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How do I go about initiating a class action lawsuit against AT&T?

X

XciteMe

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 21, 2009
450
1
Santa Monica, CA
OK maybe Apple deserves some share of blame (it's not like AT&T and Apple didn't consult each other before this horrible decision was made, so that's why), but we need to go after the main problem here.

I have never done anything like this before - attempted a CAL. Yes, as a buyer of many many many electronic consumer goods in my life, there have been a few that turned out to be huge disappointments plagued with many problems, but never have I felt bamboozled, mislead, cheated, hoodwinked, as I did today.

I feel like I bought a beautiful Mercedes-Benz, and then 1 month later, my tires are taken away and I'm told by the company "Enjoy your beautiful car, now with limited use."

THAT'S WHAT IT'S LIKE! This is so wrong. Many of us bought iPads for heavy, extensive internet use on the go, away from home or stable Wi-Fi. The internet is probably the BIGGEST selling point of iPad, and now it's been crippled.

Is there a lawyer on this board? Is there a legal expert or law school student? How can we (the people) go about making sure AT&T answers to us??? I want to "spearhead" a CAL and get the ball rolling, so to speak. I know I'll need documents, papers, contracts, and signatures. What else?
 
XciteMe said:
THAT'S WHAT IT'S LIKE! This is so wrong. Many of us bought iPads for heavy, extensive internet use on the go, away from home or stable Wi-Fi. The internet is probably the BIGGEST selling point of iPad, and now it's been crippled.
Click to expand...

Maybe I missed something... but I thought I read that if you had already activated your $30 "unlimited", prior to June 7th, you get to keep it... ?

If that is the case, how has your experience been limited?
 
Since they are honoring the agreement with everyone who signed up for the unlimited plan till you decide to withdraw from purchasing 3G services from them there pretty much is no way to "sue" them, though I don't see a need as even in their contract terms it does not guarantee the structure will remain the same, no company would do that as it limits competition.
 
Yeah, since the people that originally had the unlimited plan can keep it, you don't have much of a case.
 
No, I'm in the (growing) camp that includes people who've been waiting for 2+ weeks for our iPads to ship and deliver. Meaning, we ordered them BEFORE this annoucement was made, but we won't have any activation before June 7th.
 
fehhkk said:
Yeah, since the people that originally had the unlimited plan can keep it, you don't have much of a case.
Click to expand...

AT&T went on record today, saying they have the right to "introduce new desirable plans in the future for new devices" (the gist of it).

What's to stop them from, later down the road, abandoning the 30/unlimited data plan all together???
 
Google "Lawyer Class Action" and your city name.

Be prepared to do some selling. I don't think you'll get that many takers.
 
fehhkk said:
Yeah, since the people that originally had the unlimited plan can keep it, you don't have much of a case.
Click to expand...

I can afford the whopping $1 a day it costs, so this doesn't pertain to me, but...

One of the allures of the iPad 3G was the concept of "pay as you go" internet. That you could hit some keys and buy 30 days of unlimited 3G for $30 in the month of January when you travel a lot and then shut it off from February to July when you're homebound and then hit those keys again and buy 30 days of unlimited 3G for $30 for the month of August.

For those that waited the extra month to get a 3G for the purpose of using it as a wi-fi model with the bonus flexibility of "turn it on as I need it in the months I need it" unlimited connectivity, they can feel deceived.

Once a user turns off the $30 unlimited plan, he can't reinstate it a few months later. That's a misrepresentation of the product from a certain point of view. The reality is that carriers reserve the right to adjust their offerings and the hardware producer never was empowered to commit a service offering.

BJ

Posted from my iPad 3G/64GB/UDP/$929
 
fehhkk said:
Yeah, since the people that originally had the unlimited plan can keep it, you don't have much of a case.
Click to expand...

When the 3G came out it was said here that if you deactivate the 3G service for >30 days AT&T wipes your account information from the iPad. I would assume at that point when you signed up again you'd be under the 'new' pricing. You'd have to maintain the unlimited plan perpetually to keep the old terms.
 
post above makes no sense- that wasn't how it was promoted.

and If Stevie knew this was gonna change 1 month out and promoted it with the plan features, he is greedy and willfully deceptive. if he didn't know that ATT would do it a month out, he's been played by a company that he made huge amounts of moola for with the iPhone.
 
boltjames said:
I can afford the whopping $1 a day it costs, so this doesn't pertain to me, but...

One of the allures of the iPad 3G was the concept of "pay as you go" internet. That you could hit some keys and buy 30 days of unlimited 3G for $30 in the month of January when you travel a lot and then shut it off from February to July when you're homebound and then hit those keys again and buy 30 days of unlimited 3G for $30 for the month of August.

For those that waited the extra month to get a 3G for the purpose of using it as a wi-fi model with the bonus flexibility of "turn it on as I need it in the months I need it" unlimited connectivity, they can feel deceived.

Once a user turns off the $30 unlimited plan, he can't reinstate it a few months later. That's a misrepresentation of the product from a certain point of view. The reality is that carriers reserve the right to adjust their offerings and the hardware producer never was empowered to commit a service offering.

BJ

Posted from my iPad 3G/64GB/UDP/$929
Click to expand...

Beautifully put. Beautifully put. Thank you.
 
XciteMe said:
No, I'm in the (growing) camp that includes people who've been waiting for 2+ weeks for our iPads to ship and deliver. Meaning, we ordered them BEFORE this annoucement was made, but we won't have any activation before June 7th.
Click to expand...
This is a legitimate complaint...iPad "on the way" and you are slammed with the news today you no longer have the option of unlimited data if your iPad doesn't show up before June 7. That's hard to swallow.
 
Good luck.. if you read the terms and conditions that you agreed to initially, you'll find that there's clauses that allow AT&T to change the service levels and pricing however they like without having to honor anything. Trust me, they can lawyer up MUCH better than you can and they don't do stuff like this without checking their legal dept first to make sure their contracts are solid...
 
I'm in!

I paid $130 more for a 3G iPad with the option of a $30 "unlimited" data plan. Now that I can't do "unlimited" I ratter go with a Wifi only model and get a Sprint MiFi. Bait and Switch!!!!!!!
 
XciteMe said:
No, I'm in the (growing) camp that includes people who've been waiting for 2+ weeks for our iPads to ship and deliver. Meaning, we ordered them BEFORE this annoucement was made, but we won't have any activation before June 7th.
Click to expand...

Call AT&T and see if there's any way to pre-activate?
 
Wouldn't have thought this stood much chance....

Operators have clauses in the terms to allow them the opportunity to adjust tariffs... with contracts if you are negatively impacted by a change in terms you can usually nullify the contract on this basis but you're not in a contract so no-dice there...

Apple aren't selling iPads which compel a contract so you're not going to get in through that angle....

And if you haven't even taken delivery of an iPad but ordered it on the basis of a certain service level which you now don't agree with then you cancel your order ... so you're not getting in there...

You American's .... solving all the worlds problems once lawsuit at a time...

Might have to stay away from Macrumors for a little while until this blows over since 80% of new threads are getting this 'unlimited' tinge
 
FAIL.

If you have to ask, you don't have the resources for it.

Also, you get to keep your existing plan.

Apple Store gets stock regularly. Sometimes even daily. Ask when they get new shipments.
 
I don't know if there is a legal basis for a lawsuit against AT&T. There might be more of a case against Apple actually for advertising the 3G with an unlimited plan and then having that plan immediately withdrawn--but I'm not sure.

Regardless, its a very, very poor customer service move on the part of both companies. I'm keeping my 3G iPad -- but in the future I'm not purchasing Apple devices tied exclusively to AT&T since they've proven themselves to be untrustworthy. I think that's the best you can do.
 
For a lawsuit to be viable, there must have been damages suffered.

What were your damages? You could argue that you are out the $500 you paid for your iPad, but then your iPad does what it says it was intended to do does it not?

The AT&T contracts were month to month. Even the recurring contracts are month to month contracts. This gives AT&T the ability to alter them at the end of each 30 days once the 30 day contract expires because you are signing up for a new one.

They didn't even have to let people be grandfathered in, but they elected to do so for the time being.

Do I like it? No. Does AT&T suck majorly for doing this? Yes. But there's nothing anyone can do about it.
 
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