Is AT&T Doing Bait & Switch On Broadband Caps?
from the not-surprising,-but-not-good dept
You would think with the PR nightmare surrounding capped broadband that forced Time Warner Cable to at least temporarily back off limiting broadband, that other broadband providers would be a lot more careful. However, Gigaom reports that some AT&T U-verse customers are discovering the broadband that AT&T is selling them is capped with low limits, but they're not being told about these limits until after they're locked in. It would seem like this is the sort of thing that the FTC has been known to frown upon -- not to mention it's also the type of thing that gets people pretty upset in a hurry. It really is amazing how hamfisted the broadband providers seem to be when it comes to marketing their broadband plans.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: bait & switch, broadband caps
Companies: at&t
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FCC needs to just force them to list the terms
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Re: FCC needs to just force them to list the terms
Unless required by law such as tax changes on the state or federal level.
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Re: FCC needs to just force them to list the terms
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Re: Re: FCC needs to just force them to list the terms
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Re:
In nearly every single type of service "contract" you enter, there is a clause in it that allows the provider to change the terms of the contract when ever they want and for any reason they want.
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Only if you can convince an arbitrator that is bought and paid for by AT&T that this is a unilateral and material change. ISP contracts all have mandatory arbitration clauses and prevailing over your ISP is almost impossible (and very expensive).
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It says it at the bottom of the box, after "monosodium glutamate"
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Re: It says it at the bottom of the box, after "monosodium glutamate"
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Re: It says it at the bottom of the box, after "monosodium glutamate"
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Not a cap
Oh, yeah, to check your usage you have a utility you can run (which fails 1 out of 5 times) or you can disconnect and check the log (which doesn't necessarily mesh with their records) It's a very fast connection, which means that you can use up your entire 5 gig in a 36 hour period if you leave your browser on a streaming news site, or if your kid decides to leave the browser on MySpace with a streaming video in the background.
We really need some consumer advocates. My discussions with the Verizon help desk has led me to believe they nail people like this all the time.
I canceled my service after this fiasco. Screwing your customers is not a sustainable business model.
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Re: Not a cap
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Re: Not a cap
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Re: Not a cap
Which I'm willing to bet only runs on Windows, and *maybe* Mac. Sorry Linux, none for you.
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When competing isn't your only option...
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bandwidth yadda yadda
Yes, lets let them throttle for excuses of performance. sheesh. They just want to oversell it by a factor of 10 higher than they already do.
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This is not news.
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Lesser Evil
Comcast has screwed too many people I know for me to ever consider paying them for crappy service.
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The Cell Phone companys already got hit with this:
http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/legal-services-litigation/11565671-1.html
(note: I am a Washinton resident, your state might be differnt)
The court felt that since arbitration paid for by the company had a 97% + rate of being in favor of the company that it was not fair to the consumer. As such the customer cant sign away their rights to lawsuit (including class action lawsuits) no matter what the contract says.
Anyway, if you sign me up for a 2 year net access, then change my terms im just going to cancle under the grounds that you changed my contract and I had a right to accecpt the new contract (or not).
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I'm going to start my own house painting service, and I'll make people sign a contract before I begin. Buried in all the fine print will be a clause saying that I can change the terms of the contract at any time. Then, I'll paint one small area, claim that their house is taking too much paint and quit. When they complain that I didn't deliver the service that they paid for, I'll just point them to the contract and tell them that I changed the terms.
That way, I can charge big bucks and hardly have to do any work or use much paint. I'll be rich!
If they try to sue me, I can point out the anti-sue clause that they agreed to and use AT&T as an example of other businesses that work this way.
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Re: Rekrul
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What contract?
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At&T
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