![]() ![]() The Broadcast TV Surcharge has become a favorite way for cable providers to increase your bills without just outright increasing your TV or bundle package price. However, as part of their bundle this particular customer also receives a discount on their set-top box, and so the “promotional offer” line-item zeroes that one out again. ![]() When the FCC says American consumers are paying $20 billion a year in cable box rental fees, these are exactly the kind of fees they mean. This is the fee AT&T charges for your set-top box. This is the price you expect to pay, and the one you sign up for.ĥ.) AT&T U-verse TV 450 (Bundle Discount)ĪT&T’s tactic for encouraging customers to buy bundles is to point to high base prices but enormous, delineated “bundle discounts.” This $45 credit line-item is how AT&T squares its bundle pricing for this consumer. (See also #13 and #17 for the internet and phone portions.)Īs of April, 2016, the closest advertised bundle on AT&T’s website has a promotional rate of $30 less than this customer pays for an approximately equivalent level of service, but it is advertised like so: This is the TV portion of the bundle for which this customer subscribes. For this consumer, it’s both AT&T separates the jurisdictions into two separate line items. ![]() Physical equipment you rent is often subject to state sales tax, and sometimes county or city taxes too - all depending on where you live. Until 2015, AT&T did allow customers to purchase the gateway outright for a one-time $100 fee and avoid future monthly rental charges however, it no longer offers that option. So this is the subscriber’s modem/gateway rental fee for broadband access. ( KEY: The RED numbers are AT&T-originating fees BLUE numbers are government fees) Account Chargesįor whatever reason, AT&T lists its modem/gateway rental fee as separate and apart from its internet service and leads off the bill with it, even though other necessary equipment (like TV receivers) is listed under the appropriate service. To better understand each of these fees, we’ll go through the bill line-by-line: Some of those charges, of course, come from the law… but some come from good old-fashioned nickel-and-diming. Of that bill, $31.05 - a little more than 16% - comes from add-ons outside of the stated package price. Once you go through their total bill to subtract the promotional discounts but add in the various various taxes, surcharges, and fees this customer pays, however, you get to a total of $191.05. The below bill was provided to Consumerist by a real-life AT&T U-verse customer who subscribes to a triple-play TV, broadband, and phone package for a bundle rate of approximately $160 per month. In previous installations we’ve gone through Comcast, DirecTV, Charter, TWC, and FiOS now, it’s AT&T’s turn. Which ones should you blame the government for, and which are made up by your cable company? One cable company at a time, we’ve been using real customers’ bills to break it down. When you sign up for telecom services - some combination of TV, broadband, and/or phone - from your cable company, you’re told you’ll pay something like $49 or $99 a month… and yet the price you actually pay can be as much as 40% or more on top of that, thanks to a heap of sometimes confusing charges and fees. How is this not a familiar problem with a simple solution? Technicians have been unhelpful and have seem mystified, and there's no reason why locating the error once the balance is confirmed and making the adjustment should take hours.4.14.16 8:40 AM EDT By Kate Cox guides bills at&t uverse at&t uverse cable bill guides This error appeared suddenly on its own, and there is no late payment or outstanding balance. Have tried rebooting/repowering modem, U-Verse box, etc. Multiple technicians assured me that the issue would be fixed "later tonight" or "by tomorrow morning", to no avail, as it is now Thursday evening. Multiple calls to Billing/Accounting confirm that my balance is at 0, and there was no missed payment. This is on all channels except a few most local ones, and in the Guide every channel thus effected has been replaced by BILL and every program listed as AT&T Bill Pay Notification. Tuesday evening suddenly my U-verse service suddenly showed me a blue screen reading URGENT MESSAGE: To pay your AT&T bill today, go to att.com/myatt, use the myAT&T mobile app on your smartphone, or call 800.288.2020 and say "pay my bill" when prompted. ![]()
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