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Comment by e40 | Hacker News Reader

Sonic.net moved into my area last year and offered 10Gbps service for $40/mo (now $50).

At the time, I was on Comcast. 65/15 Mbps for $130/mo. I had this service for 10+ years and I was unable to upgrade to faster speeds without paying more.

I was one of the first people in my area to switch. Once I did, I got a call from Comcast saying they'd lower my bill to $50/mo. I saw their (and AT&T) trucks in my area and got ads in my mailbox for $40/mo 1Gbps connections.

The problem is, most places in the US do not have competition and Comcast and AT&T will not lift a finger to provide better service.

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There was a similar situation when Google Fiber was rolled out in Provo Utah. Comcast essentially had a monopoly (they're the only ones allowed to put their cables on the power lines), they charge huge amounts for their internet, Google Fiber buries their fiber lines and suddenly Comcast drops prices begging people to stay.

I had to use Comcast for years, they lied to me many times and I finally escaped to a place with a different provider. Suddenly, this year Comcast comes and buries fiber lines in my area.

I will deliberately avoid Comcast, competition is absolutely required to keep prices down.

I am beginning to accumulate instances of recording when Comcast lied to me personally. They patently lied straight to my face (over phone, over chat) on numerous distinct points. The most recent was outright fraudulent not canceling my phone plan despite 3 separate requests. They lied about my home having its previous tenant using their services. It did not, the last customer was apparently the original home owner who had RG59 cable installed. The tech who installed the system pretty much point blank said this house could not have had Comcast cable in the last decade or more because we switched to RG6 years ago.

I don't get how such a company can tolerate bald face liars working for them in so many segments of their staff, it's mind boggling and makes me think there are scumbags at the top who encourage this stuff or knowingly look the other way.

When have they scammed enough customers to attract a proper class action lawsuit?

(I'm asking this as a non-American who is more used to governments passing consumer protection laws)

"We don't care, we don't have to, we're the phone company."

> We don't care, we don't have to, we're the phone company."

Hah! Haven't thought of that one in years. (You're dating yourself, BTW.)

For young whippersnappers, this is from https://vimeo.com/355556831 — a Lily Tomlin bit on SNL in the 70s, reprising one of her famous recurring characters from Laugh-In in the late 60s.

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