Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
As I predicted: Class action suit against Apple/AT&T
- Thread starter Razeus
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
ATT is WRONG...and need to change! Apple needs to allow another carrier!
It is wrong, period. Marketing was in place for months....and they change the plan just weeks after initial release.
And no, EVERYBODY lost the ability to start and stop. If we (I am) are on unlimited, and we want to stop, say for the school year, or the summer, etc, then we loose the unlimited option forever.
For me, I very carefully considered my options and sold my WIFI and bought the 3G on the idea that I would be able to down grade and/or turn off the 3g at the end of the summer when I return back to work (teacher). So, at the VERY least, it has cost me $130 extra...and I don't feel comfortable dropping my unlimited coverage because I don't know how my usage is going to pan out this next school year. It was too new at the end of this last school year, etc. So, it is costing me $30 a month, yet I only clocked in right at 250mb for my first month of 3g usage...and 500mb for midway through my 2nd.
I have since really appreciated the GPS function and think it alone is totally worth the extra cost, and am glad to have the 3g. I don't think I would pay another month of unlimited if the only choice was $15 or $30...but to drop to 2gb and only save $5? No thanks...I'll keep the unlimited.
But I think ATT pulled a fast one, made a hasty decision, caught Apple by surprise, and they need to rescind their decision. I don't care to get any money...but they need to be punished. When big business with little or no competition does something like this, it smells of monopoly...and AFAIK, that is illegal.
Now, I wish Steve had the cojones to tell ATT that they either rescind...or he will sign with another company. Apple should not have put themselves in such a position to be so dependent on ONE company. I am sure they had too...and initially, it was good for Apple...but they should have opened the market for fair competition a long time ago. Apple made the same mistake in the early and mid 90s, with the iMac and Best Buy agreement...and it almost put them out of business.
You would think that they would learn...that competition is GOOD! If Apple had several companies to work with on the network, we would not be sitting here talking about the BAD thing ATT did to us...we would probably have an even better deal being offered at this point!
It is wrong, period. Marketing was in place for months....and they change the plan just weeks after initial release.
And no, EVERYBODY lost the ability to start and stop. If we (I am) are on unlimited, and we want to stop, say for the school year, or the summer, etc, then we loose the unlimited option forever.
For me, I very carefully considered my options and sold my WIFI and bought the 3G on the idea that I would be able to down grade and/or turn off the 3g at the end of the summer when I return back to work (teacher). So, at the VERY least, it has cost me $130 extra...and I don't feel comfortable dropping my unlimited coverage because I don't know how my usage is going to pan out this next school year. It was too new at the end of this last school year, etc. So, it is costing me $30 a month, yet I only clocked in right at 250mb for my first month of 3g usage...and 500mb for midway through my 2nd.
I have since really appreciated the GPS function and think it alone is totally worth the extra cost, and am glad to have the 3g. I don't think I would pay another month of unlimited if the only choice was $15 or $30...but to drop to 2gb and only save $5? No thanks...I'll keep the unlimited.
But I think ATT pulled a fast one, made a hasty decision, caught Apple by surprise, and they need to rescind their decision. I don't care to get any money...but they need to be punished. When big business with little or no competition does something like this, it smells of monopoly...and AFAIK, that is illegal.
Now, I wish Steve had the cojones to tell ATT that they either rescind...or he will sign with another company. Apple should not have put themselves in such a position to be so dependent on ONE company. I am sure they had too...and initially, it was good for Apple...but they should have opened the market for fair competition a long time ago. Apple made the same mistake in the early and mid 90s, with the iMac and Best Buy agreement...and it almost put them out of business.
You would think that they would learn...that competition is GOOD! If Apple had several companies to work with on the network, we would not be sitting here talking about the BAD thing ATT did to us...we would probably have an even better deal being offered at this point!
Actually, the primary benefit of a contract is a subsidized device. See $800 iPhone 4 instead of $300 iPhone 4. What AT&T did is test the market by encouraging people to purchase a device under a pretext that wasn't risk averse for AT&T and there was no ability for the consumer to be at the same level of knowledge as AT&T. Basically, AT&T would make a profit if there weren't enough users on the no-contract 3G plans at any rate, but when the Tablet blew up, they did a cost/benefit analysis and realized that they'd make more if they removed the Unlimited plan. AT&T held all of the cards. It isn't a risk for consumers if they are told "NO CONTRACT, $30 Unlimited Option, Turn it on or off whenever you want" and when millions bit... so did AT&T.
The Real Morons Are...
The jerks in Congress who feed at the carrier trough. As an example, in Korea (which has an average bandwidth 10x that of the US and a cost per Gb at about 1/5 of US) bandwidth isn't throttled.
Why not write your congress person and give them s..t for allowing the US to become a second-rate internet economy.
The jerks in Congress who feed at the carrier trough. As an example, in Korea (which has an average bandwidth 10x that of the US and a cost per Gb at about 1/5 of US) bandwidth isn't throttled.
Why not write your congress person and give them s..t for allowing the US to become a second-rate internet economy.
Ah, OK. I swear that I've seen threads here indicating otherwise.
In that case, my opinion is that AT&T did cause damage to the people who bought the iPad when that deal existed. I don't think that people who bought (or wanted to buy) the iPad after Apple and AT&T updated their website to indicate the specific date that the unlimited plan was going away should be able to be part of the lawsuit though.
Ah. Nope. But thank you for insulting my intelligence and/or ability to read your elementary school writing style. Once you get off the unlimited plan, to get back on, you HAVE to pick a $15 or $25 plan. The only way you stay unlimited is if are grandfathered in and keep paying for it for all eternity. That wasn't the deal I signed up for when I made the decision to buy the 3G iPad. I was lied to and made a purchase based upon that lie.
First, AT&T will have some cost per GB of data. If you used little data, they made lots of money from you. Use more, and they make little or no money, and use tons of data traffic, and they lose money. They offered unlimited data hoping that the average customer will use little enough so they make a good profit - which is a stupid move if it turns out that the average data use is much higher than thought (probably caused by few people using extreme amounts). So I can see where they are coming from; if your car company found out that some people think it's funny to drill a whole in their tank and waste 100 gallons of fuel every day then you would agree that "unlimited" was not a good idea.
Second, while I can understand that they removed the "unlimited" data, I think their new limits are actually quite low. I think the limit should cover reasonable use to some generous degree, and it doesn't.
But the real question is not what do you _think_ that AT&T or the car dealer promised, but what they really _did_ promise. If they promised in a legally binding way that they would supply unlimited data for x$ per month for the next 60 months then they are on the hook. If they didn't promise anything like that, then there is nothing anyone can do.
South Korea is a lot smaller in area than the US, and the population is highly concentrated in the urban areas. Because of that, deploying the network would be a lot less costly than in the U.S. where everyone is a lot more spread out.
No worries. I figured that since you quoted my entire post, but posted a reply that essentially skipped over the "if" conjunction that was followed by a conditional clause, I'd give you the benefit of the doubt and point them out specifically to you.
As I posted in the first paragraph, I think that way AT&T did was sheisty and wrong. I'm just wondering if what they did broke any specific laws.
This is the way I understand it also. It went from $30/mo "as you need it" to $360/yr "for as long as you can stand it". The only reason it was rushed out is likely to make sure it was in effect before tons of new iPhone 4 users joined the network. Not much longer until we start seeing postings from some "new adopters" of the iPhone 4 when they see their first phone bill with the 2GB caps and overusage fees.
The "population density" argument is an age-old failure that doesn't explain the broadband disparity that exists in densely populated areas in the U.S. such as NYC. From a purely technological standpoint, the only thing that stands in the way of NYC receiving the same bandwidth as equivalently populous areas of Korea is the will to do so.
You are comparing apples to oranges.
Meaning you don't have to have 3G activated to use the iPad, but the gas you have to have for the car.
Now let's say that you signed up for cable, and they told you that you would get the premium channels for $30 or mid grade for $15 or basic for no extra cost, and you could switch as often as you like when ever you like.
Then a few months later they can back and said, now you can have the basic for free still, but if you want to get the premium for $30 you have to get it every month, and if you miss a month you will have to pay $15 for HBO, $15 for Cinimax, and $10 for showtime.
I am not saying I know how this will end, but they did IMHO do a bait-N-switch with their data plans.
The only good side to this may end up being that this might have been against Apple and att&t agreement, meaning early termination to their agreement.
A better way to characterise it would be to say you 'can' get unlimited gas for $30 a month. The car manufacturer promised nothing other than that you'd receive a working car and the service provider provided a service that they were under no obligation (other than PR) to keep going into the future for any extended period of time.
I can't see how the action will be successful. Part of the whole point of the service was that you could start and stop at any time, avoiding the need for an ongoing contract with AT&T. You can't then turn around and expect to receive the benefits of a contract without any of the downfalls.
I'm sure AT&T had some disclaimer in the fine print. However, the courts frown on advertising something to the consumer in the bold type, and taking it away in the fine print, which is what AT&T did.
I'm with another post, in which Apple is in on the deal as well since they haven't said anything to protect their loyal masses.
I'm with another post, in which Apple is in on the deal as well since they haven't said anything to protect their loyal masses.
Easy - the lawyers only have to convince 12 people that aren't smart enough to figure out how to get out of jury duty that the case has merit!
My worries
I have the 3g ipad and was able to sign up for unlimited. The problem I have with AT&T is if by slim chance my debit card is low on funds and they try to charge me and it is declined I pretty much loose unlimited.
Guess I always need to leave 30 bucks in my account.
I have the 3g ipad and was able to sign up for unlimited. The problem I have with AT&T is if by slim chance my debit card is low on funds and they try to charge me and it is declined I pretty much loose unlimited.
Guess I always need to leave 30 bucks in my account.
Easy.
If you sell/promote an expensive product by offering unlimited 3G service, then a few weeks later, after product's launch, take it away... well something smells in Denmark and AT&T's feet should be held to the fire along with Apple.
Either never offer unlimited or raise the price, just don't take it away.
Apple is just as much to blame as I mention in another post, they should have had forced AT&T to keep their offer for at least a year.
They drop it a few weeks later? huh?
To some, unlimited is the only way they would have bought the device.