Posted by Bob at 08/10/07 01:29 PM

Let's not and say we did.

That appears to be AT&T's newest tactic when it comes to letting consumers know about a bargain basement, $10 a month Internet service the company was forced to begin offering to gain government approval of its megamerger with BellSouth last year.

In June we told you how there was not even a mention of the $10 a month service on AT&T's Internet service web page. To find out about it, consumers had to somehow devine they needed to click on a tiny button labeled "Term Contract Plans Available," which was buried in the boilerplate language near the bottom of the page.

Like us, St. Louis Post Dispatch consumer reporter Michael Sorkin has criticized AT&T for its tactics. So Sorkin says he was pleasantly surprised when he got an email recently from AT&T saying it was taking steps to make it easier for consumers to learn about and sign up for the $10 a month service.

As it turns out, not so much.

As Sorkin wrote in his "Saavy Consumer" column this week, AT&T spokesman Kerry Hibbs told him ""We've changed our website to make our $10 DSL offer more prominent and easier to find." There were new buttons and headers on the web page, he was told. The company even sent along instructions to Sorkin on how to do it.

Sorkin tried it. It didn't work.

We tried it too. We looked everywhere we could think of, but we couldn't find the new buttons and headers Sorkin had been told about.

We talked to Sorkin earlier today and he said he had heard from one reader who had been able to successfully sign up for the $10 a month service, but had heard from more than 20 readers who hadn't.

"It's really strange," says Sorkin. "It's like they flipped it on for a minute and then flipped it back off."

Now the clincher.

AT&T told Sorkin it will not provide a phone number or e-mail for people who still need help getting the offer.

We invite you to try it for yourself, and please let us know how it goes. It might not be a bad idea to let the FCC and your local utility regulators how it goes too.

http://www.consumersunion.org/blogs/hun/2007/08/post_1.html