AT&T (SBC) Yahoo Won't Allow Certain Modems

[HauseMan]

A friend lives in the metro Austin area, which is old SBC territory, and has a Broadmax HSA-300A2 DSL modem which he wants to use on his new AT&T account. The modem had been previously in service on a local (non-AT&T) phone company's DSL network with no problems.

My local AT&T DSL services utilize Westell Wirespeed modems, but those can be bought just as well as the others on the market.

Well, apparently AT&T in their infinite wisdom, ultimately won't let him use that modem, demanding that he buy one of THEIR modems instead. This after being told he could use said modem, and told him they were glad he owned his own equipment at that. What a crock !

Thus, he hasn't been able to get online at all, and is concerned about being billed for service he never received, nor was able to use. He is refusing to pay one thin dime, and is willing to take legal action if necessary, up to and/or including antitrust violations if applicable.

This issue makes about as much sense as the case where an ISP was blocking ports used by VoIP services, and were charged with antitrust violations. I smell a rat here, too.

Any attorney reading this thread would be welcome to reply, and I will forward any opinions back to my friend.

For once, I'm glad to be a cable customer.....

[HauseMan]

Well, gang, here it is. After much wrangling with AT&T, my buddy finally blew his stack and ordered his service terminated, and his account totally credited. AT&T will forever be a thorn in his side, and they'll never get his business again, no matter what.

They kept saying that they have some kind of agreement going on that they have to sell a particular modem, and they don't allow any others. To me, that's antitrust. I'm glad I stuck with cable....my ISP doesn't care if I have my own modem, which can be bought at Wal-Mart for $60, as long as I have a good MAC address. So what's up with AT&T ???

Any plaintiff's attorneys around ????

[hinckley]

Originally Posted by HauseMan

Well, gang, here it is. After much wrangling with AT&T, my buddy finally blew his stack and ordered his service terminated, and his account totally credited. AT&T will forever be a thorn in his side, and they'll never get his business again, no matter what.

Well I'm glad that they at least fully credited his account. Hardware exclusivity is completely ridiculous, if that is what they have done.

[HauseMan]

Well...MAYBE they credited his account. One never really knows if it actually happened. He's so hopping mad, that if they did not credit his account, he'll be attempting to sue.

It smells of antitrust, big-time, if only because one can go and buy a DSL modem online, from a number of vendors, and when a company wants to play exclusive, that action smacks the customer in the face. A good deal of customers don't mind, because they aren't usually owning their own equipment. This person is the exception to the rule.

Oh well....I'm sticking with Comcast, at least I can call someone locally, and usually settle a problem. They've bent over backwards for me in the last couple of years. I've had modems replaced a few times, techs out at my place, and plenty of service credit. I'm not going anywhere for a while. So there's a plug for Comcast.