Paid for "AT&T High Speed Internet" for *YEARS* but got S*L*O*W

[silverfrog]

I have had DSL from AT&T (initially from SBC-bought by AT&T) for about 12 years.

It has always been slow.

By this, I mean that I have *never* been able to watch a YouTube (or any downloaded video) without excessive buffering.

By excessive buffering I mean a 5 minute video takes 15-20 minutes to watch.

Last week I mentioned this to my tech-savvy son who pointed out that it should NEVER have been this slow.

I called AT&T and on the second attempt (the first one to the Philippines said he scheduled a service call, but didn't) got a technician to come out.

The technician came out. I ran a speed test for him which consistently came in about 0.62 Mbps. He then called in, told them to check my line and if it wasn't set to 1.5 Mbps, to make sure it was. They told him my line was set to 0.768 Mbps and they changed it to 1.5Mbps. Instantly my speed went up to 1.35Mbps. I can now watch YouTube and Hulu without buffering.

I quizzed the technician about what had happened. He said that the AT&T routers were providing DSL to my line at 1.5 Mbps, but that they were providing it through another "provider", a middleman, as it were, who was only providing it to me at 0.768 Mbps. The Customer Service Rep knew nothing of this, stating the company line that, "we repeatedly test our lines to insure we are providing the speed we say we are." If that were the case, why didn't they see that I was only getting 0.62 Mbps? The technician said that he would record what had happened in my account.

I believe that AT&T has been promising "High Speed Internet" for many years, but actually providing "slow speed internet". In other words, I have been overcharged for many years.

I called AT&T Customer Service, explained the situation and was told that they would credit my bill with $10. Considering that AT&T has been overcharging me for years, this is not only unconscionable, it is insulting. I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told that the supervisor was in a meeting and would call me back.

It has been several hours and it must be a really long meeting because no one has called me back. What a surprise.

Who do I need to contact to get back the excess I have paid?

[sws420]

This is the exact situation I am in. When I got to 65% of my allowable usage, they doubled my payments.  They have been ripping me off and ignoring me for 10 years now. I have had enough. I would drop them like a hot rock if I could find another provider.