AT&T killing unlimited data plan for new users

[west3man]

I'm feeling a bit bait-and-switched here. To me, the appeal of the iPad 3G was the plan. Specifically:
-I'm mostly around WiFi, so the 3G was not required every month
-Since it was month-to-month, I could spin up the 3G when I would be doing traveling but cancel it when I thought I'd go 30 days without needing it.
-The plans were priced at attractive levels
-My understanding was if I went over 250 MB, I simply paid the difference to the unlimited plan, and was upgraded.

Now:
-The plans are priced just OK
-The upgrade for overage is less kind
-Still can pay month-to-month

Had the iPad been out three years, like the iPhone, or even a year, I could probably shrug this off with a little grumbling. The fact that these alterations came out a month after the device's release has me using the phrase "bait and switch." Framing it that way, is there some action that can be taken?

I diipubt that we've got a legal leg to stand on - no firmly enough to be worth pursuing - but I am no lawyer.

I think that organizing and griping, boycotting and writing letters/emails is about as far as we can take it. I don't know that it will do a damned thing other than let our extreme displeasure be known, but that sounds good to me, as well.

You're absolutely right about the bait and switch.

 

[ghostface147]

Does anybody know what AT&T does with all the money they make off of us??? It seems like they are just trying to wring us dry for as long as possible while not upgrading their network.

That is true in many ways, but also keep in mind there are other outside factors involved as well. Everyone wants more and more coverage, but no one wants a tower in their backyard. That kind of issue takes a lot of time to resolve, some taking years in certain jurisdictions. It is not fathomable to believe that AT&T is sitting at their HQ just playing Sketch Online. Should their network be up to speed? Of course it should. Is it? Not really. It's not as easy as flipping a switch and say here you go, more coverage. It's magical.

If you're an IT person, you should know this.

 

[ifarlow]

Framing it that way, is there some action that can be taken?

Sure. File a frivolous lawsuit like everyone else does so that prices go up for all of us.

 

[west3man]

Sure. File a frivolous lawsuit like everyone else does so that prices go up for all of us.

What, in your eyes, would make it frivolous?

 

[whmurray]

................So now after three years of having iPhone exclusivity, have we seen any performance improvements? Not where I live in LA county, and all the 3G dead zones across LA are still here, even though I've been marking them for AT&T using their "mark the spot" app, as have thousands of others most likely. Might as well delete it as they aren't taking any action............

Still only EDGE at LAX?

 

[Jellotime91]

@cardfan
whether a picture is 5 or 3 megapixels makes no difference, the full resolution is not being sent 90% of the time. If you are emailing them at full resolution then it makes a difference, but full res is not the default action in iPhone OS, and uploading to facebook/twitter is not the full res image either.

Video chat isn't going to take you from 300MB to 2GB. Video chat over 3G (if it's even available) will use less bandwidth than YouTube over 3G, which has little impact on your data plan.

This may be bad for the heavy users but for everyone else it's "hey your data plan can be $5 cheaper, or if you're a lite user, $15 cheaper!" which a lot of consumers will appreciate. And, establishing limits means ATT may be wiling to allow more things to happen over 3G.

 

[big9erfan]

So now after three years of having iPhone exclusivity, have we seen any performance improvements? Not where I live in LA county, and all the 3G dead zones across LA are still here, even though I've been marking them for AT&T using their "mark the spot" app, as have thousands of others most likely. Might as well delete it as they aren't taking any action.

Where in LA county are you? I'm there a bulk of the time ( though live in Ventura County now...Thousand Oaks )and rarely have issues.

 

[VLennert]

I, too, feel like I've been a vicitim of bait and switch. The bottom line: I would not have purchased my iPad had they been honest about these changes at the device launch. The unlimited 3G plan, for me and my usage needs, is a deal breaker.

I'm a brand new Apple customer and as I am finding out over and over and over, I'm pretty pissed off. Nothing has been as they said and I really do feel lied to. And conveniently, this announcement came just past the "return" window. I can't even return the stupid thing when it stops doing what they told me it would do when I bought it.

I can tell you what, after the experience I have had and these piss ant changes and Apple's convenient silence on them, I will never buy another Apple product again. Sure, I'll use this one, but never again.

 

[west3man]

I, too, feel like I've been a vicitim of bait and switch. The bottom line: I would not have purchased my iPad had they been honest about these changes at the device launch. The unlimited 3G plan, for me and my usage needs, is a deal breaker.

I'm a brand new Apple customer and as I am finding out over and over and over, I'm pretty pissed off. Nothing has been as they said and I really do feel lied to. And conveniently, this announcement came just past the "return" window. I can't even return the stupid thing when it stops doing what they told me it would do when I bought it.

I can tell you what, after the experience I have had and these piss ant changes and Apple's convenient silence on them, I will never buy another Apple product again. Sure, I'll use this one, but never again.

Indeed. I'm glad to see someone holding Apple accountable, as well. There is no way that neither company saw this coming.

This smells like a very deliberate screwing.

No Vaseline.

 

[whmurray]

@cardfan
whether a picture is 5 or 3 megapixels makes no difference, the full resolution is not being sent 90% of the time. If you are emailing them at full resolution then it makes a difference, but full res is not the default action in iPhone OS, and uploading to facebook/twitter is not the full res image either.

Video chat isn't going to take you from 300MB to 2GB. Video chat over 3G (if it's even available) will use less bandwidth than YouTube over 3G, which has little impact on your data plan.

This may be bad for the heavy users but for everyone else it's "hey your data plan can be $5 cheaper, or if you're a lite user, $15 cheaper!" which a lot of consumers will appreciate. And, establishing limits means ATT may be wiling to allow more things to happen over 3G.

I think that his point is that we are going to be living with this plan for a long time while our demands will grow. Could we have imagined as recently as three years ago that we would have the (band-width hogging) applications that are routine today.

AT&T has established that we will pay per gigabyte, used or unused, while AT&T's cost of delivering that gigabyte will drop by an order of magnitude. They have established the right to charge a premium for some applications, e.g., tethering, without regard to how intensively, or even whether, we use them to consume any bandwidth. Can you say "net neutrality?"

We had all better hope that this pricing plan fails, that the FCC and FTC take it on, that AT&T's competitors take it on as an opportunity. While AT&T sweetens the dose by offering a lower entry price, it is not one that we want to live with for the long haul.

 

[cardfan]

@cardfan
whether a picture is 5 or 3 megapixels makes no difference, the full resolution is not being sent 90% of the time. If you are emailing them at full resolution then it makes a difference, but full res is not the default action in iPhone OS, and uploading to facebook/twitter is not the full res image either.

Video chat isn't going to take you from 300MB to 2GB. Video chat over 3G (if it's even available) will use less bandwidth than YouTube over 3G, which has little impact on your data plan.

This may be bad for the heavy users but for everyone else it's "hey your data plan can be $5 cheaper, or if you're a lite user, $15 cheaper!" which a lot of consumers will appreciate. And, establishing limits means ATT may be wiling to allow more things to happen over 3G.

I do see your point. And i'll even save money. My main concern is that data usage will only go up by virtue of simply upgrading and using the same features that will chew up more data.

Hopefully AT&T will adjust in the future for it.

 

[Lotus Esprit V8]

It's been reported on numerous reliable sites. I would say that unfortunately it looks to be true. I would like to hear Apples response to this as Steve Jobs refereed to AT&T's iPad plan offerings as phenomenal back in January.

 

[cr12#IM]

try ordering one with 3g this morning and then hearing this crap.

what a load of s***. this is why ive never switched to an iphone bc of at&T.

 

[VLennert]

It's true. It's on AT&T's Facebook page. Omg, people are PISSED. Go do a Facebook search on AT&T...its like 10 posts a second of people raging pissed off.

On a positive note, I found a link to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission Bureau Of Consumer Protection:

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en#last

Go file a complaint. I think if enough people do - Apple will get called to the table over this crap.

 

[Mustang5Oh]

It's true. It's on AT&T's Facebook page. Omg, people are PISSED. Go do a Facebook search on AT&T...its like 10 posts a second of people raging pissed off.

On a positive note, I found a link to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission Bureau Of Consumer Protection:

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en#last

Go file a complaint. I think if enough people do - Apple will get called to the table over this crap.

there is nothing saying they can't charge for data useage. VzW CEO the other week said they are going to be doing the same thing soon. what is complete BS and something to talk to the FCC/FTC/BBB about is how AT&T is charging another $20 for tethering on top of the $25 for 2GB of data. Tethering is using data the same as streaming music or whatever. You have already paid for the data and they have the nerve to charge another $20 so you can use the feature? Screw you AT&T! Maybe they should be more grateful that iPhone SAVED their company from ruins and now they are starting to piss people off even more. Eventually the iPhone won't be on only AT&T and thats the day AT&T will regret screwing people.

 

[ifarlow]

What, in your eyes, would make it frivolous?

Is AT&T forcing anyone to pay these fees for the iPad? Nope. You are not required to pay for 3G on the iPad. So how is this a bait and switch?

What's the lawsuit going to claim, that AT&T made you mad? That you were forced to pout and stomp your feet? That although you don't have to pay for 3G, you really really want to, and it's not fair that AT&T is changing the rates?

Good luck.

 

[VLennert]

Nah, I wouldn't sue.

But bottom line -

1. Unlimited promises, not any more
2. On and off options, not any more

I could see if it was something 2-3-4 years down the line. But it's not. Its literally one month later. And about 16 days past the return date on the iPad.

This is not something they just pulled out of their rectum yesterday. They have been planning this for MONTHS, possibly years. In fact, Apple probably told them they couldn't announce it until AFTER the return period was over for new adapters.

It makes me sick. Really does. Apple STILL has it on the website as a sales tool. And it's not even true and they knew it wasn't going to be true when they did all the advertising and gushing about how wonderful the iPad is and how the new iPad agreement with AT&T would change the face of how wireless companies do business.

I just dropped 800.00 for a device that I can not use the way they promised I could use it. I was counting on be able to turn it off and on and get the unlimited on the months I'm doing extensive travel or work duties.

 

[mrguilt]

On and off options, not any more

I think on-and-off is still in play (still pre-paid/no contract). It's just that, unless you are OK with the new plan, you can't go off whatever you have today.

 

[Lotus Esprit V8]

This happens to coincide with them allowing Skype to work over their 3G network. I think that they could be worried that VOIP will take away from their voice revenue. Why not just give the option for people who want to use VOIP to have an additional charge?

The real problem is that they are the only provider for the iPad at this point. If you could get a data plan from Verizon, sprint, or t-mobile the AT&T crackdown wouldn't be such a big thing.

 

[VLennert]

I think on-and-off is still in play (still pre-paid/no contract). It's just that, unless you are OK with the new plan, you can't go off whatever you have today.

Nah, if you turn off the auto-renew on the unlimited plan, then you can not turn it back on. They're doing a grandfathering thing. They initially promised that we could turn on or off the unlimited any time we wanted - i.e. if I normally use 200MB, but I'm going out of town on vacation next month and need more data, I can turn on the unlimited and pay a little more, and then turn it back off when I get home.

That's going away. I either pay my 29.99 a month every single month or I lose it.