CUBConnects.org featured in the Oregonian – CUB Response!
Posted on February 3, 2011 by Ghassan Ammar
Tags, Consumers and Utility Customers, CUB in the News, Telecommunications and CUB Connects
On Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 the Oregonian published a great article about our new consumer education project CUBConnects. In the article, “Website aims to demystify Oregon telecom pricing”, Mike Rogoway fairly represented the history of the project, the complexity of the information that we’ve collected and the usefulness of the website.
One aspect of the project that wasn’t explained in the article is how we determine what plan pricing to display. We carefully selected a methodology that reflects the integrity and consumer-oriented focus of our project. Our search tool will not show you the “best price available”. It will show you the price of the plan without any deals or discounts. We do note when promotions are available in the additional details of the plan. Because promotions are short-term prices, and consumer will pay the full price when the promotion is over, we believe that the best way to offer consumers a comparison of multiple plans is to describe the price customers will be paying after the promotions end.
But, don’t give us credit for this methodology. It is consistent with the Maine office of Public Advocate rate guide and Consumers’ Reports.
Qwest spokesman Bob Gravely had it right when he said, “It (CUBConnects.org) does a good job of giving people a baseline. But if you really want to know what’s the best offer, you have to call your provider.” We want to provide consumers with an apples-to-apples comparison of the plans available in their area and encourage them to contact the providers for the deals available. But, when the promotion ends, and the price of the plan goes up, the price consumers will pay is often difficult to find – which is the information that CUBConnects.org aims to provide for our fellow Oregonians.
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03/22/17 | 0 Comments | CUBConnects.org featured in the Oregonian – CUB Response!