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AT&T Sued Over Alleged Overbilling for iOS Device Data Usage

I can't wait for the day when unlimited data as part of any smartphone plan is the standard which all major carriers adopt. As time progresses, we're using more and more data, not less. Why on earth would any consumer then be happy with tiered plans?
 
Why am I not surprised, ALL carriers are crooks. They keep expanding their networks by swallowing up smaller competitors which is suppose to reduce costs to end users, yet average monthly phone charges keep heading northward. Data should be flat, give everyone 5GB a month. Text messages should be considered data and data allotments should be shared across all devices :mad: Expose the bums, good riddance.
 
For some reason... every month I've used the 200mb data plan, my data usage somehow spikes overnight to roughly 50mb (which is a quarter of my allotment for the month). I've had my iPhone 4 on a 2gb every so often and noticed even under the same conditions (3G on, same amount of e-mail pushed, same apps, same conditions), less data is used.

Yeah... I'm going to go on a limb and say that the lawsuit may have some traction and that their metered data plans might be rigged and data miscalculated to pump out the extra $10 a month for customers over their $15 plan.
 
Sign me up. I've gotten data overages consistently... and I'm on wi-fi almost all the time!!!

You can also go into your account and view usage. The iphone dials out every night around 2am all by itself... even when you turn it off... i've tested it and everyone has said i'm nuts. I did this same test the law firm did and AT&T can never explain to me how I go over. And I always close everything in the tray.

Pay up
 
That is steve spying on you every night uploading your info so they can then sell it to advertisers or send it to the government to see if you're a terrorist.[/conspiracy theory]

I'm definitely interested in this this the My Wireless app never seems to be accurate. It says it much less than it usually is so then you go over your data usage and charge you fees.

I noticed this the first month. Used 190mb and then turned off the data network and still got a text that I had went over a day or two later. I since had AT&T upgrade me to 2gb. Hopefully they drop the price to $20/2gb.
 
baleensavage said:
Yep, all these internet services are very chatty and are constantly sending information back and forth that the user never sees. It's the nature of modern networking. All the more reason that bandwidth caps are a out-of-date method of restricting internet usage and a step back for the consumer. These days when you turn any device on, there is a constant interchange of information, whether you like it or not. Just try installing a network spy on your desktop if you don't believe it.
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Exactly. Send a 10MB file and it actually consumed about 11MB in network usage. This is normal. Protocols are chatty....even when your device appears to be 'idle'. If you don't want to send data, turn your 3G off.
 
Each day I grow happier that I finally ditched my iPhone 4 and simply went with a Touch and a standard phone. There's nothing I need to do remotely and the wasted $30 each month was becoming stupid. This is a whole other reason...
 
This could be interesting... If found guilty what could we expect as a judgement? All AT&T data account holders get one month of free data service and AT&T promises to review their data billing processes and procedures, fix any issues found and never let it happen again?
 
Its been dogma that the iOS data meter gave lowballed data use and the ATT one was more accurate. Perhaps its the other way around.

All AT&T data account holders get one month of free data service and AT&T promises to review their data billing processes and procedures, fix any issues found and never let it happen again?
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If anything, those with limited plans may have some compensation. The point is moot for most unlimited users. I suspect that any affected users will get something like a 5$ coupon off the purchase of 20$ or more at ATT stores, in other words, jack s%^&
 
larryw said:
The only ones who benefit class actions are the legal teams.
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I've been involved in a number of class action lawsuits and I've gotten paid each time. Whether it's a little or a lot, it was always more than zero...
 
If this does happen to be true I hope AT&T gets hit hard, real hard. I supported the switching to tiered data plans from unlimited, but if you're paying for something that you aren't even using (and took every effort to prevent) then that is downright wrong. At least I'll be safe with my unlimited plan on Verizon come Thursday!
 
Yankee617 said:
Whether we're talking about MBs used in data plans or minutes used in voice plans, it is very difficult for consumers to independently confirm the usage claimed by network providers. Moreover, if the consumer does somehow independently meter his usage, he has no easy mechanism to challenge
the usage claimed by network providers.
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IT'S RIDICULOUS, no matter what provider you have.

I am on a family plan with verizon, 3 people, only 1 has a smartphone, and somehow our bill floats on up past $200 a month. I check the bill, and cannot figure out what all the random extra charges are. The smartphone has unlimited data, and nobody ever goes over their texts or minutes. WTF?!

I can't believe I have continued to stay with verizon all this time, but everyone i know has it (free minutes), i get great service, now it's got the iphone, and i'm sure at&t would be the same or worse. It's all american greed. People in europe pay like half or less for the same service for iPhone!
 
Kadin said:
I've been involved in a number of class action lawsuits and I've gotten paid each time. Whether it's a little or a lot, it was always more than zero...
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I can second that. I've had the same experience. It's better than getting nothing.
 
CubusX said:
Good luck...

I heard from a source that works for AT&T that the company is near backrut. Whether its true or not, best of luck...
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Actually, their corporate headquarters is in Dallas. :)

My grandson's iPhone has data activity every morning around 4 a.m., like someone posted before. I was angry at first, thinking he was getting up early and messing around on his phone...
 
Sounds like a reasonable scientific experiment. If by "scientific" one means "without any scientific principles whatsoever."

Turn Airplane Mode on, then let it sit a month. If you have data charges then yes, there's something fishy going on. Otherwise it's the phone doing its thing.

If you don't want a phone accessing a data network there's an easy fix. Don't get one.

Maybe I should patent "Inaccurate means of measuring cellular data utilization" then sue their pants off.
 
mharpo said:
Actually, their corporate headquarters is in Dallas. :)

My grandson's iPhone has data activity every morning around 4 a.m., like someone posted before. I was angry at first, thinking he was getting up early and messing around on his phone...
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AT&T Mobility Corp is in Atlanta, Georgia actually.
 
Does anyone know if any non-Apple devices have suffered the same oddities? Everything always seems to happen on the iPhone? Glass breaking. Antenna breaking. Data getting sucked up by NSA/CIA/FBI/GOOGL/insert acronym. Overbilling for data.

Seems particularly odd that nothing bad ever happens on other handsets.:rolleyes:
 
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