Are we entitled to a refund?

[fsmac10]

I feel as though it is outrageous for me to pay an extra 10 dollars a month for a data service (3G) that I can't use. I, like many of you, am supposed to have access to 3G in my area, but the signal is usually so weak that I can't use it so I just stick to EDGE.

As we are now coming to understand, AT&T is not responsible for this problem.
If this goes on much longer, should be be asking Apple for a refund on the extra 10 dollars per month?

 

[cellocello]

If 3G reception sucks where you live, I'd probably not get a 3G phone.

 

[goodcow]

If 3G reception sucks where you live, I'd probably not get a 3G phone.

Great attitude, considering the Edge phone is discontinued.

 

[fsmac10]

If 3G reception sucks where you live, I'd probably not get a 3G phone.

I was in NYC 3 weeks ago and had no service. I live in Pittsburgh and 3G service is supposed to be fine here as well.

 

[cellocello]

Great attitude, considering the Edge phone is discontinued.

All Edge phones are discontinued? Damn, that sucks.

But honestly, it's like me realizing that I can't get Sirius radio reception where I live (I realize it's satellite, but this is just a "for example"), buying the hardware, paying for the service and asking for a refund on the service.

Why? Why not just return it and get something that works in my area?

 

[lindsayanng]

the OP did say that he is SUPPOSED to have 3G support in the area, but doesnt;

Not that he KNEW there was no 3G but bought it anyway.

 

[GoCubsGo]

the OP did say that he is SUPPOSED to have 3G support in the area, but doesnt;

Not that he KNEW there was no 3G but bought it anyway.

Which I believe is a breach of contract on AT&T's part. I know people who have gotten out of their contract when service in their area was not as AT&T published.

 

[Scooterman1]

I'm glad I stuck with my EDGE iPhone. I would almost guess that if Apple were to revive the sale of their 1st Generation phones at a little lower price than the 3G (maybe even the same price), they would have a market!

 

[spazattack674]

Which I believe is a breach of contract on AT&T's part. I know people who have gotten out of their contract when service in their area was not as AT&T published.

Yeah, that's a breach of contract. I believe they can either waive the ETF or build a tower close to your house. Usually it's cheaper to waive the ETF.

 

[lindsayanng]

i definitely agree. I think that if your area shows a quality signal and there is little to no signal, then you should either be able to ask that they disable the 3G and you can just work on edge, or you will have to pay, even though you dont have it at home or work..

as for an actual refund, i'm sure that they can look and see how much of the 3G you actually used and will probably prorate it for you.

 

[fsmac10]

i definitely agree. I think that if your area shows a quality signal and there is little to no signal, then you should either be able to ask that they disable the 3G and you can just work on edge, or you will have to pay, even though you dont have it at home or work..

as for an actual refund, i'm sure that they can look and see how much of the 3G you actually used and will probably prorate it for you.

Yeah that's possible. But like I said AT&T is not to blame IMHO. As you know from reading threads on here, people with 3Gs everywhere are having this same problem. Like I said, even when I was in New York City a few weeks back, I had no service on 3G. That can't be the fault of the network.

 

[spazattack674]

Yeah that's possible. But like I said AT&T is not to blame IMHO. As you know from reading threads on here, people with 3Gs everywhere are having this same problem. Like I said, even when I was in New York City a few weeks back, I had no service on 3G. That can't be the fault of the network.

It's probably not AT&T's fault, but I think that would be AT&T's issue to resolve with Apple. You are paying for 3G service to AT&T, and if their coverage maps say you have it, and you don't, then it's their responsibility to contact Apple, or to fix your issue. You pay AT&T a monthly fee for the service, not Apple.

 

[fsmac10]

It's probably not AT&T's fault, but I think that would be AT&T's issue to resolve with Apple. You are paying for 3G service to AT&T, and if their coverage maps say you have it, and you don't, then it's their responsibility to contact Apple, or to fix your issue. You pay AT&T a monthly fee for the service, not Apple.

Yeah, that's true. I agree. I wonder if anybody else who is having this problem has considered/taken this approach?

 

[cellocello]

I guess the question is - what do you want to achieve?

- If you want to keep what you feel is low quality service, and fight for a partial refund -- I just personally don't think that's such a hot idea.

- If you want to pay less and use a different network (Edge vs 3G) -- then why not just return it and get something different?

There's a cool phone offered by Telus (here in Canada), but I don't like the service Telus offers. Why would I get the phone, keep it, be unhappy with the service and try to get the company to give me back some money?

 

[lindsayanng]

i think the issue at hand is not that the person is unhappy with the overall service, they just dont want to be FORCED into paying for something that they are not using.. He said his phone works on edge, and thats fine, but WHY should he have to pay for 3G when it never works. ATT should be allowed to disable 3G usage on certain phones and give those customers a break on their bill.. then they can issue a re-instatement fee if you want to add it again, but this would probably make people happier in the long run because right now, here in most of the US, edge is everywhere, and people are happy with their edge phones.. they shouldnt be FORCED to buy a "feature" if the phone can't use it and runs perfectly fine without it.

its like the phone companies FORCING you to buy voicemail when you have an answering machine/

 

[SFStateStudent]

Yup, OP has a valid point and it's one that some of my friends and family have taken to the service provider and either returned the phones and went with another service provider or just did the "grin-and-bear-it" song and dance...

 

[cellocello]

its like the phone companies FORCING you to buy voicemail when you have an answering machine/

No, it's not.

This phone is called "3G". It literally has "3G" in the name. If 3G isn't good where he lives (or just flat out unavailable, as is the case in some places), why buy something called the "Product X 3G" ?

No one is forcing anything on him - this is crazy talk! He went in and purchased a 3G phone for use on a 3G network. The 3G network in his area sucks (I don't know who to blame - the city, AT&T, the towers in his area .. who knows), and he's not happy with it. Why should he keep it? This isn't super complicated.

 

[mkrishnan]

Yeah, that's a breach of contract. I believe they can either waive the ETF or build a tower close to your house. Usually it's cheaper to waive the ETF.

I tend to agree -- the existing mechanisms are fine. First, there is already a mechanism of returns in the first 30 days, is there not, to address this issue? 30 days should be more than enough to determine that a product does / does not meet your criteria. Second, as mentioned above, failure to have service in an area listed as having service under the AT&T coverage maps is cause for waiving the ETF, which is a perfectly reasonable concession on AT&T's part.

But on the other hand, I think Apple and AT&T need to root cause this quickly. It seems quite clear that a significant number of people are having this problem, but that the problem is not even universal within an area (i.e. some people will have 3G functionality on their iPhones in the same region that others do not).

 

[dancavallaro]

Everyone here is missing the point that the $29.99 data plan is *NOT* a 3G data plan. It is the smart phone data plan. Essentially, if your phone has a QWERTY keyboard, you pay $29.99 for the data plan instead of the MEdia Net or whatever the other one is. If you have an EDGE Blackberry, you pay $29.99 a month. If you have an EDGE Palm, you pay $29.99 a month. The $19.99 data plan for the first iPhone was an anomaly, the iPhone was in a special category last year for some reason. If you want a data plan, you pay $29.99 whether or not you use 3G. And if you don't use 3G, your money is going toward upgrading the network so you can eventually use 3G.

 

[aaquib]

Wow, I guess Rogers isn't that bad after all. You can go on any plan here. Im on a corporate plan where I pay $20(+$7 system access + tax) for 250 minutes, unlimited weekends and evenings starting at 8.

Sorry to rub it in, it's just Canadians are always left at the bottom. Finally, we get something good!

 

[lindsayanng]

you are crazy.. so if someone had comcast digital voice with voicemail, and someone buys it, but says they dont need the voicemail, can you take it off for me, it shouldnt be an option.. just because its in the name doesnt mean that they person HAS to use it for that. AND the fact that it IS possible to disable 3G usage, and it IS possible to take off that charge, then they SHOULD do it. it will get them more customers in the long run, and when their 3G is good and solid (like they are advertising it is) they can charge a re-issueance fee which will make them some MORE money..

It just seems like they are not only pissing people off by bulking up the coverage maps, but they could be loosing customers because of this extra charge for something that they arent going to use.

If your ONLY reason is because it's in the NAME of the product, thats silly. Its still a FEATURE and a feature only. Its not the backbone of the product.

 

[SHIFTLife]

No, it's not.

This phone is called "3G". It literally has "3G" in the name. If 3G isn't good where he lives (or just flat out unavailable, as is the case in some places), why buy something called the "Product X 3G" ?

No one is forcing anything on him - this is crazy talk! He went in and purchased a 3G phone for use on a 3G network. The 3G network in his area sucks (I don't know who to blame - the city, AT&T, the towers in his area .. who knows), and he's not happy with it. Why should he keep it? This isn't super complicated.

Way to miss the bus on this one. Just because it's called the 3G doesn't mean it's guaranteed 3G service. The 3G in the name means it's CAPABLE of 3G. Just like you as a human are CAPABLE of understanding this concept, but you just don't.

 

[nfg315]

what if the 3g network is good, but has been broken for like a week now (i.e. nyc) - what about pro-rated

 

[RQPS]

Everyone here is missing the point that the $29.99 data plan is *NOT* a 3G data plan. It is the smart phone data plan. Essentially, if your phone has a QWERTY keyboard, you pay $29.99 for the data plan instead of the MEdia Net or whatever the other one is. If you have an EDGE Blackberry, you pay $29.99 a month. If you have an EDGE Palm, you pay $29.99 a month. The $19.99 data plan for the first iPhone was an anomaly, the iPhone was in a special category last year for some reason. If you want a data plan, you pay $29.99 whether or not you use 3G. And if you don't use 3G, your money is going toward upgrading the network so you can eventually use 3G.

I only pay $20 for my EDGE on my 2g iphone, why should people pay $29.99 a month if they can only use EDGE? They are paying for a service that can't be used. It would be like getting a TV internet package and the Internet never working.

 

[cellocello]

No man.

You don't go into a restaurant month after month, eat all your food each time and then say "The meal was mediocre as always, please refund me half my money".

If he feels the product is subpar (in this case he feels the network is subpar), he can elect to not use/purchase it.

AANNDD, as someone else said -- $30 is the dataprice ANY phone pays on AT&T (apparently). So where's the beef about paying 30 bones for an Edge smartphone?