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AT&T, Apple Begin Paying $40 to U.S. iPad 3G Purchasers After Unlimited Data Lawsuit

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MacRumors

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AT&T and Apple have begun sending out payments to consumers in the United States who purchased an original iPad 3G, following the culmination of a long-running class action lawsuit over unlimited data.

Originally settled in September of 2013, the lawsuit covered a $29.99 no-contract unlimited data plan that Apple and AT&T offered with the original iPad -- a deal that Steve Jobs advertised on stage when the tablet was revealed in January of 2010.

In June of 2010, AT&T stopped offering the plan and replaced it with a 2GB for $25/month plan. AT&T did grandfather in users who had an unlimited plan prior to June 2010, but the company also began throttling unlimited users in October of 2011.

The class action lawsuit accused Apple and AT&T of using bait-and-switch tactics, selling iPads that advertised unlimited data without actually providing unlimited data. The lawsuits also suggested that without the prospect of an unlimited data plan, consumers had overpaid for their tablets. Apple and AT&T's settlement, which called for the companies to send out $40 checks to all affected customers, was finalized in February. As noted by 9to5Mac, checks are now arriving to customers.

settlementcheck.jpg
Enclosed is a check in the amount of $40.00 representing your settlement in the award of Apple & AT&T iPad Unlimited Data Plan Litigation. The amount of your settlement award has been calculated pursuant to the terms of the Settlement that was approved by the court. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, the enclosed check must be cashed by October 16, 2014; after that date, the check will be void and will not be reissued. If you have any questions, you can contact the Settlement Administrator at 1-800-248-1504.
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Under the terms of the settlement, AT&T is also required to offer customers a $20 discount on the $50/month 5GB data plan, but the deal is only available to customers who do not have another data plan with AT&T due to no-class action provisions in their contracts.

Article Link: AT&T, Apple Begin Paying $40 to U.S. iPad 3G Purchasers After Unlimited Data Lawsuit
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/07/22/apple-att-pay-original-ipad-3g-users/
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newdeal

macrumors 68030
Oct 21, 2009
2,510
1,769
This is still BS that was one of the worst moves in recent history to advertise the service in the keynote and 6 months later kill it. They should have given them back the full difference between the 3g and wifi models
 
poppe

poppe

macrumors 68020
Apr 29, 2006
2,242
51
Woodland Hills
Damn. I wonder how I would go about getting this? I have the original 3G iPad but I cancelled the monthly plan about a year ago when I found I was not using it which was at another address.
 
A

afawcett

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2010
129
10
San Diego
MacRumors said:
AT&T is also required to offer customers a $20 discount on the $50/month 5GB data plan, but the deal is only available to customers who do not have another data plan with AT&T due to no-class action provisions in their contracts.
Click to expand...

What do they check for this data plan? I wouldn't mind getting it with my iPad Air but I didn't have a data plan with ATT on my first generation iPad.
 
crisss1205

crisss1205

macrumors 6502a
Oct 7, 2008
931
267
NYC
but the company also began throttling unlimited users in October of 2011
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I still have unlimited, and it is not throttled at all. The post you linked to even says that.
 
bushido

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
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OT: always amazes me that the US uses checks. i dont think ive actually touched or seen a check first hand in my entire life
 
Cubert

Cubert

macrumors regular
Apr 30, 2005
150
0
crisss1205 said:
I still have unlimited, and it is not throttled at all. The post you linked to even says that.
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If you use enough data they will throttle you. I've experienced it and it's noticeable and constant until the next billing cycle.
 
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
skinned66 said:
Is "only" normal on checks in the US? Maybe they should put a "neener neener" on it too just to send a message.
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Yup. When you write a check for an amount that is basically exact without change, like $40.00 or $100.00 you have to write it out as well and your options are to do something like "Forty and 00/100 dollars" or something like "Forty only dollars" essentially.
 
furi0usbee

furi0usbee

macrumors 68000
Jul 11, 2008
1,790
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bushido said:
OT: always amazes me that the US uses checks. i dont think ive actually touched or seen a check first hand in my entire life
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So what's your preferred method? Also, they are hoping people don't cash them too...
 
6

66318

macrumors regular
Jan 31, 2006
130
56
bushido said:
OT: always amazes me that the US uses checks. i dont think ive actually touched or seen a check first hand in my entire life
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Our financial system is pretty much stuck in the past. The banks tend to kill of newer money transfer possibilities by tacking on a lot of fees. Or when they do come up with a system to send money to others, it's horribly complicated and a pain to use. Thus checks remain the cheaper or easier way to transfer money around. It has allowed some non banks to enter the arena such as PayPal, but again the issues of fees start to be problematic there too.

Our credit card system is also a disaster. The industry pretty much decided it was cheaper to just deal with the fraud then to try and modernize it. That line of thinking is finally changing though after the massive Target hack late last year. We may at last adopt 1990's era chip and pin technology.
 
4jasontv

4jasontv

Suspended
Jul 31, 2011
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newdeal said:
This is still BS that was one of the worst moves in recent history to advertise the service in the keynote and 6 months later kill it. They should have given them back the full difference between the 3g and wifi models
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They should be held responsible for what they offered. Imagine if customers were allowed to say:

"I have lowered my monthly rate. If you feel this change negatively effects you, then you have until I pay my bill to reimburse me for my equipment."
 
skinned66

skinned66

macrumors 65816
Feb 11, 2011
1,373
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Ottawa, Canada
C DM said:
Yup. When you write a check for an amount that is basically exact without change, like $40.00 or $100.00 you have to write it out as well and your options are to do something like "Forty and 00/100 dollars" or something like "Forty only dollars" essentially.
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The cents fraction and to written amount I've always used but I've never seen "only" on a check before anywhere. So they weren't being jerks :D

Thanks for taking the time to clear that up for me.
 
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
drakino said:
Our financial system is pretty much stuck in the past. The banks tend to kill of newer money transfer possibilities by tacking on a lot of fees. Or when they do come up with a system to send money to others, it's horribly complicated and a pain to use. Thus checks remain the cheaper or easier way to transfer money around. It has allowed some non banks to enter the arena such as PayPal, but again the issues of fees start to be problematic there too.

Our credit card system is also a disaster. The industry pretty much decided it was cheaper to just deal with the fraud then to try and modernize it. That line of thinking is finally changing though after the massive Target hack late last year. We may at last adopt 1990's era chip and pin technology.
Click to expand...
What would be a faster and better and simpler and more accessible way to disperse funds to different people all over the country?

What would be a better credit card system?
 
R

Rufuss Sewell

macrumors 6502
Jun 25, 2010
277
192
Austin, TX
What about iPhone?

In Dec 2012 I signed a 2 year contract for unlimited data on my AT&T iPhone 4S. About two months later I started being completely shut down (they called it throttling but I couldn't open a website) after 3gb.
 
S

solmaker

macrumors member
Nov 23, 2007
89
14
More AT&T bait-and-switch advertising re Tethering

See a current example of AT&T bait-and-switch advertising at:
http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/dataplans.html

...which implies that all the plans listed on that page include "Tethering from AT&T" per the page's title. But tethering really only works on the DataConnnect 5GB plan, even though this is not specified anywhere, even on the "View details" links.

I still have a $29.99/month grandfathered unlimited data plan from when the iPad was first introduced. Though I hardly ever use more that 1 GB per month, I've kept the unlimited plan going so I don't have to worry about overages... besides, why pay 1 penny more just to be restricted to 3 GB? The major bummer with the unlimited plan is that it forbids Personal Hotspot. If the DataConnect 3GB plan supported Personal Hotspot, I might be tempted to switch. However, given my moderate data usage, it's hard to justify paying $20.01 extra per month for the DataConnect 5GB plan and lose my grandfathered unlimited status just to get the tethering option.

Concluding points:
(1) The AT&T plans page is misleading and needs to be rewritten;
(2) AT&T is pushing longtime loyal customers to investigate other carrier options, which generally offer Personal Hotspot on all their plans, unlike AT&T;
(3) AT&T doesn't seem to have much to gain by restricting Personal Hotspot solely to its high-end 5GB plan... especially since its own Data Plans webpage conceals this distinction!
(4) There's no reason for AT&T to forbid Personal Hotspot on the unlimited plan, since AT&T could easily monitor and throttle any customer that might abuse it (as AT&T already purportedly throttles the "unlimited" plan to slow speeds above 3 GB usage per month, contrary to how it was originally advertised).
 
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bushido

bushido

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Mar 26, 2008
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Germany
C DM said:
What would be a faster and better and simpler and more accessible way to disperse funds to different people all over the country?

What would be a better credit card system?
Click to expand...

we use "SEPA" to transfer money to recipients all over europe for free. you just put in the number of the bank and the private account id and the money gets taken from your account to his.

also i heard the US is only now implementing chips on their credit cards and you simply have to swipe? no pin?
 
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
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bushido said:
we use "SEPA" to transfer money to recipients all over europe for free. you just put in the number of the bank and the private account id and the money gets taken from your account to his.

also i heard the US is only now implementing chips on their credit cards and you simply have to swipe? no pin?
Click to expand...
Where would people need to put their bank account number to get money from a settlement? Most people wouldn't want to provide even more private information to anyone and rather get a check that they can put into their account on their own.

As for credit cards, yeah, a swipe (and a signature/photo ID) does it, PIN is generally just for debit. In vast majority of cases it's faster and without issues.
 
SBlue1

SBlue1

macrumors 68000
Oct 17, 2008
1,939
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furi0usbee said:
So what's your preferred method? Also, they are hoping people don't cash them too...
Click to expand...

Money transfer, like the rest of the modern world is using. :) This is really one of the things that the US is stuck in the past. Sending and receiving money on paper by mail.
 
C

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
SBlue1 said:
Money transfer, like the rest of the modern world is using. :) This is really one of the things that the US is stuck in the past. Sending and receiving money on paper by mail.
Click to expand...
And what would money transfer involve (that is different chan using a check)?
 
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