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Irrelevant? You're the one trying to discuss AT&T's "ethics." If you're so unhappy with AT&T's throttling you should vote with your wallet and switch carriers. Since you don't seem to be willing to make that change I have a very hard time taking you seriously.

I'm sure s/he'd love to vote with their wallet. Too bad they may not have $350+ to break their contract.

lrn2argue.
 
There is still an "advantage" on being unlimited, when AT&T scammed you. One day, AT&T claimed I used up 3.9GB in just a weekend (it was a scam as my phone's own stat said otherwise). Good thing I was on unlimited so there's no extra charges. Imagine what would happen on people on the tiered plans, especially the 200MB one. AT&T is scamming for overages as there's zero transparency on their usage stat (which is apparently different than the stat on the device).

What is the throttling speed? There are times where AT&T's network is so congested, that data connectivity is close to non-existent to the point that any kind of throttling won't really matter. I'm only sticking with AT&T due to their 3G band. If T-Mobile switched on their 1900 band, I'm done with AT&T.

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I think AT&T is putting the screws to us. In Decemer I was notifed about being throttled at 2.05gbs. In January I was notified at 1.5gbs halfway through my bill cycle. So the entire region had a 25% drop in one month???

What really confuses me is how my data has jumped so significantly. I'm on wifi constantly and up until they started this throttling business, I never went over 300-500mbs per month since I bought the 3G on launch day. Hmmm.

I should add that I live in Southern California. A rather large market.
It's a scam. AT&T pulled this stunt on me one time, claimed that I used up 3.9GB over a weekend while my phone said otherwise.

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Even though if the top 5% was around 10GB, they can always lie and say it's much lower (2GB).
Exactly. Unless AT&T posted a complete stat on each region to substantiate their claim of the top "5%," it's pure bull with zero transparency.
 
why do you need to use that much data?

I actually dont see how people need to use that much data on their "phone"

iphone is still a phone. it's not a laptop or desktop.

you can always watch your movies on ipad using wifi.

it's bad for your eyes starting that little screen for hours.

hope i drive sense into these "top users".
 
I'm sure s/he'd love to vote with their wallet. Too bad they may not have $350+ to break their contract.

Tears. Apparently "principles" are not worth $350 then. The bottom line is that unless you put your money where your mouth is you've got no leg to stand on. Those that don't clearly don't have that much of a problem with the new terms and conditions.
 
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Warbrain said:
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You've never seen an AT&T ad where they describe what 3g is?

Keep in mind that I'm not talking about the meaningless drivel in their fraudulent contract. I'm talking about the simple fact that I was sold:

"Unlimited 3g data" where countless advertisements described 3g as being fast.

I'm not even remotely confused. I understand that their sales reps sell me one thing and the contract is for something different. That's called fraud.

Fast compared to what? If all they are saying is "fast" without a comparison to a different connection it's a baseless argument you can't win.

Fraud would be the company knowingly deceiving customers and not having it stated in the contract. People need to closely read their T's and C's on their cell contracts and see what exactly AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint can do. They all include language to manager their network as necessary.

there not managing their network here there bullying a select group of users. this has nothing to do with the network when they are doing this to users at 2GB ther will offer you a 5 GB monthly plan free to get of unlimited that's not helping the network if the network is as bogged down as they want you to think.
 
I figured it out! Miles is actually Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T!

The only man alive who thinks that when you're dissatisfied with your service from a company that you should vote with your wallet by giving them $350!

Look Miles. I realize you are probably some corporate shill in a cubicle who is brainwashed by your environment to think it's okay for corporations to deceive their customers as long as there's some well placed and vague loop holes in the contract. But there are some very simple concepts that should be easy to grasp even for you.

1. I was sold a two year contract for unlimited 3G data on the nation's fastest 3G network.

2. I've had the same plan that DIDN'T involve throttling since 2008.

3. When the salesman convinced me in November of 2011 to extend my contract for two more years, he told me that it would be the same unlimited plan that I've been enjoying since 2008.

4. He lied. AT&T absolutely under no uncertain terms, changed my service to a throttled data plan where 3G stopped at 2gb and a barely working edge experience took it's place.

They changed the terms without my knowledge after the fact and will not let me out of my contract without paying them an extortion fee. It's wrong and I'm sure a judge will decide that they are breaking the law by advertising and selling one thing and delivering another.

If they had not offered me an unlimited plan and informed me that I needed to switch to a tiered plan I almost certainly would have switched to Sprint while I had the chance. But they lied and I fell for it.

Good luck with the lawsuit Mr. Stephenson.
 
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I know your right it does use a lot
To stream but the reason I stayed with AT&T and updated to a new two year contract with 4S was because it was unlimited and I knew I used a lot of data We should be able to stream as much as we want I was using 30g a month regularly cuz I work from home and tend to stream on phone alot. Now I've cut back to about 15g a month. But now I have to stay at 2. It's not fair at all
 
I actually dont see how people need to use that much data on their "phone"
And I'm sure 640kb is enough for you.

Ever heard of iCloud? Dropbox? Youtube? Google music? Pandora? Also, uploading photos and videos to various social networks are now second nature to even the lay people. For some people, their phone IS their computer.
 
I have defenses AT&T on throttling users over 10 gigs BUT

It is now obvious with this new proclamation that AT&T wans to drive all unlimited contract users out.

This, if true, is simple a pressure move to force grandfathered unlimited plan users out and into a new plan.

This has to be a violation of TOS allowing those who want to leave AT&T an option out with out paying an early termination fee.

A simple case of AT&T being to big for their britches and daring customers to take it or leave it.

They know there isn't a real legal recourse and I suspect they have some data that shows even if 50% of the unlimited customers leave they still make bank.

Shame....
 
correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't this at least a change in service? at the very least, customers should be able to quit their contracts without a penalty. if the the contract says you have access to 3g speeds and they take those speeds away artificially, then they are breaking the contract, right?

also, wasn't there a lawsuit against an isp, comcast, or somebody that did this? i can't remember the outcome though.
 
2GB? You guys are lucky, My network simply ended its "unlimited" internet and informed everyone on it that they were now limited to 500MB per month "Because we can" effectively.

correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't this at least a change in service? at the very least, customers should be able to quit their contracts without a penalty. if the the contract says you have access to 3g speeds and they take those speeds away artificially, then they are breaking the contract, right?

also, wasn't there a lawsuit against an isp, comcast, or somebody that did this? i can't remember the outcome though.

Somewhere in the contract will most likely be a clause saying that the network provider reserves the right to change the terms of your contract when they feel like.
 
Probably next on the AT&T list is throttling the top 5% of text message users. Once throttled you will still be able to send/receive text messages, they will just be delayed for 24 hours! :rolleyes:
 
Tears. Apparently "principles" are not worth $350 then. The bottom line is that unless you put your money where your mouth is you've got no leg to stand on. Those that don't clearly don't have that much of a problem with the new terms and conditions.

I'm not a lawyer, but if you can't wait for the inevitable class-action lawsuit (and I can't imagine any consumer attorney passing this one up; it's probably worth $1M or more in attorneys fees, and is a dead-bang winner), then pay the $350, and then sue AT&T in Small Claims court, where you'll almost certainly win.

If you live in California, you may be able to sue AT&T for violation of the Unfair Competition law, and that will allow you to sue for a civil penalty of 2X the $350, so your total lawsuit would be for $1,050.

If you've been throttled before, and was told you couldn't cancel unless you paid the ETF, you probably don't even need to pay the ETF to sue; your damages start from the day they wouldn't let you cancel without paying the ETF. If it was six months ago, just take your last six months of payments to AT&T, tack on the 2X civil penalty, and sue for that.

In California, an individual can file a Small Claims lawsuit for up to $10,000. It's no class-action, but it ought to get their attention.

Keep in mind that, while Small Claims courts lean in your favor, if you lose, you won't be able to appeal. The case will be over, and you'll have no other recourse against AT&T.

You COULD use hundreds or thousands of dollars in your pocket, while simultaneously sticking it to AT&T, right?
 
I had another annoying experience with AT&T. I went in to deal with a damaged iPhone 4 from the kid, and they asked to see and review my iPhone 1. They BRICKED THE ORIGINAL SIM, said they would update it to a new SIM, then when they installed that it didn't work no matter what. So I said simply return my original SIM or reissue one from stock somewhere. No go. They bricked the original SIM irrevokably according to them, and no older SIM's exist anywhere on the planet anymore, and new SIMs don't work.

Now very few of those statements passed the smell test but I could see I was getting nowhere and of course they offered to "solve MY problem" by selling me a new iPhone 4S with a new contract. I considered that wonderful offer for all of 0.5 seconds.

I went across the street and got a Verizon iPhone 4S (which has a SIM slot for any compatible GSM network when I want). Verizon sucks in different ways but not those ways.

Anybody want to buy a SIMless iPhone 1 in excellent condition?

Rocketman

As for California small claims court here is the $10k outcome of that famous Honda suit.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...brid-mileage/2012/02/01/gIQAhoYpiQ_story.html
 
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Anyone out there know if this is grounds for cancelling without an early termination fee? I picked up an iPhone 4S back in November. Since the 4s is the same hardware across the board it would be nice to stick it to AT&T by cancelling without the ETF and walking with a 2 month old subsidized iPhone 4S.
 
Anyone out there know if this is grounds for cancelling without an early termination fee? I picked up an iPhone 4S back in November. Since the 4s is the same hardware across the board it would be nice to stick it to AT&T by cancelling without the ETF and walking with a 2 month old subsidized iPhone 4S.

Not likely first off. Second your AT&T 4S is GSM, while everyone else in the states uses CDMA, meaning it won't be compatible with any other carriers. Not a fault of AT&T, it's just how it works.

What confuses me though is if AT&T now offers a 5GB data plan, why are we being throttled at 2GB? Sounds like they are trying to force us to cancel, and change our data plans. :confused: :mad:
 
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same here in the nyc area. i started getting those messages a couple of months ago. I typically use 2-3G per month. I love how they changed the game after 4+ years of being a good customer. I believe I may switch to Verizon for the iPhone 5 for this reason.
 
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justperry said:
I feel sorry for you Americans that you have to live with these unscrupulous Mobile Telecom companies and don't have a real choice.

I feel even more sorry for those of them on this thread who don't understand the word Unlimited.
Hell, I am not a native English speaker and even I understand.
People got sold internet 3G speeds Unlimited, that says it all, all you can download at 3G speeds!

I am in Indonesia and I have prepaid internet from three(Provider), packages include 1GB-2GB-3GB and 5GB all unlimited as they say, you get throttled after using your allowance.
At least here they are HONEST and I know that I will get throttled.
Nice thing is though, I pay FAR less than you, 7 U$ for 2GB + 25% extra= 2.5 GB and it's about 10 U$ for 5GB + 25% extra.
Even in Europe it is far less than what you pay.

Yes your country is so much better than ours. Thanks for the productive post.
 
Like others, I kind of understood how AT&T might throttle users who went over say 10GB a month. But now that AT&T has a 3GB plan I can't understand how it is "legal" for them to throttle John Doe's unlimited plan at 2.1GB in an area where Jane Doe's 3GB plan is NOT throttled at 2.1GB. I would think that situation could definitely be used in a lawsuit against AT&T.
 
Don't throttle the data hogs (the me first folks) = slower network = everyone suffers.

Throttle the data hogs = only the data hogs suffer AFTER they've hogged out.

Lesson: Don't be a data hog = faster network = everyone wins.
 
Don't throttle the data hogs (the me first folks) = slower network = everyone suffers.

Throttle the data hogs = only the data hogs suffer AFTER they've hogged out.

Lesson: Don't be a data hog = faster network = everyone wins.

The point, though, is that a new customer can get a 3GB plan for $30 and use all 3GB of it without being throttled, but apparently those of us on grandfathered "unlimited" plans pay the same $30 but can use only 2GB before being throttled.

I have a grandfathered unlimited plan from T-Mobile, and they throttle after 5GB, which makes more sense, since they sell 5GB data plans.
 
I actually dont see how people need to use that much data on their "phone"

iphone is still a phone. it's not a laptop or desktop.

you can always watch your movies on ipad using wifi.

it's bad for your eyes starting that little screen for hours.

hope i drive sense into these "top users".

Pandora, while driving for hours on the road.
 
Don't throttle the data hogs (the me first folks) = slower network = everyone suffers.

Throttle the data hogs = only the data hogs suffer AFTER they've hogged out.

Lesson: Don't be a data hog = faster network = everyone wins.

I got a message saying I was nearing top 5% at 1.8gb yesterday and I live in Socal. Thats not data hogging. Data hogging should be a lot more then that. And no one wins on this because it means your only going to be getting less for your money.
 
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