Every weekend, when I sit down to write these articles, I cringe at the thought of coming up with new subjects and ideas. My goal is to give you, the reader, something new and different to sink your teeth into each week. Many of the readers I talk with each week tell me they look forward to opening the paper to my article.
This week has been a pretty busy week for us with many questions about internet subscriptions, the DNS-changer virus, and hoards of other queries. This weekend I’m cringing because there are so many subjects to write about I can’t decide which is more important. I decided to take a unique approach and blend the ideas into one.
Many customers in the Gardner area received notices this week from their cable internet provider suggesting equipment may be infected with the DNS-changer virus. In a nutshell, the virus takes over how computers route to the internet; changing the path of data flow. The FBI took control of the equipment to prevent internet blackouts; however, the government discontinued this support on July 9th.
My little store received hoards of phone calls regarding this notice and many more customers stopped in. One customer from Westminster gave me a copy of the notice and showed me the rates she was quoted to remove the virus. The good: The internet provider was more than willing to help remove the virus and keep it off. The bad: They charge a base fee of $90.00, plus $17.00 per month according the customer.
A gentleman in Hubbardston contacted me regarding a bill he received for almost $3,000.00 from his provider. Several years ago he signed up for the bundle package from his provider which should have saved him $40.00 per month. He explained everything was going fine and he had been budgeting $80.00 per month for the service until he opened his last bill.
On my suggestion he called the provider and reported the company made a mistake and never raised his rate after the 90 day teaser rate plan expired. For years he had been paying the reduced rate and finally a bean counter caught the error and issued a bill for the total he should have been paying. My final suggestion to this gentleman was to ask to speak to a manager and dispute the charge. Contractually he is bound to pay; but, the vendor clearly made a mistake and should excuse the past due.
I have had a couple reports from customers in my Athol store regarding the regional cable internet provider. One woman told me an interesting story about her rates and how they fluctuated. Frustrated with the prices she was paying, she started shopping for other options. Armed with lower prices from a competitive service, she called her current provider and quoted the rates with a threat she was leaving. The company was pleased to drop her rates and rewrite her contract.
I decided to put my own provider to the test and give them an idle threat. I threatened to change service because my internet prices are too high. Initially, the representative offered the same service at a slightly lower rate. After twenty minutes on the phone and a few more threats I was transferred to someone called a retention expert. Rates dropped almost $20.00 per month from my initial contract and I was changed to a month-to-month schedule.
Sometimes it pays to research your service providers and compare. Just because a company is the only one of its kind to provide service in an area doesn’t mean it’s the best or that you’re paying the least. In these economic times we have to evaluate our bills, monitor recurring bills and really question the services we’re paying for. You may just save a few hundred dollars per year.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him directly at (978) 919-8059) or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.