04-02-2013, 12:59 PM
Today in the mail I received competing offers from AT&T U-verse and Comcast Infinity. After careful perusal, I have no idea what their deals are.
Comcast includes a check for $200 visible through the window of the envelope. But upon opening, you see that it says down in the corner, "This is not a check." So-o-o-o Magritte, suitable for hanging, in my opinion. Also among Comcast's literature, there is this teaser: "Turn on the lights from your laptop!" No doubt they're throwing in a free lightbulb to screw into your butt. WTF? WTF! How do you make sense of any of this? Then there's that ever-popular phrase, "Starting as low as $99." Yeah, well, what is it for me? For what I want? Totally uninformative, designed merely to get you to call so they can give the big confusing spiel.
AT&T offers $300 back, clearly visible through the window of their envelope. Once inside, you see that this is predicated on qualifying bundles and via a promotion card. The two sheets of paper are packed with features and deals, but nowhere is a price ever mentioned. Here's their big spiel:
The ABCs of Switching:
A: Call <phone number>
B: Choose the package you want
C: Sit back and relax as it is all taken care of for you.
Something tells me they're leaving out the part where they empty your bank account.
Yes, the phone rage is back. I'm probably not the most stable person to get good advice from on this topic.
Here's what I did yesterday. I ordered AT&T's most basic phone service. Just an active phone line, that's it. And of course it has a phone number associated with it, but we won't hook a phone to it. BTW, it will be listed in the phone book because I'd have to pay AT&T to "not list" it. The fuckers! Unbelievable! So basic phone is $15/month, which is actually $20 after all their little extra charges. Then I ordered DSL from DSL Extreme for $15/month, which is more like $20/month after their extra charges. DSL Extreme needs a phone line to piggyback atop; that's the only reason I'm ordering anything from AT&T (they have a monopoly on the phone line). If I wanted, I could also order VOIP from another company for unlimited phone service for very little money, and it would piggyback on the DSL. Maybe $50/year.
But none of this addresses TV. And if you have a big HDTV, DM, you probably do want cable. And that's where my scheme wouldn't work for you. A bundle is likely your best bet. But nirvana help you in dealing with AT&T or Comcast, because they're wheeler-dealer wizards from the bowels of Cthulhu.
Comcast includes a check for $200 visible through the window of the envelope. But upon opening, you see that it says down in the corner, "This is not a check." So-o-o-o Magritte, suitable for hanging, in my opinion. Also among Comcast's literature, there is this teaser: "Turn on the lights from your laptop!" No doubt they're throwing in a free lightbulb to screw into your butt. WTF? WTF! How do you make sense of any of this? Then there's that ever-popular phrase, "Starting as low as $99." Yeah, well, what is it for me? For what I want? Totally uninformative, designed merely to get you to call so they can give the big confusing spiel.
AT&T offers $300 back, clearly visible through the window of their envelope. Once inside, you see that this is predicated on qualifying bundles and via a promotion card. The two sheets of paper are packed with features and deals, but nowhere is a price ever mentioned. Here's their big spiel:
The ABCs of Switching:
A: Call <phone number>
B: Choose the package you want
C: Sit back and relax as it is all taken care of for you.
Something tells me they're leaving out the part where they empty your bank account.
Yes, the phone rage is back. I'm probably not the most stable person to get good advice from on this topic.
Here's what I did yesterday. I ordered AT&T's most basic phone service. Just an active phone line, that's it. And of course it has a phone number associated with it, but we won't hook a phone to it. BTW, it will be listed in the phone book because I'd have to pay AT&T to "not list" it. The fuckers! Unbelievable! So basic phone is $15/month, which is actually $20 after all their little extra charges. Then I ordered DSL from DSL Extreme for $15/month, which is more like $20/month after their extra charges. DSL Extreme needs a phone line to piggyback atop; that's the only reason I'm ordering anything from AT&T (they have a monopoly on the phone line). If I wanted, I could also order VOIP from another company for unlimited phone service for very little money, and it would piggyback on the DSL. Maybe $50/year.
But none of this addresses TV. And if you have a big HDTV, DM, you probably do want cable. And that's where my scheme wouldn't work for you. A bundle is likely your best bet. But nirvana help you in dealing with AT&T or Comcast, because they're wheeler-dealer wizards from the bowels of Cthulhu.