service to their new "Express" category, at the same $49.95 price. No complaints here.
But then last October SBC cut their "ongoing rate" for DSL Express accounts from $49.95 to $29.99. Same service, $20 a month cheaper... for people just like us, using "ongoing" month-to-month 1.5 Mbps service.
Only they didn't bother to tell us, or reduce our bills. So every month since last November, SBC/AT&T has billed us -- and we've paid -- twenty bucks that we didn't owe them.
Yes, of course, I'm going to call the company first thing tomorrow morning and demand our $160 back. And I'm pretty confident that I'll get it, though it may take some pushing and shoving.
But here's the thing: What if I hadn't noticed? AT&T has 7.4 million DSL lines in service across the country. At least a million -- maybe a lot more -- must be Standard/Express customers who've had their accounts for two or three years, like my family. How many are still shelling out fifty dollars a month for service that's supposed to cost them thirty? How much extra money has AT&T collected from all us schlubs? $150 million? $200 million?
And how much more will they collect before the word gets around and somebody makes them stop?
Once upon a time, the PUCO and Ohio Consumers Counsel were allowed to check into telephone company rates and billing practices. But now broadband services are deregulated (and soon, under "alternative regulation", basic phone rates will be too). No more PUCO jurisdiction, no more OCC authority. Nobody's watching any more.
We're on our own, folks. Ain't deregulation grand?