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AOL: High Speed*, Low Price

AOL high speedHistorically, people have complained that AOL is slow and expensive. Now they have formed a partnership with Verizon [disclosure: Verizon is a financial contributor to Mouse Print’s parent, Consumer World] to offer a combination package including Verizon DSL and AOL for $25.90 a month. That price is marginally more than AOL charges for dial-up service. (Unbundling that price, $17.99 is the Verizon DSL charge, and $7.91 goes to AOL. That is a real bargain for unlimited AOL.)

AOL also promises “high speed” and “true broadband” with this package, but what they consider “high speed” may not be what you consider fast.

*MOUSE PRINT: “Fast high-speed DSL: Up to 768 Kbps connection speed.” [Insert in SuperCoups envelope, newspaper supplement, April 2006.]

Standard dial-up speed is 56Kbps, so 768Kbps is about 14 times faster. But that is not a fast broadband connection compared to other DSL speeds offered by Verizon, competitors, and by cable companies. It is actually one of the slowest broadband speeds offered to home consumers. Verizon’s “regular” speed is 3000Kbps (or 3Mbps), by comparison, for $29.95.  AT&T just announced it was raising its DSL Internet speed to 6000Kbps (or 6Mbps), and Comcast is already at that speed. RCN (a regional provider) even offers 20000Kbps (or 20Mbps).

So, what you consider fast, what competitors consider fast, and what AOL considers fast may be very different things.

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Internet Corp. Listing Service: $35 Invoice*

Internet Corp. bill largeDomain names come up for renewal every year, and if you own one or more of them, you might receive what looks like a renewal notice via snail mail like the one on the right.

As it turns out, the notice is not quite what it appears.

*MOUSE PRINT: In all caps, “This is a solicitation for the order of goods or services, or both, and not a bill, invoice, or statement of account due. You are under no obligation to make any payments on account of this offer unless you accept this offer.” [From mailing dated May 31, 2006]

The mailing is actually trying to sell you a $35 service to submit your domain to various search engines, and it is apparently sent to domain owners at about the time their domain is up for renewal. The service does not include domain renewal however.

The disclosure is in the middle of the document in type similar to other type being used on it.  The question is, does it overcome the general impression created by the mailing that it is a bill?

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is looking into companies that use similar tactics.  See story.

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Office Depot Rewards: Exciting News for Members*

Office Depot AdvantageMrConsumer always likes getting good news in the mail. This letter just arrived from Office Depot’s reward program announcing “Exciting news for Advantage members”.  The envelope goes on to say that rewards are now unlimited (previously there was a $50 cap per quarter). Inside, members learn the bad news.

*MOUSE PRINT: “Earn 5% back when you spend $200 or more on qualified purchases during the reward period.” [Direct mail piece, May 27, 2006.]

Office Depot’s original program paid back up to 10% when you spent $200 to $500 a quarter. It was by far the most generous reward program among the big three office supply superstores. Now instead of getting $20 back for a $200 purchase, you will only get $10 back.

While removing the cap on rewards benefits large purchasers, there is no getting around the fact that the reward has been halved (for those purchasing just over $200, $300, $400, or $500 per quarter).

The above description is not meant as a complete analysis of the pros and cons of the Office Depot reward program.

 

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