getting out of a DSL contract

[wpeng]

So I've been having several connection problems with my Time Warner Cable lately, I decided to switch to ATT DSL because I had good experiences with them in the past. I don't use a landline, so I tried the DSL basic dry loop. Long story short, I'm getting worse speeds than TWC at the same rated speed and the same price, but ATT has a year contract and TWC does not. I found out that the contract is cancelled if I upgrade to the next higher speed, but is it possible to upgrade and then cancel right afterwards without suffering a cancellation fee?

 

[imagoon]

Call AT&T. You signed the contract, we don't really know the terms. Most have an out where you pay a cancellation fee. Maybe tell them you are not happy with the service?

 

[TheKub]

Nomally there is a 30day window in which to cancel without a fee.

 

[kornphlake]

Call them and tell them you are experiencing problems. When I had ATT/SBC DSL they were very helpful improving the line quality and connection reliability. I did need one in home visit to finally resolve the problem, because the problem was not caused by my in house wiring the visit cost me nothing. You want to be sure the problem is not in your in house wiring or you'll eat the cost of a truck roll which used to be about $120 + an hourly rate if the visit takes more than 90 minutes. ISPs are all crooks, it's just a matter of finding the crook who will steal the least from your bank account. Good luck getting things sorted out!

 

[wpeng]

Thanks for the advice guys. I had the phone support people check my connection, and as far as they could tell, there wasn't anything wrong with it. I doubt there is anything wrong with it, it's just not as fast as my previous service.

Apparently there is no term that says I can cancel out within a certain period, but I was in fact able to remove the contract by upgrading to a higher service. And actually, I think I can cancel immediately afterwards, only getting billed for the fraction of the month that I had the service on. Better than nothing, I guess.

 

[ecom]

Is the next service tier even available in your area? Since you are not getting the rated speed, it seems silly to think that AT&T would allow you to upgrade your service. My ISP is a CLEC that also resells AT&T DSL and they have reported that the tiers have hard limits based on distance to the CO.

However, they also sell their own DSL service and they are not bound by such limits so they can be a bit flexible based on their own distance guidelines. For example I am about 200 ft too far for 6Mbps and 1200 ft too far for AT&T DSL but I am still able to subscribe and get about 99% of the speed I pay for.

This is based on speculation that you are not getting the rated speed due to distance from the CO.