Frontier used Time Warner Cable's usage cap experiment against them in this ad to attract new customers in the spring of 2009. Now they're no better.

Stop the Cap! reader Mike in Elk Grove, California reports his departure from Frontier Communications carried a goodbye kiss he’ll not soon forget: a $680 final bill made up primarily of early termination fees:

“I just got my Frontier bill after canceling (they canceled me because I ported my number to another provider),” Mike writes.  “The bill cycle was through 2/14/2011 (my contract ends on March 6, 2011).”

The bill was for $679.72.

More than 22 months into his 24 month contract, Frontier charged him early termination fees at the same rate he would pay if he departed 14 days into his term:

• High Speed Internet Loyalty Fee: $200
• Netbook Term Fee: $300
• California Unlimited Term: $200

The only reason his final bill was not higher is that he received some service credits for the partial month he was not their customer.

Needless to say, Mike is livid.  He is one of several Sacramento-area customers who received letters from Frontier threatening to terminate his Internet service if he did not reduce his usage.  When Mike ultimately decided to reduce his usage to zero and switch providers, Frontier dumped every termination fee it could find on Mike’s final bill.

But before Mike opens his checkbook, he (and any other customer gouged with early termination fees) should remember this:

Frontier cannot bill you early termination fees and expect to be paid when they unilaterally changed the terms of the contract.

From Frontier’s Terms and Conditions for High Speed Internet:

Our Right To Make Changes

UNLESS OTHERWISE PROHIBITED BY LAW, WE MAY CHANGE PRICES, TERMS AND CONDITIONS AT ANY TIME BY GIVING YOU 30 DAYS NOTICE BY BILL MESSAGE, E-MAIL OR OTHER NOTICE, INCLUDING POSTING NOTICE OF SUCH CHANGES ON THIS WEB SITE, UNLESS THE PRICES, TERMS AND CONDITIONS ARE GUARANTEED BY CONTRACT. YOU ACCEPT THE CHANGES IF YOU USE THE SERVICES AFTER NOTICE IS PROVIDED.

When Mike (among others) signed up for Frontier service, their broadband service did not carry any usage limits.  Frontier’s “price protection agreement” claims it will “lock in” your current price.  But Frontier violated their own contract when they sent letters to customers threatening to terminate their broadband service for using Internet service that had no specified usage limit and demanding they pay a higher price of up to $250 a month to continue service.  So much for “price protection.”

You are not obligated to accept Frontier’s unilateral action and can notify the company they have made a “materially adverse” change to your contract by specifying that you exceeded a never-defined usage limit (100GB), and that the company sought a price increase ranging from $99-250 to continue service with them.  If you exceeded 100GB a year ago, you would not have received this letter.  Today you will — and that is a change you need not accept.

Frontier defaulted on their obligations to you as a customer, and your recourse is to cancel the contract, penalty-free.

Frontier Communications’ outrageous term contract fees were precisely what got the company in hot water with the New York State Attorney General in 2009, and the company settled charges with refunds and waivers for those unjustly billed cancellation fees Frontier was not entitled to receive.  Apparently they have not learned their lesson.

Your response:

1. Send a registered, return receipt requested letter to Frontier notifying them under the terms of their own contract, you do not accept the changes outlined in their letter limiting your broadband service.  Your original contract with Frontier did not include a specified usage limit and now using more than 100GB results in a request to pay more or reduce usage.  That represents a “materially adverse change” in your agreement.
2. Under these conditions, you are exercising your right to depart, penalty-free, from your term contract with Frontier Communications.
3. Warn Frontier that any attempt to collect early termination fees or other cancellation fees will result in civil action appropriate to protect your credit rating and will trigger a complaint with the California Attorney General’s office.
4. Keep copies of all correspondence and record dates, times, and names of any representatives you speak with, as they will be helpful in any official investigations that follow.
5. Also be sure to proceed with the terms found on the back your Frontier bill to protest erroneous charges, preferably in writing.  You want a paper trail and you want to protect your credit rating from any adverse collection activity.

Mike has already contacted local media about his case, which is a smart idea.  Warning other consumers about the potential costs of doing business with Frontier is likely to only further deteriorate their reputation in the Elk Grove area.  Alienating and overcharging your customers is a great way to get them to share their story with as many people they can find, and that only makes a bad company look worse.

[flv width=”360″ height=”240″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WROC Rochester Frontier Flagged for Not Telling Customers About Fees 10-5-09.flv[/flv]

WROC-TV Rochester reported back in October, 2009 that Frontier was on the hook for hundreds of dollars in refunds to some customers. (2 minutes)

A wireless ISP (WISP) serving parts of Michigan and eastern Iowa has informed customers that due to their enthusiastic use of the Internet, the company was slapping a 5GB monthly usage limit on customers effective Feb. 1.

SpeedConnect, based in Saginaw, Mich., informed customers in a letter that those who exceed the company’s new usage limit face a penalty overlimit rate of $2.00 per gigabyte.  An alternative 200GB “Platinum” monthly usage plan, including phone service, was also announced for $69.99 per month.

That’s a steep rate increase for customers accustomed to receiving around 3Mbps download x 384Kbps upload speeds for $39.95 per month.

Too much for our reader Greg, who says he has been a SpeedConnect customer for the last decade.

“Ouch,” Greg writes.  “I’m changing ISPs over this.”

Company officials blame the usage limits on usage growth.  The company’s letter states, “[growth] is forcing us to make substantial upgrades to our networks and to rethink the way we provide service to our customers.”

Now customers will rethink using SpeedConnect for their Internet access.

SpeedConnect's letter to customers.

SpeedConnect’s attempt to collect upgrade funds from their customers, which the company admits are increasingly turning to broadband for home entertainment and information, comes at the same time the company had no trouble dipping into the kitty to buyout CommSpeed of Arizona’s 2.5GHz spectrum holdings and customers based in Eastern Iowa.

Saginaw, Mich.

AT&T DSL is one alternative.

The same CEO that signed the letter telling customers to use less of their service or pay dramatically more was thrilled about “the exciting new chapter” its merger/acquisition would open.

“The completion of this acquisition is a significant event for our customers, communities, investors, and employees,” said John A. Ogren, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Saginaw residents are not well-served by AT&T, which has left major gaps in the economically-stressed region’s broadband coverage options.  We had a hard time finding landlines in Saginaw and nearby townships pre-qualified for AT&T DSL to offer a price comparison.  After much searching, we discovered AT&T heavily markets DSL Pro ($35/$19.95 new customer promo price for one year) which delivers 3Mbps/512kbps service, or Elite ($40/$24.95 new customer promo price for one year) which offers 6Mbps/768kbps service to those who -can- get the service.

AT&T’s Pro plan delivers comparable speeds at lower prices than SpeedConnect charges, all with no usage limits.  Users seeking higher speeds can use them without fear of overlimit penalties or a $70 broadband bill using AT&T’s Elite DSL plan.

SkyWeb is the other.

Greg also notes he has another wireless option, as do many residents and business across central Michigan’s Tri City area, from SkyWeb, which delivers wireless access at speeds ranging from 3-10Mbps.  The company does not limit usage and offers new customers a month of free service.  A comparable package of services from SkyWeb at 3Mbps is priced $10 less than what SpeedConnect charges.

Wireless ISPs have unique problems trying to keep up with usage demands:

1. Many are individually owned and operated and lack sufficient capital to invest in required upgrades to meet today’s Internet multimedia reality;
2. Many WISPs serve rural areas where growth opportunities are often limited;
3. A few very heavy users could create significant strains on a wireless network that is not infinitely expandable;
4. The arrival of competition from telephone, cable, or even cell-phone wireless data plans can present a major threat to the business plans of some providers.

[flv width=”384″ height=”236″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WNEM Saginaw Air Advantage Broadband Grant 9-2010.flv[/flv]

WNEM-TV covered Air Advantage, another regional WISP that won a broadband stimulus grant last fall to expand wireless access in mid-Michigan.  (2 minutes)

If you are a Time Warner Cable “digital phone” customer living in New York or western Massachusetts, you can get a few dollars of your money back thanks to serious outages that have plagued the cable company for the past two weeks.

The worst problems occurred yesterday, when customers across the entire region couldn’t make or receive calls in many instances.

“My wife said it was like the whole system crashed,” reports Stop the Cap! reader Marcus, who lives near Syracuse.  “A lot of people here are very upset.”

Marcus reports he couldn’t even work around the outage by trying to set up call forwarding to send calls to his cell phone or another Voice Over IP provider.

“I tried to forward my Time Warner calls to a Vonage number I have and that didn’t work either,” Marcus writes.

We heard from several readers in Rochester, Albany, Syracuse, and even into western parts of Massachusetts that calling a Time Warner Cable customer from a cell phone or a landline from Verizon or Frontier was nearly impossible without getting a recording or busy signal.

Small business customers using Time Warner’s phone service were also impacted in some cases.

Lakeview Deli in Saranac Lake posted a message on its Facebook page just before noon, advising its customers to call in their lunch orders using a cell phone number because of the problems with its main phone line. Owner John Van Anden said he normally gets 30 to 40 calls around the lunch hour; he got only four on Tuesday.

“It hurt (business) quite a bit just because you can’t get phone calls from customers,” he said.

The outage, which lasted more than 12 hours, was reportedly finally fixed by the cable company last evening at around 11pm.  No explanation for the outage was given by Time Warner Cable.

This is the third major service problem for Time Warner’s phone service this month:

1. Time Warner misdirected 911 emergency service calls to a call center in Colorado;
2. Time Warner underestimated call volumes, leaving customers in central New York with “all circuits are busy” recordings or busy signals;
3. Yesterday’s collapse of Time Warner’s phone network.

“Wow, this is starting to make Frontier look good again,” says our Rochester reader Kevin.  “I’ll be dropping my phone service with the cable company when my promotion ends and sticking with my Verizon cell phone.”

With all of these service outages, you know what that means — it’s time to go grab those service credits.  Customers in central New York can apply for at least a week of service credits because of the ongoing problems the company faces handling call volumes.  Everyone else in the region with “Digital Phone” service qualifies for a day’s worth of credit.  But you won’t get it unless you ask.  We’ve made asking simple, with our cut and paste process:

Stop the Cap! Presents Your Easy Service Credit Request Menu

Customers in the northeast can request one day of credit for yesterday’s phone outage.  Residents in central New York, including Syracuse — can ask for one week of credit for ongoing call congestion problems.

Sample Request You Can Cut and Paste:

I am writing to request one day service credit for the phone service outage that occurred in my area yesterday, Tuesday Jan. 18th. Please credit my account.

[Central NY Residents ONLY]: I am writing to request a credit for one week of telephone service to cover the company’s ongoing intermittent call connection problems in our area as well as yesterday’s (Jan. 18) more widespread service disruption.  I am concerned about the repeated problems Time Warner seems to be having in correctly servicing my telephone needs.  Please credit my account.

Use the Online E-Mail form, select Billing Inquiry, and send a message requesting credit.

[flv width=”480″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSYR Syracuse Another Phone Outage 1-18-11.flv[/flv]

WSYR-TV in Syracuse is spending plenty of time covering Time Warner’s phone outages and other problems.  Here’s the fourth report this month, covering yesterday’s widespread problem. (Warning: Loud Volume) (2 minutes)

Talk. Watch. Surf. Cancel. -- Major price increases on the way for Frontier FiOS customers in Indiana.

When is a rate increase not just a rate increase?  When it’s also “an attractive offer.”

Frontier Communications is getting heat from consumers in Fort Wayne, Ind., with news their Frontier FiOS TV bill will skyrocket $12-30 higher in the coming month.

To distract from the disaster-in-the-making, Frontier representatives are waving shiny keys to customers preparing to depart, trying to “upgrade” Indiana residents back to satellite TV.

Don Banowetz, president of Frontier’s Midwest division, told Fort Wayne customers he was personally excited by the satellite offer, because customers can get free programming services for the remainder of 2011, a $700 value according to Banowetz.

“It’s not just a price increase, it’s an offer — a quite attractive offer,” Banowetz told INC Now.

Frontier is also pitching a free 32-inch “web-capable” digital television for customers signing an extended length contract.

Frontier says these televisions are going to revolutionize the way Americans watch TV over the next five years, and they believe their offer will be well-received by customers.

Not so much.

"It's not just a price increase, it's an offer!"

“I’ll bet their letter will leave out the part about how Frontier rations the Internet to their customers,” writes Fort Wayne resident Irv, who has been closely following Frontier’s Internet Overcharging antics in the Sacramento area.  “Will the coin slot be on the top or side of their television, because after you start watching, you’ll have to start paying.”

Frontier has sent letters to customers in Minnesota and California demanding up to $250 a month for residential broadband access because they used the company’s DSL service “too much.”

“Who wants to sign a two or three contract with Frontier, raise your hands,” Irv asks.  “They have just destroyed their FiOS TV service in Indiana — my fingers couldn’t dial the cable company fast enough as I take my business somewhere else.”

Another Fort Wayne resident — Nick Behm, has been following Stop the Cap! ever since Verizon announced it was selling Ft. Wayne’s phone lines to Frontier.

“You guys had this company nailed — Indiana’s regulators should hire you folks and some other actual consumers to review these deals before they get rubber-stamped, because Frontier is going to put themselves out of business and risk landline service throughout our area,” Behm writes.  “How can you ruin a fiber service that sells itself?  Let Frontier run it.”

Neither Behm or Irv will be taking up Frontier’s offer, although Behm still has a term contract of his own — with Verizon.

“I am protected from Frontier’s cash grab for several more months, so at least I have time to prepare for the forthcoming cancellation — bye, bye Frontier.”

[flv width=”432″ height=”260″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/INC Now Ft Wayne New Charges for Frontier Customers 1-18-11.mp4[/flv]

INC Now delivers the bad (and according to Frontier – good) news to Fort Wayne, Ind., FiOS TV customers — your rates are going up as much as $30 a month.  (1 minute)

Netgear's N300 Router

Test My ISP is a project underway in cooperation with the Federal Communications Commission and SamKnows, a broadband testing firm that has an excellent record in the United Kingdom, where it has been testing ISP claims vs. actual performance for a few years now.

Some of our readers decided to enroll in the ongoing speed test after reading an earlier article about the project, and it appears some of our readers have started receiving their test equipment — a Netgear N300 (WNR3500L) Gigabit Wireless Router — this week.

They are still accepting volunteers, and getting approved to participate appears to be easier than one might think (although it may be several weeks before you hear back).  All they ask is that you install their equipment in place of, or in tandem with your existing router, and allow it to “call home” occasional speed measurement results (which you can also monitor yourself) from time to time.  At the end of the three-year program, participants get to keep the wireless N router.

If you are a participant, we’d love to hear about your experiences in our comment section.  Have you been able to see the results of your own tests?  How do they compare with the speeds ISPs claim you will get in their marketing?

By the way, some reviews on the router are spotty, with the most frequent problems being:

• Limited range wireless
• Wireless connection drops frequently, requiring reset
• Auto-configuration does not work well
• Support comes from an Indian call center that never deviates from a script

Share your thoughts in the comment section.