From this article I've learned is that AT&T's contracts forbid class action lawsuits. I'm curious if Sprint/Verizon have the same language in their contracts.
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Apple to Pay $40 to U.S. iPad 3G Purchasers in Unlimited Data Lawsuit
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I got an iPad 3G at launch and activated the unlimited plan on it. It sucks that I have to keep paying the monthly fee to keep it, otherwise I loose it forever. The original idea for the iPad 3G plan was that you could turn it on and off anytime depending on if you needed it that month. This settlement doesn't fix this and is merely a slap on the wrist for AT&T. A better settlement would have been for us who had the unlimited plan to be able to turn the service on and off at will without loosing it.
I hope AT&T pays out $39 and Apple pays out the $1. I have to think this is pretty much all AT&T's doing.
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I agree completely--other countries have had this for a long time (like Asia for example). Prepaid SIMs with unlimited data for a very reasonable price, and without an activation fee. Why can't we have the same?
Though I thought I maybe read that people had been able to deactivate and re-activate. But my understanding was that after 3 months or so the SIM gets permanently deactivated (like prepaid phones) and you have to get a new SIM. It's all very confusing...
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I agree completely--other countries have had this for a long time (like Asia for example). Prepaid SIMs with unlimited data for a very reasonable price, and without an activation fee. Why can't we have the same?
Though I thought I maybe read that people had been able to deactivate and re-activate. But my understanding was that after 3 months or so the SIM gets permanently deactivated (like prepaid phones) and you have to get a new SIM. It's all very confusing...
And yet I magically get throttled at exactly 3gb. Amazing that it's only iPad users that get any attention on his topic.
I got a first gen iPad with unlimited data. I kept it for like 7 or 8 months because I didn't want to lose it. I finally decided that it was stupid to keep paying for it when I was barely using it, let alone needing what a capped plan would be.
So really AT&T made out in the long run... even if I eventually get my $40...
So really AT&T made out in the long run... even if I eventually get my $40...
Ah yes, but what if I want to use it for the 3 months out of the year when I travel?
I pre-ordered the original iPad 3G. I got it and activated it before they killed the unlimited service - which was ended approximately 4 weeks after the launch of the iPad. Many people who wanted in on the deal were shut out while still waiting for their iPads to be delivered.
So I am grandfathered in. That means I've been paying $29.99/mo ever since the iPad came out whether I need it or not. I still have the unlimited service on it too. But since I am a current customer, I get nothing because of the "no class action" clause in their updated TOS and a sh*tbrained SCOTUS decision.
The writing is on the wall, and I'll likely unload it when the next gen models come out and I'll add it to my Verizon plan.
Sorry if this question is somewhat off topic, but I purchased an ipad2 right after it came out and would occasionally buy a plan for a month (when ever I'd go on a trip) once or twice a year. But recently, I traveled and tried to do it again but wasn't able to - and it seemed that I needed to sign up for a longer more expensive plan. (Maybe a 2 year data plan?)
Is this experience related to this lawsuit in any way?
I don't really care about the money, but I would like the ability to buy cellular data for a 30$ monthly to return... Or am I mistaken and it's still available?
Is this experience related to this lawsuit in any way?
I don't really care about the money, but I would like the ability to buy cellular data for a 30$ monthly to return... Or am I mistaken and it's still available?
I use 3 Network here in the UK, which offers 'unlimited' data. It's more or less what it says on the tin, but they use heavy data shaping so my wife's 3G connection, with another provider, nearly always feels much, much faster.
I think it's a 1GB limit but she's only ever received a warning that she's about to breach that once in several years, even when she's done quite a bit of tethering.
In the internet market there's a lot of confused consumers due to how packages are marketed. I use Virgin Media for home broadband and their forums are full of people raging that their 100MB is only 80, or 50 or 40 at peak times. I just shrug as I never saw my previous 78mb BT Infinity 'fibre' connection, where distance to the exchange is a big factor, rarely hit the 40s at the very best of times - at least it was better than the 18MB i'd occasionally hit on a 24MB ASDL2 connection.
I think it's a 1GB limit but she's only ever received a warning that she's about to breach that once in several years, even when she's done quite a bit of tethering.
In the internet market there's a lot of confused consumers due to how packages are marketed. I use Virgin Media for home broadband and their forums are full of people raging that their 100MB is only 80, or 50 or 40 at peak times. I just shrug as I never saw my previous 78mb BT Infinity 'fibre' connection, where distance to the exchange is a big factor, rarely hit the 40s at the very best of times - at least it was better than the 18MB i'd occasionally hit on a 24MB ASDL2 connection.
Unfortunately if you read your terms of service, they explicitly wrote in throttling policies.
Do what I did with my unlimited data AT&T sim card. Sell it on eBay. People are paying crazy amounts of money for them.
That's true. However from what little I understand about US carriers, I think AT&T was the only carrier on iOS devices for a long time. Therefore if people wanted an iPhone they didn't really have a choice to go to a different carrier. It stifled consumer choice and they couldn't get unlimited data even if they wanted to?
However I'd appreciate any insight on this because I'm more than happy to admit I don't really know much about it
Verizon started offering the iPhone 4 halfway through its cycle, and this was the first non-AT&T iOS device. This was about two and a half years ago. If you don't remember this, you must either be very young or very new to the Apple ecosystem. Either way, welcome to the world.
These people in the lawsuit seem to be too stupid to reproduce. Does that 40 dollars come with a free sterilization?
so stupid that the judge agreed with them? he's stupid too, right? everybody's stupid who has different opinions than you, right?
To clarify, halfway through the iPhone 4 cycle. That was 2011, and AT&T had the iPhone exclusively since 2007.
because Apple made that data plan happen. Then used it as a selling point.
It was mentioned by Jobs in one of the keynotes. And they used it in marketing materials. Try finding such a cheap plan before that ipad came out. (heck try finding unlimited anywhere)
Not really, at 2.5GB in a month they throttle you down to almost nothing. Basically making it a 2 to 3GB/month plan. If you do it two months in a row they automatically remove you from the plan.
I wan't to know why they are still able to advertise the iPad as a "month to month" device where I can turn data off if I don't need it, and turn it on when I do; but I am charged an activation fee each time.
Verizon charges me $10 a month to add my iPad to the data plan, but if I turn it off and then want to turn it back on, I will be charged a $36 activation fee. So in reality I would have to turn the data off on my iPad for at LEAST 4 months to save any money at all. If I turned it off for 2 months, I would lose money in the process.
Apple should not be allowed to advertise these devices as month to month with no contract when you are tied down by an activation fee every time you want to turn the data back on for the device.
Verizon charges me $10 a month to add my iPad to the data plan, but if I turn it off and then want to turn it back on, I will be charged a $36 activation fee. So in reality I would have to turn the data off on my iPad for at LEAST 4 months to save any money at all. If I turned it off for 2 months, I would lose money in the process.
Apple should not be allowed to advertise these devices as month to month with no contract when you are tied down by an activation fee every time you want to turn the data back on for the device.
Or, you know, I could be in the UK and have no knowledge of US carriers. There are other countries than the US. Welcome to the world.
Were the iPads locked to a contract? No. Given that they were not locked to a contract or subsidized in any way, AT&T was under no obligation to continue unlimited data in perpetuity.
Are judges requires to pass a competency exam? If not, then we have no idea how smart that judge is. Does being a judge make them an expert on data plans? Was the judge not aware that the iPad was offered on a month to month plan?
I got the unlimited ATT data plan on my original iPad. At first I didn't use it much...but I kept it active and was grandfathered in once they ended it. Now I transferred the unlimited plan to my ipad mini and use it all the time. So much so that I got rid of my smartphone plan. I use my ipad mini to make free calls and surf the web. Instead of paying $100 or more for a smartphone plan...I do it all for $29 bucks.
See now, I thought you meant stupid because they had gone with ATT.
My bad.
Once agan the parasitic lawyers make millions and you get $40. Class-Action is the way lawyers (Vampires) have a feeding frenzy off the host economy. They do it in the name of helping people, but that is only a smoke screen for their blood sucking ways.
That's idiotic. The purpose of a class action is not to return money to customers. You're not entitled to anything at all in a class action because you're not bearing any risk. You're not contributing to the costs, you're not doing any work on behalf of the class, and you're not even taking any steps to solve the problem.Once agan the parasitic lawyers make millions and you get $40. Class-Action is the way lawyers (Vampires) have a feeding frenzy off the host economy. They do it in the name of helping people, but that is only a smoke screen for their blood sucking ways.
Getting any money back directly is merely an incidental bonus of a cash settlement. The point of a class action is to force a corporation to change a tactic or impose a monetary cost for "bad" behavior. That might be a repair or replacement, a change in policy, or even just a promise not to do it again. When it's a monetary fine, it comes out of their profits, and it might be returned to customers in cash, in credit, or donated to a charity.
The lawyers spent millions of dollars to make that happen, and only get reimbursed when they win or settle. The money they make is separate from the settlement or judgment amount, and the profitable ones pay for the ones that they take and lose. If the company agrees to pay $5 million in costs and $40 million to the class and there are one million customers, then everyone gets $40. That means each person gets $5 less than they might have (assuming they would get anything at all without the lawyers intervening). Big deal. Giving up $5 of your $45 in exchange for zero risk and zero effort is more than a fair trade when the alternative is one million people each spending $500+ to get a smaller sum back.
If you don't like the arrangement, you're welcome to start your own class action and make your own deal with the lawyers as class representative. But if you're just going to sit around and wait for a check in the mail without lifting a finger, then you've got no right to complain. Opt out of the class and pursue your own solution.